For the first time ever, Black and Hispanic kids have a major superhero to call their own. On Aug. 2, Marvel Comics announced the new Spider-Man will be a half-Latino, half-African-American teen from Queens named Miles Morales.

Since his creation in 1962, Spiderman has been the alter ego of Peter Parker, a suspiciously white, non-ethnic Queens resident. When Parker was recently killed off in one version of the franchise, the creative team decided they wanted to “keep pace with modern society,” according to Axel Alonso, Marvel’s editor -in-chief.

Unfortunately, there’s been a big negative reaction to the news. Some is just from harmless fanboys who just don’t like change. But some is pretty racist.

Glenn Beck hates the non-white Spider-Man. And he thinks the change is part of a conspiracy being run by Michelle Obama.

There are a lot of ignorant people complaining about this news, but they can’t stop the momentum of the new Spidey. Except for Storm (yay Halle Berry!) and a few others, there haven’t been many Black superheroes, and fewer major ones. But Spiderman isn’t just any superhero, he is one of the most recognizable and popular ones ever. Maybe someday soon we’ll even be able to see a Black Spider-Man at the movies?

David Betancourt, a comic book expert of Latino and black heritage, perfectly explains the importance of this news in the Washington Post: “It’s about a Black kid in D.C., a Dominican kid in the Bronx or a young Mexicano from California being able to read a comic and come away from it saying, ‘I can be Spider-Man.’” Every kid sees a wizard, a princess, or a superhero on TV, and dreams of being something special; hopefully, a few more will be inspired to do so by Miles Morales.

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