Game Changer?

Like or hate the idea, she looks Awesome!

Over the last few months, we’ve had a few major roster changes in terms of Marvel Heroes. Thor is being “replaced” by a woman. He still exists and his name is still Thor, but she's is the... superhero... Thor? Something like that. Falcon is taking Captain America’s alias now that the greatest American Patriot has retired. For now. The question is, how is this going to matter in the long run? Simply put, not much.

Don’t get me wrong, anytime a new character is introduced, a hero changes their identity, or an old hero is retired or killed is important for storytelling, but for the rest of us, it’s just a temporary change. I know what some of you are saying, “But Michael, they are saying this is a permanent change,” or something along those lines. To that I say “Bull Spit.” Here’s why.

Every now and then, comic books try to reawaken interest in a character or series that is lagging. The most common method is either A. give a character a major revelation that completely shakes the foundation of their being, B. create a world changing event, or C. change a major/titular character. I’ll do a brief example each.

I don't hate the new look, but the shades are a bit much.

For A I turn my attention to good old Spider-man. Back in the day he faced off against a vicious green sociopath with a PhD. No, not Green Goblin, this villain is Miles Warren aka the Jackal. Jackal had an unhealthy obsession with a student of his by the name of Gwen Stacy, yes that one, and obviously took her death very hard. He held Spider-man 100% responsible and set out to destroy him via cloning. He created many, many clones of Spider-man, many evil, one or two good, and implanted in Spider-man’s head that he himself was a clone of the original. This sort of jarring possibility really ate at Spider-man’s psyche, he even thought about turning his costume over to the 'real' Peter, until he discovered that Jackal was in fact, a lying, cowardly, monster. But for a while, things looked grim for the web-head.

Jason Todd as Batman. Kind of terrifying.

For B we have another Marvel example we have the “No More Mutants” era of the X-men. I say era, but it only lasted from 2006-12. Brief background. The previous Arc was titled “House of M,” in it reality warping Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch remakes reality so that her Father, Magneto, is Supreme Ruler of a Mutant controlled World. Things are about as violent as normal, only with many favorite heroes as villains in Magneto’s new world. Eventually Wanda grows sick of the fighting and death and returns the world to normal, but with an added twist. With just the whisper of “No More Mutants,” she ends Mutant life as we know it. Around 90% of mutants lost their powers and no more Mutants were born or gained powers during this six year span. Many of the next few story arcs revolved around picking up the pieces of the old world, and dealing with new waves of Mutant hate, and hate towards now powerless former Mutants. This saga was ultimately ended by the return of the Phoenix Force in the story arc Avengers vs X-men. The combined efforts of Scarlet Witch (who had pretend to be powerless) and the Mutant Messiah Hope Summers (Cyclops and Jean’s Granddaughter…time travel is confusing) destroy the Phoenix Force and reignite the flame, as it were, of the X-gene in humans. Took a while but the status quo was returned.

Here's another 'Permanent Change" The Superior Spider-man
Doc Ock in Spidey's body. It lasted a year and a half.

                There have been a number of instances of C. I won’t list them all in detail but here are a few. Captain America “dying” and being replaced by longtime friend Bucky aka the Winter Soldier. Spider-man took Human Torch’s spot on the FF for a while. Doc Ock took Spider-man's name and body for a while. Hal Jordan has given up his GL powers and/or sector to his successors like five or six times. Barry Allen (Flash 2) was replaced by nephew Wally West (Flash 3) as the main Flash for about twenty years. Thor was replaced for a time by an alien named Beta Ray Bill. James “Rhodey” Rhodes got his start as an armored hero while taking over the role of Ironman for a binging Tony Stark. Nightwing has taken the Cowl from Batman for a bit, and there was even a long arc where he and the Red Hood (former Robin 2) fought for the right to wear Batman’s suit. Need I go on?

I think I’ve made the point clear. That for every “major” change in the comic book universe, somehow we always find our way back to the old status quo. It’s not really good or bad, it’s just the way things work. The question is, what will become of this new Thor when her luster wears out?

Previous Thor Sub: Beta Ray Bill

                The writer for this new Thor character stated that she wouldn’t be something like a “She-Thor” or “Thorita,” which isn’t something we want these days. But I ask you, is Rhodey nothing more than Grey Iron-man? No, he has evolved into his own unique character with his own unique weapon set and skills. That is what they should strive for, a character that is interesting and unique enough that when the inevitable return of the Thunder God happens, we don’t want to see the new Thor go. She can be Storm-Caller or something.

                If you are saying “But Michael, how can she stick around if her powers are tied to Thor’s hammer?” Three words: Beta Ray Bill. I mentioned him above. He’s an alien champion who was shown to be the first being other than Thor to lift Mjolnir. Know what they did? They made him his own uru hammer, Stormbreaker, which gave him virtually the same powers and costume. So even magic heroes with a “one of a kind” item can have similar allies.

                It seems like an essential part of human nature, no matter what changes we find comfort in what is familiar. In the end we’ll always go back to the Unified X-men vs. the world. The Peter Parker pining after Miss M.J. Watson (She was Mrs. Parker for a while). And of course the same beloved heroes with their powers. I don’t want to belittle what is being done here. A Lady Thor? An African American Captain America? These are two great examples of how far our culture has come to have these two characters. I’m just saying, don’t treat this as an end all, game changer. This is an exciting new story for Sam Wilson, and an even more exciting first step for this She-Thor, but it’s just that, a phase. Hope these two are worthy of the titles they are being given.

A salute to the Original Captain. He's gonna take a break for a while.

 http://variety.com/2014/biz/news/marvel-introduces-first-female-thor-in-new-comicbook-series-1201262561/

 http://www.hitfix.com/news/marvel-reveals-the-new-captain-america-and-its-the-falcon

 http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/Jason_Todd

http://www.followingthenerd.com/ftn_news/comic-review-ftn-reviews-superior-spider-man-team-up-2/

 http://www.comicvine.com/images/1300-3205060

 http://www.comicvine.com/images/1300-3948389