Why is that bad though? Aside from the more... "questionable" aspect of changing it for no real reason.
I'm honestly asking here. You're going to have to explain some of the finer details to me because I really don't feel like going to wikipedia to figure this out.
Also, I can see why they did it; feminine appeal to the men, and broader appeal towards women. But other than that, you're right. It really doesn't make a lot of sense from an objective standpoint.
You want my honest opinion? It's quite possibly the laziest attempt Marvel has ever made to be progressive, and have more female superheroines. It's not the
incentive behind the change...it's the
EXECUTION.
I mean, it doesn't
sound like a bad idea....on paper. The motive behind this change is perfectly reasonable. Comic books have been dominated by a majority of male, white protagonists for many years, with very little in variety in between. So, expanding the cast of superheroes with more varying options sounds promising and inclusive on paper, but this brings about a prominent problem with representation, one that can render it meaningless if conducted in such a way: bad execution.
This change irritates me for one simple reason: it's not creative. Marvel doesn't want to introduce a new empowered, interesting female character...they just take Thor, paint him with a thick coat of Rule 63, and call it a day.
The intent behind this kind of change isn't the problem, it's that the changes made won’t have the desired effect that the authors hope for. The comic industry doesn't NEED female swaps of already-existing characters...that wouldn’t only be an exercise in missing the point, but in uncreative laziness as well. These changes aren’t innovative because they aren’t brand-new, individual creations—they’re
amendments to
existing characters. Characters like Thor are already established characters in decades' worth of comics (and in Thor's case, ancient Norse MYTHOLOGY), and readers will almost always associate them with the original forms they’ve taken for years. This isn't like
DmC, where you take a character that's only been in four games over a seven-year lifespan, and give him a make-over and reboot. These characters are icons, and have a well-established legacy not just in comics, but in pop culture.
To take the altered versions of them and toss them into the spotlight burdens them with living in the shadow of their predecessors, preventing them from having a strong presence on their own as characters. Every aspect about them, regardless of their new gender or skin color, will be constantly compared to their original counterparts, and thus rob them of any strengths or innovations they could’ve potentially brought to the table on their own. And what’s worse, is that most of these changes are never permanent. Superheroes and comic book characters have been subject to racial, gender, and sexual changes for years—the most notable examples being Miles Morales (the first black Spider-Man), and Batman passing his cowl to both male and female successors throughout his many comic book interpretations. But after only a few years and hastily-explained reboots later, these characters revert back to their original form, as if the changed interpretations of them had never even existed in the first place.
This kind of change for "including more female characters for the sake of diversity", by nature and execution, is the
wrong type of change. Instead of creating new forms of equality and accessibility for a wider audience, they’re recycling characters and slapping a new coat of paint on them. Publishers should create new, individual characters that are not derived from an already-existing one: introduce strong female heroes, or openly gay or lesbian characters, or more racially-diverse ones…but above all, introduce original ones. They’ll have far more impact as stand-alone characters, and have their own story arcs and characteristics to put their own mark on the comics industry. Now, in fairness, this solution isn’t the easy one, and might be the reason publishers like Marvel are taking the quick and lazy route. Introducing new characters in comic books is a risky move, because their inclusion doesn’t always guarantee instant recognition and success. But it’s only with these drastic gambles that comic book icons are born. There was a lot of skepticism and doubt about Wonder Woman being successful in an environment of mostly male heroes, and now, she’s arguably the most recognizable super-heroine of all time.
In other, words: MARVEL, don't SWAP Thor's hammer for a bra, and then claim to be progressive...INVENT a new character! Invest a penny or two out of the truckloads of money your getting from MCAU, hire some talented artists,
AND TRY BEING ****ING CREATIVE.
