World Of Warcraft Controversy Wiki

Is Marvel's new ethnic Spider-Man a cop-out?

I think it's writers trying to do something different. Expand their horizons a little. Ultimates may not be the mainline Marvel universe but it's seen by many as a more creative, upscale, and mature reinterpretation. If I were a comic book character I'd be more concerned by how I was portrayed in Ultimates than the generic Marvel universe.

Oh, and for the record, Ultimates Fury was based on Jackson before Jackson was ever cast for any potential movie. The character himself is asked at one point in Ultimate Avengers who'd play him in a movie. Yup. Sam L. Jackson of course.

Me? I like the concept. But I grew up with the old WWII vet, cigar chompin', 40's era slang slinging white guy Fury. I read the psychedelic Agent of Shield comics before I knew what psychedelics were. I thrilled to the Howlin' Commandos. So I'm gonna be biased a little.

I don't think it's a cop out. Brian Bendis can do basically whatever he wants in Ult. Spider-Man, considering he's written it for like a decade and it was one of the big successes that helped revitalize Marvel, and still one of the most successful Ultimate comics. But he can't change who the 'main' Spider-Man is. Comic character identities are more resilient than Wolverine. They made Bucky into Captain America, and it was like, what, two years until they changed it back? Same with Dick Grayson as Batman. And the unfortunate recent spate of DC killing off or replacing minority heroes so they can bring back their 60s-era white predecessors. They're not going to go messing around with the well-known secret identity of their multi-million dollar brands.

So it's not really a cop out, he's doing what he can where he can. And like the article says, look at Nick Fury. He was modeled off a black actor as well, but the change was only in the Ultimate universe. But with the movies, the Sam Jackson Fury is probably recognized by more people than the white one at this point.

Oh, and as a Jewish dude with two adopted black daughters, it just feels like Bendis isn't doing this as some calculated marketing/crowd pleasing BS. And comic authors seem to catch a lot of flack every time they bring in a nonwhite successor character.

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