Famous Marvel writer Jason Aaron (Avengers. Thor. Star Wars) apologized for the comic’s debut of a female Indigenous Conan the Barbarian character. He also promised to change the character’s name. Marvel confirmed Tuesday that the future printings of King Conan comics will include changes to the character, which was a female character in the last issue.
This move follows criticism from the popular comic publisher for the new character, who is said to resemble Pocahontas, a historical Native American icon. Some also criticized her name, “Matoaka,” as it was offensive toward the Indigenous community.
“[D]isgusted doesn’t even come close to being a word for this. how?? How is that possible? Kelly Lynne D’Angelo is a Native writer. “[She] was a REAL LITTLE GIRL – to do the same to her, to us over and over… i am at a complete loss. disgusting.”
“[D]oes he not deserve rest?” reclamation? She added, “Honor?” “[Y]ou colonizers make me vom[it].”
One Twitter user called the woman fatale “remarkably offensive” and asked Marvel to listen to “indigenous voices.”
“Cancel the book. The user said that this should not have been approved.
“Hey @Marvel, @jasonaaron! Did you ever think that using the name a colonial victim for your male power fantasy comic (the kind that is still being persisted today against Indigenous Americans), was insensitive and distasteful?” said another.
“THIS is the reason we need Native voices to write Native characters. Another user said that we are not just show pieces to make your world more dark.” “We are not here to make you rich off our murders or suicides, even fictional ones.”
Comic Book Resources (CBR) received a statement from the company stating that, though “The Princess of Golden Ruin”, the character revealed in the third installment of King Conan, was not based on any real-life figures or culture, her name would change in all future issues, digital editions and reprints.
Jason Aaron, the writer of King Conan issued an apology for his “ill-considered” decision.
He wrote, “In KING CONAN #3 I made the ill-considered choice to give a character Matoaka, which is most closely associated with real-life Native American figure Pocahontas.”
Aaron claimed that the new character, “a supernatural, thousand year-old princess of an cursed island within the world of pastiche & dark fantasy,” Aaron claimed was not intended to be based upon anyone in history. He said he had better understood the name’s meaning and resonance and knew it wasn’t appropriate to use it.
“I can understand the outrage of those who hold the true Matoaka’s legacy dear, but for all of it and the distress it’s caused,” he wrote. He also stated that the character’s appearance and name would be “adjusted” for the remaining mini-series issues as well as for “all digital editions and collected editions.”
Aaron apologized and said that he had donated his pay to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. This Native-led nonprofit aims to end violence against Native children, women, and children.
However, not all people accepted his apology.
One Twitter user wrote, “It’s still an hypersexualized demeaning, misogynistic stereotype of an indigenous woman,” This doesn’t leave Aaron or Marvel out of the loop.
Another wrote, “Changing the name of the comic is not enough.” Jason Aaron should stop writing about Native Americans and the comic should be pulled. This is not his first offense. It’s habitual. Jason Aaron is not something I’ll ever read. I don’t understand how he can get a job that allows him to write subpar and promote racism.
Others, however, did not feel the need to apologize for the incident.
“Over[ly] sensitive people getting upset over fiction again. One Twitter user wrote that people need to learn how to calm down.
Another wrote, “It’s absurd to have to apologize to for the name of a fictional person.”
Another user wrote, “Wow! It’s Land of the Lakes all again!” “Leftists erase Native American historical figure Pocahontas from Marvel’s Conan!” !”
Another wrote, “They could poke fun at South Europeans and nobody would blink.”
Another Twitter user said, “Just ridiculous.” “Way for me to bow the knee to the insane mob that hasn’t even read this title.”
As cancel culture continues to grow, so does the controversy. Those who share views or depictions that are controversial could be deplatformed and/or subject to social media ostracization.
Podcaster Joe Rogan said that the recent cancel campaign against his podcast was a “political strike job” after he received criticism from conservatives for apologizing for using a racial slur throughout a compilation video showing him using it in clips of episodes that spanned 12 years.
Dave Chappelle, a stand-up comedian, has been under fire after his Netflix special “The Closer”, which was released in October. In it, he tells a variety of transgender jokes and asserts that “gender” is a fact.
According to FIRE, the majority of Americans still view cancel culture as a threat and to democracy and freedom despite increasing calls for censorship for anything even mildly controversial.
Victor Davis Hanson, a historian, suggested in April that millions of Americans could coordinate a counter-boycott against corporations supporting left-wing politics. He called for the fight against leftist cancel culture through counter-boycotting corporations.
