With all the movies that have come out from the Disney owned comic book company over the last 8 years, it’s hard to have not been familiarized with at least a couple of the big name characters in the Marvel universe. 

Even if it was just to see ScarJo run around in tight black leather, I think everyone by now has seen one of the Avengers movies.

The movies have been extremely successful, with the 14 films total box office bringing Disney $8.2 billion in PROFIT alone. 

But that success has not translated back to the comic book world, as 2016 actually saw Marvel comic book sales fall behind DC for the first time in years. BUT WITH GOOD REASON.

Marvel recently decided to become the progressive comic company, and their fans have responded with massive criticism of the changes.

Reason for the criticism is Marvel didn’t decide to become progressive by creating all new and different minority characters, they simply started taking major white male characters and replacing them. 

Different versions of big time characters are the norm in the comic book world, but they nearly always come in the form of an “Elseworlds” or alternate universe issue. 

Fans love those type of stories, because it gives them a different spin on their favorite characters, yet still lets them have the main canon version of the character they love and buy comics to read about. 

Again, that isn’t what Marvel decided to do this time around.

So currently in the main continuity of Marvel comics, Tony Stark is gone and Iron man is now a 15 year old black girl- Riri Williams.

Bruce Banner is gone and the Hulk is now an Asian teenager named Amadeus Cho.

James Howlett(Wolverine) is dead and X-23 or Laura Kinney is now the active Wolverine. 

Even Thor Odinson no longer holds the mantle of the character, as Jane Foster (Natalie Portman’s character in the movies) is the current Thor and wields the hammer, Mjolnir. 

It will likely all change back soon, as just like every other business, money is king and these moves haven’t helped sales. Reboots and retconning bad decisions happens all the time in comics so it’s nothing new to change things back and forth, but such a questionable move this year by Marvel is still worth remembering.