Back in 2011, Marvel Comics premiered a black/latino Spider-Man named Miles Morales. A couple of years later, raising star Donald Glover and his fans were campaigning Hollywood execs to cast him as the next Peter Parker (or Morales) in a Spider-Man film franchise reboot. Little did Glover or the fans of diversity and change know that Sony Execs and Marvel’s mind were already made up.
What’s not new news is that Sony got hacked. Thousands of emails were released to the public with embarrassing results to the company and their executives.
New details have been leaked (below) showing how Sony studio execs and Marvel outlined the webbed slinger’s appearance and characteristics in a 2011 agreement for the franchise reboot – Amazing Spider-Man. Hint, the only thing that can be black is his symbiotic costume (Venom).
Notice how Peter Parker is named. Meaning Miles Morales had obviously been ruled out even though he had made his debut before the agreement. Parker has to be a white male heterosexual…End of discussion; but why?
I’m sure there were back and forth discussions before the agreement was finalized. Given the nature of Hollywood’s predispositions, I’m sure they thought about the audience and their financial return on investment. Would an audience want to see a young black male as a super hero in a leading role? Would this even believable being how main stream media portrays the image of young black males?
I’m also sure they thought about his love interest. Can we have a young black male in a leading role and have a young white female as his love interest? I mean we have to think about the message this sends. Super hero interracial love? Oh My God…will somebody think about the children?
The only thing that may be worse is to have a young black gay man as a super hero within an interracial relationship. Christians, Muslims, Gay, anti-gay, anti-interracial black and white people would march on the studio lot with torches and pitchforks. I doubt the delicate minds of America and around the world (Spiderman is a global financial multi-billion dollar power house) could handle this diversity overload.
In no way am I saying I agree with the studio’s discussion but it does make sense. I understand why they feel they need to play it safe. Maybe this is why the Spider-Man franchise and the Amazing Spider-Man reboot franchise suck? Well, they don’t totally suck because Spider-Man 2 with Dr. Octopus was really good.
Sound Off
I think the Miles Spider-man, would have brought a cool take to the spider-man movie.
1 he young, so it would be a kid, which would have been fun and less collage drama Peter Parker,
2 he Black Hispanic so if they cast it right they could get two Minorities groups all into a Spider-man movie.
But they I don’t know if he guy I don’t read Ultimate comic so I don’t know what going on there, but I think that was just a rumor?
I am just tired of the same story of some white dude getting bitten by a spider, they can tell a new story. try something new and why can’t the story be about him but we have the real Parker show up later in the movie to give him advice or help him out.
I didn’t take that list saying Miles Morales couldn’t be in a movie. It was just specifically stating that the Peter Parker version can’t be anything but a straight white man (as he is portrayed in the comics.) I don’t see anything wrong with this email. As for interracial love interests, it’s actually easier to get a movie through to development if that’s the case as opposed to if it is a black male with a black woman as the romantic leads.
@Richard: It was hinted that Ganke, Mile’s chubby Asian best friend, has a bit of a crush on him (and everyone thought they were dating, including their parents,) but so far Miles has only had a girlfriend.
I actually see nothing wrong with wanting to keep an adaptation as close to the original source as possible.
I actually feel the same way.Clavin Ellis Superman is cool, but I prefer Clark Kent.I think new racially diverse superheroes need to be created and the ones who exist need to be given more prominence like Static Shock or Black Lightning.
I think Miles would work if introduced in a Peter Parker series first.The general public would just be like who tf is this and what happened to Peter(?) otherwise.
I can definitely still see the love interest as being white.Hollywood is more likely to depict a white woman as the desirable sought-after chick.If she were ethnic she’d be more ambiguous or mixed like Zoe Saldana or Paula Patton.