Why Do So Many Black Superheroes Have Electricity Powers? Growing up as a kid who loved comic books, I spent many an afternoon running around the park pretending to be a superhero fighting all manners of evil. Fun as it was, the process of picking out which superhero I wanted to be always stressed me out for one particular reason that still bothers me to this day.

Back then, it felt odd flipping through my mental Rolodex of characters and realizing that, if I wanted to play as a black hero, it was almost guaranteed that I’d be doing jazz hands to simulate zapping people with lightning. See, there are a lot of black comic book characters with electricity- based superpowers. A lot. Certainly, there are a number of differences between Storm, Black Lightning, (Black Lightning’s daughter) Lightning, Black Vulcan, Juice, Static, and Shango the Thunderer. But there’s also something about them all that feels derivative at best and stereotypical at worst, considering that the vast majority of the most popular black superhero characters were created by white men. It’s worth pointing out that Black Vulcan was created by Hanna- Barbera for the Superfriends cartoon, which producers felt needed a black character even though Black Lightning already existed. It’s also worth pointing out Black Vulcan was created after Black Lightning’s creator Tony Isabella left DC over creative differences.)The earliest black superheroes like Black Panther and Luke Cage crossed the comic book color line with their technology and super strength, but over the years, electrokinesis has seemingly become to go- to power black characters are most often assigned. But why? In the fifth issue of Mark Waid and Peter Krause’s Irredeemable, Volt, a member of the book’s answer to the Justice League, apprehends a kidnapper while sheepishly admitting to the people around him that yes, he’s a black hero with electricity powers and yes, he knows that it’s a Thing™, and he’s kind of embarrassed about it.

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While Volt’s powers are a playful jab at superhero comics as a whole, they do raise a number of questions about what it means exactly when creators choose to turn black characters into walking, talking batteries. Taken purely at face value, it’s not difficult to understand what makes electrokinesis popular with creators. For one thing, it can make for some of the most visually arresting art you can imagine, and with the right sort of creativity, electrokinesis can be used in a variety of novel, clever ways beyond simply discharging energy. Writer Matt Wayne has helped give Milestone Media and DC Comics’ character Static his signature voice on a number of projects like the Static Shock animated series and various comics like Static and The Brave and the Bold: Milestone. When I spoke with Wayne recently, he assured me that, when creating a new character and deciding which powers they should have, every comics writer sits down and considers how similar their creation will end up to others that came before them. Static’s powers, Wayne told me, were meant to be an extension of his geeky personality and the kinds of science fair projects he enjoyed working on.

In other cases, though, Wayne reasoned that electrokinetic powers were the perfect way of having a black hero around who could participate in a fight, but not necessarily be the one to win the fight.“I think maybe some of it is that these kinds of heroes are usually physically vulnerable. So they get their hits in and get taken out. There’s definitely an unconscious undercutting of black heroes, keeping them just shy of being a heroic ideal, that used to be more pronounced,” Wayne said. In that vein, maybe electricity can be an unconscious expression of the hero’s ‘tamable’ nature?”While it’s heartening to hear directly from a writer about how much thought they personally put into crafting a character’s identity, the point still stands that black heroes with electrical powers are an established trope. Personally, the thing that’s always stuck with me about most black heroes with nature- based power sets is the very thin line writers and artists have to walk to make sure the character isn’t being depicted as a “savage.” The idea that black people are inherently closer to nature is one of the larger undertones to the problematic magical negro trope that many black characters are often hamstrung by. The Black Electricity Trope reads like a distant cousin to the Magical Negro, in that they’re both established formulations of a character whose most defining qualities are a preternatural understanding and command of natural force.

