Donald Glover as Spider-Man?

[Skummy]

I don't think "they" should cast a black actor as Spiderman, but then I don't think "they" should have cast a white actor to play Ghengis Khan, or an American to play William Wallace, and I don't think "they" give a shit what I think.

And just to play Devil's Advocate, this Donald Glover guy, I don't even know who he is, but would there be this much of a push for him to get the role if he weren't black? Would he actually be any good?

[SeanDMan]

Just as a question, do any of you live in the real world, or do you believe that a black person consists of a guy who eats fried chicken while shining his rims and spitting out "my nigga" to his fellow brothas between trips to the corner selling weed?

[Daniel Bryan]

You can't compare a change of hair colour to what we're talking about here and act like it's the same thing, it's no where near the same thing.

Sure you can. I mean, change of skin colour, change of hair colour, all it does is make the character look different in some way. And if you think that it's nowhere near the same thing, well then the objections obviously aren't just about the character looking different from how he does in the comics, are they?

Edited June 11, 2010 by The Dragon

[Kyle_]

I don't think "they" should cast a black actor as Spiderman, but then I don't think "they" should have cast a white actor to play Ghengis Khan, or an American to play William Wallace, and I don't think "they" give a shit what I think.

And just to play Devil's Advocate, this Donald Glover guy, I don't even know who he is, but would there be this much of a push for him to get the role if he weren't black? Would he actually be any good?

He's on the show Community, and I hear he's a writer for 30 Rock also? I've never seen his work, but I hear good thing. However, I don't know if Spiderman would really be a good fit, as he's more of the comedy type.

[Skummy]

Sean, man, I normally love you, but the assumption that people think the only reason a black actor shouldn't play a historically white character is because people are cross-burning racists who have never seen a black man before is just as, if not more stupid, than the idea that a black actor couldn't play the role if he was good enough. All I'm saying is that changing any aspect of the character of Spiderman is going to take some getting used to, and going to take a good actor to pull it off, and as I don't know a bloody thing this guy's done and all I know is that he was in some comedy series, I'm not convinced he would be the right guy to do that, and I'm wondering if someone had started a campaign to get a nerdy, white actor with exactly the same credentials and exactly the same level of acting talent as this guy, would it have got as much press, or would he have been written off as not suitable for the role without a second thought?

[SeanDMan]

Sean, man, I normally love you, but the assumption that people think the only reason a black actor shouldn't play a historically white character is because people are cross-burning racists who have never seen a black man before is just as, if not more stupid, than the idea that a black actor couldn't play the role if he was good enough. All I'm saying is that changing any aspect of the character of Spiderman is going to take some getting used to, and going to take a good actor to pull it off, and as I don't know a bloody thing this guy's done and all I know is that he was in some comedy series, I'm not convinced he would be the right guy to do that, and I'm wondering if someone had started a campaign to get a nerdy, white actor with exactly the same credentials and exactly the same level of acting talent as this guy, would it have got as much press, or would he have been written off as not suitable for the role without a second thought?

Not everyone in this thread is an idiot.

Everyone is an idiot except you.

And The Dragon. The Dragon is right. Change of hair, change of skin. It's how the person looks. If it's more than how they look, then that's your prejudice.

[GoGo Yubari]

However, I don't know if Spiderman would really be a good fit, as he's more of the comedy type.

The only notable superhero character more comedy-inclined than Spider-Man is Deadpool. One of my biggest complaints about the Maguire/Raimi Spider-Man is that none of that trademark wit was there in the first two movies.

[TCO]

But I'm sure they'd just dye his hair brown if they hired a blond guy, to make him look like Peter Parker like somebody pointed out, something not available to Glover, unless.....

Edited June 11, 2010 by The Cool One

[LL!]

I don't think "they" should cast a black actor as Spiderman, but then I don't think "they" should have cast a white actor to play Ghengis Khan, or an American to play William Wallace, and I don't think "they" give a shit what I think.

And just to play Devil's Advocate, this Donald Glover guy, I don't even know who he is, but would there be this much of a push for him to get the role if he weren't black? Would he actually be any good?

He's on the show Community, and I hear he's a writer for 30 Rock also? I've never seen his work, but I hear good thing. However, I don't know if Spiderman would really be a good fit, as he's more of the comedy type.

He started in a small comedy troupe called Derrick Comedy (still going on today, they just released their first movie) and right out of college got a job working for 30 Rock. He has since left 30 Rock to join Community.

[Kyle_]

However, I don't know if Spiderman would really be a good fit, as he's more of the comedy type.

The only notable superhero character more comedy-inclined than Spider-Man is Deadpool. One of my biggest complaints about the Maguire/Raimi Spider-Man is that none of that trademark wit was there in the first two movies.

I guess you are right, Raimi has made me forget about the original Spider-man

[apsham]

You can't compare a change of hair colour to what we're talking about here and act like it's the same thing, it's no where near the same thing.

Sure you can. I mean, change of skin colour, change of hair colour, all it does is make the character look different in some way. And if you think that it's nowhere near the same thing, well then the objections obviously aren't just about the character looking different from how he does in the comics, are they?

It's in no way the same thing - you can change your hair colour - people do it everday, characters do it in movies, characters do it in comic books. You can't change the colour of your skin.. that's just the bottom line there.

