In replacing Sentry, Marvel Comics has made a massive change.
The comic in question, "Sentry #4," debuted March 6. The change to the story's titular character was perhaps described best by a March 8 Cosmic Book News headline “New Woke Sentry: Disabled POC Female.”
“Marvel Comics has once again replaced an original character with a politically correct version that makes zero sense,” the site wrote, noting that the story's villain is a “blond white dude.”
As framed by ThatParkPlace, Robert Reynolds, the hero Sentry's original alter-ego who is now dead, is being replaced “with a black, crippled woman who takes on the name Solarus.”
@Marvel Comics Replaces Sentry With Black, Crippled Woman Named Solarus And Depicts Blonde, White Teenager As Villain.
.....this is truly....."shocking" #DEI #Disney #MarvelComics pic.twitter.com/NxScRlMqMk
— RBSJ (@RBSJ88) March 21, 2024
“The Sentry is dead, but ordinary people all over the world are suddenly manifesting his powers and experiencing snippets of Bob Reynolds’ memories. Will one of them survive long enough to emerge as the new Sentry? Or will their newfound power destroy them?” the official description of the series says.
The blond character, named Ryan Topper, decides to get all the power for himself by killing everyone who has any of it.
Enter Mallory Gibbs, who inadvertently destroys her apartment building, and eventually takes on the white guy in a showdown in which Mallory faces off with Topper.
@Rebel_Loo marvel really hates Sentry don’t they? Why was this comic even made? Why not just make a Solarus comic instead of coasting off Sentry’s name and powers?
— M (@MisterE3455678) March 6, 2024
At Aberrant Crimes Division HQ, Misty Knight says she will train the new Sentry, only to have Mallory say her name is Solarus.
Mallory has cerebral palsy, according to Games Radar, which wrote that as the story ends, Ryan’s fate is not known, making it possible that he could make another appearance as the Void (Sentry's comic book arch nemesis) to battle Solarus.
WOKE Marvel Replaces Sentry With a DISABLED BLACK WOMAN
By Jon Del Arrozhttps://t.co/p80QFOEnub#Comicsgate #TeamComics #Comics pic.twitter.com/0MYYj4YOK4
— Comicsgate.org (@ComicsgateVideo) March 16, 2024
As George Marston noted on Games Radar, “Solarus has the interesting distinction of being one of only a few wheelchair-using superheroes in the Marvel Universe, due to her cerebral palsy”
“I grew up knowing many wheelchair athletes, traveling around the country volunteering at wheelchair sports events, and I personally tend to light up when I see a disabled character as a hero," he wrote.
"There's far too little representation for wheelchairs and physical disability in superhero comics, so it's cool to see Marvel not shying away from putting Mallory Gibbs in the spotlight,” he wrote.
"Mallory Gibbs has the potential to occupy a unique and important place among Marvel's many heroes," he wrote.
Jason Loo, the writer of the new "Sentry" series, explained to ComicBook.com why he created the new character the way he did.
"Some of the inspiration comes from the people I interact with at my day job in a public library to even people on my work commute on the transit. One of our characters has cerebral palsy, so there was a lot of research that went into that," he said.
"We also have disability rights activist Cara Liebowitz as our sensitivity reader to make sure Mallory, our character with CP, comes off as authentic as possible. I just want to give this opportunity to other people who normally don't see themselves in this genre to finally feel excited to be represented," he said.
