Hey guys, today I want to chat with you guys about diversity in superhero films. Last month there was a bit of talk about this on Twitter and it really got me thinking. I am constantly ranting to my friends about the lack of diversity in film in general, but especially in the superhero films. In fact, one of my friends actually doesn’t go to see superhero films anymore unless she is 100% interested, or the cast is actually diverse (Wonder Woman, Black Panther, Thor).
Anyway, so I kind of touched on this last month in another Tv Chats ( I have been writing a whole lot of these lately #sorrynotsorry) but the movies that we’re seeing at the moment all seem to be the same, white American man saves the day, yay and that’s pretty much it, I also talked about the movies I would actually prefer to see, if you want to check it out.
Think about it, how many diverse superheroes can you think of in film?
Here, I’ll do it with you. We’ve got Black Panther, Luke Cage, Aquaman, Cyborg and Storm. This took me a good half hour to come up with and I couldn’t even count them on both hands.
LET’S TALK ABOUT SPIDEY BEING CONTRACTUALLY STRAIGHT I HAVE RAGE
A couple of months ago there was this big discussion on Twitter and I thought I might talk with you guys about it. A few authors put in their two cents and a bunch of actors talked about it too. I find that this is a big issue, especially nowadays when people are so aware of diversity.
I think this is most obvious in the recent movie; Ghost in The Shell. It was based off an anime and starred Scarlett Johanson. I honestly don’t understand why she felt like it was okay for her to take the role but hey, this is Hollywood.
I have two notes for this post. Mainly I want to talk about Spider-Man but, before I get into that I also want to quickly mention something that has been bugging me since the first Avengers film. Hawkeye. Now, don’t get me wrong I love Hawkeye (Let’s all ignore Age of Ultron) but in the comics he was deaf and as a deaf person it’s extremely offensive that he doesn’t even have a hearing aid in the films.
What I think we need more of in film is actors like Ed Skrein, he actually turned down a film because he learned that the character was mixed Asian. [THIS ARTICLE SHOULD EXPLAIN EVERYTHING]
Anyway, so a couple of months ago, there was a whole lot of chat, probably derived from the discussion from the Hellboy casting. Anyway, so people were talking about how Peter Parker (Spidey) is contractually obligated to be straight and white. It was revealed in a bunch of leaked Sony emails and honestly, I am so disapointed. [ARTICLE]
Adam Silvera also got into it on Twitter [LINK TO TWEET], saying that he was asked to write a super-hero novel but he bowed out because he couldn’t write the character as queer.
This is a huge problem because it shows that Hollywood and Publishing companies are not wlling to branch out. I already love superheroes, and I already love books, so when I find out that companies are refusing to allow non-straight characters a thing in thier books and it really doesn’t make me want to pick up their books.
Obviously I still want to read Wonder Woman and Batman, but really the lack of willingness to allow diversity in novels, especially about superheroes, who are already so straight and white, is really worrying.
How do you feel about diversity in film? What’s your stance on the issue?
fridges
allonsythornraxx 
Yikes I didn’t know about that contract. The contract itself is weird already considering Spiderman is Marvel’s character anyway, and Sony bought him from them? So the fact that they even felt like they had the right to tell him his traits is… interesting to say the least. But the fact that he HAS to be white and straight?? Yikes yikes yikes
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Yeah… it honestly disgusts me. The contact is unnecessary and ridiculous, it shows how uncomfortable Hollywood is with change and how insecure they are. They’re scared that if they use a superhero who isn’t white then people won’t see the film. Little do they know, the reason so many people actually watched Civil War was purely because of Black Panther.
I know what you mean, he is Marvel’s character so what the hell is Sony doing, demanding that he only be white and straight???
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I completely 100% agree with you. I write for a site that covers TV and movies so I don’t really talk about it on this blog, but I did write a similar post to yours. My post was focused on Luke Cage and if he’d pave the way for more black superheroes.
Thankfully, he has but only a handful. There are a lot of great black superheroes who deserve to be shown in the media and not just as a sidekick. I hope if Black Panther brings in a lot of money or fans demand it, then studios will listen. In a world full of straight, white men and few women, diversity is a must, especially for the superhero genre. Sorry if I rambled lol 🙂
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I really hope we will be getting more black superheroes, but also I would love to get some heroes of other ethnicities and/ or mixed. I think it would be so cool to not only learn about their powers but to learn about their culture and country.
I feel the same way, I think Black Panther will definitely change things up, and so will Captain Marvel. You didn’t ramble! I know what you mean!
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You’d think that the companies would be more attached to the character’s powers and general plot than race and sexuality. It’s a shame that these ideas of characters being straight and white are so deeply ingrained, because having a new superhero who is diverse is an amazing step but if it was a character already so present in our society’s media?? That would be amazing.
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You would think so! Like, I knew that companies obviously cared about race and sexuality, if they didn’t we would have less white straight heroes. Though, like you, I definitely had no idea it was in the contract.
Exactly, companies really need to step up their game!
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