Gunn Defends MJ Casting Rumor, Considered Diverse Actors for Star-Lord

[CBR News]

The "GOTG" director responds to the criticism of Zendaya possibly playing Mary Jane, and says Latino and black actors auditioned to play Peter Quill.


Full article here.

[Da Boat]

Gunn is a big PC guy. Before GOTG 2 he said he wanted to put more women in the movie.

Not cause the story required him too but because it something he felt he should do.

The whole thing feels wrong to me. It's like some form of obsession to be Dudley-Do-Right like religious fanatics.

[HandofPrometheus]

But it keep happening when you can just already use an established character that's created already. I'm opposed to all this bending cause it doesn't make anything better just makes it worse. Instead of turning a character gay, or Asian for example I want to see those that are already established gay or Asian.

[Tigereyes]

I understand what he is saying but if white actors were cast to play Storm or Falcon I would be just as displeased. If you want Sally Avril or deb whitman to be a different ethnicity that is fine but MJ should look like MJ
.

[neonrideraryeh]

( •_•)>⌐■-■ I guess you could say that Marvel wanted to...
(⌐■_■) Shake It Up

[Derek Metaltron]

But it keep happening when you can just already use an established character that's created already. I'm opposed to all this bending cause it doesn't make anything better just makes it worse. Instead of turning a character gay, or Asian for example I want to see those that are already established gay or Asian.

I think the argument most of the crew would give is that there aren't enough POC or of a different sexuality in comics (and in other media) to allow them to be utilised effectively, and there's also name recognition to consider. Anyway, whilst I will agree with Gunn on the idea that her personality is very important and it will be great if Z can capture that (although word is that 'Michelle' might be starting as shy girl turned red dyed party girl with 'MJ' as her nickname), but her natural red hair is also iconic. So I have mixed feelings about it going from what I can see on this casting and the filming rumours.

[dragonmp93]

You know, but to be sincere, i dont see what's the problem with this.

( •_•)>⌐■-■ I guess you could say that Marvel wanted to...
(⌐■_■) Shake It Up

[JamJams]

Gunn speaks the truth. No Marvel character is defined by their skin/hair/eye color. This goes for all of their characters regardless of the original skin color.
You want a non-black Black Panther? Is the character still Wakadan born and able to act like a King? Then they are the Black Panther.
You want a non-white Emma Frost? Is she still super sassy and not afraid to use her sexuality to her advantage? Then you've got Emma Forst.
You want a non-arabic Ms Marvel? Does she still come from a super traditional Muslim family and is a teenage superhero? Then you've got Ms Marvel.

And that is just for the superhero. For the supporting characters, it literally doesn't matter who they are played by. You can have a favorite supporting character and there's nothing wrong with liking them. But as they are not the main protagonist the ONLY thing that matters about them is they show up and help add extra dimensions to that superhero during their story.

[TerrigenPanda]

It wouldnt matter so much to me if we didnt have in Shake it Up , not only Zendaya herself, but also Bella Thorne , a natural redhead that would make a much better choice than Zendaya pyschically speaking for The character of Mary Jane

image.jpg

About The race thing , I just dont care anymore. The SJW vs Anti-SJW battle ON The internet (SJW crying because you dont cater to their politics , and Anti-SJW crying when there is some kind of change for "diversity pandering") has Been ruining every community I enjoy being a part of , especially comics.

[regg215]

100% agree with Gunn. While I prefer that comic book movie castings attempt to match how the character looks in the comics, if the actor/actress can portray the character correctly and was the best person for the role then I have zero problem with it. Also at this point Marvel Studios has done so well with casting and portraying their characters on screen that I don't really question anything they do anymore. As I see it, they have done 13 pretty good movies to this point and Civil War finally got the spider-man character right, so I have no reason to think that this won't work out as well.

[simbob4000]

It wouldnt matter so much to me if we didnt have in Shake it Up , not only Zendaya herself, but also Bella Thorne , a natural redhead that would make a much better choice than Zendaya pyschically speaking for The character of Mary Jane

image.jpg

About The race thing , I just dont care anymore. The SJW vs Anti-SJW battle ON The internet (SJW crying because you dont cater to their politics , and Anti-SJW crying when there is some kind of change for "diversity pandering") has Been ruining every community I enjoy being a part of , especially comics.

I was thinking: If Disney wants to dip into their pool of Disney kids, don't they have that Bella Thorne girl? Didn't realize they were on the same show. That just makes it funnier.

[Ransak]

My issue with this and all like it is that they are using the name and idea of the character to bring people into theaters. Mary Jane's story is a little more than "playful alpha female" and shame on Gunn for negating all the work past writers have put into her and Peter to make their relationship believable and have depth (somewhat). Its why people love these characters to start with. You can tell Gunn's knowledge of Mary Jane is a picture in his head and not a biography based on the stories he's read. If we take Gunn's approach we can say his Peter Quill was just a clumsy idiot. No more needs to be said, no story was written to evolve that character at all /sarcasm. The traits described by Gunn apply to a lot of females in Marvel comics so why not just make Zendaya's character a new one? Lets circle back to my initial statement, because Marvel is leveraging the name to get your money and then tell a completely different story. It makes the writers job much easier but the product is almost always a little insulting to comic fans in perspective.

Lets get back to a realistic approach, we have become so PC that the characters in comics and the movies these days are just unrealistic. The constant reboots also make it hard to relate to the material.

Diversity is a good thing, diversity for the sake of diversity is pandering.

Just make this chick a new character, start a new chapter....

[Frontier]

I feel Mary Jane's red hair is as intrinsic and iconic a part of her character as her personality, so I would hope that would still end up being part of her look in the MCU, but otherwise I'm fine with Zendaya playing her even if I would've preferred seeing a Mary Jane who looked straight out of a John Romita Sr. page.

[kalorama]

My issue with this and all like it is that they are using the name and idea of the character to bring people into theaters.

No they aren't, because no one is buying a ticket to a Spider-man movie specifically to see Mary Jane. The name Mary Jane Watson is unlikely to appear on the posters or get mentioned in the trailers. It's called Spider-Man: Homecoming for a reason.

[Ransak]

It adds to the familiarity of the story allowing more people to see it. Almost everyone who knows Spiderman (one of the most recognizable figures on the planet) also knows Mary Jane.