raven56706

Could the movies soon have the first African American Spider-Man?

If thousands of Twitter users get their way, the star of Sony's upcoming reboot of the franchise will be Donald Glover, best known from his role on NBC's "Community." This weekend the Twitter hashtag "donald4spiderman" became the #3 trending topic in the U.S., and the campaign is still gaining steam.

The origins of this latest attempt by social media users to influence casting decisions occurred last week. After surveying the five mostly unknown white actors said to be vying for the role, Marc Bernadin, a writer for the sci-fi site io9.com, called the choices "bland" and asked, "In this day and age, why does Spidey have to be a white guy?" In response, commenters threw out Donald Glover's name as a possible contender, and a Twitter campaign was born.

A unique aspect of this latest fan campaign is its wholehearted support by the subject in question. Glover seems to like the idea (though he makes it clear on his Twitter page that he's interested in auditioning, not just being handed the role without first having to prove his worthiness). While he had nothing to do with its inception, Glover himself has been promoting the campaign, instructing fans to tweet the #donald4spiderman hash tag at strategic times to keep it trending.

In years past, an Internet petition of this kind might not be given much credence, but given the overwhelming success of the recent social-media uprising to get Betty White a hosting gig on "Saturday Night Live," this could be Glover's ticket to director Marc Webb's tryout room. He and his fans will have to act fast, though: The Hollywood Reporter is already forecasting the five most likely contenders for the role, and Glover is not on the list


Glover, a comedian and former writer for "30 Rock," has starred in only one movie so far: "Mystery Team," a comedy he co-created with his sketch comedy team, Derrick Comedy, which came out in 2009.

One hurdle Glover's fans will have is in his presumed bankability as a movie star: "Mystery Team" brought in a meager $89.4 thousand in domestic box-office sales.
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not sure if this would work...

MrSmearkase

Yeah, this is going to work out

riotinmyskull

i'm starting a campaign to have a white guy play the lead in the next non-white bio-pic

however i would be down for a DANNY glover spider-man flick..."i'm getting too old for this shit"

Palaver

Glad to find out that "Mystery Team" is out on DVD. I've been wanting to check it out.

TGM

no.

and there already has been a non-white Spider Man.

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Goat3001

I like Donald Glover and I look forward to seeing him in new roles.... but not this.

Groucho

I think he looks too old to play Parker as a high school student. I don't give a crap about race.

DRG

The problem with the writer's logic is that he's drawing a comparison between the short list of white actors already rumored to be vying for the role and a fantasy list of every minority actor working. Using his reasoning, there are probably hundreds of capable white Spider-Man options out there beyond the five 'bland white guys' up for the role.

stingermck

Luke Cage gets no love

Sean O'Hara

Does anyone watch Much Ado About Nothing and ask, "Why is Denzel playing an Italian prince?"

Does anyone watch Toys and wonder, "Why is LL Cool J playing Robin Williams' cousin?"

Does anyone watch The Last Airbender and ask, "Why are a bunch of honkies playing Asians?"

MrSmearkase

The problem for me does not lie with race, but rather this grassroots Twitter campaign. The idea that the internet can produce enough buzz to carry a hit has not exactly been proven. The collective voices of the internet know what sounds good, but that is about all.

Patman

Troy => Peter Parker
Annie => MJ Watson
Britta => Gwen Stacy
Pierce => J. Jonah Jameson
Jeff => Green Goblin
Chang => Kraven
Ian = Doc Ock
Shirley => Aunt May
Abed => Vulture

Numanoid

These social media campaigns need to stop.

foofighters7

"He was a man of distinction. He was a man of worth. He challenged the ideals of the time. He was an innovator who refused to step down...by any means necessary...
This year come see the film the whole world is talking about....'Malcolm X'.
Starring Mel Gibson in his Oscar Winning Role as Malcolm.

Malcolm- "(loudly and with authority) I will NOT step aside while my brothers are stepped on in the streets! I will NOT step aside while a white man steps in front of me! I will NOT abandon the ideal of a world where we have power, by any means necessary!!"

See it again for the first time!

Rated PG-13

FantasticVSDoom

The only thing worse than the studios idea's in movies is the general public's ideas for movies...

Yavin

If Troy is Spidey, then Abed should be Venom. Dean Pelton can be Vulture.

Double_Oh_7

I'm starting a Twitter campaign to stop Twitter campaigns.

TGM

Betty White as Peter Parker.

MrSmearkase

/\ Not age appropriate, but she would make a great Uncle Ben

clappj

*Edit

mhg83

In this day and age why does Shaft have tobe a black guy? Christian Bale would be awesome to play him!

bee_01

This would be the most perfect casting in the history of cinema...make it happen!

anomynous

Affirmative action?

Fist of Doom

I don't think audiences are ready for a DongLover to play Spidey.

Hokeyboy

Nope. They ask "Why are Denzel and Keanu playing brothers?"

Nope. NOBODY watches Toys.

Nope. Time machines are still hard to come by unless you're Eddie "Not A Jew" Rabinowitz.