Monday, July 11, 2016

Iron Man is now a 15 year old girl.

Why give the iron mantle to someone else?

 I don't know how to feel as a fan of the character. Iron Man has always been iconic to me ever since I first learned how to use the Proton Cannon in Marvel vs Capcom 2. So when I read about his incoming replacement, Riri Williams, I started to wonder. Are the gender and race swapping with the superheroes a good thing?



 I guess, to me, it's 50/50! 



 I'll start with the bad. As a huge fan of superheroes and comic books, you start to familiarize yourself with the characters. To me, Iron Man has always been Tony Stark. Thor has always been the Shakesperean muscle-head guy from Asgard. Spiderman has always been Peter Parker. When they start calling something else the same name, I get confused and a little frustrated since the icon i knew now has to share their name with someone else. Feelings aside, it will still cause a lot of confusion with new fans and old. "Which Iron Man are we talking about right now? The girl Iron Man?" "Which Thor? The Buff Guy or the Hot Chick?" See what I mean? I liked that each superhero could be recognized and have their reputation be instantly known just by looking at them. Now there's gonna be some weird, out of place, comparisons made between the people the share the name. 



So much chaos.

 On the other hand, the diversity it does present offers some opportunities. Maybe some girl who loves robotics can find a kindred spirit in Riri Williams as Iron Man. It does open up a lot to more audiences. Kids love to discover about something especially in a nice story so maybe it's harsh to condemn the gender-bender redesigns. Also I guess, I don't want to adhere that there should be less stories and characters made.

 On my final note, I do welcome and encourage much diversity in comics, especially in superheroes, which are my favorite ones. But they could just have their own story. And their own names. What's the need to piggyback on the already established storylines? Also when we can make our own? Sure there have been done-to-death origin stories, but who cares? We just want more original content that can stand on its own.

 What do you think? More characters with the same name or just more characters? Let me know in the comments. Til then, Ciao!

No comments:

Post a Comment