The Amazing Spider-Man Donald Glover wants to be Spider-Man

[CEREBRAL....]

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12...-community-star-donald-glover-play-spider-man



Inside Movies & DVD with Drew McWeeny

Could 'Community' star Donald Glover play Spider-Man?

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 2, 2010 By Drew McWeeny

Here's my first question for you: why is Peter Parker white?

My answer to that question would be "Because the comic book was published in the early '60s, and there was no way Marvel was going to make their main character anything BUT white at that point in publishing history."

Aside from that, there's no inherent story or thematic reason for Peter Parker to be white. None at all. But you wouldn't know that looking at the reaction this weekend online to what started as a bit of a goof and has now blown up into a typhoon-force internet meme that is forcing an interesting and always-explosive conversation.

Donald Glover, who you used to be able to follow on Twitter under his name @donglover (and, yes, he knows exactly how else you can read that), has been building a following this year with his work on the show "Community." He's also a member of the group DERRICK Comedy which I wrote about last week, and he's an active member of LA's stand-up comedy community, a former writer for "30 Rock," and the star of "Mystery Team," which just got a DVD release. I'd say his audience is still a cult audience, but a passionate and growing one, which is probably why he changed the Twitter name to @MrDonaldGlover.
Over the weekend, as people were publishing more stories speculating about the casting process on Sony's "Spider-Man" reboot, Don started a campaign via Twitter, using a simple hashtag. Actually, here's how it started on May 30 at 2:45 PM:

 

[Mr. Fixit]

there's a traditional manner an actor should go for a part? Have you never like watch a biography show about an actor, or a certain movie and find out how they got some of their parts or how a movie was casted..there's no written rule or traditional manner about being casted

Casting for parts has been unique in some cases but again - there is no denying that in this case (which is what we are talking about right?) Donald happens to be shamelessly going along with obvious viral internet hype and banking on the swarms of internet fans (half of which realistically could care less or see it as a goof) swaying casting directors. He may as well have his grandma call up Sony and tell them how wonderful he'd be for the part.

...u dont have to like it, that's your right....but it's a free country and i'm sure nobody in hollywood, actor, actress, agent, studio, director...etc is offended at this man's efforts....this is what the US is about...you believe in something go for it, don't let anyone tell you different....u dont have to respect it..you are not him...

That brought a tear to my eye. Seriously though, we are talking about a guy from a TV show who most of us didn't know existed last week riding a wave of hype.

I respect many actors, musicians, comedians and talented people - this guy so far I do not.

 

[CEREBRAL....]

http://io9.com/5549613/the-last-thing-spider+man-should-be-is-another-white-guy

The last thing Spider-Man should be is another white guy

Yes, I know: "Because that's how Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created him." There is no worse argument for anything than, "because that's the way it's always been." Lee and Ditko created a wonderfully strong character, one full of complexity and depth, who happens to be white. In no way is Peter Parker defined by his whiteness in the same way that too many black characters are defined by their blackness. He's defined by the people he cares for, by his career, by his identity as a New Yorker (incidentally, one of the most diverse cities in the world) — as too many good people died to prove, a man is defined by his choices, not by the color of his skin.

So why couldn't Peter Parker be played by a black or a Hispanic actor? How does that invalidate who Peter Parker is? I'm not saying that the producers need to force the issue; that they need to cast a minority just for the sake of it — but in the face of such underwhelming options like Billy Elliot and the kid who played young Voldemort, why not broaden the search? It's not like any of these blokes are lighting the world on fire like a young Johnny Depp or Leonardo DiCaprio.


And don't tell me it's because an actor of color would hurt the box office: Not only is Spider-Man one of the most recognizable fictional characters on the planet, and managed to do just fine with Tobey "Snoozeville" Maguire playing him, whoever they cast WILL BE IN A MASK FOR HALF THE DAMNED MOVIE. AND ON THE POSTER.

I remember the hue and cry that was raised when the rumor floated that Will Smith was offered the role of Captain America, despite the fact that the very military drug experiments that turned Steve Rogers into a superman would've most definitely been tested on black WWII soldiers first (as Kyle Baker so expertly theorized in Truth: Red, White and Black). Now, I like Chris Evans a lot, but I'd be way more interested in a black Cap film — and, honestly, no actor alive comes across as more American than Will Smith. And, if The Avengers does borrow from the Civil War storyline, wouldn't a Will Smith-Robert Downey Jr. face-off be infinitely more interesting? The road not taken.
There is literally no facet of our lives that hasn't been made better by colorblind thinking — our armies are stronger, our sports teams are better, our children are more beautiful — why can't it extend to our on-screen superheroes?

