(NewsSpace.com) – There’s been a trend lately of producers remaking movies or creating new films that feature woke characters. Disney, for one, made a big splash when it released “The Little Mermaid,” with a black actress playing the lead character, Ariel. Now, an unnamed insider claims that DC wanted to have an African-American superhero but was told that moving ahead with the change would hurt sales.
According to Bounding Into Comics, the insider said that, following the wake of Black Lives Matter, some who worked at DC Comics thought changing Batman’s race would help promote diversity. Instead of Bruce Wayne, the superhero’s civilian counterpart would be Lucious Fox, a black man.
That thought process apparently didn’t go over very well. Retailers not only grumbled about the concept but also told co-publisher Dan DiDio, who seemed uncertain about the idea, that it would affect the bottom line — by up to 30%.
The movement was pushed forward as part of DC Comics’ plan to be inclusive anyway. The new book was titled “Future State: The Next Batman.” As retailers predicted, it performed horribly on the market and received mostly scathing reviews. Needless to say, the publisher pulled it a short time later.
Batman hasn’t been the only superhero to get a makeover in recent years. DC Comics also tried to push Miles Morales, a Latin character, as Spider-Man, instead of Peter Parker. While that attempt did garner at least some sales, the results don’t even come close to matching the original series. Other notable changes include a black female version of the Green Lantern and Superman’s bisexuality.
Sales typically bomb because consumers have a very specific image of what they want when they go to the store to buy the comics. Forcing changes on them almost always impacts sales, but those impacts tend to be negative rather than positive. It isn’t yet clear whether DC Comics will continue to pursue the pro-diversity path going forward.
Copyright 2023, NewsSpace.com
