Is Marvel’s latest push towards diversity a fad?

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Trend, fad, or marketing. I don't know if there are any more or less diverse characters being added now as there was ten, twenty, or even thirty years ago, but it is being marketed as such. I am sure the marketing push will pass once the marketing people move on to whatever is the next trend or fad.

To the longevity, I agree. Some things catch on and some things don't. Selling comics now is all that matters though, the future can figure out what the market wants when the time comes.

I'd say more diverse characters are gonna be added over the coming years. How good they are gonna be is anyone's guess.

[CosmiComic]

I think it's fair to ask whether Marvel will keep up the effort to diversify the roster of heroes, considering how many minority heroes are often forgotten or don't appear as often. I think this will probably be a lasting effort. But one can't expect these new heroes to suddenly be great when they haven't had the same amount of time as those from 60 or even 30 years ago.

[Raye]

I think it's fair to ask whether Marvel will keep up the effort to diversify the roster of heroes, considering how many minority heroes are often forgotten or don't appear as often. I think this will probably be a lasting effort. But one can't expect these new heroes to suddenly be great when they haven't had the same amount of time as those from 60 or even 30 years ago.

To be fair, lots of characters, regardless of race/gender/sexuality, often fall into obscurity. Creating new characters is a crap shoot, and a lot of the time, characters will end up forgotten about. But it's only when it happens to minority characters that people point to it as a sign of failure, like it's some kind of reason to not make minority characters, because they will all just fail or something. When Adam X or someone falls into obscurity, it's not really remarked upon.

[Marvell2100]

Another thing to consider is that with all the success of the streaming services and push for diversity there, it only makes since for Marvel to continue adding diverse characters so that they can translate it into other media that will have the kind of content that people want.

[mathew101281]

I think it's fair to ask whether Marvel will keep up the effort to diversify the roster of heroes, considering how many minority heroes are often forgotten or don't appear as often. I think this will probably be a lasting effort. But one can't expect these new heroes to suddenly be great when they haven't had the same amount of time as those from 60 or even 30 years ago.

Why? not, Spider-Man was created in 1962 he was a popular iconic character by 1967. The hulk was created in 1962 and was already pretty iconic by the 70’s as well. The really iconic superheroes rise to popularity pretty quickly, then they cement their popularity over time. I feel Miss Marvel had a real shot at being iconic (Long term) but Marvel squandered a lot of her build up. Characters become harder to build up as they get older not easier.

[Raye]

Spider-Man and Hulk also had a LOT less competition. It is a lot harder today to become a 'classic' when so many already existing fan favorites, like Spider-Man and Hulk, are competing for readers attention. And lets see how Kamala does once her show hits, it is much too soon to count her out

[CosmiComic]

Spider-Man also got a lot more promotion by Marvel. Other heroes didn't get as much effort put into them.

[skyvolt2000]

Spider-Man also got a lot more promotion by Marvel. Other heroes didn't get as much effort put into them.

This.

Peter had a show in less than 5 years after he showed up.

Static only took 7 years. Miles only took 7 (or 8). Kamala is doing it in only 8 years.

[Zero Hunter]

Marvel learned years ago that race/gender swapping a classic character gets them in them headlines. Throw in a making them LGBTQ+ and they get even more headlines. Doesn't make a difference if your only appealing a very small subset of fans Marvel is still in the last century way of thinking that any press is good press which is just not true anymore. Bad press can cripple a book before it even sees print. Just look at that trainwreck that was the last New Warriors series.

[CosmiComic]

This.

Peter had a show in less than 5 years after he showed up.

Static only took 7 years. Miles only took 7 (or 8). Kamala is doing it in only 8 years.

Exactly. Part of his success is Marvel putting him above other heroes. Just dropping a character and not following up enough on them leaves them in limbo

[beetee]

This thread feels outdated.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Why? not, Spider-Man was created in 1962 he was a popular iconic character by 1967. The hulk was created in 1962 and was already pretty iconic by the 70’s as well. The really iconic superheroes rise to popularity pretty quickly, then they cement their popularity over time. I feel Miss Marvel had a real shot at being iconic (Long term) but Marvel squandered a lot of her build up. Characters become harder to build up as they get older not easier.

How did Marvel squander her buildup?

[MyriVerse]

Considering most of the heroes no longer have books outside of Champions, one could wonder if the "fad" is over?

Most may not have staying power, but I don't think that means the fad is over. At least I hope not. Regardless of diversity, not all characters have staying power.

[Holt]

We have some variation of this debate every few months, usually it's about how brand new minority heroes are better than legacy characters. Fact of the matter is, if you looked at all the new characters Marvel and DC introduce per year, you'd see only a small fraction ever break out big or have any sort of staying power. That's true regardless of race, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation.

[Chris0013]

Marvel is a business. They do what they do to make money.