Marvel Universe’s Jewish Superhero Under Fire
The anti-Israel crowd is outraged over Marvel Studio’s announcement of a Jewish superhero.
Marvel Cinematic Universe’s recent announcement that its Jewish Superhero “Sabra” will appear in its upcoming “Captain America” film is raising the hackles of the anti-Israel crowd.
Sabra, an Israeli policewoman, debuted in 1980 with a cameo appearance in the “Incredible Hulk” comic.
By 1981, she merited her first full edition, again with the Hulk.
Yet from the get-go, Sabra, Marvel Comic’s only Jewish superhero, was portrayed negatively. And that was more than half a decade before anti-Zionist agitators became popular (with the advent of the violent uprising called the First Intifada).
What makes the anti-Israel crowd think the appearance of Sabra in 2023 will be flattering? Maybe they should be celebrating? That would be logical if they bothered to look at Sabra’s history.
Yet, their antisemitism blinds them. Merely the fact that a Jewish superhero exists in the Marvel Universe is enough to merit outrage.
The Jewish Superhero: Cold-Hearted and Cruel
Sabra is a mutant Mossad agent with superhuman powers. By day she appears as Ruth Bar-Seraph, an Israel policewoman. In both incarnations, she is portrayed as cold-hearted.
In Sabra’s first full-edition comic (Incredible Hulk #256, “Power and Peril in the Promised Land”), we get a taste of just how heartless she is. And it’s apparent from the get-go. The teaser for the strip reads:
“Hulk finds himself in the crossfire of the Israelis and the Arabs! Will Banner’s compassion for a fallen child soften Sabra’s heart?”
[Never mind that the word “sabra,” a nickname for a native-born Israeli coined in the 1920s, connotes the Hebrew word for the “prickly pear” – a desert fruit hard on the outside and soft and sweet inside.]
The comic follows Hulk’s alter ego Bruce Banner in the Holy Land. Banner befriends an Arab child who explains the Middle East conflict to him:
“Both my people and the Israelis say that this land is theirs. They could share it, but two very old books tell them they must kill each other over it.”
Shortly after this exchange, the boy is killed in a terrorist bombing. Sabra shows up and starts to go after Hulk, who she thinks is responsible for the attack. But with tears streaming down his face and yelling at Sabra, Hulk educates Sabra about the decades-old conflict in her own country:
“Boy died because boy’s people & yours both want to own land! Boy died because you wouldn’t share! Boy died because of two old books that say his people & yours must fight and kill for land! Now boy is dead – but boy didn’t even read books!”
Marvel then shows Sabra, the Jewish superhero who was invented just a few short decades after the Holocaust, kneeling next to the boy. The comic intones, "It has taken the Hulk to make her see this dead Arab boy as a human being. It has taken a monster to awaken her own sense of humanity."
For anyone who didn’t get the message, we'll spell it out here: Israelis are worse than monsters.
What to Expect from Marvel’s Revived Jewish Superhero?
Announcing Sabra’s comeback in the upcoming Captain America movie, Marvel gave a signal that should have gladdened the heart of any anti-Israel activist:
“While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics, they are always freshly imagined for the screen and today’s audience, and the filmmakers are taking a new approach with the character Sabra who was first introduced in the comics over 40 years ago.” [emphasis added]
Those code words tell us everything we need to know. Marvel most likely won’t be painting this mutant ex-Mossad agent in a favorable light. And that, in itself, might be the purpose of Sabra’s revival.
Mutant or not, the decision by Marvel to feature Sabra in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2023 was not an accident. With all the controversy the radical anti-Israel crowd continually stirs up, Marvel knew what it was doing.
Why the Objections?
As if on cue, outrage over the Jewish superhero was swift. With not even a nod to the negative portrayal of Sabra in past Marvel Comics, anti-Israel activists are now busy extrapolating the character to fit modern-day sensitivities.
Writing in The Direct, Benny Stein states emphatically:
“Past depictions of the character show clear biases that distort the issue in favor of racist and arbitrary attitudes …"
Yosef Munayyer, quoted by CNN, says confidently:
"That comic doesn't suggest anything positive about how this film will play out … The glorification of violence against Palestinians specifically and Arabs and Muslims more broadly in mass media has a long and ugly history in the West and it has remarkable staying power."
Outrage at Marvel
But the real issue is the fact that an Israeli superhero exists at all, given the host of “crimes” that anti-Israel activists ascribe to the Israeli government, not to mention the country’s security forces who mainly exist to fight terrorism.
As Stein continues:
“Sabra's ties to the Israeli government in the comics effectively sanction a whole host of grim behaviors, also seemingly showing Marvel taking a clear stance on the overall conflict.”
Munayyer agrees. "The whole concept" of turning Israeli spies into heroes, he says, "is insensitive and disgraceful."
Under the guise of giving a voice to the “experts,” CNN concurs with Munayyer, writing:
“Although Sabra would not be the first time Israel's intelligence agency has been given the Hollywood treatment, it is the first time the Mossad has been given a supernatural status to the level of a mega, blockbuster superhero. Experts say that's a public relations win for the agency.”
The UK’s Independent, notorious for its anti-Israel bias, published an opinion piece with the very large and screaming headline, “Marvel’s new Israel forces superhero is beyond problematic.” The headline was followed by a teaser that read:
“Though we know little about Sabra’s storyline in the Captain America franchise, we know … the enemies she usually fights.”
Meaning, for Israel to even defend itself from Palestinian terrorists is “problematic.” And indeed, as we later find out from the article’s author, Ahmed Twaij:
“If Marvel wanted to be truly politically balanced, they would tell the story of a Palestinian superhero protecting Arab children from Israeli rockets hitting a Palestinian school or hospital … Away from fiction, any Palestinians trying to defend themselves, even non-violently, are often labeled terrorists.”
Of course, what Twaij fails to mention is the fact that Palestinian terrorists fire their rockets at and direct their operations against Israel’s civilian population from those same Palestinian schools and hospitals.
Anti-Normalization – the Real Agenda
It is telling that, among all the critics of Marvel’s revival of its Jewish superhero, none acknowledge that Marvel created a Muslim superhero who debuted in 2013.
That’s because Israel’s critics are not interested in parity. Instead, they demand Israel’s total erasure.
They don’t want a Jewish superhero at all, even if Marvel would portray her in the most negative light possible.
Her mere existence violates their anti-normalization agenda.
For Israel’s critics who are now open about their end goal, Sabra’s very existence is their objection.