[King Ellis]

You can't compare a change of hair colour to what we're talking about here and act like it's the same thing, it's no where near the same thing.

Sure you can. I mean, change of skin colour, change of hair colour, all it does is make the character look different in some way. And if you think that it's nowhere near the same thing, well then the objections obviously aren't just about the character looking different from how he does in the comics, are they?

It's in no way the same thing - you can change your hair colour - people do it everday, characters do it in movies, characters do it in comic books. You can't change the colour of your skin.. that's just the bottom line there.

No, that's ignorant!

[LL!]

Also, tattoos change the color of your skin, but that's beyond the point.

[LittleDaniel]

Hey! I'm no idiot! Although I really don't see why we keep talking about Peter Parker, isn't he that scrawny photographer for the Daily Bugle? This is a Spiderman thread, dammit, stop going off topic!

[Daniel Bryan]

It's in no way the same thing - you can change your hair colour - people do it everday, characters do it in movies, characters do it in comic books. You can't change the colour of your skin.. that's just the bottom line there.

How is that even relevant? No-one's suggesting that Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider and turns into a black man. Every adaptation is a re-imagining of the character, and him being black this time would be just as much of a difference as him being blonde this time. Unless you'd insist that if they had a blonde Peter Parker, they include a line in the film about how he's dyed his hair recently. In which case, you're just weird.

Edited June 11, 2010 by The Dragon

[apsham]

It's in no way the same thing - you can change your hair colour - people do it everday, characters do it in movies, characters do it in comic books. You can't change the colour of your skin.. that's just the bottom line there.

How is that even relevant? No-one's suggesting that Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider and turns into a black man. Every adaptation is a re-imagining of the character, and him being black this time would be just as much of a difference as him being blonde this time. Unless you'd insist that if they had a blonde Peter Parker, they include a line in the film about how he's dyed his hair recently. In which case, you're just weird.

I don't see how this is hard to understand at all, though I may have gotten confused at one point or another here with the whole blond actor thing.

If you were implying that the actor they would choose would be blond and then have his hair dyed - that kind of thing is done all the time, barely anyone would bat an eyelash.

If you were implying that the actor they would choose would instead keep the blond hair for the movie, what I said holds true.. it is in no way extreme of a change as skin colour would be, and would at the very lease be believable to the movie going audience, even easier for the comic book fans who understand that characters change in these things all the time.

And yes, the character being black would be a big change in the eyes of most people when compared with hair colour. I know we're all supposed to be horribly anal with politcal correctness and all that fun stuff, but that's just fact. No one would go "oh, Parker has blond hair now" the same way they would go "huh, Parker is black now". There are differing degrees here... Spiderman Noir was a much different reimagining than Spiderman 2099... so on and so forth.

[thatblindgeye]

Go go closet racism.

Nope. `Twas meant as a joke. (And someone at the other board I posted it at actually got that real quick)

I just don't think there are certain characters that would work if you changed their race, because you'd have to change other things as well.

On the other hand, people are upset over the live action Avatar The Last Airbender movie, because it has a mostly caucasian, instead of Asian cast. And even though I don't give a shit about that series, I can see why the people are upset and actually agree with them about the casting. (If I read right, what makes it even worse is that all or most of the non-caucasian actors in it play badguys)

I can understand people not wanting the character changed since it's been the same thing for so very long. People who are really into things like comics will be upset or have something to say if the character they read about gets changed in some way, whether it be a small personality trait to their skin color.

But that bolded part... I can not get my head around, mostly because, what the hell is so 'white' about Peter Parker that if a black actor portrayed him, the character would need a complete overhaul to make it work?

[Daniel Bryan]

And yes, the character being black would be a big change in the eyes of most people when compared with hair colour. I know we're all supposed to be horribly anal with politcal correctness and all that fun stuff, but that's just fact. No one would go "oh, Parker has blond hair now" the same way they would go "huh, Parker is black now".

Hey, welcome to the point.

[GhostMachine]

I really don't think any of this is closet racism, it's just that Peter Parker is caucasian so people want a caucaian to play him and because Spider-man is such an iconic figure that such a drastic visual change of the character just wouldn't work. Your casual fans really wouldn't care if Nick Fury or Wilosn Fisk recieve a change in race because they won't be that aware and/or care enough about the change.

Though it could be funny, just imagine how people would've reacted if Jason Statham had played Nelson Mandella in Invictus!

BINGO!

Plus, if you made Peter Parker black, you'd probably have to make some of the other characters black as well. Flash Thompson a white guy bullying him would make Flash look like a racist, intended or not. A white JJJ blasting Spider-Man in the media would either have to stop or tread lightly once its revealed to the public that Spider-Man is black, or some people would question of JJJ's initials were really KKK.

Captain America and the regular Marvel Universe Nick Fury wouldn't work as black because it would be downright impossible to believe a black man would have ever been put in their positions during WW2. A black Captain America would have to be a movie about Isaiah Bradley, not a black Steve Rogers, or would have to take place after the Civil Rights movement.

[apsham]

And yes, the character being black would be a big change in the eyes of most people when compared with hair colour. I know we're all supposed to be horribly anal with politcal correctness and all that fun stuff, but that's just fact. No one would go "oh, Parker has blond hair now" the same way they would go "huh, Parker is black now".

Hey, welcome to the point.

....thanks for agreeing with me, I guess?