Zendaya

One of the peculiar things about the current slate of superhero movies it how thoroughly they nail the big moments and sometimes slip on the small ones. Take Iron Man, for example. The films have routinely nailed Tony Stark’s arrogance and desire to protect the world from all threats foreign and domestic, but some of the underlying reasoning behind that drive —  Stark’s history as an alcoholic and addict  —  have routinely been shoved to the background of the movies. The same could be said of Spider-Man. While the last five films have given us epic moments of slingin’ webs, they’ve often lost the high-school camaraderie that explains so much of Peter Parker’s superhero worldview.

In a dark corner of an Atlanta warehouse nestled between an old fish store and a company that buys and sells shipping palettes, two of the biggest media companies in the world are making a movie.

When you’ve been fortunate enough to land the headlining role in a potentially lucrative film franchise, the least you can do is give a little back. Superhero actors making guest appearances in hospitals to spread a little cheer to bed-ridden children has become an increasingly common practice in recent years, with Chrises Evans and Pratt both leveraging their celebrity as Captain America and Star-Lord, respectively, to brighten sickly youngsters’ days. It’s a harmless PR stunt — the movie gets some positive, feel-good publicity while making some kid’s day/week/life, and everyone walks away smiling.

Over the summer, we learned that Zendaya’s mysterious role in Spider-Man: Homecoming may very well be Mary Jane Watson — news that unfortunately spurred a bit of sadly predictable controversy among some fans, who felt that casting a young woman of color was a betrayal to the traditional depiction of Peter Parker’s white love interest. In a new interview, Zendaya herself addresses the negative reaction to her casting, and though she skillfully dodges the big MJ question, the actress does have one interesting detail to offer about her character.

Late last week a pretty substantial rumor surfaced suggesting that Zenadaya’s secret role in Spider-Man: Homecoming is actually Mary Jane Watson. While neither Marvel nor Sony have confirmed or even responded to those rumors, it elicited an unfortunately predictable reaction from several fans who were unhappy that a woman of color would be playing a character traditionally depicted as a white redhead. James Gunn already weighed in with his thoughts, and our own Matt Singer wrote an excellent piece on the matter, and now Stan Lee himself has offered his reaction to the recent casting rumor.

This week, details emerged that actress Zendaya would be playing an updated version of Mary Jane Watson in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming. While many people greeted this news with good cheer, a very vocal minority of people had some pretty nasty things to say about the changes made to their beloved character. Yesterday, James Gunn, the director of Guardians of the Galaxy, took to Facebook to share his nuanced thoughts regarding the controversy.

Here’s a sample of the angry comments I’ve read in the last 24 hours about the rumor that Zendaya will be playing Spider-Man’s long-time love interest, Mary Jane Watson, in Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Marvel and Sony have been a bit secretive about a few of the characters in Spider-Man: Homecoming — particularly the one played by Disney Channel star Zendaya, who is simply credited as “Michelle.” But according to a new report, Zendaya’s role is no longer a secret, as the true identity of her mysterious character in the reboot has been revealed. SPOILERS ahead.

James Cameron originally intended to direct Alita: Battle Angel himself, but a few years and plans for four more Avatar sequels later, and the director is just a bit too busy to helm the manga adaptation himself. As announced last year, Robert Rodriguez will now direct the project with Cameron executive producing, and it looks like things are picking up as a few talented young women are being eyed for the leading role.

While most comic book fans are waiting to see if they’ll catch a glimpse of the new Spider-Man in this week’s Captain America: Civil War trailer, Marvel is already looking ahead to Spidey’s new reboot. While the film isn’t due in theaters until next summer, Marvel has reportedly already cast a lead actress to co-star with Tom Holland...