The Marvel multiverse just got a whole lot darker, as young, hip writers with the Disney owned publisher are being accused of racism by diehard fanboys. The most recent example is the use of Black character Miles Morales as Thor, which has readers accusing the publisher of lazy writing, problematic imagery, and blatant bigotry. 

The comic book is part of the ongoing storyline that poses the question: what if Miles Morales was a hero other than Spiderman? (Which is kind of weird to begin with, as he’s already a different version of Spiderman.) The comic was written by self-identifying Mexican-Jewish writer Yehudi Mercado. Part of Marvel’s new universe of diverse authors telling diverse stories, Mercado and his mickey mouse publisher likely didn’t suspect the backlash. Maybe they should have edited the book. 

Drawn by illustrator Luigi Zagaria, this cringeworthy iteration of Morales is a caricature of stereotypical African-American tropes, with the Black Asgardian sporting Air Jordan sneakers, carrying a graffiti covered magical hammer, and speaking in ebonics.

FOUR LETTER WORD FOR FOUR COLOUR HACKERY 

Displaying a complete lack of self-awareness, or in some sort of unknowing parody, the author and illustrator have one page showing the character walking through a graffiti-tagged Brooklyn stylized Asgard (home of Thor), while rapping to himself.

”Of all the five realms, Asgard is his hood. For miles you can see he’s just that good. The rainbow bridge takes him on his quest, the Bifrost Line goes north, south, east n’ west. From Jormungandr to the Wrecking Crew, he stuck Gullinbursti in the Asgard zoo. But he is low key when he wants to be, name on marquees, like his Uncle Loki. Odinson, he’s the son of gods and kings, got so many wins, check out all those rings. He’s formally known as a prince for sure, his subjects and friends, they just call him Thor.”

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– painful poetry from What If … Miles Morales was Thor?

And then there’s the reference to “Hammer Time!” invoking the name of M.C. Hammer’s rap song from the early 1990s, “U Can’t Touch This.”

BANG!

English Youtuber, ‘Az’ aka Heel Vs. Babyface, known for his pointed criticism of woke culture was quick to comment on the controversy: “When the panels started to release of this comic it was very clear that whoever wrote it was probably petrified of Black people for a start but literally wrote some of the most stereotypical stuff — which could easily be conceived of as racist panels.”

BAM!

Fans were taken aback by the publication. Online commentary on sites such as Incel platform Reddit was swift and blunt:

“I’d love to see his ‘What if Miles Morales was Mexican’ issue. Sombreros, mariachi, strings of chillies, tequila, chihuahua, Aye carumba, drug cartels, coffee and chocolate, greasy mustaches, fried beans, gangs, border hopping.”
“This is actually how the Woke see people, as stereotypes. Woke has a very simplistic world view, everything is in categories and people of different groups are by default “always just like this”.  To break from this simplistic view the Woke would have to admit that they are wrong that all people of this group are victims and all people of that group are oppressors. Woke ideology depends on absolutes, without absolutes they would have to judge people on facts and actions instead of their own bias, racism, and hate telling them exactly what to believe.”
“Hey comic book writer … Let me tell you what’s going to happen when you’ve done some ‘reflecting’. You’ll see a completely egotistical, soulless, ignorant moron looking back at you.”

– Single white males commenting on Incel message board Reddit

Az wonders how the issue ever made it to press in the first place. “Who was this guy’s editor? Was it Hitler? Was it the grand wizard of the KKK — who was this guy’s goddamn editor! If I read this and somebody said oh this was actually written by a known racist who wanted to ridicule (Black people) I could see that no problem.”

NO HERO

On his Twitter account, Mercado, offered an apology for his portrayal of the character. He wrote that he acknowledges the criticism and backlash and understands that inauthenticity hurts, mentioning his Jewish and Mexican background. Mercado admits he failed to make his story authentic and appreciates hearing from Black and Puerto Rican comic peers. He predictably promised to do better and said he would donate the entire amount Marvel paid him to the Brooklyn Book Bogeda, an organization that works with kids to build literacy in New York City.

BOOM! 

Az however is unconvinced and says the industry is just getting the villains ending it deserves. “In a time where DC comics and Marvel comics are pumping out some of the most pathetic, pandering, over-representative bigoted, sexist, racist pieces of material — all in the name of inclusion, diversity and progression — there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a woke on woke crime.”