comic peeps... a black actor as spiderman?

BDx13 - 6-1-2010 at 08:56 PM

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-twitter-campaign-...

Twitter Campaign Wants 'Community' Actor to Be First Non-White Spider-Man
by Lindsay Robertson · June 1, 2010

Could the movies soon have the first African American Spider-Man?

If thousands of Twitter users get their way, the star of Sony's upcoming reboot of the franchise will be Donald Glover, best known from his role on NBC's "Community." This weekend the Twitter hashtag "donald4spiderman" became the #3 trending topic in the U.S., and the campaign is still gaining steam.

The origins of this latest attempt by social media users to influence casting decisions occurred last week. After surveying the five mostly unknown white actors said to be vying for the role, Marc Bernadin, a writer for the sci-fi site io9.com, called the choices "bland" and asked, "In this day and age, why does Spidey have to be a white guy?" In response, commenters threw out Donald Glover's name as a possible contender, and a Twitter campaign was born.

A unique aspect of this latest fan campaign is its wholehearted support by the subject in question. Glover seems to like the idea (though he makes it clear on his Twitter page that he's interested in auditioning, not just being handed the role without first having to prove his worthiness). While he had nothing to do with its inception, Glover himself has been promoting the campaign, instructing fans to tweet the #donald4spiderman hash tag at strategic times to keep it trending.

In years past, an Internet petition of this kind might not be given much credence, but given the overwhelming success of the recent social-media uprising to get Betty White a hosting gig on "Saturday Night Live," this could be Glover's ticket to director Marc Webb's tryout room. He and his fans will have to act fast, though: The Hollywood Reporter is already forecasting the five most likely contenders for the role, and Glover is not on the list

Glover, a comedian and former writer for "30 Rock," has starred in only one movie so far: "Mystery Team," a comedy he co-created with his sketch comedy team, Derrick Comedy, which came out in 2009.

One hurdle Glover's fans will have is in his presumed bankability as a movie star: "Mystery Team" brought in a meager $89.4 thousand in domestic box-office sales.

barc0debaby - 6-1-2010 at 09:46 PM

So how about a white Shaft?

XHonusWagnerX - 6-1-2010 at 09:53 PM

I dont think its a racist statement to make, that I dont support that.

I didnt like when Kingpin was black in Daredevil.
I didnt like when Terry Fitzgerald was white in Spawn.
I didnt like when Robert Neville was black in I Am Legend.

Those are characters that have been set in stone for YEARS and I just dont feel like you can change them to that extent.

newbreedbrian - 6-1-2010 at 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by XHonusWagnerX
I dont think its a racist statement to make, that I dont support that.

I didnt like when Kingpin was black in Daredevil.
I didnt like when Terry Fitzgerald was white in Spawn.
I didnt like when Robert Neville was black in I Am Legend.

Those are characters that have been set in stone for YEARS and I just dont feel like you can change them to that extent.

Agreed. This is stupid. It would make as much sense as casting Robert De Niro as Malcom X.

XnMeX - 6-1-2010 at 10:20 PM

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Exactly, I hate this shit...

I also think it is rediculous that Jake Gylenhal is prince of PERSIA! WTF... It goes "both" ways. If a character is supposed to be / has been a certain ethnicity since the creation of the character, why change it?

Like if they made a Green Hornet movie and cast a white or black guy as Kato... Fuck that.

barc0debaby - 6-1-2010 at 10:28 PM

Wild Wild West was the worst. A giant robot spider was way more realistic then a black man getting away with what he did in that movie.

BKT - 6-1-2010 at 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by barc0debaby
So how about a white Shaft?

hahahaha. Amazing.

Instead of "damn right" he would say "fucking A", or "hell ya".

Perhaps they should also re do Superfly with a Chinese guy.

BKT.

XnMeX - 6-1-2010 at 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BKT
Perhaps they should also re do Superfly with a Chinese guy.

You mean "Soopafry"?

Couldn't resist!

Jason the Magnificent - 6-2-2010 at 05:43 AM

Couldn't care less who they pick.

This movie got ripped from Raimi's hands because he refused to add nu-metal type 90's villains like carnage in and wanted to stick with the classics. So F this reboot. They could have the kid from that 70's show return to play shitty Venom, have the Twilight knob as carnage and Will Smiths kid as Parker for all I care. If you can't polish a turd...you certainly couldn't make it more of a turd either.

