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Outside of his skin color in the comics, what makes Peter Parker white?

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Miles Morales.

Marvel literally invented a character just to make Spiderman black.

If you want to have a black Spiderman, use the one that already exists.

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I'm talking about the character Peter Parker though. Nothing makes him white.

HES' WHITE BECAUSE HE'S WHITE, TAJ!!!

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HES' WHITE BECAUSE HE'S WHITE, TAJ!!!

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So I guess an Indian Spider-Man is just as bad.. I was campaigning for myself for nothing!

How's this for a non-racist reason? (your previous use of that word is wrong on its own, by the way, there was never any mention of a superior/inferior issue with changing Parker to something he's not: black. And therefore, no racism in wanting a white character to remain true to source material.)

As someone of Hispanic descent, I'd like the "new" Spiderman to be Miles Morales, another half-breed like myself.

I grew up watching Spiderman/Peter Parker. He's white. When Marvel wanted to be hip and cool, they went ahead and made a Black/Boricua character, which is awesome. It expands the MU quite a bit, giving more options than just going "Hey, let's be hip and cool and make a white chacter black, because...well, because we have to prove how 'progressive' we are!".

Would anyone care if they made Superman, Batman, Captain America, or any other white superhero, black? Or if they made Blade white?

I'd venture it would ruffle a few feathers, and that doesn't make anyone racist.

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Would anyone care if they made Superman, Batman, Captain America, or any other white superhero, black? Or if they made Blade white?

I'd venture it would ruffle a few feathers, and that doesn't make anyone racist.

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I wouldn't care at all, though there are plenty that would get upset. Honestly, I think it would be fun for Spiderman because A. Donald Glover is awesome B. The last 5 movies have been pretty boring/lame IMO, so shaking things up is a good thing C. I'm not a comic book reader, so my childhood won't be ruined by seeing a black man in the costume.

Just choose a good actor and make a good movie. Who cares what race a made up teenager with a super power from a spider bite is?

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Just choose a good actor and make a good movie. Who cares what race a made up teenager with a super power from a spider bite is?

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This above all else. Just make a good movie and you make everyone happy.

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Would anyone care if they made Superman, Batman, Captain America, or any other white superhero, black? Or if they made Blade white?

I'd venture it would ruffle a few feathers, and that doesn't make anyone racist.

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I wouldn't care at all, though there are plenty that would get upset. Honestly, I think it would be fun for Spiderman because A. Donald Glover is awesome B. The last 5 movies have been pretty boring/lame IMO, so shaking things up is a good thing C. I'm not a comic book reader, so my childhood won't be ruined by seeing a black man in the costume.

Just choose a good actor and make a good movie. Who cares what race a made up teenager with a super power from a spider bite is?

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Evidently Marvel, because they never made Peter black, and when they wanted to be "progressive" , they made an entirely new character to fit that mold.

What if they change their mind and cast a white guy to play Black Panther? It wouldn't change anything other than making him white... right? There can be white people in Africa. (I know nothing of his back story other than the fact that he has Black in his name and he was cast to be a black man)

I'm staunchly in the let's switch things the heck up, there's no liberal conspiracy and what does it matter if you reboot with a different race camp. I'm gonna have a huge stiffy when Idris is the next James Bond.

But the poster that said he just wants the spiderman to be introduced into this Marvel universe to be the Iconic Peter Parker he grew up with. I can respect that. Marvel has been churning these excellent movies for
the past 8 years, world building better than any other brand before it and the possibility of having one of their most popular characters in this universe has been a pipe dream until now. No one thought Sony would ever give up Spidey.

So if some folks just want him white and not black for the same reason they want him brown hair and not blonde or ginger and average height and not some 7footer, I can see that. It's the classic iconic Peter Parker they grew up with and imagined when they played with their action figures and that's the one they want to team up with the pretty pitch perfect Cap and Iron Man that Marvel has cast and put up on the screen.

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If you make Spider-Man black, then by definition, you are changing the character.

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No, you're not. You're changing the COLOR of the character. "Character" - in the narrative/cinematic sense - refers to personality traits. In other words, "character" is what makes a person tick. In the case of Peter Parker, his "whiteness" isn't a definitive characteristic of his personality. Not in any way, shape, or form. For some characters, sure, the fact that they are black or white absolutely defines who they are as a person and how the world sees them. But not in the case of Peter Parker. Having him be a skinny black kid in high school does not change - in any way - anything about his personality. He can literally be the exact same character, just with a different skin color.

