New Spider-Man: Homecoming Casting

[Kevinroc]

Jimmy Olsen was never socially awkward or geeky was he?

Grant Morrison had the best take on Jimmy Olsen.

(This is an old interview Morrison did about All Star Superman)

http://www.newsarama.com/1383-all-st...uperman-5.html

NRAMA: Jimmy Olsen is extremely cool in this series – it’s the old “Mr. Action” idea taken to a new level. It’s often easy to write Jimmy as a victim or sycophant, but in this series, he comes off as someone worthy of being “Superman’s Pal” – he implicitly trusts Superman, and will take any risk to get his story. Do you see this version of Jimmy as sort of a natural evolution of the version often seen in the comics?

GM: It was a total rethink based on the aspects of Olsen I liked, and playing down the whole wet–behind–the–ears “cub reporter” thing. I borrowed a little from the “Mr Action” idea of a more daredevil, pro–active Jimmy, added a little bit of Nathan Barley, some Abercrombie & Fitch style, a bit of Tintin, and a cool Quitely haircut.

Jimmy was renowned for his “disguises” and bizarre transformations (my favorite is the transvestite Olsen epic “Miss Jimmy Olsen” from Jimmy Olsen #95, which gets a nod on the first page of our Jimmy story we did), so I wanted to take that aspect of his appeal and make it part of his job.

I don’t like victim Jimmy or dumb Jimmy, because those takes on the character don’t make any sense in their context. It seemed more interesting see what a young man would be like who could convincingly be Superman’s “pal.” Someone whose company a Superman might actually enjoy. That meant making Jimmy a much bigger character: swaggering but disingenuous. Innocent yet worldly. Enthusiastic but not stupid.

My favorite Jimmy moment is in issue #7 when he comes up with the way to defeat the Bizarro invasion by using the seas of the Bizarro planet itself as giant mirrors to reflect toxic – to Bizarros – sunlight onto the night side of the Earth. He knows Superman can actually take crazy lateral thinking like this and put it into practice.

[Zeitgeist]

It honestly confuses the heck out of me how characters even get white washed in comics. How hard is it for the editor to skim through the art and say, "Sorry, but that character's ethnicity isn't being portrayed incorrectly. Please re-do those colors."

It's a problem that starts at the top. I remember a blog type post circulating last year about a colourist talking about how he was actually told by an editor to lighten a black woman's skin tone.

[Tuck]

He was a bit geeky, but either way, he was definitely not a musclehead - James Olsen is a very different character than Jimmy Olsen as far as Supergirl is concerned. I don't mind the racebending and I like James, but I don't like James as the same character as Jimmy.

Jimmy Olsen is supposed to be a kid. Late teens to early 20s. The James Olsen on Supergirl is supposed to be 10 or 12 years older. People can change a lot between 18 and 30.

[Mister Mets]

It's a problem that starts at the top. I remember a blog type post circulating last year about a colourist talking about how he was actually told by an editor to lighten a black woman's skin tone.

Thie one?

https://thenib.com/lighten-up-4f7f96ca8a7e#.1bd15xg3u

[Zeitgeist]

Thie one?

https://thenib.com/lighten-up-4f7f96ca8a7e#.1bd15xg3u

That's the one. Everyone should check it out, needless to say.

[Mister Mets]

Teen actor Michael Barberi has been case as one of Peter's friends.

http://comicbook.com/2016/06/06/spid...hale-barbieri/

The odd thing is that he's allegedly Ganke, a member of Miles Morales' supporting cast.

[Highland Chicken]

It says that he's based on Ganke, and:

His affinity for Superheroes and unwavering optimism and support of his friend are his standout characteristics, which can be expected to be found in Barbieri's new character.

Plus the actor is 4/5 years younger than the rest of the class, I guess he's just a younger fan of spider-man, or a tutee of Peter

[JediKage]

Bad Look Marvel. Not a good analogy in light of Asians Speaking out on lack of Roles.

[Confuzzled]

comicbook.com is the only place where I'm hearing about this "Ganke inspired new character" news. I'll wait a bit before assuming it's true as it's just... comicbook.com

[Darkspellmaster]

Nah, I don't think Ganke. I have a few ideas of who he could play. Gwen's younger brother comes to mind. A fan of Peter's maybe MJ's younger brother or something like that. Local kid or maybe he's playing a younger version of Peter in some sort of flash back to explain why he's with May and Ben?

Okay so the actor is 14 so probably he's going to be a side character here, as I said either someone's kid brother or someone affected by the villain or a fanboy. He's probably not Ganke.

[Confuzzled]

Nah, I don't think Ganke. I have a few ideas of who he could play. Gwen's younger brother comes to mind. A fan of Peter's maybe MJ's younger brother or something like that. Local kid or maybe he's playing a younger version of Peter in some sort of flash back to explain why he's with May and Ben?

Okay so the actor is 14 so probably he's going to be a side character here, as I said either someone's kid brother or someone affected by the villain or a fanboy. He's probably not Ganke.

If Peter is supposed to be just 15-16 in the movie like how when he first started out in the comics, then this kid could very well be playing a peer, as he is the right age. He also received acclaims for an indie movie he just appeared in so it could explain why they chose him instead of the older teens/young 20-somethings usually picked to play high schoolers. Tom Holland looks younger than his actual age so I don't think an age difference would be very noticeable between the two.

[Mister Mets]

Bad Look Marvel. Not a good analogy in light of Asians Speaking out on lack of Roles.

And Sony just announced that an Asian-American actor has been case in the film as Peter's principal.

https://deadline.com/2016/06/kenneth...ie-1201770179/

I don't know if Ganke is the new character, although he does fit a role in the supporting cast that other supporting characters don't. This gets to some interesting questions on whether it's right to borrow elements of the Miles Morales book for Peter Parker, and whether a film with a diverse cast can have whtewashing.

[Confuzzled]

And Sony just announced that an Asian-American actor has been case in the film as Peter's principal.

https://deadline.com/2016/06/kenneth...ie-1201770179/

On the down side, it's the same Asian-American actor cast as a Howling Commando in Captain America: The First Avenger

I don't know if Ganke is the new character, although he does fit a role in the supporting cast that other supporting characters don't. This gets to some interesting questions on whether it's right to borrow elements of the Miles Morales book for Peter Parker, and whether a film with a diverse cast can have whtewashing.

Isn't the animated movie supposed to feature Miles Morales as its protagonist? Wouldn't there be a Ganke in that film too? The potential redundancy is another reason I doubt Barbieri is playing Ganke or a similar fanboy type character in this.

[Cosmic Spider]

I have a question for those who might know. Have they cast anybody as MJ or JJJ yet, And/or do they intend to do so?

As far as I am concerned we have two too many Spider-Man movies without MJ in them already.

[Frontier]

I have a question for those who might know. Have they cast anybody as MJ or JJJ yet, And/or do they intend to do so?

As far as I am concerned we have two too many Spider-Man movies without MJ in them already.

We don't really have a good idea who any of the cast, barring Holland, Tomei, and RDJ, are playing. Zendaya was cast as "Michelle" but that could just be a placeholder name.

On the down side, it's the same Asian-American actor cast as a Howling Commando in Captain America: The First Avenger

That is weird .