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9 Superheroes You Didn’t Know Were Caribbean

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Steel Pulse, Jamaica

A Jamaican-born skilled metallurgist, Desmond Negril’s past is a mystery. He is identified as “Rastafarian,” meaning he believes in the divinity of Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie.

He was put in charge of a $2 million private research facility, Allotech, located on Strong Island. His life changed the day he was in the middle of an experimental liquid metal bonding process. His complex was attacked and exposed to his liquid metal chemicals. This changed the chemical composition of his body into a malleable liquid metal, yet still alive, form.

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Aizan, Barbados

Hela St. August, also known as Aizan, is a self-taught practitioner of parkour and breakdancing, making her extremely agile and coordinated. Through a special ceremony of the Aizan Clan, some of her mentor’s abilities were passed to her, allowing her to absorb some of his martial arts abilities. Aizan is now skilled in the clan’s martial arts system “Anansea Vita Saana.” With all of these elements, she has created a new hybrid, unorthodox fighting style all her own.

It is thought that Aizan is able to cast a psychic aura or “web” that allows her to perceive parallel realities. This allows her to see through illusions, to the “truth” of reality. Aizan can “read” body movements and actions, giving her the ability to anticipate attacks or even tell when someone is lying.

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7 Black Women Science Fiction Writers Everyone Should Know

Sci-fi and fantasy are two genres dominated by white, male voices. It can be extremely exhausting to see the same themes written by people with the same or similar perspectives. Here are seven prominent African-American women working in these two genres who have made a name for themselves by telling unique stories.

4442842661_c664401545_zN. K. Jemisin

Jemisin found acclaim after the release of her first novel The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. She has been short-listed for major awards in such a young career and was awarded the Locus Award for Best First Novel.

 

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Nnedi Okorafor

Okorafor writes African-based science fiction stories and children’s books. Her novel Who Fears Death won the World Fantasy Award for best novel. Her works include Akata Witch, Zahrah the Windseeker, The Shadow Speaker and a children’s book Long Juju Man. She is a professor of creative writing and literature at the University of Buffalo.

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10 Black Sci-Fi Characters Who Weren’t Turned into ‘Cannon Fodder’

In horror and sci-fi films, there are very few minority characters. The few who are part of the cast tend to be used as a plot device or are killed off. The term “cannon fodder” literally means cannon food. Soldiers are the metaphorical food for enemy cannon fire, or, in this case, they are the reason other characters fight on in sci-fi films. Here are characters who go against the trend:

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Selena from 28 Days Later

Selena was the smartest person in the film. She managed to escape the fastest zombies up to that point by not being stupid.

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Zoe Washburne in Serenity and Firefly

Washburne is one of writer Joss Whedon’s underrated female characters. She is the most resourceful and reasonable character in Firefly, and her death would have only ruined the show.

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More Than Avengers: 13 Top Black Marvel Characters Of All Time

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Luke Cage

Luke Cage, wrongly convicted and unjustly imprisoned, was altered in a failed prison experiment that granted him bulletproof skin and superhuman strength. With his street smarts, and unending determination to do right, he fights for the common man. He also has a wife and child, showing his nature as a family man.

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James Rhodes (Iron Patriot)

James Rhodes is Tony Stark’s personal pilot and one of the playboy’s oldest friends. Rhodes has often donned the Iron Man armor when the burden has been too much for his friend, but has also established his own identity as the Iron Patriot.

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6 Major Black ‘Star Trek’ Characters Who Were Scene Stealers

Star Trek is a science-fiction franchise spanning comics, books, film and television. These are some of the main Blerd figures from the Star Trek saga.

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Nyota Uhura

Nyota Uhura is a character in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, the first six Star Trek films, the 2009 film Star Trek, and its 2013 sequel Star Trek Into Darkness.

In 2266, Uhura (played originally by Nichelle Nichols and later by Zoe Saldana) began her Starfleet career as a communications officer aboard the USS Enterprise with the rank of lieutenant in the command division.

In the following years of that vessel’s historic five-year mission, she was transferred to the operations division where she proved to be a proficient technician and was considered by Captain Kirk to be a capable and reliable bridge officer, manning the helm, navigation and main science station when the need arose.

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Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge

In Star Trek: The Next Generation, which aired from 1987 to 1994 and was the basis of four Star Trek movies, Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge is the chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise.

In Star Trek: First Contact, La Forge (portrayed by LeVar Burton) and the Enterprise-E travel back in time to the 21st century to stop the Borg from preventing mankind’s first warp space flight. The inventor of the warp drive is a financially motivated, white alcoholic named Zefram Cochrane who lives in Bozeman, Montana. La Forge has to hold his hand to get him to launch the Phoenix and make “first contact” with the Vulcans.

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21 Powerful Black Sci-Fi Icons Who Have Changed the Game

Representation goes a long way. Surprisingly, there have been a number of major Black characters in our favorite sci-fi comic books, TV shows and movies. Here are just a few of them.

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Cyborg
This DC Comics character was created in the 1980s but gained popularity in the early 2000s due to the Teen Titans animated series. He is half man and half machine. Actor Ray Fisher will portray him in DC’s upcoming movies.

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One of the first major Marvel heroes to hit the big screen was Blade. With three films under his belt, the character became an icon and household name, and actor Wesley Snipes was a big reason for that.

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The Falcon has been the most underrated Black superhero for decades because he was just a sidekick to Captain America. Now he is the Captain. Actor Anthony Mackie portrays the character in film.