Send an email to Marc Bernardin, the author of this post, at [email protected].



not posting these saying this is the end all be all of the debate...just given the same opinons that's been said here....

 

[CEREBRAL....]

Casting for parts has been unique in some cases but again - there is no denying that in this case (which is what we are talking about right?) Donald happens to be shamelessly going along with obvious viral internet hype and banking on the swarms of internet fans (half of which realistically could care less or see it as a goof) swaying casting directors. He may as well have his grandma call up Sony and tell them how wonderful he'd be for the part.

u dont have to like it, like i said before...if the professionals that really matter like (follow actors, actress whoever) aint screaming and hollaring about it...then it really doesn't matter what you think..u can have ur opinion..

That brought a tear to my eye. Seriously though, we are talking about a guy from a TV show who most of us didn't know existed last week riding a wave of hype.

I respect many actors, musicians, comedians and talented people - this guy so far I do not.

well here's when i ended it..cuz honestly ur too immature to try to have a respectable debate with...if u have the type of humor around a group of ppl (of all enthic backgrounds) i really think your smart-ass would be kicked by now, sorry if i'm misreading your post...but i dont think i am.....and ur last statment.....i'm sure D.G. could give a damn what you think about him...continue on..we will just have diff. values...

 

[Mr. Fixit]

we just get some 1/2 to come in here and post pics of a black costume spider man....yeah that was great..what a knee slapper! (sacrasm)

That was a simple joke I posted to lighten the mood. Did you have a reason to single it out and comment in that manner? You certainly didn't come off as mature or as someone willing to try to have a respectable debate yourself. Nor have a few others here.

In the future you guys probably shouldn't get pissy and then cry foul if Heaven forbid someone actually strikes back. No big deal though. We can move forward and that's fine by me.

As far as the articles go....Very cool reads...well thought out and at least the person isn't crying racist at anyone who potentially disagrees. lol

I still currently disagree with the idea though.

"Yes, I know: "Because that's how Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created him." There is no worse argument for anything than, "because that's the way it's always been."

^^ Unfortunately for the writer broadly summarizing a stance and simply claiming it's a bad argument doesn't just make it so.

 

[CEREBRAL....]

That was a simple joke I posted to lighten the mood. Did you have a reason to single it out and comment in that manner? You certainly didn't come off as mature or as someone willing to try to have a respectable debate yourself. Nor have a few others here.

In the future you guys probably shouldn't get pissy and then cry foul if Heaven forbid someone actually strikes back. No big deal though. We can move forward and that's fine by me.

first off homie..this isn't a cry wolve situation....plz find me any of my post (and i have posted in here quite a bit) other then that one time..i have sat here and continue the namecalling and the smart remarks directed towards any poster, whether they agreed with me or not....

2nd...let's not forget the tone u have been taken from the get go...calling me another poster WAY AFTER that poster told yo he wasn't me....and one posters come in here and start calling other posters stupid just for having an opinion...that was more directed towards them..ur post was mainly an example.....

i ..as i said before..plz find me since then..where i have continue the name calling..especially towards you???

PS:

not saying anyone said it..BUT i haven't called anyone a racist....just to make that clear AGAIN!

 

[Mr. Fixit]

Chill - lol. It's over man. I'd rather discuss spidey and I'm sure you would too.

On topic - I was just reading this at another forum. I found it pretty funny (though it's noticeably sarcastic yet still interesting and potentially valid)

It will start with Donald and be reworked in something completely different.

Peter Parker will not be working J Jonah Jameson because no, JJJ an angry white man ordering around a young black man? Controversial. So JJJ would be turned in to a hispanic or black man, and he'd be more submissive and gentler.

Mary Jane white? Nah, audiences won't see an interracial romance, so they'd turn her in to a black or hispanic woman. Maybe racially ambiguous. Or maybe just create a new love interest altogether.

Harry Osborne wouldn't probably be in the movie, because having a rich white friend look down on his black friend for getting the attention of his father? Ooh, too touchy a topic.

