If Steve Rogers were not a Caucasian, would he still be Cap?

[Xon-Ur]

It's not my intent to offend at all with this question. Marvel's been very clear that they're out to diversify their universe by adding characters of all different backgrounds.

That said, I still feel that it's slightly offensive to the character of Falcon that Sam Wilson is now Captain America. Was he somehow lacking on his own?

It seems that the goal of the last year or so and certainly with ANADM is to not just create diversity, but to force diversity at the expense of characters with decades of stories and legacies.

Thor was made female, Cap is now an African American, and Tony Stark, the only white guy in Big Three, was made into a villain.

Thoughts?

[Star_Jammer]

There seems to be a bit of disconnect from your thread title and your actual subject.

If Steve Rogers were not Caucasian, no...I do not think he would have ever been Captain America. Given the time period the character first appeared, prominent minority characters pretty much didn't exist.

[Immortal Weapon]

I feel that Sam Cap and Jane Thor are marketing gimmicks. I don't see them retaining those roles after two years tops. If Marvel wanted a black cap I felt Patriot would have been a more natural choice.

[Heisennerd]

Was it offensive to the Winter Solider when Bucky became Cap?

I won't say Falcon was lacking, but I'll say he was always lame to me & it's pretty obvious the character is getting a bigger push from Marvel while being Captain America.

[HUTHAIFA]

I feel like everything a publisher does is to sell books. Momentary shifts in status quo to get people to talk about a book or character is good for business. Things happening organically rarely happen. Its all thought out and done to sell books. Not saying that the people who make these stories are not also artistically driven. They obviously are, you can see it in their work.

From new costumes,love interest,identity switches,creative teams,numbering, and so on. All of this done is to make money and sell books. No one at Marvel or DC is selling books from the back of their car trunk.

[Heisennerd]

If Steve Rogers weren't white, he'd be Isaiah Bradley

[Xalfrea]

Let's face it. EVERYTHING a company does will be deemed bad one way or another, because they're a BUSINESS. They're job is to make MONEY. So they're going to do whatever ways to make money.

The trick is to making sure that you can tell good stories AND make good money at the same time. The Transformers TV shows, various incarnations Power Rangers, and Ninja Turtles TV shows are good examples of this, while the Transformers movies and Planes movies are bad examples. Yes, the blatant marketing and just-an-excuse-to-sell-toys mentality is there, but the writers can make a show or movie be good to hide that fact.

I don't mind them then doing the whole Sam-Cap and Jane-Thor thing, and as usual, opinions on the two are divided, there are those who like it, and those who don't.

[XPac]

It's not my intent to offend at all with this question. Marvel's been very clear that they're out to diversify their universe by adding characters of all different backgrounds.

That said, I still feel that it's slightly offensive to the character of Falcon that Sam Wilson is now Captain America. Was he somehow lacking on his own?

It seems that the goal of the last year or so and certainly with ANADM is to not just create diversity, but to force diversity at the expense of characters with decades of stories and legacies.

Thor was made female, Cap is now an African American, and Tony Stark, the only white guy in Big Three, was made into a villain.

Thoughts?

Female Thor honestly felt a bit gimmicky to me.

But FalCAP doesn't because he's the long established side kick for Steve and the most obvious choice (aside from MAYBE Bucky) to be his sucessor. It's like Dick Greyson taking over for Batman. It doesn't feel forced to me, because it's so obvious a choice.

[ed2962]

If Steve Rogers weren't white, he'd be Isaiah Bradley

I was thinking the exact same thing. Non-white 40's Cap is already part of canon.

[JohnLynch]

It's an absurd question because it would never have happened for historical reasons. America was white in the 40s.

As for gimmicks. The Avengers were a gimmick. Everything's a gimmick until it's popular enough or been around long enough.

But yes. Black characters can be replaced. See Kid Power Man.

[ed2962]

Also why oh why are people still trying say that the changes that have happened to Cap, Thor, and IM are some sort of insult to the histories of these heroes when each one of them have been replaced multiple times and the originals always come back?

I mean, I get it if say you're a Vic Sage or Richard Ryder fan. There's no guarantee that those guys are coming back even though the companies obviously want to keep using the name. Maybe they'll be back and maybe editors will just come with new characters. But Cap and Thor? C'mon...

[MajorHoy]

If Steve Rogers weren't white, he'd be Isaiah Bradley

I'd be just as happy if they had chosen Battlestar over Falcon to replace Steve.



Sam had a good, long career as Falcon and didn't need the Cap identity to repair his image (unlike Bucky / Winter Soldier).

[Biclopcicle]

Female Thor honestly felt a bit gimmicky to me.

But FalCAP doesn't because he's the long established side kick for Steve and the most obvious choice (aside from MAYBE Bucky) to be his sucessor. It's like Dick Greyson taking over for Batman. It doesn't feel forced to me, because it's so obvious a choice.

Agree about FalCap. This only adds to the character, and it's a natural progression for him. For me, the jury is still out on Thordis. If they can somehow tie back Odinson's unworthiness to Jane Foster being worthy and becoming Thor (that is, if the two are somehow causally related, like Thor was unworthy because of something he did or did not do to/for Jane Foster), then it will at least "feel" organic and story-driven, whether it was or not.

[MichaelC]

I'd actually like American Eagle to be the next Cap.

[t hedge coke]

I was thinking the exact same thing. Non-white 40's Cap is already part of canon.

The best moment in The Truth was after Cap finds all that out and "Oh, it's soooo sad he wasn't famous like me, and no one knew about him," then we get that wall of photographs and no, he wasn't famous like Cap, but he was famous and he was strong and he was a hero. Cap just didn't know about him because he wasn't famous for white people.