Would you mind black actors portraying superheroes who are normally white?

[Dorian6]

(snip)

I guess it comes down to the question "Would I want to go see a movie with a black Wonderwoman, or an asian Batman?"

F*ck yeah I would!!

This post gave me a mental image of Gina Torres (Zoe from Firefly) as Wonder Woman, which would be epic.

Personally I feel it varies from character to character. For example: Thor is based of norse mythology, so I feel an actor playing him would have to have a nordic look/feel in order to pull off the part properly. The Incredible Hulk on the other hand could be any colour in the world when he's in his human form because there's no way someone's colour alone could affect the "scientist caught on the wrong end of an experiment and now trying to control has anger to prevent himself turning into a monster" gimic.

OMG I would pay any amount of money to see Gina Torres play Wonder Woman!

And I absolutely agree. There are some instances where skin color is a large part of the character. As you said, Thor should look nordic because he's a Norse god, and Luke Cage should probably stay black, I'm also going to go out on a limb and say that Neil Patrick Harris should never play Black Panther.

But in Cases like Spider Man, Batman, Hulk, Wonder Woman or Flash, I don't think it's as much of an issue. If the actor can do it justice, and the writer can make a good character driven story without focusing on the non-traditional image, then I think it can really work.

Case in point: Sam Jackson was a million times better as Nick Fury than David Hasselhoff

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Of course sometimes you get unintended rascism in this approuch, like in the case of War Machine being the "gangster" versain of Iron Man in Iron Man 2.

What are you talking about? I never got that impression at all. Besides, James Rhodes (War Machine) has always been black.

Spoiler: Take another look

 

[Woodsey]

Well, did anyone mind Sam Jackson as Nick Fury?

No, but he was reinvented in the comics as a black man whose look was entirely based on Samuel L Jackson first.

OT: Not really, but it'd be a bit odd.

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

Green Lantern turned out okay in the cartoon so I don't see why not with other superhero characters.So long as people do not change characters by stereotyping,I really do not care.

 

[Pyode]

Spoiler: Take another look

I fail to see how this is at all "gangster".

Bad ass? Yes.
Gangster? No.

I think you're just projecting.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Spoiler: Take another look

I fail to see how this is at all "gangster".

Bad ass? Yes.
Gangster? No.

I think you're just projecting.

I guess your right... or it might be a problem with the original comics I don't know :/

 

[rokkolpo]

Not really, but it's stupid to do so.

These characters are older than any of us and well established in most everything about them.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Heres the deal.

If they make a black man play superman, the only way I'd be okay with that is if it's openly called a "re-imagining" or "re-interpretation" of the source material. If their trying to make a straight source material but just make Superman black, thats going to bug the hell out of me only because it's not cannon.

That all being said, I'm annoyed they're making a movie about the Hal Jordan green lantern over John Stewart. I grew up watching the cartoons not reading comics, so when I hear green lantern John Stewart is the guy I expect to be in the role.

 

[GameGoddess101]

OK... this is hard for me to say...
While I think it would be interesting to see a black Peter Parker, an Asian Superman, or a Middle Eastern Batman (in the boundary pushing way, you know, equal rights, diversity, and all that fun jazz) I don't think I'd be OK with it.

[Disclaimer]NOT RACIST![/Disclaimer]

For me, personally, it's that I'm very invested in a character and their continuity (I'm one of the 12 people on the face of the planet that reads American comics). Personally, I would feel very strange to see any of the aforementioned ethnic diversity in Comic Book movies mostly because these characters are based off of SPECIFIC people that were written as caucasian men.

HOWEVER--
I thought that Duncan's casting as the Kingpin in Daredevil was brilliant (best part of the movie, btw) and I really liked when the 90's churned out a black Green Lantern. Two reasons here-- One, Duncan did some fantastic work with the character as Kingpin. Two, the Green Lantern has never been a specific guy. It's always been established that there was more than one man selected to wear this ring, so there was always a little wiggle room.

TL;DR- I'm not Ok with it in certain situations, but in others it can be really cool.

 

[Broken Orange]

I am sure that Glover would've made a good spiderman, but if a white actor played a normally black/asian/persian character, people would cry out racism.

I am for equal treatment for every race. Sorry if this is offensive to anyone, not my intention. Don't know why it would be.

 

[Ashcrexl]

it would take a little adjusting (not because we're racist, but because it is new), but as long the actor nails the CHARACTER of the character, it ought to be fine. for example, eddie murphy as batman, no. denzel washington as batman, probably ok.

 

[CaptainKoala]

Well theres a difference between wanting to stay true to the franchise and wanting to be politically correct.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Eh, I'm somewhat of a ... well, obsesser. I need it to look as close to the source material as possible, with very little alowing for outside change.

