Respect for a new brand of heroes

I’ve seen every new superhero film for more than a decade. In recent years, I’ve noticed a lot of big changes.

For the first time, female, black and other minority superheroes are no longer relegated to sidekick status in favor of the classically handsome white male archetype. And casual viewers and lifelong fans alike are grateful for it.

Even the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has taken notice, with Oscar nominations for fan favorites “Black Panther” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” for best picture and best animated feature film, respectively.

Moviegoers, and superhero movie fans in particular, should be as excited as I am to see the critical and commercial success of these films. “Black Panther” earned a staggering $1.3 billion worldwide, while “Spider-Man” so far has made more than $350 million worldwide. “Black Panther” features an all-black superhero cast, and the new Spider-Man, who is of black and Latino descent, is one of the most prominent new Marvel characters of the last decade. Not only do such accolades validate the argument that comic book characters are more than children’s stories, but they also elevate the genre — something creators strive for in their work.

Last year paid off for the comics industry’s efforts to showcase more diverse characters in their books and films. And in 2017, comic book fans helped “Wonder Woman” to break box-office records for DC Comics, proving that audiences would turn out in record numbers for good writing and strong characters, regardless of the heroes’ race or gender. Although comic book writers have been working to introduce more diverse characters for years, “Wonder Woman” served as an exclamation point for the argument that audiences craved characters with whom they could relate.

And to those who might call this a simple cash-grab, ruminate on this: The introduction of new and varied characters has done wonders to inject life into the stories and characters we’ve read about and watched on the small and big screens for years. It’s welcome, then, to see the comic book industry willing to shake up the status quo and take risks with its most popular creations, such as a black, female and teenage Iron Man, and an Asian-American Incredible Hulk.

The comic-book movie genre and its characters have wide appeal to diverse audiences, not just the single, white male fan who served as the basis for the comic book industry for so many decades. After all, characters like Spider-Man have fans in all parts of the globe, so it’s essential that fans feel inspired by the characters and that characters also reflect the audience that loves them. It’s about time those attitudes were reflected at the multiplex.

So whether or not “Black Panther” and “Spider-Man” take home Oscars, we can all be satisfied in knowing that new and exciting stories are on their way — a female-characted-led “Captain Marvel” movie debuts next month. As Stan Lee, the late Marvel Comics creator and Hewlett Harbor resident for nearly 30 years, would have said: “Excelsior!”

If you need me, I’ll be lining up at my local theater for whatever comes next.

 Michael Cusanelli is manager of research and digital production for Newsday Opinion.