Sabra, derived from the Hebrew word tzabar, refers to the prickly pear cactus. Spiky on the outside, sweet on the inside, the word has also come to symbolise the Israeli spirit – of endurance, strength, and community. Sabra has also become a shorthand to describe people born in Israel, a group able to thrive in challenging environments, like the cactus that lends its name.
In the 1980s, Marvel comics introduced their own Sabra – a mutant Mossad agent. The Israeli Captain America, Sabra (or Ruth Bat-Seraph when not in costume) first appeared in an edition of The Incredible Hulk. Mossad agent by day, superhero by night, Sabra’s powers included super strength, superspeed, and the ability to heal people.
Sabra was always a niche character, but as the Marvel Cinematic Universe has expanded, so has their need for new superheroes, and Sabra will be featured in the upcoming film Camptain America: Brave New World.
Marvel announced Sabra’s inclusion in the film in 2022, offering a caveat. “While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics, they are always freshly imagined for the screen and today’s audience,” they stated, “and the filmmakers are taking a new approach with the character Sabra who was first introduced in the comics over 40 years ago”.
Sabra is no longer the Mossad agent, raised on a specialist kibbutz by the Israeli government. Instead, she is a former Black Widow (for non-fans, that’s the kind of assassin Scarlet Johansson plays), who now holds a high-ranking position in the US government.
Sabra will be played by Israeli actress Shira Haas. But the roll-back on her original backstory has angered many Jewish and Israeli viewers. Black Widows are Russian, not Israeli, and it is not clear if Sabra will even be a Jewish character.
This isn’t the first time Marvel has been criticised for white-washing its Jewish superheroes – an impressive feat considering the comics’ Jewish history. Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man, the Hulk, and Iron Man, has Jewish heritage. Simon and Jack Kirby, the creators of Captain America, were also both Jewish.
Comic book legend Stan Lee poses at the opening reception for ''Stan Lee: A Retrospective'' (Photo by Mat Szwajkos/Getty Images)Getty Images
But, it isn’t just the authors. The comics themselves have a rich Jewish history – and cast of superheroes. The X Men’s Magneto, for example, created by Kirby and Lee, is a Holocaust survivor.
Chris Claremont – who is also Jewish, and grew up on a kibbutz in Israel – originated Magneto’s backstory. He modelled the character on then-Israeli opposition leader Menachem Begin, and Magneto has since been compared to Jewish Defense League founder Meir Kahane.
Born Max Eisenhardt in 1920s Germany, it was while imprisoned in Auschwitz that he met his wife. The superhero escaped the camp during the 1944 revolt, and his trauma as a result of his experiences during the Holocaust inform his character.
In the X-Men films, Magneto’s Jewish identity is emphasised, even though the superhero (or sometimes villain) has never been played by a Jewish actor. “I have been at the mercy of men following orders my whole life,” he says in X: First Class (2011). “Never again”.
Ian McKellen as Magneto[Missing Credit]
The same can’t be said for other Jewish characters, including the Scarlet Witch. In the comics, the superhero (who is Magneto’s child) is raised in a Jewish-Roma family. In the films, she is played by a white, non-Jewish actress, and is seen wearing a cross. Her brother, Pietro, or Quicksilver, also has his Jewish identity whitewashed.
While in 2022, Marvel introduced a new Jewish character, Moon Knight, not all of the character’s Jewish identity made the final cut. Yes, the character, played by Oscar Isaac, attends his mother’s shiva in a kippah, but his father's career as a Rabbi goes unmentioned.
Marvel cannot escape its Jewish roots, and at times it appears the franchise doesn’t want to, either. But there is a noticeable trend in which Jewish characters – and which Jewish identities – are represented, and which are brushed under the rug.
A Holocaust survivor vowing to make sure Never Again means Never Again for superheroes too? Great. Two Roma-Jewish siblings? Maybe not. Shiva? Sure. Rabbi? Not needed. And an Israeli ex-Mossad agent? The answer is clear: Absolutely no way.
