There's significant backstory involving race and the Captain America program in the comics that makes Steve Rogers being white actively necessary for the narrative if you want access to those stories in other mediums.
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Do you care if characters are cast as a different race than usual?
- Thread starter NotTheGuyYouKill
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Escape Goat
Member
We're talking about a characters ethnicity and how it relates to the character. Steve Rogers being black is something that would not be possible within the context of the Marvel Universe. Its history is largely identical to ours. Racism happened there too.
Often people in the majority position feel like any push to add more diversity is an attack on them. There've actually been studies done where when teachers switched from calling on whoever to deliberately calling on boys and girls in exactly equal amounts, the boys in the classroom felt like they were actually getting called on less than the girls. It's kind of just natural to feel like this stuff is zero-sum.
Then you mix in the political aspects, i.e. "OMG the PC anti-creator race-card-players have forced another white character to be changed to black!"
You can see a similar process happening anytime we have a thread about having more female characters in vidja games. It's not that they're bad people, it's just that they feel under attack and like they have to defend themselves.
NEOPARADIGM
Banned
Speaking of, was I the only kid who thought the Kingpin was Asian in that show?
Devolution
Member
And I'm talking about how comics fuck with history, timelines and physics constantly.
They could adapt Captain America as being part of the Tuskegee Experiments quite easily though. Maybe not call him Steve Rogers, but you could make a Black Captain America work.
It depends on the character and the degree to which their race was important to the character or their fitting in the setting. It bothered me when the characters - aside from the villains - in the Avatar movie were all white, for instance.
But it wouldn't bother me to see a black Batman.
But it wouldn't bother me to see a black Batman.
Wiktor
Member
Depends. If it fits and can make for great story then I'm ok. If it's just casting non-white solely to change the race then no.
For example...Kingpin wasn't black in comics, but I honestly can't think of a better choice for him than Michael Clarke Duncan was. Daredevil movie might have sucked as a whole, but that casting was pure genius.
For example...Kingpin wasn't black in comics, but I honestly can't think of a better choice for him than Michael Clarke Duncan was. Daredevil movie might have sucked as a whole, but that casting was pure genius.
Al Gore's Thermostat
Banned
Her skin color was never mentioned in the books. So the people going batshit over it are pretty silly, and should know characters' ethnicities can be up to interpretation.
Angelus Errare
Banned
Black Panther: When 17 year old reclusive Jason Matthews (played by Justin Bieber) moves with his family from South Africa to Wakanda his entire world is turned upside down when he meets and saves Wakanda Princess Shuri (played by Willow Smith) in a mugging attempt gone wrong she prophesizes that he is the one to become the next Black Panther and save her people from an impeding invasion by a sinister force. As his love for her and her people grows, so does the threat...from all sides.
"Best Marvel hero movie in years!" - Vanity
"A fresh take on a stale superhero!" - ET
This. There's no reason not to make this happen.
That is pretty much what they did with Isaiah Bradley, who someone posted earlier: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_Bradley
"a twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that, she’s very like Prim in size and demeanor."
Easy to miss, but it's there.
Kitsunebaby
Member
If it's a character from a book, I couldn't care less.
If it's a character from a comic book or some other visual medium, and they have an iconic aesthetic to them I'd prefer them to try something similar to that aesthetic. Storm wouldn't look like storm without dark/tan skin and white hair, and I could never take a blond Bruce Wayne seriously. It wouldn't really bother me but it might make it hard to immerse myself in the film/show if the characters look nothing like the mental image of them that I grew up with. Though, I'm sure I'd get used to it.
If it's a character from a comic book or some other visual medium, and they have an iconic aesthetic to them I'd prefer them to try something similar to that aesthetic. Storm wouldn't look like storm without dark/tan skin and white hair, and I could never take a blond Bruce Wayne seriously. It wouldn't really bother me but it might make it hard to immerse myself in the film/show if the characters look nothing like the mental image of them that I grew up with. Though, I'm sure I'd get used to it.
That would be awesome.
Captain America: now with a skateboard, electricity powers, and a major 'TUDE!
Head of Vengarl
Banned
Napoleonthechimp
Member
It'd bother me but only because it'd be going against how the character has traditionally been portrayed (ie Batman, Superman having always been white since the 1930s).
Nothing wrong with Steve being a black dude. It wouldn't change the story one bit.
What? Please explain.
thecouncil
Banned
Why can't Black Panther be a white guy?
Except being the face of the USA army in 1940s.
Spring-Loaded
Member
I read THG a long while ago and when I saw this character mentioned in this thread, I immediately remembered how she was described. Pretty sure that's from the first time her character is mentioned; "easy to forget" maybe. Not easy to miss.
If someone cares enough about the books to have any opinion about the character casting in a film adaptation, it would be strange that they don't even know how the character is described. Those tweets above are baffling.
If you ignore the state of the U.S. and its military at the time, sure.
Napoleonthechimp
Member
George Oscar Bluth II
Banned
Think 1940's and America's poster child.
Vermillion
Banned
Sometimes, yes. Bit of a stickler.
And no, I would imagine that Steve Rogers couldn't be black. There's something to be lost not only as his Captain America position, but his background as the kid of Irish immigrants and the irony of the Nazis beaten by Hitler's perfect man.
And no, I would imagine that Steve Rogers couldn't be black. There's something to be lost not only as his Captain America position, but his background as the kid of Irish immigrants and the irony of the Nazis beaten by Hitler's perfect man.
Winnie the Pimp
Member
CTRL-F Nick Fury... hmmm
My guess, he is supposed to be Norse. Kind of required him to be white.
His story, not race relations in America.
The Living Tribunal
Member
To be fair, Flashpoint is worse than drowning kittens.
Thor is a Northern European mythological god. People make gods look like themselves.
Devolution
Member
Napoleonthechimp
Member
But he can be a horse.
They kind of bland together.
Do you know how many people that got pass? That is why I am kind agaisnt race switching. Hollywood doesn't know how to do it.
CountAntonius
Member
Everyone should be played by Tom Hanks.
It reminds me of Jessie Owens' story to be honest. It would work.
We can just cast Robert Downey Jr. for Iron Man, no matter what race it is!
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