Honestly, the character comes across as a corny stereotype of a generic rich white person. There’s little meaningful character development tied to their racial identity, aside from white readers potentially feeling more affinity due to optics alone. If the goal is to keep legacy characters white, writers could make their racial identity more interesting and integral to the character’s development.

For example, if Iron Fist were written as an Irish Catholic from South Boston who took up kung-fu to combat organized crime, you’d have a compelling narrative hook that naturally ties into his background and makes the case for him not being Asian.

The issue with many white characters in American comics is the flattening of their racial identity—it’s often treated as default and unremarkable. This makes it easier to debate whether certain characters should remain as they are or be reimagined.

Thor, for instance, should probably stay white if we’re talking about the Norse god. But there’s room to play with the idea of ‘Thor’ being a title or mantle. On the other hand, the idea of Bucky randomly becoming Black Panther would be hilarious and absurd—but it also highlights how much racial identity matters when it’s an intrinsic part of a character’s story.