Random Thoughts: Miles Morales and Character Gender/Race/Species Changes

Am I the only one who thinks that heroes, who pass on the mantle consist of a specific "type" of heroes?

When someone mentions passing on the mantle, I automatically think of Ant-Man, Flash, Green Lantern, and Robin.

Apart from those, I'll also accept Captain America, Iron Man (Rhodey) and Batman Beyond.

What these guys have in common is the fact that they can do their predecessor's job with enough training and gear (maybe besides the Flash). This keeps the successors special, even though they're wearing the same costume as the previous guy.

I'm not saying that new characters like Miles Morales and Kamala Khan aren't special and great, cuz they REALLY are. However, the thing that makes them special is their background and the quality of their stories, NOT their costumes and powers.

This is why I think Kamala Khan and Miles Morales would be perfectly good as completely NEW superhero personas instead of Black Spider-Man and Muslim Ms. Marvel. Can you honestly tell me that Kamala Khan has ANYTHING in common with Carol Danvers, other than the name?

They are not dependent on their predecessors like Scott Lang, Wally West, Rhodey, and Terry McGuinnes are on theirs. These guys would NEVER have become heroes if not for their predecessors/mentors, which is why the mantle fits them so well.

Create NEW heroes, New costumes and NEW identities, people.... Unless it makes sense not to do so

@CorndogBurglar I suppose you're using the 'death of the author' argument, whereby the intentions of the author don't matter and instead it's more about the interpretation by the individual perceiving it.

Personally, for what you're describing anyway, it actually would make more sense if Captain America was black. The idea that a blond haired, blue eyed, white male being the peak of physical human perfection only REAFFIRMS the propaganda spewed by Hitler and his Nazi party. The fact that he fights for the allies, and not axis, doesn't strike me as Ironic or powerful if we look at it from Hitlers perspective. Because in his mind, he's still proven right but it's simply 'a shame' that he was 'brainwashed' or 'blinded' by the american's propaganda and works for them instead.

His views, whether genuine or not, about black people were quite clear. They were inferior human beings, lesser than us and more akin to animals. And no matter what side you were on, that wouldn't change in his mind. So imagine if you have this African American, who was at the peak of physical human fitness, completely wrecking up his sh*t and hindering his war effort. And no matter how he tries to rationalize it, he has to face the fact that he's being outdone by someone who he views as 'inferior'

I think it would also be an opportunity to explore some of the hypocrisy of America, at the time, and showcase what it truly means to be an American. I mean, you're fighting an army that wants to enslave the world and deny the rights of certain human beings because of race (e.g. the jews) and yet...the black people in your country are treated unequally and are discriminated against.

Also, I don't see why Sam being black means that he's unfit to be Captain America. It's 2015. Not 1943. Being an American is not about being white. It's not about being black. It's about believing in the ideal's that your country was founded upon and, if needs be, fighting to keep them. That to me is a much more powerful message and that is what the Captain America mantle is meant to be. I don't see anything odd about his long-time sidekick finally taking up the mantle himself, if anything he's the perfect fit. Not because he's black, but because it makes sense.

I tend to subscribe to the idea of a "default" race/gender/appearance/gender preference/etc.

For exapmple, I highly doubt that when creating Spider-Man, Lee and Ditko sat down and discussed how Peter Parker "needed to be white." I don't think that was even a question for them. In the 1960s, it was just assumed that he would be white. 95% of other super heroes were. In fact, today even, the majority of superheroes are white.

I think that when most people create a character, they begin with the default: a tall, white, good-looking, straight man. When they deviate from that default, it's usually for a reason. For example, the new character they're creating needs to be a woman; or they very specifically want the character to be Hispanic. Unless there's an in-story or behind-the-scenes reason for why a character needs to be tall, white, good-looking, straight, and male, I assume that the creator just stuck with the default. Rarely was a character created specifically to be a tall, white, good-looking, straight man.

There are a few characters out there that need to be white. Dagger from "Cloak & Dagger," for instance, was specifically created as half of an interracial couple. Steve Rogers only makes sense as white, because it would make no sense for 1940s America to adopt anyone other than a white man as their national symbol (otherwise Isaiah Bradley would've been the official Captain America). And there are a few other characters as well.

In my opinion, we should be open to having any character's "default" attributes changed if there is a reason. Moon Knight, for instance, never needed to be white; so, if Marvel ever makes a Moon Knight movie, and thinks that it needs more diversity, I have no problem with Moon Knight being changed to being Middle Eastern. If Marvel wanted to make Nighthawk a woman in a new movie, I say go for it! If DC wants to make Tim Drake gay in a new movie, I see no problem with that (in fact, in that case, I think it makes more sense).

There's a big difference between making Tigra Hispanic and making Black Panther white. One makes no difference whatsoever, because Tigra wasn't created specifically to be white; the other is opposed to the fact that Black Panther was created specifically as black.

Does that make sense?

@MaximusTheMad

That is what I've been saying all along. Falcon is a great, unique who has his own stories. He wasn't another Bucky to Cap. He was an equal partner with a different skill set.

I also agree that not just anyone can be Spider-Man. Miles deserves his own identity. He deserves to be unique.

A new identity and further differentiation from Peter would be best for him long term.