Edited by Robert Beach
Ever since the first casting announcements, there’s been a swirl of controversy around Marvel’s upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming. In many ways, the critiques levied against the joint Sony/Marvel film have been a long time coming. Superhero films, overall, have been greatly lacking diversity since Blade stopped being a worthwhile name, and the Spider-Man franchise, in particular, has always lacked for any representation.
Even the Marvel films, which are dominated by straight white men, made some space for characters of color in the supporting cast, but there hasn’t been one major character of color in all 5 of the Spider-Man movies. The point was further compounded by the continuing popularity of Miles Morales, the black/latino Spider-Man of Marvel’s Ultimate Comics, who recently became part of the main universe.
Add in the brewing anger over whitewashing in Doctor Strange or the Iron Fist casting, and it’s not surprising people were pretty upset with Tom Holland taking the spot as Peter Parker. However, all of that is poised to change as now Marvel has announced Donald Glover, a massive fan and animated voice of Miles Morales Spider-Man, is joining Spider-Man: Homecoming.
