Here we go again, I have warned that this would go on and on once the door was opened.
Back on July 14, 2014 Walt Disney’s Marvel Entertainment said that a “thundering” new title would be announced the next day on the popular female show “The View”. And for sure it was, during the show it was revealed that the popular Thor comic book series was going through a major change never before done. The role of Thor that has traditionally been filled by a male will be replaced by a female.
The response according to Rob Leane[1], was “Shock, alarm and outright confusion were prevalent responses doing the online rounds when this story first broke.”
Now while true fans of Thor naturally would object to such a change, no one can deny the right of the company to do as they please with their property. So my focus here will not be on their right to make such a change. I am more concerned about the real reason behind the change. You see, while execs at Marvel are claiming that increasing sales was not the reason behind the change, something no thinking person would believe, there is also another twist to this announcement that adds to the concern, one that no report I have read online that mentioned it, bothered to address, and it is this twist that I believe gives us a clear clue as to what may be behind it all.
But first let’s be clear about the fact that Marvel is trying to tap into the female money by putting more females in the top spots. No matter what they claim publically, that is a major motivation.
It is no secret that more females are buying comics, and comics staring female heroes are selling more. So while as Kevin James of the Daily Digest said in his July 19, 2014 article [2]that, “Despite criticism for lack of feminine exposure, Marvel insists that it’s about the story, not bringing in female readers”; Sara Roncero-Menendez of the Huffington Post (7-21-14) in her article titled: “Think Female Characters Don’t Sell? Marvel Is Proving Everyone Wrong”, revealed that “…many of the issues starring female heroes sell in the top 30 of comics”.
Additionally, John Casteele-July 19, 2014[3], states:
“While some long-term comic fans have already dismissed the new Thor as “pandering” to the female crowd, targeting the female demographic is just good business for Marvel.”
“While comics are traditionally seen as being intended for “boys” and are often accused of catering to the male power fantasies, there’s a growing segment of “girl-friendly” comics in the industry that is seeing significant success. Trying to increase the appeal of its mainstream titles to the growing female demographic is simply Marvel’s way of trying to stay on top of shifts in the comics industry.”
Also included in his report was The Fastest-growing demographic:
“According to the Publisher’s Weekly Annual Comics Retailer Survey, comics shops, and other polled retailers noticed a trend among shoppers: Young women, aged 17-33, were the fastest-growing group.”
So when Marvel executive director Ryan Penagos stresses that “this is not a method to lure female readers”[4], while at the same time Marvel Comics Editor In Chief- Axel Alonso tells the Huffington Post that: “The all-new Thor puts an exclamation point on our commitment both to populating the Marvel Universe with smart, powerful, diverse female Super Heroes”[5], You know that female money is their target.
But as I said, I believe there is another motive afoot here, just look at how series writer Jason Aaron describes the planned change. According to Kevin James, “Series writer Jason Aaron insisted that the gender switch was equal to the original”. “This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. This is not Thorita. This is THOR. This is the THOR of the Marvel Universe. But it’s unlike any Thor we’ve seen before,” (Jason Arron-press release).
Did you get that? Note the stress on the “This is the THOR not She-Thor. But Why?
If Jason Arron is correct, it is apparent to me that there is more going on here than a woman taking the place of a man; it seems to be a woman becoming the man while remaining female. How else could she be Thor? Thor is the SON of Odin so how can she BE Thor?
There seems to be no rational reason to insist that “she” be called “Thor” when she is female and Thor is male. But I suspect that there is some underlining desire to cater to the homosexual/ transgender/gender confusion communities. The hype has for some time been that they have lots o money to spend and no children to spend I on, and so catering to them would yield great returns.
So it seems that women are not the only demographic target in Marvels sight, this may also be another step in the direction Marvel has been going for some time, as their continued introduction of homosexual characters into their comics has demonstrated.
Parents and Christians in general should be aware that there is a growing infestation of perverted thinkers into the comic book industry, whose goal is to saturate the comics-sphere with homosexual/transgender friendly content. There is no doubt that this infestation has also long been present in Hollywood and will thus be presented in future Marvel movies as well.
[1] Aug. 5, 2014, denofgeek.com
[2] “Marvel introduces new Thor as a woman”
[3] The Motley Fool/fool.com-(What Does a Female Thor Mean for Marvel Comics?)
[4] (as reported by Kevin James of the Daily Digest)
[5] Sara Roncero-Menendez of the Huffington Post (7-21-14)