This past week, news broke that Marvel Comics—not Marvel's TV and film division, mind you—is getting rid of Tony Stark as Iron Man and replacing him with a black teen woman. That news was almost as shocking as when Captain America uttered those two fateful words: "Hail Hydra." How could Marvel replace one of the most iconic superheroes of this age? Why would they do such a thing?
Personally, I'm not against the race or gender—or both, for that matter—of the heroes. I'm okay with that completely. Black Panther and Black Widow are two of my favorite heroes! What I personally don't like is the fact that Marvel decided to change arguably it's most well-known hero instead of just creating a whole new hero.
Now, I realize sticking someone in an existing hero's costume is slightly less of a hassle to do than creating a new hero, but, personally, I think creating a new hero is definitely the better option. The main problem I foresee is the angering of Tony Stark fans with this change. As I said, why not create a brand new original hero with their own powers, superhero identities, etc.? As far as I can tell, Marvel hasn't come up with a truly original hero—that is, one that isn't a hero with the same name as a "retiring" hero—in a long time, so I believe we are overdue for one.
Marvel seems to have become stale as far as new superheroes. They haven't had a new hero—again, one that doesn't copy another hero—since, I believe, 2012. (It's hard to keep track of them all.) Their last one, I believe, was Alpha, an inexperienced superhero who actually had to have his powers taken away because, as we all know, "With great power comes great responsibility," which he didn't have. He accidentally made several planes fall out of the sky at one point, prompting Peter Parker, who had accidentally given Alpha his powers, to take them away.
While Marvel will obviously have Tony Stark return as Iron Man (because nothing in comic books ever brings about a permanent change), I still believe a better alternative would have been to create a brand new superhero than to replace one of the most well-known superheroes of all time.
Of course, I'd still like to hear what you thought of the news and what you think of Marvel replacing Tony Stark. Do you think they should've done that? If not, what do you think they should've done? Do you think they should've created a new hero? If so, what powers should they have had? Leave a comment below and let me know! I may even reply to a few of them!
