Just thought I'd chime is as someone who hasn't read the comics. My reaction to both announcements was...interesting. Captain America becoming a black man? No problem, didn't bat an eye. Thor becoming a woman? That feels wrong.

Why it does, I'm not terribly sure. White male protagonist syndrome is a constant complaint of mine, and I should be delighted. But I'm not, and the first thought I came up with was the mythological figure bit. But that isn't right either, because we've seen that before - what is Xena if not female Hercules? But therein lies the point - Xena is her own character. They didn't say Lucy Liu was inheriting Hercules's title and say she is now Hercules.

It's definitely irrational. But that gut feeling that they should either make a new character or at least give a new name remains strong. It's hard to resist commenting on something like that.