This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
From YKTTW Working Title: Affirmative Action Legacy
Mr Wednesday: Why do we need another trope for making a song and dance out of the very appearance of a non-white character?
gibberingtroper: Look at the description. This is a valid trope for comic book characters. As the article says, it's hard to launch new characters in comics. The classic white male characters are so entrenched and so time tested. The Golden Age and Silver Age produced hundreds and hundreds of characters, the ones that are still around were the best of those and they have been matured over decades. It's hard to introduce any new characters when you have these time tested classics to compete with. So killing a popular hero and handing the identity and powers over to a minority then becomes a valid consideration. Original minorities will reach equilibrium with time but it will take decades still to produce (again, Sturgeon's Law at work.)
gibberingtroper: Removed the below example. A Legacy, Affirmative Action or otherwise, has to adopt the identity from a preexisting character in continuity. The Nick Fury of the Ultimate Universe did not adopt the legacy of some previous white Nick Fury. Ultimate Nick Fury is a Race Lift of Classic Nick Fury (and is listed in that article):
- Likewise, Ultimate Marvel Nick Fury is black; a rare case where the new version seems to be eclipsing the original since Samuel L. Jackson plays the character in the Iron Man movie (and future Avengers films).
