Donald Glover as Spider-Man?

[Hellfire]

Seriously are people going to get confused that Spiderman is black or something? What, are people going to think that some black person stole the costume or something? Maybe I was giving people too much credit to not be morons. Shouldn't the role just go to the most talented actor, rather than the person with the white or black skin? After all, he's going to be wearing the costume for a large part of the movie anyways.

[LittleDaniel]

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.

Yes, because the only reason whites can be mad at blacks is because they're racist Klansmen. Yes. We've got a winner here, folks.

[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.

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

Oh, I don't agree with you. But you've just arrived at and proved the point I was making: People aren't going to get up in arms about a change of hair colour, but will for a change of skin colour, even though they're both just aesthetic changes. So don't pretend like it's all about the character looking different, when it's really about him being black.

Edited June 11, 2010 by The Dragon

[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?

Oh, I don't agree with you. But you've just arrived at and proved the point I was making: People aren't going to get up in arms about a change of hair colour, but will for a change of skin colour, even though they're both just aesthetic changes. So don't pretend like it's all about the character looking different, when it's really about him being black.

Yes, it's actually about him being black. Of course - why don't you, and every other poster in this thread with a stick up their ass just come out and call me, and all the other posters with a differing opinion racist - because that's all that anyone has been implying here from the start when anyone said something ANY different then "yeah, he's a great actor I'd be all about Donald Glover being Spider-Man".

When I replied to your original post, I said that you cannot compare the two things for one simple reason - and that is how extremely different they are. Having black skin and having blond hair are not just two different asthetically different things, they are (believe it or not) two very different things carrying very different qualities. Anyone can have blond hair - a white guy, a black guy, an asian guy and since we're being so correct about it, women too.. any woman! You can dye your hair blond at any time you wish it's actually quite simple to do. You cannot, and I repeat cannot change the colour of your skin (clearly, Michael Jackson and tattoos don't count) at your will. I think that most people understand this as a fundamental truth.

You cannont compare them because of COURSE no one is going to think anything of a change in hair colour, I've said that already a few posts up. And of COURSE people are going to raise issue/concerns with the character changing colour because that is a drastically different change - even if you consider that yes, black people can be nerds/bitten by radioactive spiders/etc. It's not just a physically visual thing.

[Daniel Bryan]

It's not just a physically visual thing.

Yeah, it is. It doesn't change anything about the character other than how he physically looks, and like Sean said, if you think otherwise, that's your prejudice.

[livid]

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?

Oh, I don't agree with you. But you've just arrived at and proved the point I was making: People aren't going to get up in arms about a change of hair colour, but will for a change of skin colour, even though they're both just aesthetic changes. So don't pretend like it's all about the character looking different, when it's really about him being black.

Yes, it's actually about him being black. Of course - why don't you, and every other poster in this thread with a stick up their ass just come out and call me, and all the other posters with a differing opinion racist - because that's all that anyone has been implying here from the start when anyone said something ANY different then "yeah, he's a great actor I'd be all about Donald Glover being Spider-Man".

When I replied to your original post, I said that you cannot compare the two things for one simple reason - and that is how extremely different they are. Having black skin and having blond hair are not just two different asthetically different things, they are (believe it or not) two very different things carrying very different qualities. Anyone can have blond hair - a white guy, a black guy, an asian guy and since we're being so correct about it, women too.. any woman! You can dye your hair blond at any time you wish it's actually quite simple to do. You cannot, and I repeat cannot change the colour of your skin (clearly, Michael Jackson and tattoos don't count) at your will. I think that most people understand this as a fundamental truth.

You cannont compare them because of COURSE no one is going to think anything of a change in hair colour, I've said that already a few posts up. And of COURSE people are going to raise issue/concerns with the character changing colour because that is a drastically different change - even if you consider that yes, black people can be nerds/bitten by radioactive spiders/etc. It's not just a physically visual thing.

Except that everybody's point about him not being black is based on the idea that it's completely different change than what's been illustrated the past 50 years. By that logic, changing his hair color would be just as drastic as a change as his skin color because he's always been drawn as having brown hair, not blonde. And in neither case is the character being changed other than how he looks.

[SRN]

Pst: a black guy will be playing one of the white norse gods in Thor too.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT HOW HAS NOBODY COMPLAINED ABOUT THIS THIS CANNOT BE TRUE ALL THE NORSE GODS ARE WHITE THERE WERE NO BLACK VIKINGS GRR GRR RAGE RAGE AT BLACK PEOPLE JUST LIKE THERE IS NO BLACK SPIDERMAN IT IS BAD

[Meacon Keaton]

I'm going to be frank here. I am by no means a comic book guy, but I know a lot of you are. But no one besides the comic book nerds are going to give a hoot if Peter Parker is white or black. Hell, let LL play Peter Parker if he can play a convincing superhero. As long as the guy can act and does the part justice, I don't give a damn.

[apsham]

Take a character, change his hair colour.

Take the same character, change his ethnicity instead.

And here's the thing - it can be black to white, white to black or absolutely anything else.

One is more drastic than the other. Seriously, it is.. there's no arguing here. They are very different from each other.

But then again, I'm predjudice.. that's a real amazing thing to lay on someone, by the way.

[METALMAN]

Would both parties be satisfied if Donald Glover was bleached?

[LL!]

Hell, let LL play Peter Parker if he can play a convincing superhero. As long as the guy can act and does the part justice, I don't give a damn.

Be careful, I have black hair. People will riot.

