Jordan Peterson Reacts to Red Skull Parody of Him in Ta-Nehisi Coates’ ‘Captain America’

Jordan Peterson, the controversial psychology professor, podcast host and author, has reacted to the comparison between himself and the villain Red Skull in Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Captain America comic.

On Twitter, Peterson shared scenes from the Volume 9 #28 comic, which was published last week, and said Coates had used “a parody of [Peterson’s] ideas as part of the philosophy of the arch-villain Red Skull.”

Peterson was made aware of the Red Skull scene on Twitter when earlier this week, sociologist Nicholas A. Christakis quoted an article from The Atlantic that said: “Certain elements of our community are threatening to get people fired. Even if someone just poses a question, or expresses a conflicting view, you’re immediately labeled a problem, a white supremacist, and people will say, ‘Find out where they work.'”

Jordan Peterson at The Cambridge Union on November 2, 2018, in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. Peterson has reacted to the Red Skull parody of him in Ta-Nehisi Coates’ ‘Captain America’. Chris Williamson/Getty

Peterson quote-tweeted Christakis and said: “Would it be picayune to point out just how much the once-admirable Atlantic Magazine has helped develop this insanely bullying and self-righteous culture?”

Twitter user @DidymusSeth replied to Peterson and said: “Contributors to The Atlantic like Ta-Nehisi Coates are moving on to comics. @jordanbpeterson let me know if any of this looks familiar,” and attached an image from Coates’ Captain America comic. Coates previously worked as the national correspondent at The Atlantic.

In the comic, Red Skull seems to be discussing the “Ten Rules for Life,” playing on the title of Peterson’s book 12 Rules for Life. To the side of the screen are titles such as “Chaos and Order,” “Karl Lueger’s Genius,” and “The Feminist Trap.”

Peterson retweeted the picture from the comic and said: “What the hell?”

He later shared more images from the same comic and said in what is now his pinned tweet: “Do I really live in a universe where Ta-Nehisi Coates has written a Captain America comic featuring a parody of my ideas as part of the philosophy of the arch-villain Red Skull?”

In the comic scenes Peterson shared, Captain America says: “It’s the same for all of them. Young men. Weak. Looking for purpose. I found the flag, you found the badge. They found the Skull.

“He tells them what they’ve always wanted to hear. That they are secretly great. That the whole world is against them. That if they’re truly men, they’ll fight back. And bingo—that’s their purpose. That’s what they live for. And that’s what they’ll die for.”

Conservative political commentator Ben Shaprio responded to the comparison between Peterson and Red Skull and said: “The fact that Ta-Nehisi Coates was trying to come up with the most evil supervillain he could and the best he could do is a Canadian psychologist who writes about Jungian analysis and encourages young men to make their beds is pretty telling.”

Meanwhile, critics of Peterson have praised Coates for the comparison and find Peterson’s reaction to the likeness amusing, like YouTuber Lily Simpson who said: “It’s pretty funny that Jordan Peterson is complaining that the Nazi Supervillain Red Skull sounds like him” and said that it is “unironically amazing how upset he sounds.”