Comic Book Films Shouldn’t Be Afraid To Push Boundaries

Zendaya has officially been added to the Spider-Man: Homecoming cast, and there needs to be more decisions like this in comic book films.

Comic books are the place for creativity to thrive. Comics are where characters take shape, super heroes don their masks and capes, and villains are born right before our very eyes. This applies even more to comic book films. Instead of seeing the heroes and villains illustrated in still images, actors make those characters spring to life and give them a voice and personality all their own.

When it comes to comic book movies, creativity should be encouraged and welcomed. Instead, what we’ve seen recently is the exact opposite.

The Most Recent Controversy

Zendaya was announced as part of the cast of Spider-Man: Homecoming last week. It still hasn’t been determined who Zendaya will play, but it’s assumed she will play Mary Jane Watson. And that’s caused a great deal of controversy among fans.

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The reason there’s been so much outcry is because Zendaya looks nothing like the “usual” Mary Jane. Mary Jane is typically white-skinned and red-headed in the comics, both of which Zendaya clearly is not.

There’s also the fact that her specific role hasn’t been identified yet. She may not be Mary Jane; in fact, she could be Felicia Hardy, a character that’s never appeared in any Spider-Man movie and isn’t well-known by most casual Spider-Man fans.

Regardless of who she is, Zendaya’s character will bring something completely new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And that’s how it should be.

Shaking Off The Dust

Embracing new takes on old characters, or simply introducing completely new characters, is what comics are all about. We’ve seen a black Spider-Man, a female Thor, a black Captain America, and a female Robin in different comic story arcs. What makes those characters work isn’t their race or gender, but what they offer as new voices in a tired conversation.

Think about how boring it would be to see the same stories played out by the same characters over and over again every time you opened a comic or watched a movie based on those comic book characters. You’d get the same interactions, same stories, same everything.

Don’t get mad over someone being cast as a particular character based on how they look compared to what the character generally looks like. Instead, be upset if the person blatantly goes against the core values of that character or is just a bad actor.

Take Man of Steel‘s version of Perry White for example. Laurence Fishburne plays White in Man of Steel and in Batman v Superman. He, much like Zendaya, looks nothing like how the character is generally portrayed. White is usually portrayed as … well … white … and Fishburne clearly is not.

The same thing happened with Fishburne too: People had a strong reaction to him being cast as White.

Why It Matters

This isn’t a piece about racism or the role of race in comics and films. This article is about why creativity and discovery shouldn’t be squashed in comic book movies.

The reason Fishburne works as Perry White is because he stays true to the core concepts and beliefs of the character established in the decades of work preceding him. We don’t see his Perry White suddenly spouting off about embracing terrorism or killing off printed media. Instead, we see a steadfast editor with little patience and a stern demeanor.

Next: Spider-Man: Homecoming Casting Controversy?

Cast whomever you wish for any character in a comic book movie. As long as they don’t do something wholeheartedly out of character. That decision shouldn’t need much justification.

Zendaya’s casting shouldn’t be a divisive issue among fans. Instead, it should be something we can all embrace and welcome more of in the future.