[TCO]

All this aside, Donald Glover isn't very good anyway. He's appeared in a moderately successful comedy for 2 seasons, that doesn't scream face of a billion dollar franchise. Shit why not give it to the kid from Two and a Half Men, he's had 7 succesful comedy seasons. Oh wait, how prejudice of me to suggest a white actor to portray a white character, scratch that. I'd say give the role of Peter Parker to Jennifer Hudson, she's black, a woman and not a size zero, take that political correctness! It's only an aesthetic change anyway, if you don't get it, you're a racist, ignorant moron.

Edited June 11, 2010 by The Cool One

[LL!]

Community has only had one season. And I'd say Donald Glover is capable of handling it. He SHOULD get a chance to audition, it's just not fair that people are against him going for the part because he's black. That's the argument here.

[Kyle_]

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.....

Glover should just do this only opposite of course

[Skummy]

Here's a thing - there is a fundamental difference between black and white people beyond the colour of their skin. History, culture, heritage. It is different. So it would be a big deal to change a famously white character into a black character, and would be a bigger deal than just changing the colour of their hair. It's not purely aesthetic, because there's hundreds of years of culture behind the difference between black and white people, and not between the difference between black and blonde hair. To just say "everybody is completely equal" is a very white response - because we're assuming that by wanting to be "equal", everybody else should want to be the same as white people, and because of that the cultures and histories of other races are often ignored and considered backwards or racist if it's made a point of.

There is SO much more difference between black skin and white skin than just the aesthetic, and I'd challenge you to find a non-white person to disagree with that statement.

Edited June 12, 2010 by Skummy

[I Don't Mind]

For those who have not seen Donald Glover, here is the man in question.

From Community

From Derrick Comedy

Stand-Up

On Craig Ferguson

I love Donald Glover and think he'd be great for a similar role, but not this one. Make a Static Shock movie and cast Glover, or let him do a parody rip-off movie where he plays a superhero. He's great for a similar role, but he's not Peter Parker. He's too over the top in everything he does. I can't even imagine him playing a straight role for more than 30 seconds without turning it into something utterly zany and ridiculous, which far surpasses Peter Parker's smarty-pants wit. But with the hype I'm sure Marvel will jump on the ball and create an alternate universe where Peter Parker is black, and then maybe a movie can be based off of that because it'll have source material no one can complain about. But I also understand why a black man will never be Peter Parker in this new movie. A far-distant future movie maybe, but for this movie, auditions are posted as such: Looking for gangly, nerdy white teen with short-to-medium length light brown or dark blonde hair. Glasses and light acrobatics a plus. That's Hollywood's rolecall and that's who's going to show up. They made that decision long ago and they're going to stick to it no matter who the best actor in the world is. Just like if they were to cast a movie for another icon, Jesus, they would have a very specific image in mind long before they let anyone audition. There won't be a movie about a black Jesus produced in America without undertones of satire in it. Could Jesus have been Black? Absolutely. Will we ever see a serious black Jesus? No we will not. Santa Claus too. You might see black Jesus or Santa figurines but they'll always be a little bit of a joke.

[EddieRuckus]

Bah, that only goes so far though. Yes, it is important to have culture and they are drastically different, but at the same time everyone should be given an equal chance regardless of gender, creed, race, etc. It is NOT a white response to say "everyone should be equal", as we should be treated and respected all as people, not given preferential or deferential treatment based on our background. There are also many white cultures who differ vastly from other white cultures, and there is a difference between moving forward and being equals while maintaining our culture and backgrounds and saying that if we did we'd all be like the "white man."

It is racist to state that just because Peter Parker has always been portrayed as white in the comics means that it is an irrefutable fact that he was, is, and always shall be white with no chance of a black/hispanic/asian person portraying Peter Parker. On the flip side, it's not racist to have a preferred vision of Peter Parker as white, and to be miffed when a character you know and love is being portrayed as something different than what you're used to or what you like.

Regardless, I don't think there should have been THIS much overreaction by both sides when all it was asking for was a simple fucking audition. Yes, he wouldn't have got as much attention if he was a minority on both sides of racism(those for and those against), but honestly it was just a chance to audition. If he had been cast as the next spider-man then this level of debate would be appropriate, but just for a fucking audition?

[thatblindgeye]

Here's a thing - there is a fundamental difference between black and white people beyond the colour of their skin. History, culture, heritage. It is different. So it would be a big deal to change a famously white character into a black character, and would be a bigger deal than just changing the colour of their hair. It's not purely aesthetic, because there's hundreds of years of culture behind the difference between black and white people, and not between the difference between black and blonde hair. To just say "everybody is completely equal" is a very white response - because we're assuming that by wanting to be "equal", everybody else should want to be the same as white people, and because of that the cultures and histories of other races are often ignored and considered backwards or racist if it's made a point of.

There is SO much more difference between black skin and white skin than just the aesthetic, and I'd challenge you to find a non-white person to disagree with that statement.

This is very much true.

But what characteristic differences would there be in Peter Parker - White Man and Peter Parker - Black Man? Yeah, the culture history behind the two races is obvious, but does that history REALLY come into play for Peter Parker? I really don't read comics so I am genuinely asking, or is it just a nerd bitten by a spider now fights evil villains and no real ties to what race he is other than the color the people who made the comic decided to use for his skin?

[TGC]

I just read that Marvel is working on a Black Panther movie, the hero not the group, and that Milo V guy from Heroes is in the lead to play the African King character who becomes Black Panther.

[Noah]

I'd prefer a Powerman and Iron Fist movie to a Spiderman reboot anyway.