And Peter couldn't be a young man trying to support his aunt struggling with bills because oh man, that's stereotypical! That's disgusting. So they'd be well off, who cares about conflict?

His uncle being shot in a random car jacking? Nah, that's too typical, so he'd die of natural causes or something else.

Peter Parker killing the guy who killed his uncle in a fit of rage? Why because he's black? Damn these writers would have to be careful about that.

And what about his villains? Doc Ock threatening Spider-Man would be really thin ice too because any comment or threat could be misconstrued as racist or bigoted or something.

Yeah, this will be the Spider-Man we know and love.

 

[cyborg ninja 14]

If they scrap the reboot we don't have to argue about a Black Spider-Man anymore. Problem solved.

 

[DDRSkata]

Chill - lol. It's over man. I'd rather discuss spidey and I'm sure you would too.

On topic - I was just reading this at another forum. I found it pretty funny (though it's noticeably sarcastic yet still interesting and potentially valid)

It will start with Donald and be reworked in something completely different.

Peter Parker will not be working J Jonah Jameson because no, JJJ an angry white man ordering around a young black man? Controversial. So JJJ would be turned in to a hispanic or black man, and he'd be more submissive and gentler.

Mary Jane white? Nah, audiences won't see an interracial romance, so they'd turn her in to a black or hispanic woman. Maybe racially ambiguous. Or maybe just create a new love interest altogether.

Harry Osborne wouldn't probably be in the movie, because having a rich white friend look down on his black friend for getting the attention of his father? Ooh, too touchy a topic.

And Peter couldn't be a young man trying to support his aunt struggling with bills because oh man, that's stereotypical! That's disgusting. So they'd be well off, who cares about conflict?

His uncle being shot in a random car jacking? Nah, that's too typical, so he'd die of natural causes or something else.

Peter Parker killing the guy who killed his uncle in a fit of rage? Why because he's black? Damn these writers would have to be careful about that.

And what about his villains? Doc Ock threatening Spider-Man would be really thin ice too because any comment or threat could be misconstrued as racist or bigoted or something.

Yeah, this will be the Spider-Man we know and love.

Or none of that will happen.

Black people sometimes have white bosses, even in movies. Unless JJJ makes some kind of comment relating to Peter's race, there won't be an issue.

Audiences would totally see an interracial romance, like in Mission Impossible 2, Die Another Day (worst Bond movie, but nobody gave a **** about an interracial romance there), Lakeview Terrace (which sucked, but people still saw), Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (in the 1960s, no less) and its atrocious remake Guess Who, and a slew of other movies. It's a non-issue. A lot of the #donald4spiderman supporters who also like Community are calling for Allison Brie to play MJ, but I think Emma Stone is a much better choice. And this is 2010, so it would be perfectly fine.

There would be no reason to cut Harry or make him black. Again, unless Harry spews some racist lines for some reason, there's no problem. Poor black kids (like me) can have rich white friends (like a lot of my friends), and as long as his resentment is the product of Peter getting close to his father, there would be no reason to assume that race is a factor.

I'm not even going to continue addressing your so-called points, because they get progressively dumber as they go on. None of that would happen at all. Straw man and slippery slope all wrapped up into one gigantic fail post.

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

If they scrap the reboot we don't have to argue about a Black Spider-Man anymore. Problem solved.

I like the way you're thinking!!

 

[DACMAN]

that's not the same. race is a defining element of these characters unlike spider-man.

Yeah, and they're African. White people can be African. Almost 10% of the people that live in Africa are white. Why is that hard to understand?


Because if you people are saying it's their skin color that define Storm and the Black Panther, then I guess it would shake things up if Peter all the sudden, for no reason became black.

I still don't even know why we are talking about this. The guy is not just black, but way too old.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Yeah, and they're African. White people can be African. Almost 10% of the people that live in Africa are white. Why is that hard to understand?


Because if you people are saying it's their skin color that define Storm and the Black Panther, then I guess it would shake things up if Peter all the sudden, for no reason became black.

I still don't even know why we are talking about this. The guy is not just black, but way too old.

Are there any white African tribes in Africa because the origin of Storm and Black Panther are connected to African tribes.

Having said that I don't believe in changing the race of characters arbitrarily, because I'm a comic book purist.