Besides, insisting he be white for NO OTHER REASON than he's always been white, and you want him to remain that way, IS a somewhat offensive stance to take. To prefer a white Peter Parker, just because you want him to be white, by its very definition, means you DON'T want to watch a darker-colored Peter Parker on screen. It means, by your own admission, you'll get less enjoyment from watching a darker-colored human being on the screen than you would from a white Parker. And that's messed up. Plain and simple. I know it's coming from a place non-racist innocence - I totally get that - but you can't argue that it's sound reasoning. Saying, "I just want to see the white Peter parker I grew up with" - ESPECIALLY after you've already seen that version TWICE before - whether you mean for it to be or not, is a form of discrimination. If, traditionally, Uncle Ben was in the KKK, or Parker was somehow defined by his whiteness in high school - then sure, changing him to be black would be stupid. But Peter Parker's skin color does not affect the way he operates as a character. That is an inarguable fact.

I'm still mad that they cast David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King in Selma. Daniel Day Lewis would have been a much better choice. He can act.

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What if they change their mind and cast a white guy to play Black Panther? It wouldn't change anything other than making him white... right? There can be white people in Africa. (I know nothing of his back story other than the fact that he has Black in his name and he was cast to be a black man)

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This speaks directly to my point. The Black Panther - as a character - is partly DEFINED by his skin color. So, yes, changing him to a white guy would be ridiculous and nonsensical. But with Peter Parker, nothing about him is DEFINED by whiteness.

Making Spider-Man black would be the equivalent of

Peter Parker is a scientist. His character struggles have scientific motifs: obligation to mankind, lack of funding (for his webbing), & time management. Most of his mengarie of villians are scientists (Lizard, Doc Ock, Morbius) or scientifically enhanced (Goblins, Electro, Rhino, Scorpion, Vulture).

Miles Morales is a minority. He deals with minority struggles. His villain opresses minorities like Conrad Marcus and Frank Oliver.

We've already seen two iterations of Spiderman and neither have done the scientist aspect justice. They briefly hit on some of these in 2004 & 2012 movies, but it wasn't the central to his character. Now, a bunch of politically correct neer-do-wells want to double down on the mistake and make Peter Parker black which will inherently insert minority related themes and distract from the scientist aspect.

If you want a black Spiderman, that's fine. Name him Miles Morales.

So there aren't any black scientist? I'm kinda being tongue-in-cheek here, but that's how your post can read.

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We've already seen two iterations of Spiderman and neither have done the scientist aspect justice. They briefly hit on some of these in 2004 & 2012 movies, but it wasn't the central to his character. Now, a bunch of politically correct neer-do-wells want to double down on the mistake and make Peter Parker black which will inherently insert minority related themes and distract from the scientist aspect.

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You CANNOT be serious with this comment. Why would making him black have to detract from the scientist aspect? Are you kidding me? Do you not see how wrong-headed this way of thinking is? His "blackness" doesn't have to be a trait. It's not like he automatically has to be good at basketball now, and can't study as much or whatever. He can just as easily be a super-smart nerd/scientist AND be black.

Imagine the EXACT Peter Parker you know and love, just with darker skin. That's all we're talking about here. HIs race doesn't have to be a narrative issue in any way.

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What if they change their mind and cast a white guy to play Black Panther? It wouldn't change anything other than making him white... right? There can be white people in Africa. (I know nothing of his back story other than the fact that he has Black in his name and he was cast to be a black man)

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You've hit on the difference. Panther's character is defined by his role as an African prince/king, ruling an African nation that isolates itself from the traditional world powers. In addition, the creative roots of the character were to present a strong, black hero, which were greatly underrepresented in comics.

Peter Parker isn't grounded in his whiteness. It doesn't define who he is as a person.

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So there aren't any black scientist? I'm kinda being tongue-in-cheek here, but that's how your post can read.

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Ha, beat me to it.

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Peter Parker is a scientist. His character struggles have scientific motifs: obligation to mankind, lack of funding (for his webbing), & time management. Most of his mengarie of villians are scientists (Lizard, Doc Ock, Morbius) or scientifically enhanced (Goblins, Electro, Rhino, Scorpion, Vulture).

Miles Morales is a minority. He deals with minority struggles. His villain opresses minorities like Conrad Marcus and Frank Oliver.

We've already seen two iterations of Spiderman and neither have done the scientist aspect justice. They briefly hit on some of these in 2004 & 2012 movies, but it wasn't the central to his character. Now, a bunch of politically correct neer-do-wells want to double down on the mistake and make Peter Parker black which will inherently insert minority related themes and distract from the scientist aspect.

If you want a black Spiderman, that's fine. Name him Miles Morales.

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From what you just said, what makes Peter Parker white?

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What if they change their mind and cast a white guy to play Black Panther? It wouldn't change anything other than making him white... right? There can be white people in Africa. (I know nothing of his back story other than the fact that he has Black in his name and he was cast to be a black man)

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You've hit on the difference. Panther's character is defined by his role as an African prince/king, ruling an African nation that isolates itself from the traditional world powers. In addition, the creative roots of the character were to present a strong, black hero, which were greatly underrepresented in comics.

Peter Parker isn't grounded in his whiteness. It doesn't define who he is as a person.

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Bingo.

