Credit: Marvel/Disney JuniorThere has been a certain flavor of turmoil brewing at Marvel Studios lately. As the strikes in Hollywood and creative conflicts continue to cause multiple projects to be delayed or canceled, there is some good news for the fanbase of True Believers.
While it might be a long time before fans can venture into the MCU on a cinematic level, like the long-awaited Avengers: Secret Wars, Marvel’s animation department just scored a huge victory with one of its animated projects.
Marvel Makes Headlines with Jewish Community
In today’s social climate, multiple projects have pushed cultural representation to the forefront. Whether it’s Disney, Marvel, or LucasFilm, there has been a tremendous influx of more inclusive media in the past few years.
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While Disney’s introduction of characters like Raya and the family Madrigal might be more recent examples of the studio branching out, Marvel Studios and Marvel Comics have been working wonders for years, especially with the Jewish community.
Born to a family of Jewish immigrants, Marvel founder Stan Lee was practically notorious for incorporating multicultural and multiethnic heroes and villains into the realms of his comic books. Characters like Magneto and Moon Knight wouldn’t exist without this critical influence.
Marvel has incorporated Jewish imagery and characters before, but it has yet to be at the forefront. However, Spider-Man’s animated show on Disney Junior recently went full force and has been garnering some media attention.
Although Marvel has been without Stan the Man for years, his dedication and representation of his heritage lives on. A recent episode of Spidey and His Amazing Friends broke down a major barrier and brought true Jewish tradition to the forefront of an official Marvel project.
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Marvel and Disney have done several holiday-inspired episodes before, but a recent episode of the Disney Junior series made headlines by incorporating a Rosh Hashanah adventure for the kid-friendly variants of the studio’s web-swinging heroes.
The episode (which can be viewed here) not only featured a fully-realized celebration of the Jewish new year, but acknowledged the community as well as the Thing’s Hebrew heritage that has always been prevalent in the comics.
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While a Hanukkah episode might be more expected for characters like those mentioned, the representation of Rosh Hashanah is truly a step in the right direction. They even have the ceremonial blowing of the shofar for good measure. This isn’t just a big win for the show, but an impressive display of understanding for Marvel.
While this episode was certainly a positive gesture on Marvel’s part, it serves as a reminder to young viewers just how blended our modern society has become. Much like their favorite collection of superheroes, it takes more than a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to make the team unique.
Did you see this charming episode? Tell Inside the Magic what you thought in the comments below!