The Marvel movie lineup is something absolutely incredible. Sure, they change several aspects of the characters and the story line, but in general they are incredibly accurate, well done and stick to the roots of what make the Marvel universe so incredible, all while adding a bit of a comical tone in between. This can no longer be said for their comic books, with a few exceptions. Let’s be clear, I do not read enough to be an expert on every book but I’m consistent in reading what I love and have been through enough poorly written series and major event books to criticize what Marvel has become. That being said, Marvel has plenty of amazing writers I adore, but also many others that I refuse to read. Moreover, it is not always the writers but rather the people in charge that are responsible for something far greater than a single book; rather, the direction that the Marvel universe is moving in- and it is has not been one that I am fond of.

So where did they begin to go wrong? Well the first problem began when they started creating event books every 6-12 months. For those unfamiliar with comics, event titles are usually short series (about 6 issues, sometimes up to 12) that are “groundbreaking” and more often than not leave a lasting impact on the direction of the Marvel Universe and all the characters that inhabit it. The issue with this is the fact that event titles used to be something that everyone would buy because they were rare and exciting enough to look forward to. Any comic book fan today knows another event will be out in a few weeks or months. There is little to reel you in and little to care about, and this detracts readers from a universe they are supposed to care about. This is because something that is supposed to be major has become a regular thing, and changing status quo so frequently with them has become disappointing above all else because the recent changes barely have time to even settle. What’s worse is the nature of all these changes.

Diversity in all media is essential, and it is important for things to change with time and evolve for new audiences. It can be difficult to accept change but it often is the beginning of a beautiful new era. This can no longer be said for Marvel. What started from the debut of amazing new characters like Kamala Khan and Miles Morales, rapidly developed into an implosion of character replacements, needless additions for the sake of diversity, and ultimately a detachment from what made the Marvel Universe so strong for decades. This is coming from the person who was fine with a black actor becoming Human Torch, a traditionally white character, and the person who has been rooting for Jane Foster, the woman who took up the mantle of Thor, since it was announced. But upon looking at what the Marvel universe used to be (and will be again by the time the next Marvel movie is released) and what it currently is, I can’t help but feel that they've perhaps strayed too far from what made them renowned and established as one of the Big Two in the comic book business.

I understand changing things up to create an enticing story; Jane Foster as Thor is the perfect example of this. The story and themes that are present are incredible and so well written; one of my favorite books by far. However, it is another when everyone, and I mean everyone, is being replaced. Falcon took over the mantle of Captain America. I love Falcon and he looked great as Captain America, but even after Steve Rogers returned, Falcon still retained the title of Captain America as well. What was so wrong about being Falcon? Iron Man is now having his mantle taken by a young African American woman named Riri Williams. Nova (Richard Rider) has been deceased for quite some time now and was replaced by a new Nova (Sam Alexander). Hulk was then replaced by a younger Asian man named Amadeus Cho, and his version of the Hulk even has a fashionable hair style.

Am I arguing that these are bad stories? No, I am not. They are usually excellently written, emphasis on usually. However it is clear what Marvel’s agenda is: to diversify their major characters by essentially removing and replacing the ones that founded the Marvel Universe in order to appeal to younger audiences and making as many headlines as possible. I’m sure Marvel genuinely cares about creating diversity and appealing to all audiences, but it has gone way overboard in affecting the books. It becomes clearer that they are not willing to overdo it enough so that these new characters would be introduced in their movies, the big source of money. Plus, if you are aware of the patterns since the movies were introduced, Marvel makes all these changes before releasing their big movies so that they can get headlines before, during and after the movie’s release. Immediately after the movie is released, they revert all the changes they made; this means that I expect the original Thor to take his mantle by the time the next Thor movie is released and I expect all the Avengers to become the originals in the books by the time the next Avengers movie comes out.

I truly enjoy a change in direction and disturbing the status quo for the sake of testing new grounds, but from these overwhelming amount of changes and the abandonment of the original Marvel characters, along with high book prices and poorly written big titles, it is clear Marvel’s intention is to make the most money rather than become the best story-tellers that looks out for the fans rather than the dollar bills. Too much is too much, and perhaps it’s time for readers to speak with their money and invest on companies and writers that deserve it for creating work born from passion rather than the desire to be the cover story on the New York Times again.