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Riverbend Day 8

By Times Free Press Staff June 18, 2010 1 min read

Photo Gallery

Pop culture fans have mixed reactions to sweeping changes being made to the gender, race, sexual orientation of beloved characters

In the upcoming "Suicide Squad" movie, which is set for an August 2016 release, Deadshot will be played by Will Smith (third from right). [Warner Bros.]

In the original 1978-1979 run of the science-fiction series "Battlestar Galactica," the role of Lt. Starbuck was played by Dirk Benedict. [Contributed photo.]

When

For most of the character's 74-year run, Captain America has been the superheroic alter ego of Steve Rogers, a white man. [Contributed photo.]

In 2014, following Steve Rogers' loss of the super soldier serum that gave him unnatural youth and vitality and subsequent rapid aging, he passed the title of Captain America on to his teammate Falcon, one of the first black superheroes. [Contributed photo.]

Catwoman has been a fixture of the Batman mythology since the series started in 1940. During that time, her alter ego, Selina Kyle, has been largely portrayed by white women, such as Michelle Pfeiffer, pictured, who donned the catsuit in 1992's

2004's

1984's

A reboot of

Since his first appearance in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1887 novel

The role of both John Watson and Sherlock Holmes, traditionally portrayed as white British men, was turned on its head in Karl Bollers'

Since the character's inception in 1962, the Hulk has been primarily represented as the anger-fueled, monstrously strong alter ego of scientist Bruce Banner, a white man. [Contributed photo]

For Totally Awesome Hulk, an upcoming reboot of the Hulk comics set to release in December, Marvel has reimagined the smash-happy green giant as the alter ego of Amadeus Cho, a brilliant teenage Korean-American. [Marvel Comics]

After years of serving as Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers traded in the title to become Captain Marvel, passing on the Ms. Marvel role to Kamala Khan, a Muslim Pakistani-American girl from New Jersey who idolized her. Earlier this year, the first collected volume of issues featuring Khan as Ms. Marvel received a Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story.

For more than 30 years, Carol Danvers was the woman behind the mask of the multi-talented superheroine Ms. Marvel (among other characters). [Contributed photo]

Col. Nicholas Fury and his Howling
Commandos were introduced in 1963.
Known for his keen tactical abilities and trademark eyepatch, Fury would later become the head of espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. (upon which the hit TV series is now based). He was traditionally protrayed as a white man.

Although he goes by the same name, Marvel's Ultimate comics line introduced a black version of Nick Fury. This interpretation of the character reportedly was based on Chattanooga native Samuel L. Jackson, pictured, who later portrayed him in the Marvel film series. There is also a third version of Nick Fury who is the bi-racial son of the original character and a black secret agent named Nia Jones.

White, suburban teenager Peter Parker, pictured, has long been the go-to alter ego of Spider-Man series. [Contributed photo]

In 2014, Marvel introduced a new spin-off series of Spider-Man — Ultimate Spider-Man — that gave web-slinging powers to Miles Morales, a half-black-half-Latino teenager. The character proved so popular that when a Marvel universe event tossed all its storylines into turmoil, Miles became the official Spider-Man in the mainline series as well. [Contributed photo]

The role of Marvel's take on the Norse god of thunder Thor has traditionally been given
to any man who can lift Mjolnir, a hammer that is unable to be used except by those who are deemed
worthy to wield it.

In 2014, a new Thor storyline was introduced that featured a woman — Jane Foster — who dons the mantle of Thor after being deemed worthy to wield the magic hammer Mjolnir.

Since the character first appeared on film in 1962, the role of British super spy James Bond has been exclusively played by white actors, most recently Daniel Craig, seen here filming "Spectre," which is slated for an November release. [AP Photo/Angelo Carconi, Ansa]

For years, the Internet has been abuzz with rumors that Idris Elba ("The Wire," "Luther"), pictured, is among the frontrunners to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond after Craig finishes his final contracted film as the legendary spy. [Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP]

A sharpshooter and one of Batman's oldest enemies, Deadshot has traditionally been portrayed as a white man, including when Michael Rowe, pictured, played him on the TV series