It goes without saying that Storm is perhaps the most iconic example of a the Black Electricity Trope, but she’s also a character who’s transcended much of its limitations as a result of being written and depicted thoughtfully across a variety of different mediums. Storm isn’t just a black hero who throws lightning bolts, she’s one of the most complicated and nuanced comic book characters created in the past 4. We’ve seen Storm as both a lethal weather goddess and a vulnerable human. She’s incredibly strong, but you always get the sense that at the center of whatever devastating weather phenomena she’s manifested, there’s a human who’s just as powerful even when she doesn’t have her powers. It’s that sort of solid characterization and fleshing out of a personality, Wayne told me, that’s the key making sure that a character doesn’t become reduced to a two- dimensional stereotype.“Know who your character is.

Black Lightning wouldn’t defeat a villain the same way that Static would,” Wayne said. Although, Black Vulcan’s approach would probably be indistinguishable from Black Lightning’s. The only difference would be who gets paid.”.

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All the Details and Secrets We Spotted in the Latest Star Wars: The Last Jedi Footage. Watch Deep Web Online Forbes. D2. 3 is upon us this weekend, and with it, a new behind- the- scenes glimpse at the next chapter in the Star Wars saga. But although the movie didn’t offer us a full trailer, what we did get was still jam- packed with little hints and clues as to what’s to come for Luke, Leia, Rey, Finn, and Poe. The opening salvo of the reel gives us a few intriguing shots of sets, locations, and characters.

There’s a great big rocky set—which we’ll see later is actually home to a massive pool of water—the bridge of a Star Destroyer under construction, huts on Luke’s new home of Ahch- To, and rather spectacularly, Chewbacca getting his hair done. Some very slick looking speeders blanketed by the sun. Judging by some of the things we see later on in this reel, these appear to be for the glitzy streets of Canto Bight, a casino world that both Finn (John Boyega) and new character Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) venture to at some point in the movie. A poor camera man gets doused in red soil—meaning that this is presumably Crait, the mineral planet from the first trailer and seemingly the site of a really major battle at some point in the film, judging by some of the character’s we’ll later see filming stuff on this new planet.

Rey (Daisy Ridley) pops up from behind a camera, giving us a good look at the hairstyle so secret it somehowbecame a months- long Star Wars rumor. Night on Ahch- To.. Luke would maybe invite Chewie to stay in his home, but apparently not, as the Wookiee goes solo camping with the Falcon. When he’s not stealing Poe’s clothes, Finn seems like at some point he’ll be donning a Resistance pilot flight suit. It’s not the orange of Poe and his fellow X- Wing pilots, so maybe Finn suits up to use one of those big gunships we saw in the first trailer’s space battle.

One of the most mysterious, intriguing shots of the whole reel is this one we see of General Leia (the late, ever- great Carrie Fisher). She’s not on a bridge of a Resistance ship as we’ve seen repeatedly already, but instead looking distraught on the grey, cracked surface of a planet.

It doesn’t quite look like Crait, and it doesn’t look like what we’ve seen of Ahch- To either, so could it be a new world altogether? Our first look at a pivotal scene that’s presumably from the earliest moments of the film, knowing that it picks up immediately after the end of The Force Awakens: Rey returns the Skywalker family lightsaber to its former owner, Luke (Mark Hamill). Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) goes business formal, keeping the helmet but ditching his pleated robes for a First Order officer’s tunic and a new, totally- trying- to- be- grandpa cloak.

In fact, there’s been a rumor that it might literally be Vader’s cloak, so there’s a possibility that poor Ben has gone full cosplay. The location he’s on looks very Death Star, but it’s likely Supreme Leader Snoke’s grand Star Destroyer—referred to in reports as a Mega Destroyer—which we’ve heard is a pivotal location in the film. Here’s a look at what Kylo’s staring at in the above shot—which definitely looks like a big- ass throne for Snoke to sit in, seemingly confirming this is the Mega Destroyer the First Order’s leader calls home. A reverse look at that big explosion we see Poe (Oscar Isaac) and BB- 8 run to in the first trailer—one that gives us our first really good look at the A- Wings, making their return to the franchise in both original red and Resistance White/Blue flavors.

