Hey guys, it’s Frank here!
As you guys know, "Spiderman Homecoming" was
released this past week and might I just add
that it was amazing!
Go see it if you haven’t yet, and if you
haven’t, I just wanted to give you a fair
warning that there may be some tiny spoilers
in this video, so proceed with caution.
Anyway, one of the biggest changes comic fans
may have noted in the movie is how different
the comic characters are from those portrayed
in the movie:
Flash Thompson is Hispanic rather than being
this big blonde bully, Aunt May is way younger
and hotter, MJ now stands for Michelle Jones
rather than Mary Jane, and Ned Leeds, Peter
Parker’s secondhand man is…
Filipino?
Now before I go further, I know some of you
are thinking, “So what!
Who cares?
No big deal!”
Well, as I’ve stated before, cultural representation
is important and as a Filipino-American, seeing
a diverse ethnic cast of characters similar
to me is really refreshing to see.
Not much is known about Ned’s backstory
in “Spiderman Homecoming” other than the
fact that the actor who portrays him, Jacob
Batalon, is of Filipino decent.
It is likely that this “new” Ned could
be from the Philippines given that the plot
of the movie takes place in diverse New York
City.
Technically speaking, the Ned Leeds in the
comic is white, so this version of Ned is
the first Filipino portrayed in a Marvel movie
and it made me wonder if there are other Filipino
superheroes or supporting characters in the
Marvel universe too.
Marvel comics has its own superhero Filipino
team called “The Triumph Division."
They are the main superhero group of the Philippines
which appeared in various issues of The Incredible Iron Man.
They consisted of: Red Feather, St. George,
Mighty Mother, Anitun, Fighter One, The Wishing Man,
and the Great Mongoose.
According to their tradition, their superhero
names are passed down from generation to generation.
The members of the Triumph Division trained
from birth to someday succeed their predecessors
if something happens to them.
One incarnation of the Triumph Division was
gathered in a single location in Manila to
be honored with a historic monument for saving
victims of a tsunami that devastated the Philippines.
The story goes that while they were celebrating,
a group of monks, revealed to be suicide bombers,
attacked and blew up the gathered group.
All the Triumph Division heroes who Iron Man
and Thor had met with prior, were apparently
killed and were replaced with the new successors
of those who died.
Other honorable mentions for minor Filipino
characters in the Marvel Universe include
Tim Cababa who was once affiliated with the
Triumph Division, then quit, and was hired by
Tony Stark in his new company Stark Resilient.
Another character worth mentioning is Ginaldo,
a Filipino assassin affiliated with Imperial
Japan in World War 2 who was featured in the
Marvel Mystery Comics.
With the Marvel Cinematic Universe expanding
its list of movies to feature various superheroes,
do you think one day we will have a Filipino
hero standing alongside Iron Man and Spiderman?
Although a majority of the heroes are Caucasian,
Marvel does have its share of Filipino characters
and even changed the ethnicity of Ned Leeds
to a Filipino.
Let me know in the comments what you guys
think.
What do you think of a Filipino, or even an
Asian superhero being the lead role in a Marvel film?
Or do you think we will just always be the
sidekick as seen in Spiderman Homecoming?
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