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15 Greatest Black Female Superheroes (Who Aren’t Storm)

Black, female superheroes are plentiful with brawn, sass and class that comes alive far beyond the comic book pages. Here is the list of the 15 Greatest Black Female Superheroes, according to io9.

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Monica Rambeau (codename: Spectrum)

Monica Rambeau was a lieutenant in the New Orleans Harbor patrol of the Coast Guard when she was bombarded with rays from space, which gave her the ability to turn into any form of energy and shoot energy at people.

She is the first of a few peace officers to appear on this list — Black women characters were heavily associated with law enforcement or the sciences.

Monica is a favorite hero for many because of her assertive, no-nonsense demeanor. She has a long history in comics including a stint as the leader of the Avengers.

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Anissa & Jennifer Pierce (codenames: Thunder & Lightning respectively)

Anissa & Jennifer Pierce are the daughters of famous hero Jefferson Pierce (codename: Black Lightning), who really did not want his daughters to follow in his footsteps. He made them promise to graduate from college before they used their powers to become heroes.

Even though they’re sisters, their powers could not be more different. Anissa controls her density to the point of making herself invulnerable and creating shockwaves by stomping her feet or clapping her hands. Jennifer, meanwhile, can turn herself into a being of sentient energy allowing herself to fly and shoot powerful bolts of electricity.

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Amanda Waller (codename: N/A)

Amanda Waller fought her way out of the Cabrini Green Projects after the murders of her husband and daughter. She has a titanium will and a cunning political mind; she chose to get into politics to change the world. With her “by any means” attitude she quickly rose through the ranks and transitioned into the shadow government. She is known as The Wall, and while it might have started as a fatphobic joke, it stuck and became a point of pride because there is no one, literally no one (even Batman), who can work around or through Waller when she puts her mind to it.

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Marvel Finally Gives Out More Details About ‘Black Panther’ Film

The upcoming Black Panther Marvel film has been shrouded in rumor and speculation, but Marvel has finally blessed its fans with some more confirmed information about the movie.

Marvel fans got their first look at the movie by getting to see the current concept art for the film at Marvel’s press conference Tuesday during an event at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, CNET reports.

So far, it looks like Marvel won’t disappoint.

The movie art features the Black Panther looking incredibly strong, fierce and rather intimidating – just as he should be.

The artist has managed to capture the hero’s incredibly athletic and muscular build flawlessly and only time will tell if that same build is captured on screen.

In addition to releasing the movie art, Marvel finally gave insatiable fans a release date for the movie, but it’s still far too early for the countdown to begin.

Black Panther won’t be hitting theaters until November 2017.

That doesn’t mean fans won’t get to get a glimpse of the prince-turned-superhero before then.

Marvel had already previously announced that the Black Panther will have his introduction to Marvel’s big screen universe in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War.

The new Captain America film is scheduled to hit theaters in May 2016.

Chadwick Boseman will take on the role of Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War, but that doesn’t necessarily confirm his role for the actual solo film.

Producers behind the film will likely have a close eye on fans’ reactions to Boseman in the Captain America film.

It certainly will be a different role for Boseman, who has been taking on more historical roles lately.

He is best known for playing iconic baseball player Jackie Robinson in 42 and taking on the role of soul music legend James Brown in Get On Up.

Either way, Boseman doesn’t seem to be too nervous and said he’s excited about the upcoming projects.

“I’m blessed to be a part of this Marvel Universe, and to work with you both, and I look forward to making magic together,” Boseman said while he was on the stage with Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans who play Iron Man and Captain America, respectively.

Unfortunately, that’s about all the information fans were able to get out of the press conference, and there is still no confirmation about who will taking on the role of Doctor Strange.

Rumors have already attached Benedict Cumberbatch to the role, but Marvel has not responded to the rumors.

Deadline.com reports that Cumberbatch is already in negotiations with the studio, but that also has not been confirmed by Marvel.

Cumberbatch is known for his roles in Sherlock in 2010, Star Trek Into the Darkness in 2013, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 2013, and he will be starring in the upcoming Hobbit film as well as Penguins of Madagascar.

Meanwhile, Marvel also revealed an impressive roster of films that are scheduled to be released over the next few years.

In addition to Captain America: Civil War, fans can be on the lookout for Guardians of the Galaxy 2”to hit theaters in May 2017, Thor: Rangnarok to hit theaters on July 28, 2017, Captain Marvel to debut on July 6, 2018, Inhumans to hit theaters on Nov. 2, 2018, and Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 to hit theaters on May 4, 2018.

Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 is scheduled to hit theaters on May 3, 2019.

 

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8 Black Superheroes You Didn’t Know Were African

Black superheroes, though not often seen in the movies, are alive and well on the pages of DC and Marvel comics. Here are eight Black superheroes you should know, as cited by Comic Vine and Buzzfeed.

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Vixen (Mari Jiwe McCabe)

Vixen, also known as Mari Jiwe McCabe, is an African superhero from DC Comics. She’s from the Zambesi tribe. After she came to America, she became a successful supermodel and went on to study psychiatry. She used her beauty and education to travel the world and became the superhero we know as Vixen. She could mimic any animal in the wild. Her power was channeled from the god Anansi. She used her abilities to fight poachers and became a member of the Justice League.

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Nubia

Nubia is an Amazonian warrior from DC Universe who kicks butt — using her strength and intellect. She’s immortal and has superhuman strength, stamina and agility. She’s also considered to be Wonder Woman’s twin and the only one with the power to destroy her.

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