The internet hates everything, that’s just a fact. Nerds on the internet hate everything even more. Everyone hated Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson in the original Spider-Man trilogy; everyone hated Michael B. Jordan being cast as Johnny Storm; and now everyone is hating on Zendaya as the new new Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man: Homecoming (Shailene Woodley was cast for The Amazing Spider-Man but never saw the big screen). Most of the world (and the internet in particular) is horribly racist to begin with, so when you start casting great actors who happen to be black in roles they hold precious, they will lose their shit.
Examples:
https://twitter.com/keksec__org/status/766439989341216769
Zendaya shouldn't be Mary Jane in the new Spider-Man movie it won't make sense
— B Plus (@OfficialBPlus) August 19, 2016
Really? How can she be perfect when MJ is white and red haired? #MakesNoSense.
— Matt Blake (@mattblake94) August 19, 2016
Then, there are actual good people in this world, who react like this:
https://twitter.com/RealLifeKaz/status/766410888945496068
To all you haters #Zendaya #SpiderManHomecoming pic.twitter.com/qFsv6AfzyN
— Beatrice Verhoeven (@bverhoev) August 19, 2016
And then there’s one of the longest running Spider-Man comic book writers in history:
Heroes & great characters come in every color
& they are for EVERYONE.
There's nothing about Peter Parker or Mary Jane
that HAS to be white.— Dan Slott (@DanSlott) August 19, 2016
I mean, c’mon, if that’s not already enough of a reason to hop on board, you should probably stop reading this article and go — [I’m censoring myself]. I’m sure all of these same people absolutely adored Guardians of the Galaxy, because who didn’t? But then there’s James Gunn, the director of said film, supporting Zendaya like he should. So again, those people can all go — [censored]!
If all of this wasn’t enough, there’s someone who kind of has more of a say in it than any of us do, Stan Lee. The king himself spoke to the Toronto Sun on Tuesday about the whole ordeal, and he’s all for it! “If she is as good an actress as I hear she is, I think it’ll be absolutely wonderful,” he went on to say, “The colour of their skin doesn’t matter, their religion doesn’t matter, all that matters is that this [is] the right person for the role.”
Stan Lee has never freaked out about the change of a character’s race before. In 2003 when the Kingpin was played by Michael Clarke Duncan, he approved; in 2015 when Michael B. Jordan was the Human Torch, he was on board; nor did he complain about Electro being played by Jamie Foxx. Stan Lee doesn’t care, so neither should you. And if you do? [Censored again!]
Spider-Man: Homecoming comes out July 7, 2017.