Blue Marvel - Adam Brashear Appreciation 2021

[The_Last_Czarnian]

Thoughts on why Blue Marvel isn't used more?

If I had to throw you a top-of-my-head answer, I'd suggest that "snarky" characters are cool at the moment.

Your Deadpools, or Harleys, or hip fourth wall-breakers that make liking comic-book stuff cool and not geeky? It seems "in" at the moment to poke fun at serious comics and characters.

[Lou_Kayge]

Per Grevioux, Adam fully complied with the Executive Order, which by the way, is much more than an "ask", up until Tony Stark and the Avengers came to him seeking help against Anti-Man. However, Ewing later revised that history in the pages of Mighty Avengers, Captain American and Mighty Avengers and to a lesser extent the Ultimates with stories that revealed some of Adam's off-grid activities as Blue Marvel. Clearly, Ewing agreed that there's no way to rehabilitate Adam in the eyes of readers, if all it takes to shut him down is a political agenda, no matter how progressive or benign.

I think Grevioux missed an opportunity. Considering his friendship with the Watcher, Adam could have been asked to be Protector of the Multiverse by Uatu and accepted the task. Opens up the opportunity for a lot of stories.

[Harsh Lesson]

Thoughts on why Blue Marvel isn't used more?

The Ultimates 3 and Ultimates MCU are in the works, so Marvel editorial isn’t allowing it’s less established members to be used liberally.

Edit: The MCU just announced that Captain Marvel 2 was rebranded as “The Marvels”

[JudicatorPrime]

I think Grevioux missed an opportunity. Considering his friendship with the Watcher, Adam could have been asked to be Protector of the Multiverse by Uatu and accepted the task. Opens up the opportunity for a lot of stories.

ALOTBM was the story that Grevioux wanted to tell. He could have introduced Adam with a completely different origin and narrative, yet still infused it with powerful, socially conscious themes.

Grevioux came to the project wishing in part to voice his discontentment with Marvel's history of introducing less than truly powerful African American characters. He also felt some type of way about the portrayal of existing Black characters. If the pen is mightier than the sword, then clearly Grevioux entered the fray seeking to slay all dragons, both in the fictional universe, and with the culture at Marvel that produced Black characters that he found uninspiring.

I suspect whether or not Grevioux was successful will remain an ongoing topic of debate. Perhaps the very fact that people would like to somehow revise Adam's origin is a measure of success?

We can't change the ugly things that happened in our past. But that doesn't stop us from changing our future. There's really no reason why Adam can't head into space and become a multiversal protector now...if that's what Marvel wanted.

[Tofali]

Thoughts on why Blue Marvel isn't used more?

His most well known story is about the past. He reads old. He acts old. He looks old. Old OLD OLD To me that is

Maybe they need a new story and a better setting for him. He needs to be a Cosmic character full time.

[Harsh Lesson]

His most well known story is about the past. He reads old. He acts old. He looks old. Old OLD OLD To me that is

Maybe they need a new story and a better setting for him. He needs to be a Cosmic character full time.

Get rid of the grey accents and we're good to go

[ed2962]

Thoughts on why Blue Marvel isn't used more?

He's more of a cult character among fans. And creators who have clout tend to lean towards characters they grew up with or create themselves. Thus Marvel isn't in a rush to really promote him. Plus there's the difficulty of newer characters who aren't part of a larger franchise to gain traction in today's comic market ( of course there's exceptions to this).

Having said that, I guarantee you that if Adam Brashear gets confirmed to appearing in a movie, TV show, or cartoon, Mravel will milk the heck out of it and we'll be seeing him all over the place.

[Tendrin]

I think making Adam a cosmic character necessarily divorces him from the social context he's best used to explore, much the same as sending Sentry to space can (but not necessarily given the way both their powers work) divorces him from the themes for which he's best suited.

That's not to say that you can't use these characters in those contexts but I think you lose a little of what really separates them and makes them stand out compared to other, similar high powered characters.

[Carbon jiren]

I think making Adam a cosmic character necessarily divorces him from the social context he's best used to explore, much the same as sending Sentry to space can (but not necessarily given the way both their powers work) divorces him from the themes for which he's best suited.

That's not to say that you can't use these characters in those contexts but I think you lose a little of what really separates them and makes them stand out compared to other, similar high powered characters.

What exactly do you mean by social context?

[Harsh Lesson]

What exactly do you mean by social context?

Racism & white supremacy. While I'd like the focus of his character to be cosmic in nature, it's hard to explore the psychology of being a black man with Adam's powers if he's removed from the context that lends itself to that narrative.

[JudicatorPrime]

What would Adam say?

I believe he's always longed to be free of the cage of racism and its peculiar complexities. He didn't start out as a "Black" hero and none of his efforts were specifically aimed at addressing the institutional racism that the Black community faced during the 1960s or thereafter. He did everything in his power to hide the fact that he was a Black man in his adventures as Blue Marvel, because it freed him to be a humanitarian and a champion for everyone -- first and always.

Being a cosmic hero is undiscovered country for someone who looks like Adam -- at least at Marvel. We must take that torch and run with it, even if it means that we rarely see a feature story of Adam taking out the Supremacists, or dethroning some racist autocrat and their international cabal.

[JudicatorPrime]

I'm just going to leave this here. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...ie-1234947599/

[Carbon jiren]

What would Adam say?

I believe he's always longed to be free of the cage of racism and its peculiar complexities. He didn't start out as a "Black" hero and none of his efforts were specifically aimed at addressing the institutional racism that the Black community faced during the 1960s or thereafter. He did everything in his power to hide the fact that he was a Black man in his adventures as Blue Marvel, because it freed him to be a humanitarian and a champion for everyone -- first and always.

Being a cosmic hero is undiscovered country for someone who looks like Adam -- at least at Marvel. We must take that torch and run with it, even if it means that we rarely see a feature story of Adam taking out the Supremacists, or dethroning some racist autocrat and their international cabal.

I was about the pen similar sentiments. Thank you for this. It is shame American society is obsessed identity politics and racism. It seems to be a black super hero, you have to burdened with proverbial "struggle" the black man has gone through. That narrative has been dealt with for decades in countless stories. What would otherwise be an absolutely fascinating story about Blue marvel's exploits as a cosmic superhero is over shadowed by the fact that "Oh he sold out by not helping black people during the civil rights movement". Funnily, Luke Cage addressed this very fact with Adam already.

[Carbon jiren]

I'm just going to leave this here. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...ie-1234947599/

Icon: So what am I chopped liver?

[JudicatorPrime]

Icon: So what am I chopped liver?

Icon. Val-Zod. Calvin Ellis. Superman of Earth D (who also shares the name Kal-El). Sunshine Superman. To a lesser extent, Tangent Superman and Steel. DC has a number of Black characters that have been called Superman at some point or another. The beauty of a lore steeped in parallel universes, I guess.

Obviously, there is quite a bit of backstory and controversy behind this Superman move from WB, but I found it interesting as this relates to our collective wish that Adam Brashear appear in the MCU someday. I hope that Marvel goes about it the right way.