Marvel Comics is diversifying several of their characters. NPR has a report on the upcoming new Spider-Man and alter ego Miles Morales, a half-African-American, half-Latino character.
As far as its comics go, Marvel has had a string of diversity shifts recently, with changes to Captain America, Ms. Marvel and Thor. Bendis tells NPR’s Arun Rath that being a part of this shift in the comics universe has been a personal journey as well; two of his four children are adopted, one African and one African-American.
“You realize from a first seat that your kids do not have the same representation and things available to them as I did,” Bendis says. “It’s not like I stood up and said ‘I’m going to be more diverse in my writing,’ you just become more diverse because you realize things are needed.”
Spider-man creator Stan Lee recently made headlines for stating that he thought Peter Parker’s ethnicity and sexuality should remain “white” and straight.
I realize shorthand is needed for headlines; but Stan Lee said Peter Parker, not Spider-Man, should remain white and straight.