By Kleeyah Khan and Alex Jiménez
Everyone has their reasons for enjoying a show, movie, video game, or any other kind of entertainment. Things like popularity, relatability, great characters, and good representation usually play a big role.
I’m a comic book enthusiast who grew up in New York, raised by my Haitian-Dominican-American mother and Trinidadian-American father, and what’s always been important to me is seeing more stories and characters that I can relate to. My co-writer Alex is a nature-loving athlete raised in Michigan by his Mexican-American parents and he’s always understood the importance of representation.
Kleeyah: Think about your favorite childhood memory. It could be chasing the ice cream truck after a long summer day, or maybe it's the freshly baked goodies your grandmother made for no other reason than to see you smile. Mine is the Saturday morning routine my brother and I had. We would wake up, brush our teeth at lightning speed, grab our cereal bowls, and run to sit at the coffee table to hear the opening theme to 4Kids TV. X-Men, Yu-Gi-Oh, Justice League, Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you name it…we watched them all! We were glued to the TV for hours until our mother realized we weren’t diligently cleaning the living room like we were supposed to. I bonded with my siblings and classmates over these cartoons and kid shows. The fact that some of the characters either looked like me or someone I knew affirmed something in me that I didn't realize at the time. Representation has a profound effect.
Justice League (2001) and Justice League Unlimited (2004) were my first introductions to superheroes other than Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. I was exposed to heroes like “Vixen,” aka Mari McCabe, and “Green Lantern,” aka John Stewart.
Mari McCabe was DC’s first African-American heroine, debuting in Action Comics #521 (1981). She was born in a small African village and was gifted the Tantu Totem, a priceless family heirloom, by her father. The Tantu Totem is an ancient necklace imbued with the powers of the animal kingdom and a powerful artifact people desperately wish to possess. One of those people is her very own uncle. After witnessing her parents’ murder at the hands of her jealous uncle, 17-year-old Mari flees to America, becoming a supermodel by day and a crime-fighting vigilante known as Vixen by night. We don’t get a detailed backstory on her in the animated series but we do see her in her natural element, flawlessly using the power and strength of various animals.
It was awesome. Seeing someone who I could relate to as a person of color and who could hold her own alongside the world’s greatest heroes connected something in my young mind. I learned that I could do anything I set my mind to.
John Stewart had an even greater impact because of his superhero affiliation: The Green Lantern Corps. There was nothing cooler than being able to manifest anything you can imagine with a power ring. There are various colored Lantern Corps that exist for when a person showcases an overwhelming amount of that specific emotion (e.g., pink for love or red for rage.) Green represents willpower and The Green Lantern Corps was created to protect the universe from intergalactic threats.
John Stewart was a retired U.S. Marine and became Earth’s first Black Green Lantern after fighting off an alien robot invader with zero hesitation. He was born in a poor neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, and always aspired to be a helpful, kind individual who gave back to his country and community. He chose not to wear a mask because he wanted young people with similar backgrounds to see that they could be strong and that they don’t have to stay in the boxes others may try to put them in.
John Stewart was portrayed as an honorable man in his character-centric episodes where he was put on an intergalactic trial for “blowing up” an entire planet during a mission. He accepted responsibility for his actions, even though it was an accident, and was willing and prepared to face the consequences. Luckily, the Justice League launched their own investigation and learned that John was set up and that the planet in question was still intact, just hidden with special alien technology.
This particular set of episodes meant a lot to me as a kid because it showed the importance of integrity and accepting responsibility for yourself and your actions, and also exemplified true friendship. The Justice League was newly formed at this point but there was no hesitation to defend their friend, refusing to give up until they learned the truth.
Alex: Like a lot of Mexican kids, I liked Spider-Man. Peter Parker’s Spider-Man is probably the most popular superhero in mainstream media, so any successor was always going to have a tough act to follow. The character, Miles Morales, made his debut as Spider-Man in 2011. His appearance, highly influenced by Donald Glover, modernized Marvel to a more diverse audience.
Miles is an Afro-Puerto Rican teen from Brooklyn, New York, with an African-American father and Afro-Puerto Rican mother, and his introduction was subject to much scrutiny, especially online as readers accused the character—the first Black Spider-Man—of being a diversity token. This, combined with the mixed reactions to his debut and early comics, meant that Miles as Spiderman had to be exceptional or he would keep facing backlash. Seven years after his debut, that exceptionalism was given an opportunity on the big screen.
Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse was released in 2018, grossing $394 million worldwide, and was the first non-Disney/Pixar film to win Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards since 2011. Critical acclaim and financial success led to the development of a trilogy with Across the Spider-Verse released in 2023 and Beyond the Spider-Verse currently in production. These films were in many ways trailblazers for what would ultimately be a string of multiverse movies across the superhero genre in the early 2020s, as seen with Avengers: Endgame and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The first movie follows Miles grappling with what it means to be Spider-Man. This gets boosted tenfold in the sequel when Miles gets labeled an anomaly that jeopardizes the continuity of Spider-Man as a whole. In some ways, this also reflects the backlash Miles initially received before his silver screen debut, and the final film may emphasize this narrative even more if it continues honing in on the theme of “anyone can wear the mask.” Anyone can be Spider-Man. While we still have one more movie to go, Miles has already shown that a Black lead, a Latino lead, can be successful at the box office. Miles will always be known as one of the first, but not the last.
Kleeyah: Speaking of upcoming blockbuster hits, John Stewart will be making his live-action debut soon in the new DC Studios’ cinematic universe that is currently being built by award-winning director, producer, and screenwriter James Gunn. That universe will include a variety of movies, live-action, and animated TV shows all focused on telling the nostalgic stories we all know and love while also introducing audiences to new characters.
Gunn announced back in October of 2024 that he found “an incredible John Stewart” in Aaron Pierre, best known for his recent role as Mufasa in Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King. Pierre will be joined by Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, and Ulrich Thomsen as Thaal Sinestro in the HBO Max original series titled Lanterns, which is expected to be released in 2026.
The entertainment industry has always stood for storytelling. Whether it’s heard through music, read in a book, seen in movies, or poured onto a canvas, there is always a story to tell, and sometimes telling that story means someone out there feels less alone in theirs.
Characters like Miles Morales, John Stewart, Mari McCabe, and others help people feel seen and heard, not alone in their struggles. Representation recognizes and values different experiences, reminding us that we all matter and are in this together.
As consumers, we are a vital part of the entertainment ecosystem. We have the power to support the films and shows we love through our wallets, viewership, ratings, and reviews. So, let’s go to the movie theater, download that streaming app, and share our opinions on social media…all for the love of great entertainment. Our voices count.
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