X-Men is about civil rights. If you didnât get that, you didnât get X-Men.
Black Panther is about civil rights. If you didnât get that, you didnât get Black Panther.
Captain America literally fought Nazis. He is the embodiment of fighting the alt-right. If you didnât get that, you didnât get Captain America.
The Empire in Star Wars is fascist. The Rebel alliance are Anti-Fascist. If you didnât get that, you didnât get Star Wars.
The Punisher isnât meant to be a role model for police or armed forces. So much so that the writers of The Punisher made him actively speak out against it in a comic. If you didnât get that, you didnât get The Punisher.
Deadpool is queer. Heâs pansexual. Fact. If you didnât get that you didnât get Deadpool.
Star Trek is about equality for all genders, races and sexualities. As early as the mid-60s it was taking a pro-choice stance and defending womenâs right to choose. One of its clearest themes is accepting different cultures and appearances and working together for peace. (Itâs also anti-capitalist and pro-vegan). If you didnât get that, you didnât get Star Trek.
Superman and Supergirl (and a whole host of other superheroes) are immigrants. The stance of those comics is pro-immigration and pro-equality and acceptance. If you didnât get that, you didnât get Superman or Supergirl.
Stan Lee said âRacism and bigotry are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today.â If youâre bigoted or racist, you didnât get any of the characters Stan Lee created.
The stories we grew up with all taught us to value other people and cultures and to treasure the differences between us. Only villains were xenophobic, or sexist, or racist, or totalitarian. I canât understand how anyone can have missed that.
If youâre upset that thereâs a black Spider-Man, or a black Captain America, or a female Thor, or that Ms Marvel is Muslim, or that Captain Marvel was pro-feminism, or any of the other things right wing âfansâ say is âstealing their childhoodâ - you never got it in the first place. The things you claim are now âpandering to the leftiesâ were never on your side to begin with.
If you consider yourself a fan of these things, but you still think the LGBTQ+ community is too âin your faceâ, or have a problem with Black Lives Matter, or want to âtake the country back from immigrantsâ, then youâre not really a fan at all.
Geek culture isnât suddenly left wing... it always was. You just grew up to be intolerant. You became the villain in the stories you used to love.
Kenny Boyle - Actor and Playwright
