I wouldn’t mind a race-bent Scott, actually. If they cast a great black actor for the role, then I wouldn’t mind at all as long as that actor and writing/characterization is truthful to the source material. Being a white person has never been an integral part of the character as say being a black is to Storm’s character.
I would say that Scott Summers is one of the better candidates for a race-lift. His basic premise could be summed up as "Grew up without parents, and has to live his life with perfect self-control at all times less he be/be viewed as a danger by those around him". That maps very well to casting him as African American.
Relatedly. . . I tend to rank characters on a scale of 1-5 with regard to their ethnicity.
5: Absolutely must keep the same ethnicity as the source material. Changing it renders the character unrecognizable, or even non-sensical.
4. Could theoretically have their ethnicity changed, but it would introduce notable complications and changes. You probably shouldn't change their ethnicity, and if you do, be prepared for putting in a huge amount of overtime as a writer.
3. The ethnicity of the character is largely unimportant. Cast whoever you want.
2. Not only is the current ethnicity of the character not locked in, but there are clear benefits or opportunities to recasting them, in terms of theme and story. Strongly consider actively recasting them.
1. The current ethnic baseline of this character is an outright racist caricature in its construction. You probably should have second thoughts about using this character *at all*, and if you do, seriously, try to do something with the casting to make them less awful.
So, Black Panther would be a 5, and IMO Bruce Wayne would also be a 5 if a slightly softer one. Superman would be a 4, at least if he's the Clark Kent version. The Fantastic Four would generally be 3s, though Ben Grimm at least verges on a 4 ( he should be Jewish, and writers are way too comfortable erasing that ). Cyclops, as I described above, is a 2, both for his specific thematics and the general "X-Men are supposed to be about prejudice, it looks bad when they are all white dudes" angle. 1, well, take your pick of awful caricatures you'd like to forget existed, like the Mandrill.
Note: Obviously, a lot of this hinges on the specifics of *which* ethnicity you want to swap. Matt Murdoch's ethnicity is important, but mostly in the sense of his religiousity and poor urban upbringing. Changing him from Irish to African American, is not the same as changing him from Irish to Latino.
