REPORT: Zendaya's "Spider-Man: Homecoming" Character Revealed

[Frontier]

I'm less outraged by this than I am by the guy playing Flash.

That's just bad casting

I'm more bothered by them taking Ganke from Miles Morales' supporting cast and then calling him Ned Leeds.

[Fissiks]

I'm more bothered by them taking Ganke from Miles Morales' supporting cast and then calling him Ned Leeds.

yeah kind annoyed that if they were going try to do all this diversification that they would double down on it and make Miles Morales Spider-man. He is ready and it will be a huge boost for young minorities to know that the MCU Spider-man (one of the biggest names in comics) is a minority as well...but of course they will only be as diverse as the bottom line allows them to be...

[Iron Fist]

Whenever I see people bitching about political correctness and casting choices that don't impact the story, I always think of that great post Neil Gaiman made.

"I was reading a book (about interjections, oddly enough) yesterday which included the phrase “In these days of political correctness…” talking about no longer making jokes that denigrated people for their culture or for the colour of their skin. And I thought, “That’s not actually anything to do with ‘political correctness’. That’s just treating other people with respect.”

Which made me oddly happy. I started imagining a world in which we replaced the phrase “politically correct” wherever we could with “treating other people with respect”, and it made me smile.

You should try it. It’s peculiarly enlightening.

I know what you’re thinking now. You’re thinking “Oh my god, that’s treating other people with respect gone mad!”

Happy Valentine’s Day."

[kalorama]

Its pretty much new character with old name.

Given that we know absolutely nothing about the character as she appears in the movie other than her name (assuming that she is, in fact, MJ) then there's zero evidence to support that. If her personality and character perfectly mirror that of the MJ we've come to know, then she's not a "new character" at all. She's an old character with slightly darker skin and, possibly, different color hair.

[Forseti]

Given that we know absolutely nothing about the character as she appears in the movie other than her name (assuming that she is, in fact, MJ) then there's zero evidence to support that. If her personality and character perfectly mirror that of the MJ we've come to know, then she's not a "new character" at all. She's an old character with slightly darker skin and, possibly, different color hair.

Oh no, how will we cope?

The hair, man, the hair! I can feel my childhood starting to crumble.

[Frontier]

Oh no, how will we cope?

The hair, man, the hair! I can feel my childhood starting to crumble.

Well...the hair is kind of an important part of her look. More then her skin color, I would say.

[kalorama]

Well...the hair is kind of an important part of her look. More then her skin color, I would say.

We survived Matt Murdock not having red hair, we can survive MJ not having red hair.

[newy]

We survived Matt Murdock not having red hair, we can survive MJ not having red hair.

Probably because he is Daredevil and blind.

[Fissiks]

We survived Matt Murdock not having red hair, we can survive MJ not having red hair.

i mean she is the iconic comicbook red-head though or at least up there with Archie.

[Frontier]

We survived Matt Murdock not having red hair, we can survive MJ not having red hair.

I think it's different comparing a civilian to an actual Superhero though, where they have iconic costumes and not necessarily iconic physical features.

Matt doesn't have red hair in the Netflix shows, but he's still got the red suit (or at least mostly red).

[Forseti]

Well...the hair is kind of an important part of her look. More then her skin color, I would say.

Perhaps, if specifics about her look do matter at all.

Age, gender, and a general pleasant appearance are pretty much essential for the role. And acting ability of course. Specific superficial features? Not so much.

[kalorama]

I think it's different comparing a civilian to an actual Superhero though, where they have iconic costumes and not necessarily iconic physical features.

Matt doesn't have red hair in the Netflix shows, but he's still got the red suit (or at least mostly red).

I don't see any difference at all, at least not one that really matters. MJ's character is and will be defined by who she is and what she says and does, not what color her hair is. Giving her different color hair does nothing to change anything of actual significance or substance about the character.

[Frontier]

I don't see any difference at all, at least not one that really matters. MJ's character is and will be defined by who she is and what she says and does, not what color her hair is. Giving her different color hair does nothing to change anything of actual significance or substance about the character.

I get that, and I agree to some extent, but I also think being a redhead is very reflective of her personality and character, and it's something very distinguishable about her, especially in place of a costume or other distinguishing feature.

[kurenai24]

If Hollywood wasn't stuck on the idea that non-whites can't be redheads then people who actually have an issue with a red-less MJ could have gotten what they wanted. A lot of black families have someone with red hair (and freckles) in their family, whether they're mixed or not.

I can't argue with pretty much any of that, you said it all. In fact Michelle Gonzalez was one of the few supporting characters from the Brand New Day era that I enjoyed, so I was excited by the news that Zendaya could've been playing her.

Zendaya would never have played her b/c she's a black biracial (so idk why anyone would be happy at that prospect) and knows better than to take away someone's Latina representation.

[kalorama]

I get that, and I agree to some extent, but I also think being a redhead is very reflective of her personality and character, and it's something very distinguishable about her, especially in place of a costume or other distinguishing feature.

The idea that being a redhead is "very reflective of personality" is itself reflective of outdated stereotypes about redheads, and the even more outdated notion that hair color of any kind is inherently reflective of personality of any type (e.g., "dumb blondes"). By any substantive measure, it's meaningless. As for it being "distinguishable" . . . her name is distinguishable too, and I'm sure they'll be using it throughout the movie, so viewers should have no problem identifying her.