Of Hancock and Black Superheroes
In anticipation of the screening of "Hancock," Peter Berg's kickass, if tangled, superhero yarn, the conversation behind us was about why, despite Batman and Spider-man and Iron Man, until now there have been no black s
Of Hancock and Black Superheroes
Carrie Rickey, Film Critic
In anticipation of the screening of "Hancock," Peter Berg's kickass, if tangled, superhero yarn, the conversation behind us was about why, despite Batman and Spider-man and Iron Man, until now there have been no black superheroes on screen. Uncharacteristically, I was too shy to enter the fray. I will now.
In film, there have been a handful of black supers, including Robert Townsend's "Meteor Man" (1993), the inner-city teacher who finds an emerald that makes him invincible, Damon Wayans' "Blankman" (1994), Samuel L. Jackson's Frozone in "The Incredibles" (2004) and Halle Berry's Storm in the "X-Men" franchise. (The charitable might also cite Berry as Catwoman. Call me uncharitable.)
Still, it's fair to say there have been no superstar black supers, (unless you're willing to count the superhuman -- though not superpowered -- Shaft and Superfly, Sweet Sweetback and Sheba, Baby -- blaxploitation stars of early 1970s vintage). This is not for lack of comic-book heroes: During the 1960s there was Black Panther in the Fantastic Four comics, Black Lightning and also The Falcon (a social worker/crimefighter who was, if memory serves, an ally of Captain America). In the 1990s, the supers Icon and Static could be found in the comix bins and more recently the hip-hop Blak of Blokhedz whose rhymes have supernatural effect.
Can you think of other black supers? Who would you like to see as a super on screen?
Do you think Hancock's Eagle insignia is inspired by a certain NFL franchise?
Shaquille O'neal played DC comic book character "Steel" in a 1997 movie. Michael Jai White played Spawn (an Image comic book character) in another 1997 movie, though the title character only appears partly human so his race is less apparent. The Wesley Snipes' lead character in the Blade movies (1998, 2002 and 2004) was based on a Marvel comic book character. I've never posted before but I enjoy your work, Carrie.— gmannji92- Spawn was black(but the movie was pretty bad). Also, there is going to be a black Iron Man (aka War Machine) played by Terrance Howard in the sequel to Iron Man.— rockwell
- There is a Luke Cage (Marvel) movie in development/production. Tyrese Gibson is set to star, directed by John Singleton (Boyz N The Hood). In the DC universe there is Cyborg (seen in Teen Titans and in Smallville). I recently read a Gambit mini-series featuring Brother Voodoo. And of course, in Iron Man, Samuel L Jackson is Nick Fury.— cw610760
- Luke Cage "Power Man" besides the Hulk was the only superheroe of colour when I was a kid. Yes, a green dude with gamma ray poisoning was the first featured superheroe of color. I thrived on Marvel Comics because of their real life grit and street wise humor. Stan Lee, Jack King Kirby and the crew was "keeping real" back in the 70's. Luke Cage justified my passion for comics which propelled me to read and open my eyes to the wondrous world of books. If someone is gonna revive or translate a true A.A. comic book hero they could only start with Luke Cage!— sudani joe
Blankman was the best, despite being a watered/toned-down version of Handiman, by played by Damon Wayans.— kjuggs77- In a way, this goes back to your query about the marketing of SEX AND THE CITY: the ieda that something marketed "for black audiences" couldn't be a general audience film (just as a "chick flick" is a denigration of the idea of a film only marketed to a female audience). Right now, TCM (every Tuesday) is having a Rosalind Russell festival, and there you see films in which the idea was that there was a strong, savvy woman, but that these films would have general audience appeal (and they did: MY SISTER EILEEN was Columbia's big box office hit of 1942, just as AUNTIE MAME was the highest grossing movie for the year 1959; NOT highest grossing woman's film, or highest grossing Warner Brothers film, but highest grossing film, period). But now we have all sorts of demographics and niche audiences, and it defeats the purpose of going out to a theater and seeing a movie, i.e., you want to go to see a movie to be part of a crowd.— darylchin53
- I would consider the "Blade" franchise a great contribution to the superhero genre.— mstanoch
- Mstanoch: How could I forget Wesley Snipes as Blade? Thanks.— carrierickey
- While "Blade" is indeed a black comic superhero there have been little attention paid both in comics and in film of the derth of heroes of color. Luke Cage would be an excellent story as he somewhat paralleled the "creation" of the famed Captain America with a Tuskegee experiment flavor. It is difficult to accept the premise that many subscribe to that we live in a color-blind society when the reality seems to be we as a society are only blind when it comes to color. Personally, I think Will Smith did a pretty good job with less than good material. And you're right - Halle Berry's Catwoman really does not deserve consideration in this discussion....AT ALL!— State-Man
- While "Blade" is indeed a black comic superhero there have been little attention paid both in comics and in film of the derth of heroes of color. Luke Cage would be an excellent story as he somewhat paralleled the "creation" of the famed Captain America with a Tuskegee experiment flavor. It is difficult to accept the premise that many subscribe to that we live in a color-blind society when the reality seems to be we as a society are only blind when it comes to color. Personally, I think Will Smith did a pretty good job with less than good material. And you're right - Halle Berry's Catwoman really does not deserve consideration in this discussion....AT ALL!— State-Man
- Now, the Falcon - Cap's side-kick was a great character but really doesn't have the stuff to fly a film on his own (pun definitly intended). There are also a plethora of real-life characters that are deserving of attention - Crispus Attatucks (spelling?) is one - Miles Davis, Ossie Davis, Sojuner Truth, and even Sidney Poiter or Harry Bellafonte are deserving of attention if we are to really deal with all they faced in this country at the time they faced it. But again, we're blind to the richness that the color actually brought to our nation, and our world.— State-Man
- A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
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- Anne Thompson on Film
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- David Edelstein's The Projectionist
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- Flickgrrl posts 2/07 through 5/08
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