Why We SHOULD Be Casting More Actors of Color in Superhero Movies
By Delaney Auth
Michelle Rodriguez caused a lot of conversation with her controversial remarks about the rumors that she had been cast to play Green Lantern in the DC cinematic universe, saying that, “Stop stealing white people’s superheroes. Like, make up your own, you know what I’m saying?” Rodriguez later apologized for the comment, saying that she only meant she thought the community would benefit from creating new heroes for actors of color. While I believe that she meant well, the Internet has exploded into arguments of whether people of color should be cast as traditionally white superheroes. Many in the past and present have reacted with rage to casting decisions that they don’t agree with based on the race of the actor in most genres at one time or another, and comic book inspired films have been no different. It’s true that there is very little diversity in the comic book hero films we have now and the casting of actors of color in upcoming films has caused a level of uproar among a section of the fan base. Rodriguez’s comments may have been well intentioned, but many of the reactions of those that claimed to agree with her were not. As a fan of superhero films inspired by comic books, I have a few reasons that these attitudes toward more diverse casting are troubling.
First of all the idea that actors of color are “stealing” roles from white actors is ridiculous. We still don’t have a mainstream comic book hero movie with a person of color as the leading hero. There are a couple in the works, but it’s not like there’s a history of casting directors giving superhero roles to people who are not white. The Avengers are all white. Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is white. Spiderman (whether you prefer Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield) is white. Man of Steel’s Superman is white. Guardians of the Galaxy featured a more diverse cast, but the leading man was still a white guy. Hell, even Green Lantern, who is often portrayed as a black man in the comics, was played by a white actor. Not to say that we should never cast white men as superheroes; they deserve to be considered for those roles as well. But it’s not a bad thing to see some more diversity in the genre. And we’re (hopefully) on our way.
As Warner Brothers has begun casting for their darker, edgier imagining of the Justice League they’ve made some unconventional casting decisions. Hawaiian actor Jason Momoa has been cast as Aquaman and the first released photo shows him holding a formidable trident and sporting some Polynesian inspired tattoos. Israeli model and actress Gal Gadot has also been cast for the franchise, as Wonder Woman, adding a touch more cultural diversity to the cast. Both Momoa and Gadot will be featured in Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice and an untitled Justice League film. They will also each get at least one solo film for their respective characters. Marvel has announced Black Panther, a movie inspired by comics featuring an African prince as the title character. Chadwick Boseman has been cast as the lead. It’s slated to come out in 2018. The casting of African American actor Michael B. Jordan in the newest adaptation of The Fantastic Four as Johnny Storm, aka Human Torch, added diversity to that franchise and ignited anger from some fans (the character is traditionally white). These films are a good start, but there’s still a ways to go for diversity in the genre and there’s still a lot of resistance to more diverse casting. I would say that actors of color are obviously quite far from “stealing white people’s superheroes.”
The other issue I have with the resistance to making more diverse casting decisions has to do with the nature of comic books. Comic book heroes exist in a whole host of different universes. The genre has been ever-changing. I mean come on, people, in the most recent editions of Marvel’s comics Captain America is black and Thor is a woman. Making movie adaptations can be really difficult because of how much different literature there can be for just one character. Most heroes exist in multiple, unrelated universes. Their costumes, love interests, enemies, allies, and backstories often vary at least slightly from universe to universe. In a community with as much literature as the comic book community, it can be tricky to get nitpicky with movie adaptations. For these reasons, in most circumstances fans are willing to cut filmmakers a little slack. A segment of the fan base has not been willingly to do the same when it comes to the race of the actors portraying the character. There are a few characters whose racial backgrounds vary in many their different universes. Green Lantern, Iron Man, and Spiderman have all been black at various times in some of their comic book universes, but you don’t hear the people who complain about casting of Human Torch or Aquaman also arguing that they could have cast black actors in place of Ryan Reynolds or Robert Downey Jr. In fact, when rumors that Donald Glover was being looked at to play Spiderman in a new Spiderman franchise tentatively titled, The Spectacular Spiderman, parts of the fan community expressed their extreme displeasure with the idea of a black Spiderman. There is a comic universe in which Miles Morales, a character of Black Hispanic descent, takes over as Spiderman, but this fact didn’t seem to calm the outrage of certain parts of the fan base. However, while the Donald Glover rumors probably aren’t true, Marvel has implied that they will mostly cast an actor who is not white in the role, so fans may have to get used to the idea of a black or Latino (or maybe even both) Spiderman.
This kind of blind (and, I’m sorry, childish) rage over the color of fictional people, who are at times depicted in the source material as a people of color anyway, persists in spite of the facts and proves that the issue isn’t really whether or not the director is being true to the original art. We saw it when there were rumors that Idris Elba would be the next James Bond. It was an issue when Lenny Kravitz, Amandla Stenburg, and Dayo Okeniyi were cast in The Hunger Games, even though both Rue (Stenberg) and Thresh (Okeniyi) were definitely described in the books as having dark skin (Apparently Cinna’s complexion is never described, although I remember picturing him as a POC while reading the series). People throw fits about casting whether there is or isn’t a basis in the source material for the assumption that the character is white. Because guess what? It’s not about the source material. It’s not about staying true to the original art. It’s about the attitudes about race that pervade our country and have done so for the entirety of our history. It’s because of the (sometimes) unconscious racism that privileged groups have been taught to ignore, ignore, ignore, and that causes the completely ridiculous and false idea that white people will, for some reason, not be able to relate to a hero of color. Your inability to relate to a human whose skin is a few shades darker than yours doesn’t determine what career opportunities that person should have. People of color aren’t “stealing” superheroes away from white people. Some people, however, seem intent on limiting opportunities for people of color and that is what I find unacceptable.
