Black Spider-man?

And no I'm not referring to the costume that turned Tobey Maguire emo*AHEM*evil in that last movie. Nope, there's a twitter campaign to get a black actor to play Spider-man in the forthcoming movie reboot. Of course, I can't say anything bad about this or I'll be labeled a racist by stupid people.

Well hell, wouldn't be the first time.

To be fair, the majority of the superhero genre is white people on parade in tights. However more racially diverse characters have been introduced over the years. Most kids recognize John Stewart (a black man) as Green Lantern. Other characters have had their identities pasted on to ethnic characters such as Firestorm (black), The Atom (Asian), and The Blue Beetle (Latino). Now, it is true that DC is bringing back its older characters to appease an older demographic, which is an unintentional blow against racial diversity in comics. Still, the three characters I mentioned had strong followings. General readership is perfectly ready to accept a non-cracker superhero.

But, a black Spider-man?

Spidey's own webs aren't this sticky? There has never been a black Spider-man in comics. Stan Lee and Steve Dikto's creation was a white kid. Grew up to be a white guy as many white kids tend to do. The idea of a black actor playing Spider-man is probably going to piss off the fanboys. It seems like pandering a bit to me. But if the actor can nail the role there's no real reason not to cast him, well aside from everyone making a stir about his skin color. If he doesn't get the role, will the people casting the movie be considered racist? Will Al Sharpton be boycotting the next Spider-man movie?

This is going to be the start of something annoying. I feels it in my nerd bones.