Ultimate Spider Man: Peter Parker is dead, long live Spider-Man

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Marvel artist says at some point they might make a gay superhero. I don't see where the flying fuck comes in? Unless youa re talking about the comments section which are pretty ridic.

[Sky Warrior Bob]

Originally Posted by Nique

I would agree with this - Comic fans lean towards more liberal viewpoints like most nerdlings and are not exclusively white either.

Personally, I am more apt to think that this idea came from someone in marketing, who doesn't have a clue on the readers of comics. Sure, they might have done some study that convinced themselves that their prime audience was 'Liberal' & thus would actively enjoy this move.

When in truth, all the study could prove is that the readers might be liberal leaning, but while the comic might see a temporary boost thanks to rubber necking. (PPL checking out the comic, not to enjoy, but to see what's going on.)

In the end, I suspect this change will be reversed, because while the readership might soft support things, that doesn't mean they actively will seek out their entainment, supporting demographics.

So, in the end, this is about marketing, rather than politics. I suggest we not confuse the two.

[Jagos]

Originally Posted by Smarty McBarrelpants

Marvel artist says at some point they might make a gay superhero. I don't see where the flying fuck comes in? Unless youa re talking about the comments section which are pretty ridic.

The have some. They have some really good gay characters that don't go overboard with the camp gay or the flaming gay stereotypes in regular E-23. But Marvel would really have to sell the "gay" part of this because there's all told unknown amounts of implications from making a kid half black, half latino and a kid trying to grow up.

[Kim]

I really have no idea what you're saying or why it even approaches flying fuck material.

Like not even the slightest clue what you're talking about.

[Premmy]

Putting aside all the existing minority characters in a rush to pile in as many "Minorityness" as possible in one character being tacky, maybe?

[Kim]

But how are they putting aside existing minority characters? It's not like they've stopped writing them, AFAIK.

[Premmy]

I do believe they(All the minority Characters, yes ALL of them) are either second-stringers or Luke Cage. Meaning they rarely get written, and most often in teams, or guest shots... Iunno.

[Kim]

Hell, they don't even actually say this character might be gay. They say someday maybe a character being gay will be viewed as normal. I think, for the most part, that it's not viewed as normal yet for that to be a trait of superheroes, not in the same way heterosexual superheroes are just accepted as being heterosexual without readers even blinking, and I think that's what he was getting at.

So he wasn't saying "This character is going to have all the minorities so we're super inclusive." He was saying, "Hey, maybe someday being inclusive will be the norm, like it should be." That's how I read the actual quote, at least.

That said, even if this new character is gay, I don't at all see a correlation between the traits of this new Spiderman and that other minority characters don't get the spotlight enough. The latter is it's own problem that has existed for way too long and we don't really have any reason to think, as far as I know, that it will suddenly get worse, or that if it did get worse that it happened because the new Spiderman was gay.

I guess I also sorta hate the idea that something as simple as being a person of color and gay is being "too" inclusive. I mean, that doesn't even start to tread into the sort of territory I'd call forced.

[Jagos]

They have some. They have some really good gay characters that don't go overboard with the camp gay or the flaming gay stereotypes in regular E-23.

Link

But Marvel would really have to sell the "gay" part of this because there's all told unknown amounts of implications from making a kid half black, half latino and a kid trying to grow up.

There's a lot of Unfortunate Implications that can go with making a half black, half latino kid growing up as gay. The backlash, if he's not written well, will be tremendous. They will really have to define the character other than in terms of race, to sell him to the public.

I think, for the most part, that it's not viewed as normal yet for that to be a trait of superheroes, not in the same way heterosexual superheroes are just accepted as being heterosexual without readers even blinking, and I think that's what he was getting at.

No, that's not it at all. I would be sorely pissed if he's the star of the Spider Man series and suddenly, he's also the Token Black Guy through his characterization. There's ways to make him appealing. It shouldn't be his sexuality that sells us on making him an endearing character. It should be how he reacts to situations. He's gotten a very good one by stepping into the Spiderman suit. But if all of a sudden he's a flamer in high school, or something that goes against the ethos of what it means to be Spiderman, I would be damn sure to riot.

[Kim]

How about instead of just saying there are "unfortunate implications" you explain what those unfortunate implications are. A link to TV Tropes and a Youtube video is worthless to me. Defend your own points.

ALSO: There's a big difference between having a character like Spiderman as a minority character and having a character that the vast majority of non-comics-nerds have never heard of as a minority character. And I also don't get what you're saying, either. "We don't need another gay character there already is one"? I mean, what's the point of bringing it up? It's not so much that I actually think you mean, "____ gay characters is enough" but that I honestly don't get whatever relevance this is supposed to have to... anything.