Stan Lee said it well, there's no need to change established characters race or sexual preferences.
I understand the desire to be inclusive. Heck, nine times out of ten, it works quite well and I'm totally on board. At this point I can't count the number of comic book characters written as white that have been played by actors of color on screen, and I wasn't bothered by any of it (except possibly Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch, because it was so obviously a PC move, not to mention nepotism).
But just because it works nine times out of ten doesn't mean we need to do it all the time and that it doesn't matter which roles get race lifted. We've got movies and TV series set in medieval or Tudor-era England and people
still complain when the cast is all white. Sometimes it just makes more sense, people!
Here's a
quote that really puts it in perspective for me:
"Ultimately, my problem with this movement is that it's focused (without anyone admitting that this is the case) on stamping out Whitey. And hey, I get it: Whitey sucks. Historically, he has sucked
ass. This is not lost on me; after all, I am of the clan Whitey, so I have seen some of that from the inside. (Similarly, I am of the clan Male Oppressor, and I know what sort of bullsh*t we've been perpetrating on you ladies for eons. Sorry about that.)
But here's the deal: why would you want to kill Whitey and then wear all his old shirts and all his old underwear? Why would you want to drive his old station wagon and live in his old house? I'd think it would be more satisfying by far to get my own house, my own car, my own clothes, and then drive my awesome self past old sourpuss Whitey every day and flip him the bird while laughing about how awesome my life was. Even if my life wasn't that awesome, that's how I'd want to play it; if I can't have an awesome life, I'd at least want Whitey to
think I did."