Look at these adorable little space heroes! Sure, it’s an isolated behind- the- scenes shot, but could it imply that all four of our young heroes will be meeting up in the film at some point?

We know at the very least a few will, thanks to some later shots in the reel. Our first look at a nasty- looking new weapon for the Stormtroopers (or at least a special version of them, given the new black shoulder pads). Previous reports described this clawed battlestaff as also being electrified, because the big spikey claws didn’t quite look sinister enough as is. This gorgeous animatronic creature looks a little more The Last Guardian than The Last Jedi. The environment seems to match set pictures from filming for Canto Bight, some of the first pictures ever seen from filming— and the gated, horse- esque creature could be from a stable we recently heard of in a set report that Finn and Rose duck into during an elaborate chase sequence that ends up with them riding this creature, allegedly called a Falthier. Look, I don’t have anything to add here other than HOW COOL DOES THIS ICY WOLF LOOK!?

A very tiny Casino staff member on Canto Bight prepares his space- gambling table. The design is very reminiscent of Colonel Gascon from Clone Wars, who was from a diminutive race called the Zilkin.

Our best look yet at Laura Dern’s mysterious new character—Resistance Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo. She might be sharing a warm greeting with General Organa here, but we’ve heard quite a few reports that she ends up playing a more antagonistic role despite being on the hero’s side. The internet’s boyfriend Poe Dameron takes his seat in a cockpit—one that appears to be a cockpit of one of the Resistance Skimmers we saw gorgeously gliding across Crait’s salted surface in the first trailer.

This seemingly innocuous shot of Chewie might come during a jokey sequence from John Boyega mocking director Rian Johnson, but note the environment: he’s on the Resistance ship bridge set we’ve seen Poe, Leia, and Finn all on as well. Given it doesn’t appear that he instantly returns to the Resistance after dropping Rey on Ahch- To, could he have come back with a few more passengers in tow when he eventually does?

We saw the very close- up version of this in the trailer itself, but this wider shot gives us a better look at the fact that Rey is seemingly charging into battle on Ahch- To. There’s been a report floating around forever about a major duel on the planet featuring Rey, Luke, Kylo Ren, and the Knights of Ren themselves—could those be the opponents she’s running to meet here? Here’s a really good look at the full extent of the scar Rey gave Kylo Ren during their Force Awakens duel.

You’ll note, as we previously reported, Kylo’s scar has moved a couple inches to the side compared to where Rey actually slashed him—a continuity- bending choice by Rian Johnson because he thought the first scar placement looked goofy. Luke stands tall on Ahch- To, but he’s had a change of clothes from his white robes. We got a brief glimpse of this look at Star Wars Celebration a few months ago, but this our best full look at it. This shot was heavily obscured in the initial trailer, but if you didn’t notice, here’s confirmation that Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) and a bunch of Stormtroopers are responsible for that massive explosion aboard the Resistance ship Poe is on. Note the unfortunate tattered ruins of Black Leader’s X- Wing in the foreground.

Speaking of Black Leader, here’s Poe sliding into a trench on what appears to be Crait—could this be earlier in the same sequence we saw at the very start of the reel? Rose, with a different hairstyle, sits on the landing bay of the Millennium Falcon. You can just make out that she’s been crying, so something pretty bad’s probably happened.. But first, a very quick look at another mysterious new addition to the Star Wars galaxy, played by Benicio Del Toro. We know nothing about this character other than the fact that he was referred to on set as “DJ”. You can just about glimpse BB- 8 in this shot too.

A Resistance Gunner takes her place in the nose turret of one of the bombers we saw in the space battle of the first trailer—but not just any gunner. Rian Johnson has confirmed that this is, in fact, Paige Tico (Veronica Ngo), Rose’s sister. Beloved family member in a precarious combat position? Well, maybe something happens to her and that’s why Rose looked so upset.