Donald Glover to join Spider-Man: Homecoming

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. 

Week of Review - Batman Beyond

Edited by Robert Beach

In 1999, DC and WB were staring down what could’ve been the end of their television dominance. Throughout the ‘90s, they had dominated awards shows and ratings with hits like Batman the animated series and the Superman show; a powerhouse combination that was easily able to compete with Marvel’s plethora of animated offerings at the time. As the ‘90s dwindled and both Batman and Superman capped off their individual runs, DC needed a new way to stay in the television game and maintain their grip on the cultural landscape. 

It’s worth remembering this comes 2 years after Batman & Robin basically torpedo DC’s movie holdings and only 1 year after Blade burst onto the scene to prove Marvel had movie capital to expend as well. DC set out on a number of attempts to reassert themselves. They produced the Gotham Girls web series I touched on a couple days ago and eventually settled into their epic Justice League series while on the live-action side they produced Smallville in 2001; however, the first of these attempts came in 1999 with Batman Beyond.