Posted on 08/22/2016 2:09:22 PM PDT by drewh
Spider-Man has many powers: Wall-crawling, web-slinging… and race-bending.
According to a story posted by The Wrap, 19-year-old Disney Channel star Zendaya is set to play Mary Jane Watson in next year’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, a re-reboot that will see young British actor Tom Holland as a high school-aged Peter Parker.
This is a great idea. It’s 2016, why couldn’t – or shouldn’t – Spidey have a love interest who isn’t white? And many people agree, with Twitter and Facebook full of responses from folks who think a black Mary Jane is a fantastic choice.
But, as always, there are pockets of dissent, ranging from stubborn fans to outright racists. Which is puzzling, frankly. Not that this kind of ignorance still exists – you need only look at the U.S. presidential campaign to see that racism has been emboldened by a candidate who thinks prejudice and xenophobia are acceptable, and even commendable.
Rather, it’s that people are still freaking out over comic book colourblindness.
Off the top of my head, I can think of five black actors who’ve played characters that were traditionally white in the comics – Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm, Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin and Will Smith as Deadshot. Some of them were good. Some were great. All gave us a different perspective on the character.
None, as far as I’m aware, brought about the apocalypse.
The “it’s not how it’s written in the comics!” refrain just doesn’t wash. A film is not a slavish recreation of its source material, and thank goodness – had Captain America: Civil War been faithful to the Civil War comics, it would have been a bloated, incomprehensible mess.
From the comic book page to the movie screen, costumes get changed. Powers get changed. Backstories get changed. Characters’ physical appearances get changed. These are creative choices made in service to the film.
Do they always work? No. But in the case of Marvel Studios, who are co-producing Homecoming with Sony Pictures, these decisions are being made by people who are very, very good at what they do, and spending very, very large amounts of their own money on the process. As frustrating as it may be to hear, they know better than we do.
I admit, I always had a thing for Mary Jane, with her luscious red hair and impossible curves. But just as the talented Kirsten Dunst didn’t look like the MJ in my mind when she played the character in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies, the biracial Zendaya will bring a different look to Mary Jane in Homecoming – if that is indeed the role she’s been cast in. And that’s really cool.
Does Zendaya have the acting chops for what might be a relatively meaty role in a major superhero movie? I’m not sure. She’s got great energy and plenty of talent, but we’ll have to wait and see. Does indie film director Jon Watts have the directing chops to be behind the camera for a major superhero movie? I’m not sure. His film Cop Car was really good and he’s a smart guy, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Yet, oddly, he isn’t subjected to the same amount of Internet scrutiny.
Kind of makes your Spidey senses tingle.
So I wonder how Mr. Tilley would feel if Tom Hiddleston were to be cast as The Black Panther? How about Karl Urban as Luke Cage? Why not recast Wonder Woman into Wonder Man?
It seems like there is never an issue when it is a white male character that is being changed, but it is always an issue when it is woman or minority that is being recast.
I thought she was black ?
Just one word about their “brilliant casting decision”.
Ghostbusters.
Says her last name is Coleman. Doesn’t sound nearly as exotic as her first name, so she doesn’t use it professionally.
Really? À newspaper meant for adults is talking about a comic book character? And there are adults who care about this? I don’t get it.
But they were all hags and harridans. At least this girl is cute.
“He also plagiarized over 1/2 of his PhD thesis, so was he a Doctor..? Hmm....”
He also went to a Communist training school in New Market, Tennessee called the highlander Folk School.
Looks like Frida Kahlo after a shave.
One of the reasons I crafted “Zeneta” as a handle and actually owned the domain at one time was the belief that eventually it would become the name of a new Drug being promoted by our major companies.
The primary thought was to capture the things I was doing at the time. DayTrading millions of dollars at the push of a button.
“Zen”
Zen is the art of Intuition.
Connected to the internet, or the “net”.
An endless source of information.
Connected to “TA”.
Technical Analysis.
“Zeneta”
A new drug coming to you soon that will solve all your problems.
I don’t know that it will be a retelling. After Civil War, he is pretty established this time.
“:^)
I don’t think I’ve been exposed to ‘the stand’, unless I’m just not connecting.
I did look up Larua San Giacomo and remember her from Pretty Woman.
LOL
She was pretty hot in Sex, Lies and Videotape.
Halle Berry also disavowed her white parent.
I thought she was pretty cute in Pretty Woman, but her character was flawed. I like to see a character I could enjoy being around.
Didn’t see Sex, Lies, and Videotape.
Thanks for the mention.
Thanks W. I appreciate the report. I’ll check it out.
Cool, and almost forgot to mention it’s long, like 6 episodes. Very rewatchable.
They’ve specifically said they are not doing the origin story again. Over and above it being in movies twice in just over a decade, it’s Spiderman EVERYBODY knows the origin story, we can move on.
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