14 DAY TRIAL // Last week was a bad time to be a Marvel superhero fan. If that's you, then chances are high that your whole world and entire belief system got turned upside down, when the studio began announcing some radical modifications that would change the way we look at our childhood superheroes forever.
It started off gently, some months ago, when the head honchos at Marvel announced that they would be killing off one of the most resilient characters in their franchise, the mutant Wolverine, who has made a very successful transition to the big screen with a lot of help from Australian actor Hugh Jackman.
At that point, we should have suspected that even bigger things were afoot, but we probably all thought we were just being paranoid and laid those worries to rest. That turned out to be a mistake last week, when a series of shocking announcements came in to crash several big names in the Marvel universe.
The first one to succumb to these changes was the mighty Thor, the God of Thunder. It seems that the good people at Marvel decided Thor wasn't worthy of wielding his magical hammer anymore and promptly decided to replace him with a woman, a She-Thor if you like.
Needless to say, this announcement made a lot of fans very angry and they haven't been afraid to show their frustration. Fans agree that Marvel needs more female superheroes, but they don't understand why the male ones have to be replaced in order to bring in a wider female demographic to the comic book universe.
No sooner had the ripples of this first stone cast in the water begun to fade, than a second, equally disturbing announcement was made: Marvel decided to replace Captain America from the white Steve Rogers, the WWII veteran, with the All-New Captain America, who will be black, since Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, is going to pick up the vibranium shield.
Though controversial, this decision somehow made a little more sense than replacing Thor with a woman. Steve Rogers was seen as a product of a now extinct generation, with antiquated morals and values, as well as an unhealthy inflexibility when it came to certain topics.
The new black Captain America is going to be a product of modern times, more in tune with the struggles and morals of the new generation, and that isn't a bad thing. Though a decision taken out of an understandable need and which made a lot of sense, the news of changing the identity of Captain America wasn't met with enthusiasm by everyone – quite the opposite.
But Marvel still wasn't done with shaking things up. Readying itself for a third blow, the studio, which is now owned by all rights and purposes by Disney, announced that it was coming out with a new version of Iron Man.
The twist in the tale? This new version is going to be darker and “hard to root for.” The new Iron Man will have a new costume, one that studio execs describe as being inspired by Apple products, so expect it to be shiny and slick.
Tony Stark will become Superior Iron Man, and despite the fact that his costume is now all white, his mood will be much darker. His status as a good guy will come into question, as his previously mischievous nature becomes dangerous, thanks in part to his overinflated ego.
All of these new characters are created to be put together in a new series that Marvel likes to call “Avengers NOW!” Basically, all of your childhood heroes, the ones you've grown up adoring and dreaming about, have gotten weird makeovers, often rendering them unrecognizable.
The idea was to probably appeal to a much younger generation and draw in a wider demographic from previously untapped segments of the market, but what the studio hasn't counted on is the alienation of its existing fans, who are left wondering where their heroes have gone.
Depending on which side you are, you think that this massive re-invention effort from Marvel is either a good idea or a very bad one. For us older fans, who grew up reading the comics, watching their transition to something more appealing to more people is like watching your pet die.
It has nothing to do with race or gender, because Marvel could very well create new heroes of different races and gender without modifying existing ones. These heroes and their stories have stood the test of time and have even shown their appeal in recent years on the big screen.
As a wise man once said, “If it ain't broke, don't fix it,” but sadly Marvel is not functioning on the same principle. Which is why it feels the need to turn things around and mess with what is basically your childhood, just so that the younger generation can connect more with a comic book superhero.