Marvel have shared their plans for a new set of superheroes, which includes a pair of twins called “Snowflake” and “Safespace”.

Created by Luciano Vecchio and Daniel Kibblesmith, the psychic-powered twins will be part of a planned New Warriors comic series.

Both characters are black, and “Snowflake” is also Marvel’s first non-binary superhero.

Kibblesmith told the Marvel website: “They’re hyper aware of modern culture and optics, and they see their Super Heroics as ‘a post-ironic meditation on using violence to combat bullying.’

“It’s this idea that these are terms that get thrown around on the internet that they don’t see as derogatory. [They] take those words and kind of wear them as badges of honour.”

He continued: “The connotations of the word ‘snowflake’ in our culture right now are something fragile, and [Snowflake] is a character who is turning it into something sharp.”

However, the reaction online has been less than glowing, with some in the LGBT+ community interpreting the “woke” characters as a (perhaps unintentional) mockery of progressive values.

The designs for ‘Snowflake’ and ‘Safespace‘ posted on the Marvel website, drawn by Luciano Vecchio (Marvel)

One Twitter user wrote: “Calling your first non-binary superheroes Snowflake and Safespace is the most insensitive and out of touch things you could do.”

“They sounds [sic] like the kind of names you’d expect a writer who’s trying to make fun of non-binary people would give their characters.”