VIDEO: Stephen Colbert Says “The Golden Age is Over” in Report on the new Ultimate Spider-Man

Stephen Colbert–unarguably the nation's biggest Spider-Man fan–has some questions about Miles Morales, the new half-black, half-hispanic (Ultimate Comics) Spider-Man. Despite Colbert's tongue-in-cheek persona as an alarmist ultra-conservative super patriot, even his joking remarks about the changing face of ethnicity in comics aren't half as ridiculous as some of the sincerely hateful comments posted anonymously on both mainstream news sites and in dedicated comic book forums. Or on Glenn Beck's radio show for that matter. 

And yes, he fudges a fact or two, citing that Peter died in Ultimate Fallout #4 (the death occurred back in June with Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #160) but…whatever. 

 

 

I only wish the outrageous comments–so clearly farcical on the Colbert Report–weren't mirrored so earnestly by real people thoughout the world. 

Comments

  1. I had a hard time laughing at this even though I am a huge Colbert fan.

    Clearly he’s being hyperbolic about the news and is trying to show how stupid it is to be upset. But some of the lines here didn’t make me laugh. Shocked he didn’t go for the Beck footage (which maybe he didn’t know about at the time of filming). 

  2. *cries* Not available in Ireland…

  3. I agree.  I think that 1/2 and 1/2 is trying way too hard.  Miles for the black name and Morales for the Hispanic…I’m all for a more dicerse SM, but just do one or the other.

  4. BTW, guys, thanks for not covering said conservative commentator’s comments yesterday. I’m really proud that the mainstream comic book press decided not to give him any more publicity.

  5. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    @MadMartigan  I don’t understand. Someone with one black parent and one hispanic parent is too diverse for fiction? 

  6. @MadMartigan  Man you must really hate Conor Hawke.  I mean half-black/half-latino is one of the most common biracial mixtures you’ll run into in NYC.

  7. @madmartigan I thought it was a really great idea. There are other black and latino comic book characters but how many from multiracial backgrounds. With public figures like President Obama and Tiger Woods having parents of different races, I think its true diversity to have that reflected in comics.

  8. I don’t understand the outrage. There a thosands regular WASP-y Peter Parker stories out there for readers to enjoy. Also Amazing Spider-Man is staying the same!

    I was determined to skip over this whole ultimate reboot business until I found out they were actually trying something different. At least this is interesting.

  9. Why do people always have to fret about this garbage!? All that matters is if the chracter and stories are enjoyable, THAT’S ALL! This guy is black, that guy is white…SO WHAT!? Ethnicity has never (negatively) impacted the enjoyability of a story that I have read. Batman is awesome (white guy), so is Vixen(black woman), let’s get over it already.

  10. I agree with Paul. Why is it so shocking that a kid would be half black and half Latino? Inter-racial couples have been having bi-racial children for a long time. Hell, I have half Asian Indian cousins, half Latino cousins, and half black cousins. Why should the Marvel or DCU be full of homogenous people? 
     

  11. @MadMartigan, I wasn’t aware “Miles” was considered a “black name”.

    If they’d called him Tyrese DeShawn Morales III I would think they were overcooking it, but Miles? Nah.

  12. More to the point, I don’t understand the thinking behind region locks – can’t watch the video 🙁

  13. Bro, I’m a gang cop.  I have had contact wit many many many and many more black, white and hispanic people from all walks of life.  Miles is a black name.  Thats all there is to it.  This is form 7+ years of experience, not just an ignorant opinion. PS Im hispanic so I’m saying this from a minority POV.

  14. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    @MadMartigan  That’s not exactly cover for the notion that people of mixed heritage can’t be represented in fiction without it being a gimmick. Or do you just mean the name? The comment wasn’t very clear. 

  15. Isn’t the new Power Man the same mix? I just assumed that it was common enough. Didn’t really care to nitpick at the name. It has alliteration which is all a marvel name needs.

  16. i love Colbert. I actually literally laughed out loud at my desk. 

    btw friends, the name “Miles” comes from Latin which means “knight” or “solidier”. wait a minute. Maybe that Bendis guy has a concept or something!!!

    i really hate that all the conversation around this new direction is digressing into a racial purity thing. Kinda depressing reflection on our society. If you do the research and read a few books, just about everyone on this planet is a mixed race….unless you live in one of those ancient Amazonian tribes that no one has discovered yet.  

  17. I have no problem with anything Marvel has been doing, but I do have a problem with how the media has been reporting on this. I’ve seen many stories on such places as the Today Show, local news, and even Colbert where they just say “the new Spider-Man” making it seem the Peter Parker that the general public knows is the one replaced. I know it’s probably confusing to most people to say this isn’t the actual Spider-Man, but one is a different universe of comic books. And as much as I hate to say it, at least Beck tried to explain that and wrap his head around it.