Jason the Magnificent - 6-2-2010 at 05:45 AM

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While I agree mostly with this...I can't see what the harm was or how having Neville be black affected the movie in any way. It's been a while since I read the book....but was there anything racial that would have made it better one way or another to the story?

Seems like the issue here is they just cant figure out after 3 or 4 tries how to adapt that damn book yet.

Dave - 6-2-2010 at 08:09 AM

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Originally posted by XnMeX

Quote:

in the new Green Hornet Comic, Kato is a chick....

sippers - 6-2-2010 at 09:08 AM

I heard Todd Mcfarlane toyed around with that idea when he wrote spiderman,and marvel shot him down.

clevohardcore - 6-2-2010 at 10:23 AM

These days it seems that we must change on the simple base of color. Forget the fact that we can create a new hero who is black. We must change the original hero to be black. I'm all for a new hero but leave Spiderman out of it. It just cheapens the idea of Spiderman.

tireironsaint - 6-2-2010 at 10:47 AM

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Originally posted by Jason the Magnificent

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Yeah, Robert Neville being black was one of the smallest changes they made to that story, as bad as they fucked up that classic story who cares what race the main character is? Thinking about that "version" of the story still pisses me off. I'd be happy to tell them how to adapt that book into a movie in one easy step : actually follow the fucking story as written.

Johnny_Whistle - 6-2-2010 at 10:49 AM

I think someone should start a Twitter campaign to cast Jim Carrey as Black Lightning and Stone Cold Steve Austin as Wonder Woman.

Dave - 6-2-2010 at 10:57 AM

Brad Pitt as Black Panther......

ShawnRefuse - 6-2-2010 at 11:06 AM

Yeah, not racist to not want him to be spiderman. I mean, he could be spiderman under the suit, but definitely not Peter Parker. It's not the character.

I agree with Josh on all his comparisons except I Am Legend, but that's only because I never read the books prior to the movie.

Mark Lind - 6-2-2010 at 11:25 AM

Wait.... why are they doing a "reboot" on Spiderman. Justice for Toby McGuire!!

wez138 - 6-2-2010 at 11:37 AM

What next, a black president?

Johnny_Whistle - 6-2-2010 at 11:38 AM

Aparently Toby wont do it if Rami's not involved. Too bad, because he nailed it. Except for the dancing.

wez138 - 6-2-2010 at 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Johnny_Whistle
Aparently Toby wont do it if Rami's not involved. Too bad, because he nailed it. Except for the dancing.

And alllllllllllllllllllll the fuck up's within the whole storyline.

Mark Lind - 6-2-2010 at 12:05 PM

As far as I'm concerned, the Spiderman movies served they're purpose: they opened the door for superhero movies and made The Dark Knight movies possible.

mattybar - 6-2-2010 at 12:19 PM

I think this dude would make a good Robocop.

SHAKO KEN - 6-2-2010 at 12:51 PM

prince of persia was arian in the original video game. however silly that is.

i'd have to see a black spiderman to be convinced. could see it happen, i mean black people get bit by spiders too.

Discipline - 6-2-2010 at 05:05 PM

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Making the characters in the Honeymooners movie black bugged the shit out of as well, not that I even bothered to watch the movie. Also, making Nick Fury black in the Marvel movies pissed me off.

If they want a black superhero movie, they can go with Black Panther, the black Green Lantern, etc. Better yet, CREATE A NEW CHARACTER!!! Originality is lacking these days.

Johnny_Whistle - 6-2-2010 at 05:36 PM

Well the black Nick Fury is based on the Ultimate Marvel universe, so there is a precedent for that. His back story is that he was one of the test subjects for the original Captain America project (before they started bringing white soldiers in after the formula was deemed safe). The movies they're producing now seem to be trying to mesh a little of Ultimate with a little of the regular Marvel continuity, because the Avengers is going to be a government-created superhero team (ala the Ultimates). In the regular Marvel universe, Nick Fury is still white.

DaveMoral - 6-2-2010 at 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by clevohardcore
These days it seems that we must change on the simple base of color. Forget the fact that we can create a new hero who is black. We must change the original hero to be black. I'm all for a new hero but leave Spiderman out of it. It just cheapens the idea of Spiderman.

