So I came across an article by The Independent that basically all but confirms that PHASE 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be filled with nothing more that colour swaps and gender-bending, and the justification for it is borderline asinine.
According to this writer KT Roberts, what they want from Phase 4 of the MCU is one that topples every pale, male and stale superhero character and replace them with literally anything. It’s clear that they’re forsaking actual narrative for their own political agenda. As a fan of Marvel, it really bothers me that instead of just leaving the iconic depictions of these legacy characters alone, they are more than happy to bastardize them for a chance to virtual signal. I’ve writing about this in My View On Changing Original Characters To Fit An Agenda Of Diversity & Why I Disagree With It! if you’re interested to see why I have a problem with this mindset.
I mean, the writer uses Black Panther, Into the SpiderVerse and Captain Marvel as examples to justify her stance but she fails to understand why these movies (two out of the three mentioned) did so well. Black Panther is an easy one, this was the first time T’Challa has gotten a movie, he was already set up nicely in Civil War and to be fair, a lot of people wanted to see Black characters in a good spotlight. The last one was a social one. However, fans of the MCU will note that there’s a lot more significant to Black Panther joining the MCU.
However what earned the film’s recognition was the great narrative (debatable to some). Into the Spider-Verse was another one that proved that a great story that focus on the character can make a big difference. When Miles Morale was introduced in the comics, he was bland, boring and a straight copy of Peter, going as far as to disrespect Peter’s legacy. This did not sit well with fans and thus he was neglected.
However, Into the Spider-Verse gave Miles another chance and an actual storythat made him likable and enjoyable to watch as a character. This is what prompted his popular with the masses, not the fact that he’s a black SpiderMan replacing a “boring white SpiderMan”! As for Captain Marvel, let be real here. It was the attention that Brie Larson attained throughout the promotion for the movie that led to people actually watching it. That, and the promise of an important event in the movie that ties in with Endgame led to people going to see the movie. Had it not been all of that, the movie would not have done as well profit wise.
I don’t like the narrative that this writer is trying to achieve, which is causing me to be concerned for some of the characters that have yet to be seen like FF4 and the X-Men. This line alone annoyed me. According to KT Roberts:
“We’re stepping out of the shadows – and if we can step on our male predecessors along the way, all the better.”
Yeah, no! Just like how Marvel movies became so successful because they respected the source material, the true source material, (I say this because the comics have begun to write virtue signalling crap too), so too will it fall if fans decide that enough is enough.