Looks like I came in last place

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Now, a bunch of politically correct neer-do-wells want to double down on the mistake and make Peter Parker black which will inherently insert minority related themes and distract from the scientist aspect.

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That is a Politics Board level of racism. Holy s.

If Peter Parker is black, does Uncle Ben have a secret rice fortune? Honestly, I don't care if Peter is black or white as long as the new guy is a great actor

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If Peter Parker is black, does Uncle Ben have a secret rice fortune? Honestly, I don't care if Peter is black or white as long as the new guy is a great actor

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Ha, thought about that. But yeah, I'm right there with you. I could not care less what color his is, I just want a great actor.

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Now, a bunch of politically correct neer-do-wells want to double down on the mistake and make Peter Parker black which will inherently insert minority related themes and distract from the scientist aspect.

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That is a Politics Board level of racism. Holy s.

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Yep. Most f-ed up post of the day, hands down.

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Now, a bunch of politically correct neer-do-wells want to double down on the mistake and make Peter Parker black which will inherently insert minority related themes and distract from the scientist aspect.

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That is a Politics Board level of racism. Holy s.

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Yep. Most f-ed up post of the day, hands down.

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A lot of stuff looks extremely racist when you take it out of context. It wouldn't be hard for me to take a single sentences out of the context from your paragraph posts that look super racist.

Marvel drew up two Spidermans: one with scientific themes and one with minority themes. When you make the science one a minority, you will inherently convoluted the two themes and mix up the character.

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I'll try for TCTTS:

What makes Spiderman an icon is his back-story. It was revolutionary at the time is was created. You had a Teenager becoming a superhero. This was the first time that this had been portrayed and it resonated in a huge way with the youth of America. Spiderman isn't iconic because he was bite by a spider and swings around on webs, he is iconic because he is a superhero fighting crime and teenage angst at the same time. He is iconic because of his back-story.

If you change his race, you change the very thing that makes him iconic (which has nothing to do with being white). A young black kid growing up in Queens has a completely different story than a young white kid growing up in (insert NY burrow). That's just a fact. It's different life experiences, different cultural influences.

Case in point, he's bullied by his peers. Are you going to show a black youth being bullied by other black kids? PC police will hate black on black interaction like that in this kind of movie. Will his bullies be white bringing racism into his story?There are many instances like this unless you completely white wash the world and pretend they don't exist. If you do, you aren't being true to the change you made and you are just doing it to be make the character black. These things could be interesting story points and explored in a fantastic way. But, the fact is they change Peter Parker's story and frankly there just isn't any need to. It's already iconic. Just do it right to begin with.

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I don't understand what is wrong with some of you people. Why, because he's black, would he not be from Queens?

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Now, a bunch of politically correct neer-do-wells want to double down on the mistake and make Peter Parker black which will inherently insert minority related themes and distract from the scientist aspect.

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That is a Politics Board level of racism. Holy s.

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Yep. Most f-ed up post of the day, hands down.

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It would be extremely racist when you take it out of context.

Marvel drew up two Spidermans: one with scientific themes and one with minority themes. When you make the science one a minority, you will inherently convoluted the two themes and mix up the character.

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So you're saying that if Marvel makes Peter Parker black, they will start to write him like Miles Morales and not Peter Parker?

What?

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I don't understand what is wrong with some of you people. Why, because he's black, would he not be from Queens?

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Fine. Say he's from Queens.

White bullies from Queens picking on Black spiderman: RACISM!!!
Black bullies from Queens picking on Black spiderman: PC Police are calling foul over black-on-black crime

BigTimeAlum - That's the first reasonable argument I've heard, and I appreciate the measured, level-headed response. What you said, for the most part, makes sense, and your point is well taken. Thank you for expressing your point in a way that goes beyond, "I want him to be white because he's white." I can totally be on board with that argument.

My only response would be - and this is how I've been coming at this argument all along - is that this new version we're going to see on screen, we won't be seeing his backstory. This will be a more fully-formed version from the get-go, and a lot of those potential backstory/origin issues - whether he's white or black - won't be coming into play at all. It'll just be wise-cracking Parker-as-Spiderman fighting villains. So none of that race stuff would ever come into play.

That said, even if this were a new origin story, those issues you mentioned don't HAVE to come into play. A black kid can get picked in any number of ways without bringing race into the equation. So much of that type of stuff can be ignored.

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I don't understand what is wrong with some of you people. Why, because he's black, would he not be from Queens?

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I don't understand your statement. It's not very coherent. My comment was based on a previous poster saying he would be from Queens. I don't know where Peter Parker lives, hence what I wrote. What's your point?

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Marvel drew up two Spidermans: one with scientific themes and one with minority themes. When you make the science one a minority, you will inherently convoluted the two themes and mix up the character.

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The fact that he's a minority doesn't HAVE to be a theme/issue. Good gosh, why is that so hard to understand.

The entire argument being made here is that he can be black without stereotypical "black traits" having to define him.