Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

New Marvel Comic About A Black Thor Sparks Backlash For Perpetuating Racist Stereotypes

New Marvel Comic About A Black Thor Sparks Backlash For Perpetuating Racist Stereotypes
Marvel

To celebrate the upcoming 60th anniversary of Spider-Man, Marvel released a new comic featuring the character of Miles Morales in a hypothetical storyline.

Unfortunately, the comic was met with immediate backlash for racially stereotyping the character.


Morales is one of the characters known as Spider-Man from the Ultimate universe who was featured in the 2018 animated film, Enter the Spider-Verse.

The new comic in the What If? series shows what happens if Morales became Thor instead of the famed web-slinger.

However, the comic written by Yehudi Mercado and illustrated by Luigi Zagaria–who are both non-Black–was accused of perpetuating racist stereotypes about Black men and Black neighborhoods.

The latest issue explores Morales as the God of Thunder, Thor, in Asgard.

But the look of the realm associated with the deities of Norse mythology is quite a departure here.

The Asgard in which Morales is Thor is represented with buildings splattered with graffiti, shoes dangling from phone lines, and other urban aesthetics reminiscent of Brooklyn, New York where the original character is from.

Even his Moljnir, the divine hammer Thor uses, is covered in graffiti and Morales shouts, "It's hammer time!" whenever he is about to strike down with it.

The "hammer time" catchphrase is an on-the-nose nod to the one rapper MC Hammer used in the 1990s chart-topper, "U Can't Touch This."

Marvel fans found the new comics a parody of what a Black Thor would be.



Many fans were thrilled when writer Brian Michael Bendis introduced the 13-year-old Morales–who is the biracial son of an Black father and a Puerto Rican mother–in Ultimate Fallout #4 in 2011, following the death of Peter Paker.

Others at the time believed the introduction of a minority Spider-Man was a publicity stunt to attract more readers.

Now this iteration of Morales is being criticized for its lazy depiction of a Black character in a setting rife with Black stereotypes.



Marvel fans are hoping Shameik Moore will save the day when the actor and rapper returns to voice Miles Morales in the two-parter sequel to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Part One is scheduled for an October 7, 2022 release, with Part Two to follow at an undisclosed date in 2023.

More from Trending

Jeff Ross
Mike Coppola/Variety via Getty Images

Comedian Jeff Ross Shares Photos Of Puffed Up Lip After Allergic Reaction To Ice Cream

Insult comic Jeff Ross revealed he had a medical emergency after a show Saturday night that resulted in a trip to the ER. However, he assured fans the show must go on despite "looking like Mickey Rourke at the end of The Wrestler."

Ross recounted the ordeal on Instagram, showing his swollen lip taking over his face from eating burrata ice cream after his Take a Banana for the Ride show in Mill Valley, California, near San Francisco.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshot of Jesse Watters on Fox News
Fox News

Jesse Watters Offers Mind-Numbing New Claim About Masculinity—And Is Instantly Dragged

Problematic Fox News MAGA pundit Jesse Watters has made another bizarre claim about masculinity.

Having already taken exception with eating ice cream, drinking milkshakes, and taking bubble baths, Watters is now targeting tech jobs.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump with the Dodgers
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump Leaves Everyone Confused With Hilariously Bizarre Word Salad Tribute To The Dodgers

President Donald Trump was widely mocked after he welcomed the 2024 World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers to the White House on Monday with a bizarre, tangential, and rambling speech.

The team arrived at the White House on Monday morning, where Trump, in his remarks, praised two-way star Shohei Ohtani and infielder Mookie Betts. The Dodgers had defeated the New York Yankees in five games to clinch their second World Series title in five seasons.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump Roasted After Giving Clunky New Nickname To People Criticizing His Tariffs

President Donald Trump was criticized after he pushed back against critics of his tariffs, coming up with a new nickname for the "weak and stupid" people who oppose them.

The Trump administration’s newly imposed tariffs on imports from various countries have unsettled consumers, triggered a trade war, disrupted global markets, and sparked widespread fears of a potential recession in the U.S. and beyond.

Keep ReadingShow less

Childhood Experiences People Thought Were 'Normal' But Weren't At All

Content Warning: Child neglect, child abuse, narcissism, gaslighting, people-pleasing, and other traumatic childhood experiences

It's important for us to work on ourselves, to continue bettering ourselves throughout our limited time on this earth, and a key way of doing that is acknowledging what we do not know, and working on that.

Keep ReadingShow less