Zendaya will be playing long-time Spider-Man love interest Mary Jane Watson in next summer’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, according to multiple sources at TheWrap.
Zendaya is Mary Jane Watson in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
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was it really that hard to find a light skinned red head?
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Haters gonna hate!
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This girl is a terrible actress from disney channel. I am not a fan of this casting at all.
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I am offended by her cultural misappropriation of the Rasta spirituality and culture with her “manicured” non orhtodox dreadlocks
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I really hope this isn’t serious not because I’m racist but because throughout my entire life Mary Jane was a ginger girl and how can u just go on and change it all on everyone now
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And this whole time I thought they casted her because she was white
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More fundamental things about the characters in marvel movies have been changed than their race. It’s a different universe than the comics. It’s not Earth 616. The makers of the cinematic universe are free to do what they want. It’s no different than DC taking Robin out of the equation or marvel changing all the stuff they changed.
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Ahh, looks like racist Hector is happy with this casting… Coming from the same guy who agreed that having a white actor in an Asian movie (produced by Asians) is unspeakably racist because that promotes “white supremacy and white people are betteeeeer!!!!”.
But yeah, now that the roles are reversed, he doesn’t care. Convenient.0 likes -
Why did they have to name her Mary Jane Watson? She could still be an awesome lead & love interest with a different name. MJ’s look is too famous for this to not become a negative distraction.
But hey maybe shell own the role and receive praise from everyone. Only time will tell
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Wtf, MJ is supposed to be a RED HEAD! Why do they do this??? Then they’ll cast an Irish guy to play Miles Morales -.-
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As long as she can act. Go for it!
Oh and all you crybaby nerds need to go get laid.
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And you got laid?
Fuck off.0 likes-
Just this morning!
Your mothers actually got a pretty deep throat!
Keep crying, nerd.
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Maybe next we can have a Chinese or Filipino guy play Thor? That would be EPIC, and soooooo inclusive. (if you read this and thought it was anything BUT sarcasm, stop smoking that sh*t)
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Eh. I don’t personally like Miss Zendaya’s acting style (or really her… hated her on DWTS. What a vain little girl.) to begin with (though she would have the voice!). Coupled with who and how they picked to play the new Spiderman, I wasn’t going to see this movie in theaters anyways, so overall, I don’t really care who she decides to mar. But I guess since they already did a piss-poor job casting the new Peter Parker/Spiderman and his aunt, they might as well make some ‘controversial’ (please – they could do an all black Spiderman cast and the world won’t stop) decision. At least now I am sure people are going to watch that after the painful Captain America movie cameo*
*Spidey is supposed to be a critical character, and make us want to pivot between sides when deciding who’s wrong and who’s right. He may have quips, but he is NOT supposed to solely for comic relief as they made him out to be. They made his character look dumb and buffoonish for a few laughs.
I think I will wait to see if it goes to Netflix before I bother. Even then, eh. I guess Marvel had to have one bad movie every now and again to compete with DC, and they have already proven they make questionable decisions when it comes to Spidey.
(Though truthfully, I enjoyed Tobey Maguire as Spiderman. It was move the writing in the 3rd movie than his acting. And even the Amazing Spiderman was a good spin on a classic story, even if they made Peter eye-candy.)2 likes -
And here come the Marvel Apologists.
Sorry to burst y’all bubble, but this is bad casting in a film whose only good casting is Keaton and Woodbine.
I don’t like new Peter Parker that sound like a kid on Xbox Live, I don’t like MILF Aunt May, I don’t like Downey sticking his mug for no reason and I certainly don’t like forced progressive casting just to get a few brownie points from SJWs. This movie will be the perfect example of what Marvel Comics is becoming now.0 likes -
Guys come on she looks exactly like mary jane Watson you know red hair pale skin white girl now there no problem with African American people but the fact I GREW UP WATCHING AND READING ABOUT SPIDER MAN THIS IS MY CHILD HOOD BUT I WILL RESERVE JUDGMENT intill I see her on screen that will decide if she’s a good Mary Jane or not
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“Some men just like to watch the world burn” -People looking at Marvel Comics 2016-?
