CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE

Supersizing the Superhero Genre: a Path to More Heroes of Color

A graduate project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Master of Arts in English

By

Maseri Kisa Schultz

May 2020

The graduate project of Maseri Kisa Schultz is approved:

______Dorothy M. Barresi Date

______Lauren L. Byler Date

______Charles W. Hatfield, Chair Date

California State University, Northridge

ii Table of Contents

Signature Page ii

Abstract iv

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Abstract

Supersizing the Superhero Genre: a Path to More Heroes of Color

By

Maseri Kisa Schultz

Master of Arts in English

Marvel’s comic Ms. Marvel: No Normal and Sony’s film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-

Verse depict multi-ethnic superheroes who discover themselves through agency in their costume design. Ms. Marvel protagonist Kamala Khan attempts to reject her Pakistani heritage, primarily by shapeshifting into multiple iterations of Carol Danvers’s Marvel persona. Kamala eventually makes her own mark on the Ms. Marvel brand by altering a burkini, uniting her cultural heritage with her own conception of heroism. In Spider-Verse, Afro-Latino Miles Morales also follows in the footsteps of a preexisting white superhero, Peter Parker’s Spider-Man. He too grows into his own hero through designing his own costume, spray-painting or “tagging” his Spider-Man suit.

Both Kamala and Miles are children of multiple ethnic/racial worlds, and represent teens of color who feel marginalized and othered. Taking agency over their costume design allows them to

iv discover their unique superhero identities, and in turn, a place to belong. Although skeptics could read Miles and Kamala as superficial gestures towards diversity, they are a crucial foundation for creating a wider range of role models that better represent the genre’s globalized audience.

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