I wouldn't really want's a black Superman and I wouldn't want a white Cyborg(Teen Titans)

It's not the race, it's just me. I need the colours and outfits to be right, including the hair needing to be perfect and the right colour.
And the outfit also has to be the right colour.

I'm more forgiving when it comes to eye colour though. Hell, I can't even accept the G.I. Joe movies Cobra Commander, based off how he looks(and sounds)

And I didn't like how Megatron was a jet in Transformer's movies.

Though I can be okay if you improve the outfit... ie, Batman(Tim Burton/Dark Knight outfit), Dr. Octopus.

But that's rare.

 

[pulse2]

Whenever people talk about race, we automatically assume that blacks are the only other alternative.

How about an indian superman or a chinese spiderman? Heck, whats wrong with an albino Blade?

 

[samaugsch]

No, but if the superhero was normally white, I don't see why they couldn't have just used another white person unless they're parodying the superhero or something.

 

[WolfThomas]

If it's a comic set in an alternative universe I'd be fine with and most likely enjoy reading about a civil rights era black superman, a working Irish-American Luke Cage or a Chinese industrialist Batman fighting communism.

But at the end of the day I want accuracy in my translation of characters, this is all aspects like clothing, hair colour, costume design and yes skin colour. There will be time (but very few and far between) where a race swap might work (see the kingpin) but for the majority of the time I want them how they are in comics.

If you're not going to portray the character as they are in comics, why the hell are you using them anyway? (money from fans that's why). You want a black superman, make something original like Hancock don't change a classic drastically.

Also I'd like to throw out that if we get into a habit of just willy-nilly swaping characters' races, it's not going to work out well for ethnic minorities, producers will just start whitewashing casts like they did in "The Last Airbender".

 

[Naheal]

Spider-man isn't an everyman, though. He's supposed to be exceedingly intelligent on top of his actual powers.

 

[TomLikesGuitar]

I just don't get how people can view skin color as some kind of defining trait, it has no impact on personality or behaviors. Go color Batman black in all your comics and read them, there is no difference at all.

And as for bringing up questions about inherent differences between races, to put it bluntly there are none. There are differences amongst all people regardless of race but skin color has no affect on that.

When movies and TV can say that they have cast a black actor as Batman or a white actor as Hal Jordan, my hope is that people literally don't care as long as the performance is good.

It doesn't need to be an alternate universe, it just doesn't really matter one way or the other. If you feel that Batman must be white to remain true to character I'd have to ask you what the difference is between a white man and a black mans character. Unless YOU are a racist you'd have to admit there is none.

It's not about forcing black actors into leading roles, it's about rewarding excellent actors regardless of skin color. When we hit that point, racism may finally be a thing of the past. As long as you believe that skin color is a defining trait it continues to exist.

If you truly love these characters (my love for Squirrel Girl is eternal) wouldn't you want them portrayed by the most talented actors available?

Also, "by definition of character he's white?" What does white have to do with character?

Definition of character: the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing.

Bruce Wayne features and traits:
Rich
Male
Faux irresponsible playboy
6'2"
210 lbs.
oh... and CAUCASIAN (potentially of Irish decent)

So if you go by the DEFINITION OF CHARACTER, he is a white character. As I've said, if you would like to change the character, go ahead. But just expect to piss off a lot of people who grew to love said character. I'd be equally pissed if they decided to make him Aryan... because Bruce Wayne is NOT Aryan... or anything other than a brown haired, blue eyed, tall, white male.

That is who Bruce Wayne is as a character...

Also to say that there are not inherent differences between races is... well, ludicrous to put it frankly.

I just don't get how people can view skin color as some kind of defining trait, it has no impact on personality or behaviors.

SKIN COLOR IS THE FIRST AESTHETIC TRAIT THAT YOU NOTICE ABOUT A PERSON UNLESS YOU ARE BLIND. THIS DOES NOT MAKE YOU RACIST. When anyone of any race sees another person from another race, they immediately (and subconsciously, so there's no avoiding it) notice the skin color, and take note of that as the first trait defining them as a person. There's literally nothing you can do about this; it is part of being human. Note: This doesn't mean that it is the foremost trait defining you as a person, but I would certainly place it at the top of the list of aesthetic traits followed VERY closely by gender.

But whatever, this argument is going nowhere...

I'll let you have the last word, but mine is that Bruce Wayne is white, and as others have said, to change that is just as bad as whitewashing, and equally as racist.

 

[blackuberman]

Idris Elba plays the role of Heimdel in kenneth Brannagh's Thor.
That's the way forward.It works in shakespeare and should work in other areas too.we need to get past colour and just see a human being and their emotions.

 

[blackuberman]

Idris Elba plays the role of Heimdel in kenneth Brannagh's Thor.
That's the way forward.It works in shakespeare and should work in other areas too.we need to get past colour and just see a human being and their emotions.