Disney’s latest cartoon misfire, “Captain Durag,” sparked a firestorm of criticism for allegedly stereotyping black culture—until the black creator stepped forward, promptly defusing the leftist mob’s fury.
The character, a black superhero battling “grime” in Slime City with a durag as his cape and mask, debuted amid Black History Month on Disney Jr.’s “Hey AJ!” and was quickly branded an “abomination” online.
Social media erupted with complaints like one X user’s post: “They made a ‘Captain Durag’ in 2026 what the f–ck Disney.” Another called it “wildly tone deaf.”
The concept of Captain Durag is wildly tone deaf. A black superhero with a durag as both his cape and mask, with a literal snow bunny as his sidekick, that is more of a garbage man than a superhero…pic.twitter.com/Dk1SSH1nC3
The backlash intensified from within the black community, prompting Disney to yank several clips from YouTube without an official statement.
Captain Durag is low-key diabolical on black history monthhttps://t.co/TcJ2cUgKhm
But then creator Camille Corbett, a 28-year-old Jamaican-American artist and comedian, defended her work on X, stating “I created the character Durag Man, now known as Captain Durag on the Disney Show, Hey AJ and I’m just finding out people are finding it problematic? I just wanted our culture to have a superhero of its own!”
I created the character Durag Man, now known as Captain Durag on the Disney Show, Hey AJ and I’m just finding out people are finding it problematic? I just wanted our culture to have a superhero of its own!pic.twitter.com/0Klh7soTPG
Corbett toldThe New York Postthat “as a scholar,” she’d “never speak on anything I’ve never experienced,” urging viewers to actually watch the show.
“Hey AJ!” creator Martellus Bennett echoed her on Instagram: “If that offends you, maybe the problem isn’t the durag. Maybe the problem is that you’ve never seen black imagination treated as sacred, heroic and worthy of a cape.”
Source: modernity
