Q&A with Marvel editor Sana Amanat
SANA Amanat may help guide a diverse range of comic-book superheroes now, but when she was a child, such images weren’t as common in media. Instead, growing up as a Pakistani-American in a predominantly white New Jersey suburb, she looked at art of women who were blond and white as if that were the ideal for beauty. And in that world, young Sana wanted to be white.
Amanat, director of content and character development at Marvel, recalled those feelings earlier this month at the United State of Women summit at the Washington Convention Center. The gifted Muslim comics executive was on a panel focusing on diversity in the media, and she shared the stage with such other leaders as Gloria Steinem, TV’s Shonda Rhimes and “Muslim Girl” editor Amani Al-Khatahtbeh.
“When you grow up being very conscious of the fact that you are the ‘other,’ it cultivates a sense of uncertainty and shame within you that can take a long time to overcome,” Amanat tells The Washington Post. “My desire to be ‘white,’ while covert, fed a delusion in my self-identity that I only broke away from towards the end of high school and truly in college.”
Her delusion, she says, “spun out of the anti-Muslim sentiment that arose in the ‘90s, and the realization that the truth of who I was got lost in the images being spewed out by the media. My protest was embracing my background fully, immersing myself in my faith and culture and finding ways to share that with others.”
Today, Amanat is known for such achievements as steering Marvel’s 2014 launch of Kamala Khan, the Pakistani-American and Muslim teenager who is Ms. Marvel in the popular comic-book line. Amanat says she is dedicated to creating works that change what images and characters are available to young readers.
“My hope is that the next generation doesn’t experience that sort of identity rejection — and that the superhero culture can be a filter through which we can share our unique points of view,” she says, “as well as the commonalities of the human experience.”
We caught up with Amanat to talk about the shifting environment for superhero diversity. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
Q: On your panel, you spoke to the accessibility of superheroes across all backgrounds — how anyone can become Spider-Man. What is it about
superheroes that allow us to invest ourselves so freely and fully, no matter our heritage or background?
A: Superheroes are the equivalent of modern-day gods and goddesses. They encompass the high ideals so many of us aspire to have — empowerment, courage, integrity, to name a few — and those ideals don’t have a racial identity or gender qualifier associated to them. At the same (time), our heroes come with their own vulnerabilities and issues that make them relatable. It’s the balance of the mundane and the fantastic in the superhero world that is intrinsic to the human experience — the obstacles we face, the efforts we make to overcome them and the belief that we have the power within ourselves to succeed. That’s really the tale of every kind of hero.
Q You noted how much has changed at Marvel in the past six years in terms of character diversity — essentially, since about the time that Axel Alonso was named editor. What factors and forces brought about this shift?
A: Marvel has a history of creating characters that are unique as they are diverse. From the Black Panther to Storm to She-Hulk, the company made strides in representation that didn’t exist at the time that they were doing it. What’s happening today is the continued evolution in the creative strides of the company — as our audience has expanded so have the creators behind the scenes. Gone is the typical fanboy/ fangirl, as is the typical writer. From Willow Wilson to Ta-Nehisi Coates to our broad editorial staff, the voices creating our content are bringing their own distinct point of view to the stories they tell. There was no company dictate — just an organic expansion in creative opportunity.
Q: Shonda Rhimes, on your panel, said that “single white male” is the default setting among casting (people) in Hollywood. Does the same hold true in some comics-industry editorial offices?
A: I think that yes, that used to be the standard. But I’m an example of Marvel going against that. When I was considering Marvel, I had expressed uncertainty about my abilities as a comics pro in a world of white, male-dominated creators and wasn’t sure if I could measure up. To that, Joe Quesada (then editor-in-chief, now chief creative officer) responded that Marvel needed a voice like mine to help tell different kinds of stories. They sought me out and encouraged me, and it is that kind of intention that makes up the folks behind the scenes here. Our editorial staff alone is already one-third female.
Q: Superhero comics at the biggest publishers have decades of character history that can work against truly dramatic change. What does it take for readers to move the needle?
A: I think we need readers to have a big response like they did with Ms. Marvel. Ms. Marvel is selling because it’s a good story about an engaging and relatable hero with universal struggles. Her being Muslim may been a hook for some, but the continuation of the success of that series rests on the strength of the story.