Here's the kicker though, they don't have to change anyone or even create a new superhero that is black. Marvel has tons. LUKE FUCKING CAGE. The Black Panther. There are tons of others. Those are just two of the most prominent.

Also, for the record, I have no problems with a black Kingpin. I think Kingpin is black in the Ultimate Marvel universe, as is for certain Nick Fury... now played by Sam Jackson.

Dave - 6-3-2010 at 09:36 AM

Yeah bring on a Luke Cage movie........ better yet, Power Man & Iron Fist!

JawnDiablo - 6-3-2010 at 09:39 AM

I can't stand Will Smith.....

Johnny_Whistle - 6-3-2010 at 10:03 AM

Last I heard about Iron Fist, there was a movie in the works with the guy that played Darth Maul and Toad in the first X-Men movie as the lead.

jamespinkerton - 6-3-2010 at 12:51 PM

i wouldn't have a problem with it. a white science geek would probably be in an indie rock band on the side and getting laid. a black science geek? true nerd.

Johnny_Whistle - 6-3-2010 at 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jamespinkerton a black science geek? true nerd.

But do you really want Spidey to take off his mask and reveal this?

MikeResist - 6-3-2010 at 05:47 PM

I read somewhere a while back that Will Smith was up for the role of Captain America in the Avengers movie that'll be coming out. I thought that wasn't the right fit. Peter Parker isn't black. Period. It shouldn't be changed. It's not racist either to think that, it's just going with the story. Then again in religious movies Jesus is a 6 foot tall white man with blue eyes living in the Middle East. Can't figure that one out either.

DaveMoral - 6-3-2010 at 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MikeResist
I read somewhere a while back that Will Smith was up for the role of Captain America in the Avengers movie that'll be coming out. I thought that wasn't the right fit. Peter Parker isn't black. Period. It shouldn't be changed. It's not racist either to think that, it's just going with the story. Then again in religious movies Jesus is a 6 foot tall white man with blue eyes living in the Middle East. Can't figure that one out either.

Well that has more to do with 2 millenia of people erroneously believing that a 1st Century Jew in Palestine would look like a European hippy. In most people's minds a black or brown Jesus would be the "change."

XnMeX - 6-3-2010 at 09:40 PM

Spiderman IS black...

DaveMoral - 6-3-2010 at 09:51 PM

Yeah, he was black for half the last movie... jeez.

JawnDiablo - 6-3-2010 at 09:55 PM

I just had the mental image of a Puerto Rican Wolverine saying ....hey este, I gonna cut you holmes"...

Dave - 6-4-2010 at 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by juandiablo
I just had the mental image of a Puerto Rican Wolverine saying ....hey este, I gonna cut you holmes"...

hahaha

Mark Lind - 6-6-2010 at 12:38 AM

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Originally posted by newbreedbrian

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Agreed. This is stupid. It would make as much sense as casting Robert De Niro as Malcom X.

But..... but...... Peter Parker wasn't a real person. :freak:

DaveMoral - 6-6-2010 at 09:51 AM

^It makes as much sense as casting De Niro as Shaft.

I think it's far more important to give already existent black superheroes a shot at the title screen. Luke Cage - Power Man would make a great blaxploitation throw back and, even had he not done Black Dynamite, Michael Jai White is perfect for that role. And then there's Black Panther, I mean... firstly he's obvious because his fucking name is BLACK PANTHER, but also because he is pretty fucking cool. And Black Panther is married to X-Men's Storm.

Jason the Magnificent - 6-6-2010 at 12:40 PM

What about that one DC dude that had the white dental gear on his head and shot lightning or something.

DaveMoral - 6-6-2010 at 03:15 PM

Who?

They'll no doubt eventually bring Green Lantern John Stewart into the Green Lantern movieverse if that shit takes off after next year's GL flick.

Jason the Magnificent - 6-7-2010 at 06:38 AM

lol...was thinking of Cyborg from Teen Titans.

DaveMoral - 6-8-2010 at 08:01 PM

Hahaha. Cyborg is cool. He's been on Smallville a few times.

Dave - 6-9-2010 at 09:31 AM

It's not a racial thing at all, keep the characters they way they were written. Imagine the up roar if one of these characters were white in a movie:

Bishop

Luke Cage

Black Panther

Blade

Cloak

Falcon

Storm

War Machine