James Gunn, the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' filmmaker has cleared the air about who will play the character of Mary Jane Watson in the movie 'Spider-Man
Actress Zendaya, who is half black and half white, will play Spiderman's love interest Mary Jane. The character is traditionally portrayed as white, reports Entertainment Weekly.
Though Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures declined to comment, the news has generated stir on social media among fans of the superhero fans. Some have not received the news of the potential change well.
In an elaborate Facebook post, Gunn heartily approved the idea of casting actors irrespective of their colour to play any role, as long as they can hold the essence of the characters.
"People get upset when something they consider intrinsic to a comic book character changes when adapted for a film,I get this," wrote the 'Super' director.
Adding, "I do not believe a character is the color of his or her skin. . For me, if a character's primary attribute - the thing that makes them iconic - is the color of their skin, or their hair color, frankly, that character is shallow and sucks. For me, what makes MJ MJ is her alpha female playfulness, and if the actress captures that, then she'll work."
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While accepting that mind-set of people, who are "flat out racist" cannot be changed, the 46-year-old director said, "if we're going to continue to make movies based on the almost all white heroes and supporting characters from the comics of the last century, we're going to have to get used to them being more reflective of our diverse present world."
The superhero fiction movie is due to be released next summer.