Thor is now a Goddess

First the unpardonable sissification, and now the unspeakable:

http://time.com/3001241/marvel-captain-america-black/

 

At least the Falcon is a recognizable character who has been around Captain America for almost half a century now. They can build a story around that that makes sense. It's more noteworthy to comic fans because it's not Steve Rogers as Cap, not because it's a black guy becoming Cap.

That's not the case with the retcon they tried to pull about 10 years ago. That thing went over like a wet fart in church.
That was when they ginned up a story out of thin air about Tuskegee-like experiments during World War II in which black soldiers had the super soldier serum tested on them, and one of them became Captain America before Steve Rogers. Basically, they said piss off to 60 years of continuity for a forgettable conspiracy-fueled story that turned an American icon into the product of a racist government no better than the Nazis he was fighting.

 

Again, although I'm a purist. I embrace the idea of Thor being a woman and Captain America being Black. Hopefully, the dialogue won't be sissified and condescending.

 

Second African American to be Captain America, though the first was a retcon set far in the past, Isaiah Bradley.

 

A few thoughts on the change in Thor and comics in general.

1. I've read a lot about the Marvel Cinematic Universe regarding Life After Downey. But it must also be acknowledged that one day, Scarlet, Chris, and Chris won't be playing their parts anymore. Is there a grand scheme to shake up the Avengers movie line up? Rotate in and out other characters? I'm sure there is. After all, rebooting one franchise is daunting enough at times. Rebooting the entire MCU? A nightmare. So, what to do? Either recast the roles like nothing happened (Keaton to Kilmer to Clooney) or substitute other characters into the fray without dropping the main icons. Maybe the guy who played the Falcon, Sam Wilson, will eventually become Captain America (which was just announced to happen in the comic). Maybe movie Thor does transform into a woman when Chris Hemsworth says 'fuck it, I'm done." It's Thor, but it's not Chris Hemsworth. Bruce Banner went from Norton to Ruffalo. Perhaps Rhodey (Don Cheadle) becomes movie Iron Man. Black Widow is just a code name. Doesn't have to be Natasha Romanov.

So, are the recent changes in comics helping pave the way for keeping the MCU going without rebooting or recasting roles?

2. I understand there was a lot of wallet pain over The Death of Superman. But that's what people get for looking at comics and toys as investment items. Even as a kid I questioned how something like one issue of a comic could be worth so much when it seemed everyone had one. Why is Action No. 1 so valuable? Because it was printed before WW2, and the massive paper recycling (along with other recycling and rationing of materials) led to a lot of moms throwing out a lot of comics. Want Superman No. 75 to be worth more? Find every copy save 10 and burn them.

3. I don't understand how some folks still want paper comics. I made the switch to digital and never looked back. I don't have room for all those issues. Of course, I read very few regular titles anymore. I've given up on regular runs of books, like Superman or Batman. Too much crossover, too much to buy. I'm down to three: Smallville, Ghostbusters, The Shadow. The best part of digital (beyond always having them to read) is that if you allow yourself to get behind on issues, the price drops like crazy. Wait a month and save a buck off the cover price. Wait two months and it'll be 99 cents. If you don't mind being behind, it's a great way to save money.

 

I really should look into digital for all the reasons you stated. Can you do it through the company sites or is there another safe route to go? Feel free to PM if you prefer. Thanks Bradley.

Also, good points regarding the MCU and Death of Superman. I still think the plan was for it to be Bucky that picks up the shield in the cinematic universe, but that plan could change.

 

Regarding the MCU, they did announce Downey would return for Avengers 2, although it remains to be seen if he's going to don the Iron Man costume. One would assume they'd try to get Downey to do Avengers 3, but I suspect after that, Downey will be ready to move on.

Chris Evans is committed through the third Captain America film. That could be the time they transition the Falcon into the Captain America role. Hemsworth is set to appear in Avengers 2, so if any change happens with Thor, it's likely sometime after that film (assuming they do another Thor film).

As for Death of Superman, I agree with what Bradley wrote. I suspect many comic book fans believed they weren't really killing Superman because they had seen supposed deaths in the comics before, but those who didn't follow comic books closely thought it was a big deal, so off they went to buy copies of the comic, and as Bradley said, nobody was throwing the comic away.

 

So will they change Beta Ray Bill to a Unicorn?

 

WB/DC could bring Mjolinir down on all these idiotic 'stunts' which have trashed the credibility of the entire comic-character industry ... if it used the upcoming 'Batman vs. Superman' to really, officially, formally and finally, kill off Superman ... and make it stick.

They obviously don't know what to do with the character on film and sales of the comic book are tanking. They could take a giant leap forward for the entire industry if they said, "OK, we are going to have another of these 'universe-shaking-events' ... except this time it's going to stick. No resurrections, no resuscitations, no comebacks."

Plus it would add drama to all FUTURE comic-book death-drama events, because it would have established, "hey, they killed off Superman -- they could kill off this (other minor character) too."

 

Today was about the fourth time in the last year I've decided it would be fun to get into comics for the first time since I was a kid. Then I go to the website and start browsing the options and end up nope-ing the eff out. Too confusing.

 

To expand:

I loved X-Men as a kid, mostly the cartoons but I bought some of the comics here and there. I like all the comic-book movies, and sometimes when I'm curious I'll read about what's going on in the various comic-book worlds online.

I'm too old to be hanging around comic book shops and I never liked them anyway, but I like the idea of getting a mail-order subscription. Some bathroom reading material once a month, a feeling like I'm at least tangentially part of nerd culture, maybe a bit of nostalgic hipsterism in being able to say I'm a subscriber.

I know I probably don't want to go back to X-Men. Huge, ever-changing roster, complicated storylines. These are not new-reader friendly. I think last year on a whim I bought the latest issue in a store and didn't recognize most of the characters.

OK, go to Marvel.com. Click on comics. I see a whole bunch of crap that I have no idea what any of it is. WTF is "Original Sin" and why does it have Iron Man and Hulk fighting? Who are the Secret Avengers and are they different from the regular Avengers?

OK, I see a button for "Print Subscriptions." Click on that. Featured titles include Spiderman 2099 (nope, too weird), Captain America (a little tempting, he was kind of cool), She-Hulk (not that kind of bathroom material) and there's that Original Sin thing again. No idea what that is all about.

Scrolling down I see a "Most Popular" section and it leads with "Amazing Spider-Man." Clicking on it I see the current issue is "Volume 3, 1.3" and titled "Learning to Crawl." I vaguely recall reading something about them rebooting the whole series recently, so maybe I wouldn't be that far behind and Spiderman is pretty cool and basic. $28.96 for 12 issues is pretty reasonable.

"Upcoming issues" seems to include the 1.3 they talk about above, something involving that Original Sin thing again, and then "Superior Spider-Man 32." I'm a simple man. I would assume that maybe 1.4 and 1.5 would follow 1.3 and not two that appear to be entirely different series? Would I get those with my subscription? Do I need them to follow the story? Hell if I know.

I do some quick googling and confirm that yes, it was rebooted recently, and that there are issues 1, 1.1 and 1.2 previous to the 1.3 that's listed as the current issue. That's encouraging, I'm not too far behind at least. Although I don't see any easy way on Marvel's web site to buy the back issues, either, which is annoying.

I'm 50/50 on whether I'm going to follow through on this or not.

 

Shouldn't the name be changed to Thora?