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Gwen Stacy’s ethnicity bears almost no relation on the character, so who cares what colour she is.
When comics were first written, almost every character was white, because that was their market and that was how a lot of society was. Well both the comic book audience and society is much more diverse, so if it doesn’t change who the character is, other than visually, I’m all for diversification
Tilda Swinton is playing a role usually portrayed by an old Asian man, so why is this casting bad?
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So you’re okay with a white Cyborg? A white John Stewart? A white Amanda Waller? What about Black Panther? After all, their ethnicity bears almost no relation on the character, so who cares what color they are?
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I didn’t say no one’s ethnicity bears no relation on the character, I said Mary Jane’s doesn’t. Black Panther’s ethnicity is part of who he is. He’s an African prince, so it wouldn’t make sense to change him. I’d say that John Stewart was actually brought in to add some diversity, so maybe not him either. However if there was enough equality in the casting already, I wouldn’t care about the others, no.
My point is, when the character’s bio, isn’t reliant on them being a specific sex or ethnicity, what’s the big deal with changing it? Especially if it’s in a way that better reflects today’s society, rather than that of decades ago, when many of the characters were invented?
Believe me, I love seeing the comic book page, up on the big screen, but if it’s not visually dead on, but the characterisation and “spirit” of the source material are intact, I have no issue with it… Like Idris Elba as Heimdal
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MJ’s ethnicity is as much part of her character as Black Panther’s and John Stewart’s is to them… (Which is to say it barely matters in any case). The difference? Your double standard.
When a character is non-white, this is “part of their character”. So what if Panther is African… Is that your excuse? Isn’t MJ American? And aren’t American for the most part white? Oh wait, but “there are a lot of blacks in the US right”. If that would be your excuse, why isn’t it fair to say there would be whites in Wakanda? There “wouldn’t be enough of them”? If so, you would be “discriminating” an even smaller minority! So what if he’s king? But wait… A white Wakandan leader would promote “white supremacy” am I right? Kind of like how Obama promotes black supremacy in a predominately white country, right? Umm, that doesn’t make sense. But wait, you wanna promote “diversity” (as if that really means something). Wouldn’t the best way to promote “diversity” be to have a super small minority (whites) featured in a nearly exclusively black country (Wakanda)?
My point is that the difference between MJ and characters like Panther exclusively occurs in your mind. You can come up with a hundred excuses, but you’d only confirm my point that there is a massive double standard. When we change white characters, it “doesn’t really matter because their race is arbitrary”. But when we change Black (or other races) characters, this is an outrage because “their race is important to their character” – even though that’s never been the case. John Stewart is black… So? Does that change who he is? Nope. Does that affect his personality? Nope. Does it add to his character? Nope.
Here’s my take: Surprisingly, I actually agree with you. Race is frankly, meaningless. It doesn’t say anything about character whatsoever (only racists would say otherwise). So changing one’s race is as significant as changing one’s hair-color. It doesn’t change who they are in the slightest. That being said, I still think the most iconic characters out there (your Batmans, Supermans, Spider-Mans, Panthers, etc.) should resemble their comic book counterparts as close as possible. Why? Not because I suddenly care about trivial characteristics, but I just want them to be faithful. I would want a white Batman for the same reason I would want a black haired Superman. Imagine if Supes was ginger, it would be so off-putting. It doesn’t make me a racist, just like it doesn’t make me a “gingerophobe”.
So why am I bothered with all of this? Because you simply can’t deny there’s a massive double standard here. People would go fucking nuts if Panther was played by a white guy. You say it’s because his race is important – but even in the case of Cyborg (who you admit wouldn’t change anything), I simply don’t buy that people wouldn’t care. There would be an outcry of racism and you know it.
I think Laurence Fishburne is one of the best things in BvS. Tbh, I couldn’t care less that he’s black now… However, if it’s so wrong to change black characters, then the same rule applies to white characters. Simple as that. I don’t care if your reason is “diversity”. It’s all nonsense to justify your racist double standard. And no, I don’t think you’re a racist, but the double standard is.0 likes-
It was nice of you to answer on my behalf, but I’ll have go myself if that’s OK?
