This blog post is one that I will continue to update as I learn more. Below is an alphabetical list of characters who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (and a few white people) that I know have at least one action figure out there for sale. I am also including a few words on what I hope to teach with each one (unless I haven’t figured that out yet). For the ones that I have already written a blog post about, the name will be underlined with a hyperlink.
Also, if you know of characters that should be on this list, hit me up on Instagram @BlackToysMatterBlog
- Adéwalé (armed resistance to oppression)
- Ahsoka Tano
- Ah Tabai
- Apocalypse/En Saba Nur (dangers of social darwinism)
- Aqualad/Kaldur’ahm/Jackson Hyde (truth telling and gay pride)
- Aveline de Grandpre
- Azrael/Michael Washington Lane (religious extremism)
- Batman/Bruce Wayne (dangers of guarding an oppressive status quo)
- Batwing/David Zavimbe (impact of childhood trauma)
- Beetle/Janice Lincoln (who decides what is illegal?)
- Bishop/Lucas Bishop (confronting fatalism)
- Blade/Eric Brooks (mixed identity and anxiety)
- Black Lightning/Jefferson Pierce (above ground organizing and militancy)
- Black Manta/David Hyde (Black separatism or piracy)
- Black Panther/N’Jadaka/Eric Killmonger (dangers of adopting imperialist values)
- Black Panther/T’Chaka (separatism)
- Black Panther/T’Challa (balancing self-interest with solidarity)
- Black Panther/Shuri (sexism)
- Bloodsport/Robert DuBois
- Bronze Tiger/Benjamin Turner
- Brother Voodoo/Jericho Drumm (African religions and loyalty)
- Bumblebee/Karen Beecher-Duncan (Black genius)
- Claire Temple
- Cloak/Tyrone Johnson (inadequacy of punitive approach to drugs and difficulties of dealing with addiction)
- Cottonmouth/Cornell Bertram Stokes
- Cyborg/Victor Stone
- Daredevil/Matthew Murdock (impact of wealth on criminal injustice system and value of differently abled people)
- Darla Dudley (positivity)
- Deadpool/Wade Wilson (breaking the fourth wall)
- Deadshot/Floyd Lawton (suicidal ideations)
- Deathlock/Michael Collins (intersectionality)
- Dhalsim (Hinduism)
- Domino/Neena Thurman (health disparities and government hypocrisy)
- Falcon/Sam Wilson (Christian theological diversity and gang membership)
- Electro/Maxwell Dillon
- Finn/FN-8127 (subversive resistance to imperial domination)
- Firestorm/Jason Rusch (abuse of power)
- Gamora (genocide and loving people who do evil)
- Greef Karga
- Green Lantern/John Stewart (depression)
- Green Lantern/Simon Baz (Islam and Islamophobia)
- Hawkgirl Earth 2/Kendra Saunders
- Heimdall
- Iceman/Bobby Drake (closeted sexuality)
- Ikora Rey
- Ironheart/Riri Williams (Black genius and gun violence)
- Jannah (maroonage)
- Joker (social injustices, misogyny, chaos as justice, and mental illness)
- Karl Modor
- Katana/Tatsu Yamashiro
- Kid Flash/Wallace West
- Lando Calrissian
- Lucio
- Luke Cage (dangers of capitalist, mercenary attitude)
- Mace Windu
- Maggie
- Magneto/Max Eisenhardt/Erik Lehnsherr (separatism and militancy)
- M’Baku
- Michonne
- Misty Knight (intersectionality)
- Moff Gideon
- Monica Rambeau/Spectrum/Captain Marvel/Photon/Pulsar
- Morpheus
- Mr. Terrific/Michael Holt (Black genius and fair practices)
- Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan
- Nakia (advocacy and humanitarian aid)
- Nick Fury
- Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner (Catholicism, ritual, possibility of redemption, and humor as a defense mechanism)
- Night Thrasher/Dwayne Taylor
- Okoye and the Dora Milage (loyalty and female leadership)
- Pharah
- Professor X (nonviolence, politics of respectability, and disability)
- Prowler/Aaron Davis
- Rage/Elvin Haliday
- Ratonhnhaké:ton/Connor
- Reyes
- Roadblock/Marvin F. Hinton (dangers of militarism)
- Rock Python/M’Gula
- Robin/Duke Thomas (gang membership)
- Rue
- Shang Chi
- Shard Bishop (Black resilience)
- Shuri (Black genius, technology, and economic opportunity)
- Silk/Cindy Moon
- Sombra (female leadership)
- Spawn/Albert Francis Simmons (afterlife, militarism, and redemption)
- Spider-Girl/Ashley Barton
- Spider-Man/Miles Morales (adolescence and identity)
- Spider-Man 2099/Miguel O’Hara
- Superman Earth 23/Kalel/Calvin Ellis
- Static/Virgil Ovid Hawkins (police abolition)
- Starlord/T’Challa
- Steel/John Henry Irons (dangers of more armed police)
- Storm/Ororo Munroe (female leadership and friendship)
- Thanos (poverty and wealth distribution)
- Thunderball
- Thunderbird/John Proudstar
- Tombstone/Lonnie Thompson Lincoln (albinism and bullying)
- War Machine/James Rhodes (capitalist militarism and PTSD)
- Warpath/James Proudstar
- Val (self-determination)
- Valkyrie (female leadership and alcoholism)
- Venom/Eddie Brock (friendship and temptation to do evil)
- Venom/Miles Morales
- Vixen
- Zorro/Don Diego de la Vega (subversive redistribution of wealth and liberation theology)
Got questions or comments? Please hit me up on Instagram @BlackToysMatterBlog.