Black Thor Actor Talks About Racist Comic Book Fans

[Wayward Sean]

I grew up reading Thor comics and Avengers comics, and I have absolutely no problem with the casting of black men in the roles they got. In fact, I thought Samuel L. Jackson did a fantastic job. And I haven't seen Thor, so I can't judge his acting yet, but I think Elba looks cool so far. I did have a problem with the casting in The Last Airbender though. I think adding diversity can help a movie. It's erasing diversity (like Airbender's whitewashing) that can really mess a movie up. Yes, I realize that all the bad people in Airbender were Indian, but they took it down from 4 races to 2, making all good people white and all bad people Indian, which did hurt the film.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

meh its a fucking petty for the most part, although i will admit if i did see the main character (thor) who is heavily defined i might be a bit brought back if they chose someone not like that, or at least made him not look like him.

regardless, about to smash on this movie tommorrow night, nom nom nom

 

[Squeaky]

It does seem strange how fickle people can get with this. Know granted I could be wrong, but I didnt see any threads years ago about how casting Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury in build up to the Avengers. In fact I cant say I have heard a word how casting a black guy as the one-eyed leader of SHIELD was a bad idea just because in the comics he is white.

It might be the fact that the shield comics werent as popular as the Thor comics ? or simply the source material didnt put the charater in a background were there were only whites in the commuinties, either way I think if they cast him because of his acting good for him and the people picking the cast if they're trying to show that look we accept diveristy by adding in one black charater then id be upset.

 

[Goldhawk777]

I'm pretty sure that Nick Fury was originally white. I know that he was black in comics before the movies but he was definitely white first. It's not exactly a new thing, is all I'm saying. Also, Elba was awesome in Thor and I wouldn't change him just to fit in a little bit better with the traditional canon. Things don't always have to change for the worse.

I think Fury is only black in the Ultimate 'verse, maybe one or two more. Of course, in the Ultimates he looks exactly like Samuel L. Jackson. I wonder why that might be...

The funny thing is that they mentioned that in the comics or in the book novels of the Ultimates. "Funny, Nick kind of looks like that actor Samuel L. Jackson...." But Hell, I thought Gods came in all sorts of hues. Booo hooo Everyone in Thor isn't white. Hell, are you going to complain if Captain America treats a black man correctly in Captain America? I can see the Avengers movie now, there is going to be conflict in the group because Steve Rogers doesn't want to be commanded by a "darkie".

 

[Flauros]

I made a forum post about this a long time ago.

And yes, it actually makes sense in the story. So theres no reason to complain. Remember, this isnt a biography of the REAL NORSE GODS. This is Thor from the comic books, who fights with Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk? yeah, that one.

 

[LadyMint]

The whole "waaaah, they're changing my source material" complaint is okay to me. It's a fair lament. God knows I've got a few things here and there that I get antsy about when they start changing characters around. I'm not even all that bothered by the, "OMFG White Power is being displaced by filthy darkies," racist crap that seems to always get spewed when a traditionally light-skinned character is replaced with a darker-skinned one. Those kinds of whiners will continue to exist for some time and as long as we don't bend to their vocalizations, we'll be fine.

The ones that get me, though, are the ones who are specifically complaining because "Norse gods are white and nothing else." Considering that this is the Marvel universe version of Norse mythology, which involves them being aliens instead of beings of might and magic, I would think that the skin tone of one of these aliens wouldn't be that big of an issue. Like Westbrook already said, you'd think they'd take more issue with the fact that the comic made aliens out of the Norse gods. Or maybe they already have, that argument's died down a little, and they've moved on to the next one down the list. I dunno, but that argument in particular made me do a doubletake.

 

[Flauros]

Ultimate nick fury in his various appearances accross hundreds of issues now.
Although since they changed the film cannon to space aliens rather than norse gods it kinda evens out to me not caring.
And ALBA did kick ass in the role.

WAIT WAIT WAIT! They changed it to Space Aliens?! What the heck, movie!? I wanted my Norse Gods, not just another group of aliens! The point of this multi-movie thing was to incorporate science, technology, aliens, magic, monsters, AND gods!

This makes me upset, and with good reason. I could care less if there's a black guy playing one of them, I care about the fact that they made them ALIENS!

It IS cannon that theyre space aliens, believe it or not. That happened a LOOOOONNNGG time ago in comic books.

 

[Zay-el]

Yep. People think the outcry is "silly" now. But wait until Hollywood decides to cast a white guy to play a character that's normally not white. Will that shitstorm also be considered "silly" too? Somehow, I don't think so.

No. I don't buy this at all. Even if it's something I like, I have far better things to do, than get outraged at everything, on a larger scale. For instance, I love Venom. I HATED how he was portrayed in Spiderman 3, but guess what I did...I watched the movie, then didn't do so again. Ever. If they asked me whether I liked it or not, I told them I didn't, but I wasn't all "NO THEY RUINED IT WHY YOU BASTARDS I WILL KILL THEM".

No. I hate how so many people feel the need to nerdrage at everything. You like it? Good. You don't? Then why are you giving a shit about it?

 

[EradiusLore]

i have to side with the comic fans, changing canon to be 'PC' is annoying, they did the same thing with hitchhikers guide having ford as a black guy. its not racism if you want things to be canon to the origional work. its like having half the ss nazis in a war film black, it dosent fit. not because we are all racists but because its not canon!

not every piece of entertainment has to 'represent' all racial groups, it shouldnt offend people if they do decide to stay loyal to the source material. its like if i remade the prince of bel air and had Will being played by jet li or something lol

 

[The.Bard]

It doesn't change the fact that using Nick Fury as an excuse here it wrong.

