Does Marvel support Donald Trump?

Comic book readers around the world today are feeling betrayed by the actions of Marvel CEO, Isaac Perlmutter. The CEO of the Marvel has come out in support of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, personally donating over a million dollars to Trump’s fund. While this is not to say that the company support Donald Trump in any way, It’s worth pointing out that Marvel Comics have been getting steadily more involved with politics over the last decade. In a recent article, which you can view here, I talked about how the current Captain America series has be criticising Trump’s policies. However, there is now a growing fear that Marvel comic may swing to the political right wing and it is not entirely unfounded. Take Captain America. The current series has seen Sam Wilson, who normally goes by Falcon, wearing the stars and stripes whilst supporting liberal politics, but it looks like Steve Rogers is coming back in May…

This means that the American flag will be shared by a liberal African-American and an aging blonde haired conservative who believes in making America great again. Meanwhile, Peter Parker is the head of a multinational company and S.H.E.I.L.D is edging closer and closer to total global surveillance. There is a degree of speculation to this of course, but it is one trend that could herald a disturbing future for the biggest publishers in comics. However, there is one elite team of heroes who stand between us and this nightmare scenario: the Marvel writing staff. In a world where superheroes don’t exist, who better to take their place than the men and women who bring them to life? These creators have already been doing a brilliant job.

Over the last few years, the writing staff have pursued a diversity agenda, slowly introducing super heroes from every background and walk of life. The comic conventions have started become more global with writers prepared to visit countries all over the world to discuss their work and connect with fans. In the pages of Marvel comics there has been support for several of Obama’s core policies alongside attempts to discredit Trump and his manifesto. This liberal and inclusive aspect to the world of Marvel super heroes feels like a natural progression of the Universe as it serves as escapism for everyone. That being said, there is an argument that Marvel as a whole, as well as the other main publishing houses, should avoid any form of political statement.

Ideally, Marvel, like every other publishing company, should let every writer write whatever they want. Some writers tackle things from a right-wing perspective and others should tackle things from a left-wing one whilst having some should have no political stance at all. I doubt Isaac Perlmutter’s actions will cause serious changes at Marvel comics as the writing staff would more likely walk than write in unilateral support of Trump. Although, it’s possible that Perlmutter’s influence could lead to more right wing politics in the universe this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This could present the readers with different viewpoints so they can have an open political debate. There was a little series titled ‘Civil War’ that did this perfectly around ten years ago and we’re still taking about it to this day…