  18. @MadMartigan  “Miles is a black name.  That’s all there is too it.” 

    How can you say (with a straight face) that the above statement is not ignorant?

  19. @wallythegreenmonster  Yeah, but those tribes do not have wifi, so they wouldn’t be able to comment to correct people anyway.  😉

  20. @MisterJ  –ha true, but i’m sure they have their own Coke machine…..that is part of the corporate mandate…

    also on that second comment <high five>

  21. Bendis has said he wants to better reflect the real world. So if anyone has known a load of black kids called Miles…then he’s got it right, surely?

    Personally I always associated “Miles” with a bushy moustache. Only time will tell if Morales becomes a greater Miles than Mayhem. 

  22. @boosebaster  I don’t know, there’s tons of other great Miles out there too. Like Straume, Prower, and Edgeworth.

  23. I thought Miles was a Pilgrim name?

  24. I rather enjoyed that clip. Good ol’ Colbert. Thanks for posting this!

  25. @MisterJ From experience and field contact with thousands of black and Hispanic people.

  26. @PaulMontgomery @PaulMontgomery Your right the comment was a bit unclear. I mean the name. The fact that he is half black/Hispanic doesn’t bother me in the least. I just think the name was ridiculously chosen. It’s as if he named a 1/2 black 1/2 white person, Jethro Jackson.

  27. This is really a thing? This is why I believe in select castration.

  28. Lol!!!!

  29. Well The Daily Show took a crack at this, well just for a second, but Stewart was dead on:

    (in regards to Lou Dobbs freaking out)

    “Actually, just to correct Mr. Dobbs. This new Spider-Man takes place in a different universe called ‘the Ultimate universe’ and Peter Parker is still alive as Spider-Man. And he’s Caucasian……and he doesn’t exist.” 

  30. I’m definitely interested.  In the end, the play’s the thing.  If the story and characters in this new universe are compelling, then Morales’ nationality (or sexual preference) shouldn’t matter.  However, if the characters don’t ring true or Morales and his family sound like minorities written by a white guy, then it’ll be a mistake. 

  31. Also, Miles Morales isn’t the first non-white Spider-Man.  I’m pretty sure Takuya Yamashiro of the awesome 1970’s Toei “Spider-Man” TV series has that distinction.  Yeah, I know that’s not the “real” Spiderman, but technically, neither is Miles Morales.  I bet ol’ Morales doesn’t even have a robot. 

  32. Is this on YouTube yet? I want to see what the fuss is about? And us paddies can’t see the above link

  33. @TheNextChampion  From what I’ve seen, Stewart seems the only person in the news media covering this story that basically made both of these two points known. That’s why I love Stewart: He says the obvious that no one else is saying but needs to be said.

  34. I don’t really see the “hate” in the Glenn Beck comments. More like overreaction and paranoid but calling it “hate” is a bit strong, guys. By the way, I’m NOT a Glenn Beck fan and disagree with pretty much everything he says, including his comments here. But “hate”? I guess everything a conservative says is “hate speech”.

    As far as Colbert goes, I never found him funny. Why is racism, even mock-racism, funny? Oh that right, because it’s always funny to paint white conservatives in as ridiculous a light as possible. The joke’s getting pretty old and is actually starting to sound pretty “hateful” in itself.

    Glenn Beck is a ridiculous clown, imo, but I don’t hear any hate from him. Just paranoia.

  35. I love how most of the bedia had not idea that the ultimate universe is separate from all the other Marvel stories

  36. Colbert = YAWN

    I don’t care for Beck. Never listen to him. But Colbert is just as annoying to me. And as @froggulper pointed out, Colbert can say that type of nonsense because he’s portraying conservatives in a negative light. Sadly, these days that’s a popular thing in some circles.

  37. @MadMartigan  So your experience allows you to make an assumption of a person’s ethnicity based purely off of their first name?  Great.

    So that you know that little action is stereotyping.

    Stereotyping is a ‘shortcut’ in the cognitive process.

    Actively using this shortcut, especially when aware of it, is willful.

    A willful shortcut in the cognitive process is ignorant.

    In short, thanks for agreeing with me when you were trying to disagree with me.

  38. I never really thought Miles to be a black guy name. I know a couple of white dudes name Miles. I actually like the name for the new Spider-man its knida of catchy like Peter Parker is.

  39. Can we all just agree that saying “1/2 black and 1/2 hispanic” is too long?  We can call him the technical term: Puerto Rican.

  40. @MadMartigan  I had no idea that Miles O’Brien on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was black.  He seemed more Irish.  Go figure.

  41. I always thought miles was an orange person’s name because of miles “tails” prower.  much hate mail was sent to gene roddenberry over the naming of chief o’brien.