Thor is not an office. Thor is a person. Frigga gave birth to Thor. As tempting as it might be this holiday season, try sending some strange woman over to the in-laws' family gathering and have her say she holds the "office" of the husband while you are hanging out with your friends watching the game (and thus unworthy).
Now, "Defender of Asgard" is an office. Thor, the son of Odin and Frigga, could become unworthy or incapable of holding that office and it could be passed to someone else. Freya, for example, is very entertaining in Norse mythology, and certainly not above apply a smackdown if need be. I could get behind a series where Freya was wielding Mjolnir against the forces of evil, as long as it wasn't some lame ass "Thor got hooked on drugs" storyline. Of course, Freya is a nordic goddess and would likely be blonde and buxom. If you want a Latina goddess, consult a different mythology.
Similarly, the "heavy hitter" in a super group is an office. For example, in the Fantastic Four, this is traditionally Ben 'the Thing' Grimm, but it has been Hulk, She-hulk, and Mr. Incredible in various incarnations (if you believe The Incredibles is a good FF movie
). A Mjolnir wielding Freya (or Sif) could serve as that role in the Avengers.
I do not object to replacing heroes with minorities. I object to trying to replace her identities. In the BSG reboot, I was intrigued by the female Starbuck. Then Ron Moore went and ruined it. That character had almost nothing in common with her namesake. She was supposed to be the best pilot in the fleet and likable. Instead, she winds up being whiny, neurotic, drug addicted, and suicidal. What happened to "her and Apollo are going to be friends, not lovers?" Oh yeah, that line made it ALMOST to S2, but S1 was a short season. THIS isn't making a female version of a character. This is stealing a few names and events for your story so you can capitalize on someone else's success (and possibly because you do not have enough original ideas to finish out your story).
No, I don't like all the Captain Americas. Its the Green Lantern Corps, so they're ok (except Kyle Rainer- he's annoying). I don't mind Rhodes filling in as Iron Man (or War Machine) in the Avengers, but he is NOT Tony Stark. He is his own man. Spiderman isn't an office. The Ghost Rider is kind of an office. We've seen references to "the rider" in the past. I also kinda of like the LA Latino version going on in Agents of Shield. I don't mind She-hulk filling in for Grimm in the FF, but she ISN'T Ben Grimm.
Looked at another way, this is like saying "Minorities aren't interesting enough to be their own characters. We have to steal someone else's name and fame or no one will care about them." It seems to me like that would be more insulting than giving them their own characters.
Luke Cage, Jean Grey, Wonder Woman, Sam Wilson, Jon Stewart and others have all managed to hold their own with their own names.
Interesting characters and stories will sell. When your sales pitch is 'I had to steal someone's name to get your attention,' I am thinking that is spelled with a silent '...because it wasn't good enough to stand on its own.'
Now, "Defender of Asgard" is an office. Thor, the son of Odin and Frigga, could become unworthy or incapable of holding that office and it could be passed to someone else. Freya, for example, is very entertaining in Norse mythology, and certainly not above apply a smackdown if need be. I could get behind a series where Freya was wielding Mjolnir against the forces of evil, as long as it wasn't some lame ass "Thor got hooked on drugs" storyline. Of course, Freya is a nordic goddess and would likely be blonde and buxom. If you want a Latina goddess, consult a different mythology.
Similarly, the "heavy hitter" in a super group is an office. For example, in the Fantastic Four, this is traditionally Ben 'the Thing' Grimm, but it has been Hulk, She-hulk, and Mr. Incredible in various incarnations (if you believe The Incredibles is a good FF movie
). A Mjolnir wielding Freya (or Sif) could serve as that role in the Avengers.I do not object to replacing heroes with minorities. I object to trying to replace her identities. In the BSG reboot, I was intrigued by the female Starbuck. Then Ron Moore went and ruined it. That character had almost nothing in common with her namesake. She was supposed to be the best pilot in the fleet and likable. Instead, she winds up being whiny, neurotic, drug addicted, and suicidal. What happened to "her and Apollo are going to be friends, not lovers?" Oh yeah, that line made it ALMOST to S2, but S1 was a short season. THIS isn't making a female version of a character. This is stealing a few names and events for your story so you can capitalize on someone else's success (and possibly because you do not have enough original ideas to finish out your story).
No, I don't like all the Captain Americas. Its the Green Lantern Corps, so they're ok (except Kyle Rainer- he's annoying). I don't mind Rhodes filling in as Iron Man (or War Machine) in the Avengers, but he is NOT Tony Stark. He is his own man. Spiderman isn't an office. The Ghost Rider is kind of an office. We've seen references to "the rider" in the past. I also kinda of like the LA Latino version going on in Agents of Shield. I don't mind She-hulk filling in for Grimm in the FF, but she ISN'T Ben Grimm.
Looked at another way, this is like saying "Minorities aren't interesting enough to be their own characters. We have to steal someone else's name and fame or no one will care about them." It seems to me like that would be more insulting than giving them their own characters.
Luke Cage, Jean Grey, Wonder Woman, Sam Wilson, Jon Stewart and others have all managed to hold their own with their own names.
Interesting characters and stories will sell. When your sales pitch is 'I had to steal someone's name to get your attention,' I am thinking that is spelled with a silent '...because it wasn't good enough to stand on its own.'