I’ll get rid of the elephant in the room first, I’m not accusing anyone of racism, certainly not you and I completely understand your point of view, that’s why I said something similar in my own post, so I’ll try and answer each thing in turn..
I think T’Challa’s back story does require him to be black. The history of the country, (very reclusive) and the fact he is from an ancient royal line, shows that. You just don’t get ancient royalty in Africa, that is white. I pause in using the word, but it wouldn’t be “realistic”. In a similar way that Bruce Wayne comes from old money, with many generations of philanthropists that have made the Wayne fortune, it would be unrealistic to portray him as black, because a black man would not have had those opportunities in America 200 years ago. So changing his ethnicity would also make no sense in the bio of the character.
MJ is a support character, who’s background is that she is “that nice girl next door” and that’s about it. Looks wise, yes, she has that very iconic red hair and you could argue that makes up part of who she is, but not as importantly as T’Challa be black is.
I agree with you about the double standard with regard to ethnicity changes to characters, when they are changed to white, the race card gets played pretty quickly. But if you see my previous reply to you (the John Stewart one was me being flippant, it does make no difference), I said I wouldn’t care if they changed. I’ve no doubt the internet would disagree with me though, but I’d use the same reasoning. Does the character bio demand it should be a particular ethnicity? So I don’t see myself as part of that double standard, it swings both ways.
I’m British, we have a lot of historical adaptations on TV and they often diversify in ways that are just stupid. They will add black and Asian characters to things like Beowulf. That’s based in the 8th century, it’s not “realistic” to do that. A black Robin Hood? No, that would be ludicrous. A black James Bond? That would only work if you ignore his family history, but it wouldn’t affect him being a British spy. Black Sherlock Holmes? Not one in Victorian times, no, but a modern interpretation would work, (or would have if Benedict Cumberbatch hadn’t got there first and nailed it). There are many that need to stay as they are, if you stay true to the character, but there are many that it really doesn’t matter with, I’d put MJ in the latter category. You may disagree and I completely get your reasons, I agree it would be brilliant to see what was printed get produced on film, but it’s not as important to me as the characterisation
(Also, I started by putting Gwen Stacy for some reason, rather than MJ, I’ve no idea why, haha)
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I was imitating regressives in case that wasn’t clear. Not you specifically.
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Ah OK. I did reply as though you meant me, but I didn’t take any offence by it
We’ve been polite with each other, I feel like we’re breaking some sort of internet rule and should start name-calling soon…😉
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The only part directed at you specifically was the final paragraph. And we seem to agree… It’s just that I loath the double standard whereas you don’t seem to mind.
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And btw, I agree it makes zero sense for Panther to be white… But the same people screaming Panther needs to be black for the sake of “race diversity” are completely okay with potentially turning white characters into black ones. I do take issue with this.
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It’s not always about double standard. Of course Black Panther should remain black. Because he is an exception. There basically are no white people living in Wakanda in the comics if I remember correctly, it’s not like in South Africa if you know what I mean. So wouldn’t make sence that way. Also he is the king of his country. That’s his history, and a characters history should be honored if it’s important like in this case. His skincolour is important to his character.
But I do think you raise some good points. Like for instance I love Batman, and if a new Batman would be played by an actor of a different etnicity I would still watch the movie because it’s the character I care about more than the colour of his skin, but yes it would be a little offputting since he’s always been white.
Im all for this casting though.
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You contradict your own argument repeatedly throughout this comment. Again: when a character is black = this matters. When a character is white = it doesn’t. Why? He’s “African”. So what? MJ is American. What about Cyborg and John Stewart? You would be completely okay if they cast white actors right? They are American after all.
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You don’t understand. It doesn’t matter just because someone is black, but it matters when it comes to BP. He was the first black superhero, in the mainstream sence atleast.
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It doesn’t matter…. *next sentence*…. It does matter!
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Pure Apologist at its finest.
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I’m sorry
Oh wait …
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I knew that shit was going to happen.
Memo to Sony, Marvel, and Disney : If you wanted to show diversity without being forced, then do Miles Morales, or just watch The Flash tv series to see how diversity works without being “desperate to be PC”.