It's been mentioned previously, but the Nick Fury issue is completely different. When Marvel created the Ultimate Universe a decade ago, they made Nick Fury a bald black man, and modeled him after Samuel L Jackson, with his permission. When Fury was going to be in the movies, Jackson was the first dude they approached. They didn't spontaneously decide to make him black for the films.

Right, wrong, decent, stupid... whatever you want to call it, it's not the same as with our good buddy Heimdall, who was changed specifically for the movie.

Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin in Daredevil, however, would support your theory, and as I recall, people made a stink about that, too. I think Ben Affleck as Daredevil was a much bigger cause for concern, but that's just me...

Actually, now that I think about it, they made the Kingpin black in one of the Spider-Man tv series and used Duncan as the voice to keep it consistent with his appearance in the movie.

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

Putting on the devil's advocate cap for a minute.

To the people on Elba's side: what would be the reaction to a movie based on, say, African tribal mythology, with a white cast? Ethically speaking, how would that affect your opinion of this casting decision?

Spoiler

Or do you a maaaaaayyyybe have a little bit of a bias, when it comes to the white-black dichotomy?

Just food for thought.

Hmmm, not really equatable. The entire Thor cast hasn't been made black, its just one guy. If they'd turned everyone in Thor black I'd have raised a few eyebrows, just as if they turned everyone in an African tribal myth white.
But if they made a film based on an African tribal myth and one guy was white, I'd be fine with that. I'm pretty sure there was an Orisha who's skin was white as bone

I don't think so. Back in East Africa, the Yoruba made depictions of the orishas that resemble themselves (i.e., they looked "black" or "African"). It wasn't until the religion was brought by slaves to the New World and hidden under Catholicism that depictions of the deities took on the characteristics of the white Catholic saints. Shango, for example, who is associated with thunder and lightening became in many cultures to be represented by St. Barbara who, in the Catholic legend, is also associated with lightening.

No, I'm pretty sure they had at least one white Orisha. I guess to make them stand out, or possibly for symbolic reasons, the same way smith gods in Europe are generally crippled.
I may be thinking of Obatala of the White Cloth, who I'm sure I've seen portrayed as actually being white (though at the same time not looking at all human) not just wearing it, or maybe Eleggua who may have had a half-and-half thing going where one side of him was black and the other white as a symbol of his gatekeeper-ish nature

 

[Ickorus]

When I first heard about a black guy being cast in the role of the whitest of the gods I found it funny and was slightly annoyed as I always am about how political correctness is these days but after seeing the movie I can safely say that was nothing to do with it in this case, the man did a damn good job of his role, so good in fact that I couldn't imagine someone else playing him.

 

[Flauros]

Just to let people know, im not a big Thor fan, but i have read some. Most importantly, i read the one after the Infinity Guantlet, which tells....

A long time ago, Aliens visited the planet. Having no form, they shaped themselves from the daydreams of a drunk Norseman, who told tales of waring gods who each represented something. The aliens formed and based themselves off the personality of the stories, thus forming REAL NORSE GODS.



Shapeshifting aliens who form based on specific ideas and feelings get a free pass to look like whoever they want.

Hey, maybe 100 years ago, he looked Chinese. You dont fucking know, lol.

 

[Sunrider]

For reference: I still haven't seen the movie.

Personally, I don't care, because I never read the comics, and if he does a good job, then that's perfectly fine with me.
With that said, it's not like I don't understand their thoughts on the matter. I would find it weird if they made like a Dragon Age movie and casted a black guy to play Alistair.

 

[emeraldrafael]

I thought this was old news.

Anyway, yeah. He's black. I'm sorry if anyone who's nordic feels offended because of their beliefs, but can we please get past it?

I mean, I hear the guys actually a decent actor.

 

[F'Angus]

He was epic in the movie anyways

 

[Hive Mind]

A black guy shouldn't have been cast there.

Norse gods are white. They are not made up - they are part of a real religion (how real they are is besides the point). Having a black guy shat all over the immersion.

Shall we have a white, female midget play Obama in a doco about his life?

 

[Mj0ln1r]

This is not a histroic movie, its a comic book adaptation!! He could be a lizard or an alien (like in stargate SG1) for my concern!

 

[Caligulove]

It's a fucking movie. Not to mention color-blind casting can turn into some fantastic performances once people realize that unless a character's skin tone is directly involved in the plot somehow- then it really doesnt matter who the fuck plays the character, only matters who can best perform.

That and I should also express my disdain that my ancestors and their ancient culture have been fucked up and perverted by skinhead neo-nazi fuckheads. Seriously, ruin the previously ambivalent or peaceful symbol of the swastika and then you try to ruin the image of my people's heritage by making them some kind of aryan super-beings. Fuck. You.

 

[mikev7.0]

He did an excellent job, and I'm glad they used him for it. It probably only made the movie more epic.

I can't wait for Captain America and the other avenger movies now...

I do wonder when Moviebob'll do Thor, this week, next week? Who nows.

I'm wondering when someone will do a proper review of the game! I put up some first impressions but that's all I've been able to find. Moot point now for me really, I love the game. I think the same actor plays Heimdall in it as well since SEGA seems to be trying to use all the same actors as are in the movie. I also can't wait to see it (I have to wait until Friday) and the other Avengers movies (are they making one for Hawkeye or the Pyms? Casting Jan should be fun, good luck trying to find someone like her in Hollywood! Maybe Anne Hathaway with short hair....)

I don't understand why this is still an issue at all. Geez what did they think about Nick Fury then?

Now I'd like to see the story about Cap attacking the tea party!