Batson's Blog

Something that's been happening in recent years is casting black actors in the roles of comic book characters who were typically white. Of course, it's something that goes back to timing and culture and society. When comic books were published several decades ago, it was during a time when race was still a very sensitive subject. Race may be a sensitive topic these days too, but in the 1940's and 1950's, black people still didn't have the rights they do today. I wasn't alive at the time, but I'd imagine it was even more tense than in today's current climate. It creates an interesting dilemma for Marvel and DC movie and TV-makers.  Do they change the race of beloved characters? Do they create new superheroes who are black (and Asian and LGBT, etc, etc?) to satisfy their diverse readers?  Do they elevate their lesser-known black characters to more prominent roles (like Luke Cage and Black Panther)?  Or do they stick to the original portrayal...

Alright, after going over casting choices for Teela, Beast Man and Man-At-Arms the past three days, it's time to take a look at Mer-Man --- another of Skeletor's henchmen.  Given his prominent status among Skeletor's ranks, I feel that he should be included in the new He-Man movie. Mer-Man got jipped the last time around. Evil-lyn and Beast Man both made it into He-Man's 1987 big screen debut --- even if Beast Man looked more like Grizzlor than Beast Man. Now, in terms of the version that should be produced, there are pretty much two to choose from and both are similar. There is the Filmation version and the 2002 Mike Young Productions version.  There aren't a ton of differences between the two, but I'd much rather see the 1980's version.  The 2002 version (and mini-comics version, at times) looks too much like a duck.  The Filmation version really does look like a man-fish or a Mer-Man. So, who to play Mer-Man?  The first name I'm going to t...