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Credit: Marvel StudiosMarvel fans who collect Funko Pop! are used to Funko spoiling moments from upcoming Marvel movies. However, Funko found itself in a new controversy when it released the first wave of Pop! for the forthcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 6, 2022). And when the backlash over claims that Funko whitewashed the Pop! for America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), they were forced to go back to the drawing board and redesign the figure for the future Young Avenger.
Funko was just named one of America’s Most Trusted Companies, but they are not without fault. In March 2022, when the line for the next entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was announced, social media was flooded with accusations of whitewashing the Funko for Funko for Xochitl Gomez’s America Chavez. The figurine’s skin tone was lighter than Gomez’s natural skin color.
The Marvel Funko was the last straw for fans who have already called out Marvel Studios for casting Xochitl Gomez as whitewashing on its own. America Chavez is an Afro-Latina character in Marvel Comics. Though she was born and raised in another dimension called the Utopian Parallel, since her original appearance in Vengeance #1 by Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta, she has been drawn with fairly dark skin and curly hair.
In the Doctor Strange sequel, Marvel Studios has drawn fire for casting Gomez, a fairer-skinned Mexican girl with straight hair.
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Marvel’s Phase Four has been making strides for representation. Eternals introduced an astounding number of firsts for the MCU: the first deaf superhero (Lauren Ridloff as Makkari), the first Latina hero (Salam Hayek as Ajax), and the first gay superhero (Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos). And currently streaming on Disney+, Moon Knight has the first confirmed Jewish hero with Oscar Isaac’s Marc Spector/Steven Grant/Moon Knight, who is also Marvel’s first Avenger with a diagnosed mental illness.
This could be why fans are trying to hold Kevin Feige and company to a higher standard. They know that the genderfluid representation in Loki left a lot to be desired and recognize it is problematic that the MCU erased Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen)’s heritage.
Luckily, Marvel and Funko have taken the complaints to heart and released a new version of the Funko that more accurately reflects how Gomez looks.
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More on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Xochitl Gomez will star in Marvel’s latest adventure into the Marvel Multiverse. Sam Raimi will direct Doctor Strange 2 and has described the fill as Marvel’s first horror film.
Marvel officially describes the film as:
“Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”—a thrilling ride through the Multiverse with Doctor Strange, his trusted friend Wong and Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” opens in U.S. theaters on May 6, 2022.”
Will you add the updated America Chavez Funko Pop! to your collection? Let us know in the comments.
You can stream Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and the six series in Marvel’s Phase Four so far — Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany’s WandaVision, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, Marvel’s What If…?, Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye, and Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight — on Disney+ anytime.