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Eh I just can't get into the DC/Marvel comics.

Downside is that a lot of the smaller/independent names can end up never finishing and just going dark or shutting down series. Seen it happen to Uber; meanwhlie Requiem Vampire is sitting in endless slow updates (the artwork is still freaking awesome but very very slow).

From what I can tell its often a joint issue of artists burning out; and money getting too thin

There's a few that land it lucky like Saga or Monstress

I am a huge Michael Bendis fan, which I learned when he left Marvel and moved to DC for a bit, and all my favorite Marvel books suddenly got worse and I found his new DC stuff really good. I find he writes characters in a very real/relatable manner. Just good dialogue.

 cuda1179 wrote:
So, I just read an article complaining about RDJ playing Doom. Apparently they are saying it's Whitewashing? I though Doom was a White guy? Was there a variant that was another ethnicity?

I'd guess it's a reference to replacing Kang (played by an African American actor) with a white villain. So not really 'whitewashing' but something in that area.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

 cuda1179 wrote:
So, I just read an article complaining about RDJ playing Doom. Apparently they are saying it's Whitewashing? I though Doom was a White guy? Was there a variant that was another ethnicity?

I'd guess it's a reference to replacing Kang (played by an African American actor) with a white villain. So not really 'whitewashing' but something in that area.

I think it is more that Doom is (sometimes?) referred to as Romani and think RDJ doesn't have the right ethnic look. You almost never see Victor's real face in the comics and the few times we have I don't recall it being anything that specific plus he has been played by others such as Julian MCMahon (twice!) and I don't recall hearing complaints. Basically it comes down to either Eastern European or Romani not being considered "white" by some so they don't think Doom should be played by a "white" guy.

 Ahtman wrote:
...plus he has been played by others such as Julian MCMahon (twice!) and I don't recall hearing complaints.

There were plenty of complaints about Julian McMahon's Doom, but I don't recall them being about him not being Romani. But when the earlier FF movies were made, casting discourse was still much more focused around whether or not the actor seemed up to the role, rather than whether or not their ethnicity was correct to the comic. Even the later reboot casting a black actor as Johnny Storm got considerably more flak from it altering Johnny and Sue's relationship, rather than from them making a previously white character black.

Basically it comes down to either Eastern European or Romani not being considered "white" by some so they don't think Doom should be played by a "white" guy.

Romani are descended from Northeastern Indians, and are genealogically separate from other European groups. So yes, if they go with Doom's Romani heritage as part of this character, having him played by a white guy is a poor choice.

But we still don't have confirmation that RDJ is actually playing Romani-descended Victor Von Doom, just that he's playing Doom. Whether that means he's playing [Victor, not Romani], [Victor, Romani but white for some reason], [Doom, Tony Stark Variant], [Victor, body-swapped with Tony Stark] or something else entirely remains to be seen.

 insaniak wrote:

 Ahtman wrote:
...plus he has been played by others such as Julian MCMahon (twice!) and I don't recall hearing complaints.

There were plenty of complaints about Julian McMahon's Doom, but I don't recall them being about him not being Romani.

That is the complaint being talked about in this specific instance though; my statement was in no way saying there were no criticisms at all. I can't imagine someone thinking anything from those films were free of judgement of any kind, let alone Doom.

Also, this isn't my argument or something I care about I was relating some things I had seen that might answer the question of how "whitewashing" came up.

Does it matter? Doom should always have the mask on and on the very rare occasion he doesn't, his face should still be obscured.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
Does it matter? Doom should always have the mask on and on the very rare occasion he doesn't, his face should still be obscured.

Unfortunately, from what I've learned, particularly with Marvel casting for actors, is that most people aren't like Karl Urban who are able to stick with the source material and avoid showing their faces if the character is built around it, I think most established actors have in their contracts a minimum requirement of exposed facetime in the film, which is fair enough if you're acting normally, but I feel like for roles like Dr. Doom or Judge Dredd it should be clear what the expectations are.

The problem is that those big name actors basically cost a fortune and a huge part of that fortune is being able to plaster their face all over the marketing and material to draw in the crowds.

At least for live-action films. It's why there's often so much pressure to have them take off the facemask.



You also see the same thing in historical films with many characters having open helms or very little head protection; though there its got a duel role. One is to have the big names visible; the other is just to have them visible to make them easier to tell who is who for the audience. Similar to how many anime will use bonkers hair styles and bright coloured eyes/hair to help separate characters

I'm guessing we're getting less Doom and more Rabum Alal