The Backlash to the Backlash of a Multiracial Spider-Man

Peter Parker won't be replaced by Miles Morales: they inhabit alternative universes. Days ago, as  USA Today reported, Marvel comics introduced the multiracial Morales as the "new" Spider-Man in a comic book spin-off called the Ultimate Spider-Man series. In the regular series (and in the movies) Peter Parker will still be swinging around. It doesn't seem like a big deal to have a half-black, half-Latino play the character, does it? Apparently so.

The announcement was seemingly treated as evidence of a creeping multicultural agenda. Perhaps it was because Axel Alonso, Marvel's editor-in-chief,  reportedly said the character was inspired by President Obama. Or maybe it was the fact that, as  Huffington Post blogger Scott Mendelson wrote, Marvel had to kill the Peter Parker character to create Morales. It's also possible the attention for the character could be, as  The New Yorker noted, a result of "an Internet video campaign by a young black television star named Donald Glover, in which Glover dressed up like Spider-Man in an unsuccessful bid to land himself the role of Peter Parker in the 2012 movie."

Read the full story at The Atlantic Wire.