So...
MARVEL comics has a "diversity initiative" designed to bring in "new readers of all ethnicities, ages, and worldviews"...
Now... in 2017...?
What happened?
After decades of outright sh*tting on it's non-white, non-male, non-"American"(whatever they thought that means)audience... and insulting it's so-called "White" actually progressive audience...
... and partnering with D.C. Comics(through Diamond) to monopolize distribution and destroy independent competition...
Decades...
Why now?
Has there been a recent massive change in the population demographic?
No.
Did the entire creative staff get fired in some corporate takeover?
Nope.
Were they unable to stave off the long-enduring racism and discrimination lawsuits with "token" hirings?
Maybe... but I doubt it... that tactic works too well.
So, why now?

Almost two decades after the success of the "Blade" movie(even when the public was tired of vampires) exposed the racist lie generated by their creative staff that "Black" characters couldn't sell to a "mainstream" audience... and still no Black Panther movie yet?
(They actually claimed, after StarTrek and several other sci-fi movies, that they didn't have the capabilities to render Wakanda... and then did "Thor" and "Dr Strange"... a live action Ghost in the Shell will actually come out before it, lol...).

What happened?

Could it be that they haven't been making anywhere near as much money off of antiquated, overtly racist, misogynist, repetitively formulaic content as they would have us believe... and now they're in financial trouble?
Could it be that decades after the Civil Rights movement, the Viet Nam war and Vanessa Williams being stripped of her title for showing her body(when that's what she got her title for)... the comic book audience is tired of being portrayed as subhuman props, toys and sidekicks... and it costs too much money just to disrespect yourself?

Could it be... the interwebs?

Yeah, it's the net... it's all grown up...
In it we regularly casually show each other that the emperor is buck naked and "the wizard" is just an old dude flipping levers behind a curtain...
And that maybe we shouldn't be terrified of the dark...
and "pussy"...
and dark pussy.

... and what were they producing before "the initiative"...?

I love the net.

~ grey