@thenexusrebound said:
Wow some of the unbridled racism here is scary as hell. I think it can easily be explained he is adopted or a step sibling and move on. I have friends who are foster brother and sister who one is white and her younger brother is in fact mix raced. For crying out loud I am adopted (Black in a black family) but my mom had thought about adopting a white young boy her case manager had at the same time as me. So my potential brother could have been white and me black. It wouldn't have mattered since I grew up with him as my brother, if it had been the case and he had not been adopted by another family. I have only ever seen the actor in Chronicle and the character was not overly well thought out, so on an acting level he would have to prove himself. It is just really creepy that these white characters can't be recast black, considering everyone was cool with black Nick Fury.
See, I'm not really for or against this guy in any outstanding way. But coming from a mixed family with adopted siblings myself and also being a parent with children in shared household scenarios (including a stepson), I'm going to play devil's advocate here for you.
Why include an adoption, mixed sibling, or race change at all here? Saying the character is adopted adds an unnecessary point in the character's history? Including that raises the questions of when did the Storms get him? Why was he adopted in the first place? Did he see some messed up stuff or was he abandoned? Does he know or care to know about his biological parents? These are questions that would pop up in the mind of any intelligent moviegoer should this be the case.
Having mixed parents would be a better route to go I think, but to recast 2 classic white characters as black in the movie? How would that settle with die-hard fans not in favor of the race change? At that point one has to ask, is there a risk of alienating the comic fans that will ultimately decide if the movie is a success? The word racist can be thrown around all day long and I'm sure in some cases there's some truth to that, but it been very clear for years that comic fans are fickle when it comes to the way these characters and the stories are portrayed on screen.
There's a couple of points I think are worth mentioning that haven't crept up half as much 'racist' and pity for white males (which I am).
1) As a white man, I can't personally relate to a shortage of mainstream characters that meet my skin tone. In an effort to relate, I don't think I'd want this re-imagining. The civil rights movement came to a head in the mid 60's, right? So why aren't there more prominent black characters that could have been made over the last 50 years? Casting a classic white character as black when there was really no effort to involve diversity before, personally I'd look at that like a marketing ploy or even charity and that's messed up.
2) They aren't changing that part of the character for any comics or games or (mostly) toys, so what's even the point? Heck, it's even a character that will be covered in CGI half the time. It seems like an effort to hit a black demographic. But, again, if it alienates any long standing fans, is it worth the risk? If I invested millions upon millions on this, I would take any risks and I'd stay true to successful stories. As this is a relaunch, all the more reason to remain true because the studio doesn't need another failed franchise.
3) If the studio wants to use a black character, here pick one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_black_superheroes#Marvel_Comics
Take a character from c-list to a-list. Use the movie to put a focus on Cardiac or Goliath or Rage. Launch that diverse character that's decades too late and do it without sparking debates like this. A divided audience is not a happy audience.
4) Ultimate Nick Fury is black and has been printed as such for years in a great number of comics. His son (of the same name) is also black and a frequently seen character. No incarnation of Johnny Storm is black. No one has problem with this because it was printed and seen before the film ever started rolling. People not having a problem with this had first seen his appearance used as Fury 10+ years before the movie began. I'm sure if that hadn't been a success maybe Fury would have been played by someone else entirely.
Man... that was a rant. Regardless, I'm going to see the movie and if this guy gets cast, good for him. My hope, as a comic fan, is that the movie be as true as possible to the source material. That's where my opinion ends.
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