 

[chaseter]

HAHA. To say that it is a bad argument to want Peter Parker to remain white because that is the way it has always been but then to say Peter Parker should be black just because you like a certain actor is just as baseless.

Also, and I can't believe I am agreeing with Dac, it wouldn't change Storm's character if her father was white and her mother black and that resulted in Storm being white. To play Devil's advocate, it wouldn't change anything. She would still be 100% the same sans skin color.

 

[DACMAN]

Are there any white African tribes in Africa because the origin of Storm and Black Panther are connected to African tribes.

Having said that I don't believe in changing the race of characters arbitrarily, because I'm a comic book purist.

Yes there are white african tribes, and even white african royalty.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Yes there are white african tribes, and even white african royalty.

source?

 

[Mr. Fixit]

Or none of that will happen.

Black people sometimes have white bosses, even in movies. Unless JJJ makes some kind of comment relating to Peter's race, there won't be an issue.

Audiences would totally see an interracial romance, like in Mission Impossible 2, Die Another Day (worst Bond movie, but nobody gave a **** about an interracial romance there), Lakeview Terrace (which sucked, but people still saw), Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (in the 1960s, no less) and its atrocious remake Guess Who, and a slew of other movies. It's a non-issue. A lot of the #donald4spiderman supporters who also like Community are calling for Allison Brie to play MJ, but I think Emma Stone is a much better choice. And this is 2010, so it would be perfectly fine.

There would be no reason to cut Harry or make him black. Again, unless Harry spews some racist lines for some reason, there's no problem. Poor black kids (like me) can have rich white friends (like a lot of my friends), and as long as his resentment is the product of Peter getting close to his father, there would be no reason to assume that race is a factor.

I'm not even going to continue addressing your so-called points, because they get progressively dumber as they go on. None of that would happen at all. Straw man and slippery slope all wrapped up into one gigantic fail post.

DDRSkata either you're either illiterate or intentionally ignoring the fact that what I posted was from another forum. It was only meant for discussion yet you are inexplicably getting personal toward me yet again.
I actually find you completely ridiculous.

"On topic - I was just reading this at another forum....."


I'm not sure what your issue is with me (outside of just disagreeing with me) but it keeps leading you back to looking like a huge a--hole. Do the world a favor and stop responding to anything since you clearly can't contain your emotions and lack the intelligence to reason through something w/o lazily peppering your weak arguments with generic insults.

 

[Mogwai]

so...did he get the part yet?

 

[Mr. Fixit]

LoL ^^

 

[grand-I-am]

I wouldn't even watch the movie online if this guy got the part....it just disrespects the character to have him another color/ethnicity....

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

edit

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I think the the point of characters with black African tribe origins is to give that part of humanity some representation in an over-whelmingly white comic book world.

How many comic book icons are from the hood or from an African tribe?

Not many. So a few characters are chosen to represent those origins. That being the case, the racial identity of these characters have an actual purpose and place in comic book history.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

Casting for parts has been unique in some cases but again - there is no denying that in this case (which is what we are talking about right?) Donald happens to be shamelessly going along with obvious viral internet hype and banking on the swarms of internet fans (half of which realistically could care less or see it as a goof) swaying casting directors. He may as well have his grandma call up Sony and tell them how wonderful he'd be for the part.

Agreed. In my personal opinion; this guy is playing the race card not because he really cares one way or the other, but because he's trying to get his own star to shine a little brighter.

Pass.

 

[chaseter]

I think the the point of characters with black African tribe origins is to give that part of humanity some representation in an over-whelmingly white comic book world.

How many comic book icons are from the hood or from an African tribe?

Not many. So a few characters are chosen to represent those origins. That being the case, the racial identity of these characters have an actual purpose and place in comic book history.

To say all black characters have a place in history but major white characters, like Spider-Man, don't is hypocritical.

 

[Artistsean]

My only real problem with him as Spider-Man would be that he is 27 and looks 27. He is about as old as Tobey looked in Spider-Man 1. So why would they relaunch the movie in High school with an actor who is too old?
Otherwise he is a good actor and is very funny. Reminds me of what Spider-man should act like.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

To say all black characters have a place in history but major white characters, like Spider-Man, don't is hypocritical.

I didn't say Spider-man didn't have a place in history, I said the few black superhero icons have a racial identity that serve an actual purpose unlike their white counterparts.