Black Costume = Racist?

[EaglesBecomeVultures]

I'm new here, and I'm sure this thread has been done before, but...

I just think it's funny how they have to make the "black" kid wear the "black" costume....

Doesn't giving Miles Morales a black costume sort of negate the whole equality thing?

Isn't the idea that a black kid also gets to wear the iconic costume?
Or if the idea was to distinguish him from Peter, then why not at least give him a different design, while not stripping him of the American Blue and Red?

Or is it celebrating the racial differences? Being proud, etc. (However, if that's so, shouldn't Caucasian Spideys have white/red costumes instead?)

What do you guys think? (or redirect me to the right thread if there already is one)

[Zen-aku]

Legacy characters never where the exact same costume.

[MrV]

For this topic, I recommend going to the Ultimate Marvel thread. That is where we discuss Ultimate Spider-Man and co.

I personally adore the costume. If you read the source material, you would understand why Miles doesn't wear red and blue.

He did during his first appearance but people kept telling him it was disrespectful and in bad taste, given the original Spider-Man (Peter Parker) had just died. So, the black costume serves as a respectful homage to the original, like when you go to a funeral and wear black. It has nothing to do with Miles being half-Black/Latino.

Don't blow things out of proportion for crying out loud!

[EuphemismForSex]

Miles isn't Spider-Man though.

[Kevinroc]

Miles isn't Spider-Man though.

He's wearing a costume, climbs up walls and is the lead of a book with "Spider-Man" in the title. He's Spider-Man. If you want to say "he's as much Spider-Man as Spider-Man 2099," that's fine.

[USERNAME TAKEN]

Miles isn't Spider-Man though.

Yes, he is.

[EaglesBecomeVultures]

I'm new here, and I'm sure this thread has been done before, but...

I just think it's funny how they have to make the "black" kid wear the "black" costume....

Doesn't giving Miles Morales a black costume sort of negate the whole equality thing?

Isn't the idea that a black kid also gets to wear the iconic costume?
Or if the idea was to distinguish him from Peter, then why not at least give him a different design, while not stripping him of the American Blue and Red?

Or is it celebrating the racial differences? Being proud, etc. (However, if that's so, shouldn't Caucasian Spideys have white/red costumes instead?)

What do you guys think? (or redirect me to the right thread if there already is one)

[EaglesBecomeVultures]

For this topic, I recommend going to the Ultimate Marvel thread. That is where we discuss Ultimate Spider-Man and co.

I personally adore the costume. If you read the source material, you would understand why Miles doesn't wear red and blue.

He did during his first appearance but people kept telling him it was disrespectful and in bad taste, given the original Spider-Man (Peter Parker) had just died. So, the black costume serves as a respectful homage to the original, like when you go to a funeral and wear black. It has nothing to do with Miles being half-Black/Latino.

Don't blow things out of proportion for crying out loud!

I'm just saying, if their goal was to show equality to the masses, I don't think that making the black Spiderman wear the black Spiderman costume was a good way to go regardless if the reason was justified.

Also, like I suggested before, could they not have given him a new blue and red costume that was simply a different design than Peters?

I do adore the costume though.

[Ballard Blues]

No, the black and red costume is not racist. You're really reaching here.

[Rumblecat]

I honestly haven't thought about that before. Now I have... my feeling is that it's more than they wanted the costume to look modern and cool, and a predominantly black one with smaller sections of red is a lot less cheesy than the traditional one.

That said, doesn't the black Green Lantern- John Stewart- also have a predominantly black costume as well... so maybe you're onto something... though I'd say at worst it's probably falling back on cliche rather than racism... but I suspect it's neither- it's just a different look created for a different era.

[MrV]

I personally adore the costume. If you read the source material, you would understand why Miles doesn't wear red and blue.

He did during his first appearance but people kept telling him it was disrespectful and in bad taste, given the original Spider-Man (Peter Parker) had just died. So, the black costume serves as a respectful homage to the original, like when you go to a funeral and wear black. It has nothing to do with Miles being half-Black/Latino.

Also, they were aiming to make Miles a unique character, if he had worn the traditional costume he would have been another copycat. There is nothing racist about a black superhero wearing black. In fact, black is a uniform color and within the context of Ultimate Marvel, which unlike Earth-616 is a darker and more dangerous place, this grim take fits.

Something interesting I should point out is that the original Spider-Man's costume was red and black, they only used blue for contrast. In Amazing Fantasy #15 you see the blue sections are completely black and they use little blue highlights to make his limbs stand out.

It was the same thing that happened with Batman, the blue was only for contrast with the black but people assumed that was the color of the costume. Evidence of this is how whenever you look at the traditional costume there are more black shades in the blue portion.

Don't blow things out of proportion for crying out loud!

[grandparagon]

Stupidity like this is why we still have racism. It's Black instead of blue because thats an established spider-man color variant and if he was using blue and red, people would mistake him for the original ultimate spider-man (which can be seen as bad taste). Scarlet spider also has the same color scheme, so unless thats somehow racist too, then you're just completely wrong about this.

[kaif]

I always thought that Peter's blue and red costume was blue to symbolize his sadness about failing his uncle and red to symbolize his anger at himself. These colors wouldn't fit Miles' reasons for becoming Spider-Man. Miles' needed the red to symbolize his anger at his uncle for trying to control him and black for the state of the Ultimate United States, which is a war zone, and how he needs to remain hidden so as not to be thought a mutant. Black and red fits him because of who HE is. Blue and red would have been someone who was a hero for totally different reasons.

Oh wait, I thought none of those things because I'm not an idiot.

[Codah]

Pichelli said she designed it that way because she imagined Miles would be having a lot of nighttime adventures. His character is naturally more mellow like that. He's far more introverted than Peter was and he has the ability to camouflage. It fits with the entire theme of Miles' personality. I'm also really tired so if this sounds ranty, sorry.

[Kevin Nichols]

I'm sure this thread will be moved to the Ultimate boards as soon as the mods wake up, and that's fine with me. I personally could do without the Spidey boards being sullied with this kind of nonsense. For the record, I think you are completely out of line here. Calling someone racist (or even just suggesting it) is a pretty heavy accusation to throw out there, and to suggest that Marvel is trying to send a message about black folks by means of a costume is lunacy. That is all.