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it’s not like there are no black comic book characters to be adapted. It’s just that people are too lazy to adapt them, and would rather change existing characters. Still, I’ll try to reserve judgement until we see her in action
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Where comes the thunder, lol
Racist nerds will storm the village!!! Comedy gold to see the racist nerds try to explain their logic that they are not racist but…….,
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Ur fucking kidding!!! What a joke.
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You look like a typical guy that sports the confederate flag.
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Wow youre a moron. U think i care that shes black? Her acting is atrocious. And youre a fucking moron. Way to ACTUALLY DO what youre accusing me of. Idiot.
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Great casting.
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Don’t watch it then
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And what else is there to watch then?
Transformers?0 likes-
There are so many other superhero films alone coming out next year e.g. WW, JL, Gotg2, wolverine 3 etc. Not to mention the countless other films that will be coming out e.g. Kong Skull Island. So yeah there’s plenty of other things to watch
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Love how you only name franchises, not one original film in that list.
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Yes because those are the big blockbuster films that have the most ‘hype’ around them. Dark Tower, Valerian, Split, Live by Night and Dunkirk are just a few of the original films coming out next year that people are excited for. Then of course there’ll be all of the original films released during Oscar season. So again, yeah there’ll be plenty of other films to watch, franchise and original.
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All racist there are white actors that take roles of blacks and Asians but when a black takes a role of a white everyone filps
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Because Marvel has a history of doing this to their characters in the comics.
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Fuck off, nobody “flipped” when Smith played the lead in I Am Legend” Nobody “flipped when Jackson plays as Nick Fury
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I think it’s more to do with disrespecting source material. Though so long as they don’t try to make Mary Jane ‘ghetto’, or a hip-hop fanatic who loves fried chicken, then I think we’ll be fine. In my opinion, she somewhat resembles the character, in all but race.
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No, they would never do that to he because that just asking for backlash., The problem I have with Zendaya’s casting is that I don’t think she has a wide range of playing different characters other than what she did on Disney, in which from my perspective from watching her shows are very mediocre. That doesn’t say that she isn’t talented because she very well is talented, its that she has so much of a personality that I’m not seeing Zendaya playing Mary-Jane, instead its Zendaya playing Zendaya (Much like how Downey at this point is playing himself and not Stark) or what she’s done on the Disney shows.Then again it doesn’t help that you have mediocre writers that did crap like Horrible Bosses 2, Burt Wonderstone, and Vacation, so I won’t blame her if the character falls flat.
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I’ve never seen Zendaya act, but it seems to me like Marvel is trying to attract the Disney channel crowd with this film
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Cancer
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Umm what? I thought she was playing a character called Michelle, like Michelle Gonzalez?
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Wait. What?
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If true, then I approve. Especially since 2007’s Emma Stone from Superbad, wasn’t an option.
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They need to be “progressive” because it is the cool thing to do. Next they will make the Spiderman gay. Or, better yet…make Black Panther gay. Think of the statement they can make by having a gay African king, who is likely Muslim too.
But they did need to do something like this to keep up to DC with the casting of Clemons and the arrival of Wonder Woman.
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Funny thing is that Clemons casting for Iris didn’t feel forced or pandering..
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What. Jesus fucking Christ, no.
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At this point it’s almost like they’re purposefully casting actors that resemble the characters as little as possible
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Yes, it’s just to appease and be politically correct. White = bad now, straight and white = worse, straight white and male = the epitome of evil.
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great news
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You know axel, it’s a shame when innocent people die of cancer when there are others more deserving. Yes, you.
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Yo, I may not like the casting, but there is no need to disrespect her by saying shit like that.
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Are you fucking kidding me with this nonsense?
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Barack obama`s legacy
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Well, it’s off topic… But race relations haven’t been so bad in decades. And it all began when Obama was elected. I may be a left-winger, but even I can’t deny the damage that Obama has inflicted on the US.
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I will stop playing the race card when racist regressives (like Hector) will.
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I think we both know your reply doesn’t refute anything.
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Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel any better.
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k.
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Sure…
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