credit: Marvel Comics
Adding more Marvel characters to the MCU is considered to b a good thing by a lot of people, but there are times when one has to sit back and wonder why in the world, we’re seeing more and more changes to various characters that didn’t really need to happen. Well, to be honest, that’s a matter of opinion, it would appear since the idea to cast Yahya Abdul Mateen II as Wonder Man appears to be the plan at this time, and while it’s not the worst casting choice in the world, it’s one that’s bound to raise at least a few eyebrows since while Mateen is easily a great enough actor to pull this off, swapping the race of one character or another is still a bit of an issue since one has to wonder why it continues to happen when the level of representation has gone up quite a bit in the movies.
Given how many different characters there are in the DC and Marvel universes, one would hope that representation was no longer an issue, and it’s fair to think that a lot of people aren’t going to see this as a big deal. But seeing characters as they’ve been written feels like something that might be fun to get back to, especially when it comes to characters that have been around for a matter of decades.
credit: Aquaman
It’s easy to say yes to Mateen’s casting for this role since he’s an effective actor.
As an actor, Yahya is the kind of guy that a lot of people can get behind since he’s proven and has the kind of skills that can make him stand out when he needs to and acclimate to a story when the moment calls for it. As Wonder Man, it’s not hard to think that he would give just as much effort as he has in other roles.
But the fact is that the swapping of roles over the years has become something that people are willing to talk about since the inclusion of many diverse characters in both DC and Marvel has been increasing quite a bit. At some point, a person kind of needs to ask why characters that are being brought from one medium to another can’t be accepted as they are and given the representation that people would recognize rather than the representation that the studio is trying to push to show that it is including everyone.
The issue of diversity in the MCU isn’t quite as big of a deal as people have made it out to be.
Seriously, Black Panther, Monica Rambeau, the upcoming Blade movie, Ms. Marvel, and several other projects have been used to increase diversity in the MCU, and it’s still continuing to happen despite the wide number of heroes and villains there are to pull from.
Trying to keep heroes and villains as they are on the page isn’t always possible, but when looking at things in terms of diversity, the MCU has come a long way from where it started, and it’s easy to think that keeping characters as they are on the page would be kind of easy.
It’s very easy to say yes to this actor for just about any role, but there’s still the idea that various roles might be better off being kept as they’re seen in the comics without tampering with them too much. Seriously, there are so many characters to pull from that it makes little sense why some of them have to be changed up in such a manner.
credit: Watchmen
It’s interesting to wonder how close to the comics the MCU will keep Wonder Man’s story.
Wonder Man has interacted with quite a few heroes and villains in his time, and his story with the Vision and Scarlet Witch is one that could play out on Disney+ with a fair amount of intrigue if that’s the decision that will be made. But perhaps getting to know the character first would be best since there is a bit to this individual that people might want to know before they really dig into a story with him as the star.
This could be another way to bring back the Vision and Scarlet Witch, as well as a few other characters.
While there’s no word on whether Paul Bettany has a contract with the MCU yet, it’s fair to think that if Wonder Man does manage to bring back both characters, it could be kind of interesting and could even move their stories forward in a very effective manner.
Yahya could likely take this role and run with it, but at the same time, it feels as though representation, inclusivity, and diversity are taking the front seat while the overall story is coming secondary, and that’s bound to bite someone hard at one point or another.