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.
That’s good to know. Thanks.
FYI - The Portly Gazelle, that this Morning Ledger quotes as its source, is a satire site.
http://www.theportlygazelle.com/about/
“Disclaimer: All stories on this site are satire and the opinions expressed do not belong to any real people. If persons appear in the picture they have nothing to do with the story.”
I agree. I am not a total nitpicker about Spider-Man, but this whole process of changing every redhead character in comics to a different race is getting a little redundant.
So I guess there’s no chance of him getting back together with Betty Brant?
it is the rights sony owns so the have to reboot or lose it
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