Welcome to Comic Book Legends Revealed! This is the six hundred and forty-third week where we examine comic book legends and whether they are true or false.
As we’ve been doing it for some time now, one legend today, one tomorrow and one Sunday.
Let’s begin!
COMIC LEGEND:
Starfire was originally going to be black in the New Teen Titans.
STATUS:
False
As you may or may not have heard, actress Anna Diop has been cast as Starfire in the upcoming live action Titans series.
Diop is an African-American actress…
And some folks on social media were upset that she was cast to play Starfire…
Longtime reader Vinnie B. tweeted me to ask, “What with the recent casting, did you ever address the story that Starfire was originally intended to be black but made golden for Reasons?”
Was that true? Was Starfire originally intended to be black in the New Teen Titans?
I asked Starfire creator Marv Wolfman (who created Starfire with artist George Perez), and he was kind enough to explain the situation. As it turns out, the answer is no, but Vinnie was very close, as ANOTHER one of the original New Teen Titans WAS originally going to be black.
On Marv’s website here, he details his original plans for the New Teen Titans and he explains that it was RAVEN who was originally going to be black…
He ultimately decided against it, in part because naming a black character “Raven” seemed a bit too on point.
So no, Starfire was always going to look like an alien, but you were very close, Vinnie!
For the record, Marv also made sure to point out to me how ridiculous he felt the criticisms of Diop’s casting was, as he correctly notes that there aren’t any 6’7 golden-skinned people with feline eyes on Earth, so you were always going to have to pick someone who didn’t technically look like Starfire, so why would it matter what ethnicity they were?
That’s the legendary creator of the New Teen Titans talking, people! Listen to him!
Thanks to Vinnie for the suggestion and thanks to Marv Wolfman for the answer!
Check out some legends from Legends Revealed:
Did an Episode of “How I Met Your Mother” Contain a REAL Wedding Proposal?
Was Igor Stravinsky Arrested for Adding a Chord to the National Anthem?
How Did an Actor’s Ability to Make a Cappuccino Nab Him a Long-Running Role on Friends?
Was Disneyland’s First Opening So Screwed Up That They Pretended It Didn’t Happen for More Than a Decade?
Check back Saturday for part 2 of this week’s legends!
And remember, if you have a legend that you’re curious about, drop me a line at either brianc@cbr.com or cronb01@aol.com!