There is nothing like waking up in the morning to some fresh comic cinema news. Over the past few days Spider-Man: Homecoming has been the talk of the web. We all have Zendayas casting as Mary Jane to thank for that. The casting for the upcoming three-boot brought a ton of attention to the new MCU addition. What got lost in the fog of controversy was the leaked Spider-Man: Homecoming call sheet. There are quite a few villains set to appear and some people are concerned about the number of villains mentioned in this vague casting list.
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Of course nothing is concrete especially given the recent revelation of Zendayas character from Michelle to Mary Jane, but this got me to thinking about the cast and what we know so far. We already got to see Tom Holland portray Spider-Man and Marisa Tomei as the hottest Aunt May ever in Captain America: Civil War.
A ton of casting news has come out over the past few months and filming has already begun. Whats refreshing is the number of minority actors featured in the film. Im going to stick with the main cast or at least whats been revealed so far. Right now a number of minorities have been announced to play significant roles in
Homecoming. I cant overstate how important this is to me.
I have been advocating for minorities to get more opportunities in comic cinema especially in major roles. It appears
Homecoming has begun to appease my demands for diversity bringing together a cast from all different races and nationalities. Without further ado I give you the cast of
Spider-Man: Homecoming as we know it so far.
Childish Gambino is Linked to Spidey
The rapper whose real name is Donald Glover got fans excited with his portrayal of Miles Morales on the Ultimate Spider-Man. Donalds rumored role with Homecoming has been tightly sealed, like Area 51 type classification simply put, we dont know jack. Im starting to think that maybe just maybe these are nothing more than just rumors. If he is 100% part of Homecoming his addition and the mystery behind it is exciting. The Martian star is being looked at to play Lando Calrissian in the Han Solo Anthology film. Given his popularity its safe to say hes probably going to play a significant role. With Glover being in high demand and Homecoming will be lucky to have him.
Jacob Batalon to play Ned Leeds?
Jacobs resume is thinner than Lebrons hairline (joke that keeps on giving). His character Ned Leeds would later become the Hobgoblin after being brainwashed by the original Hobgoblin Roderick Kingsley. With his thin resume and so little detail about his character I guess well just have to wait and see. My guess is Leeds is a super minor role.
Hannibal Buress is Part of the Staff
Hannibal is a relative unknown playing what will most likely be a minor role as Coach Wilson. Id imagine hed be featured in a comedic capacity like his Neighbors character Officer Watkins.
Selenis Leyva Gives Us Something More Concrete
Selenis is most famous for her role has the OG latina with a heart and Reds rival Gloria Mendoza on Netflix's Orange is the New Black. In Homecoming shes been linked to play what appears to be a faculty member with the name Ms. Warren. Thats pretty much all we know, so yeah moving on.
Michael Chernus Joins Co-Star
Michael is known as Cal Chapman the oddball brother of Piper on the Netflix series Orange is the New Black. His role will be Tinkerer, the supreme level genius engineer who specializes in making gadgets from scraps. I have no doubt that hell be working with Vulture, but this is just my guess.
Kenneth Choi's Role is Definitive
Kenneth Choi may look a little familiar in the MCU, thats because he played the Howling Commando Jim in Captain America: The First Avenger. But for this movie he is listed as Principal Morita. Interesting enough, at least according to Comic Book Movie is that, Choi will be playing the grandson of his First Avenger character Choi is amazingly versatile he was super funny in a supporting role as Chester Ming in Wolf of Wall Street. Choi was in a number of other notable series and movies like Sons of Anarchy and Suicide Squad. Im hoping is comedic so we can get some great exchanges between he and Tom Holland.
Bokeem Woodbine Makes for a Good Villain
It was revealed that Bokeem would join the cast back in June (2016). Naturally not much was revealed about who he was playing, nor to what capacity hed be featured. However, what we did know was clear that he would be playing a villain. Fortunately we didnt have to wait long for his role to be revealed, or at least an alleged role. On August 19, 2016 a number of sites including revealed that Bokeem will be playing Herman Schultz better known as Shocker. Bokeem's length resume, strong voice, and his roles in Total Recall, Riddick, and Fargo makes this a very interesting choice.
Speaking of Villains
Michael Keaton will be playing a villain, THE villain, Vulture, who's allegedly going to be Spideys main antagonist. The Birdman star is trading in his Batman suite to play another winged character. Keatons addition brings with it some much needed credibility if he and Tony Stark mix up a bit wed finally get to see Batman v. Ironman.
Tony Revolori Will Be Dope
Back in July comicbook.com revealed that Dope and The 5th Wave star will be playing Peter Parkers bully Flash Thompson. Weve seen Flash enough to know that hes a jock who has heat with the geeky Peter Parker, but he idolizes the heroic web-slinger. Like Zendaya this casting was a big time racial switch from what we were traditionally used to with Flash.
Angourie Rice to play Betty Brandt
Angourie Rice (17) will play the role of Daily Bugle reporter and love interest to Ned Leeds, Flash Thompson, and Peter Parker. Angouries most notable role came in the critically acclaimed Russell Crow and Ryan Gosling film Nice Guys. Seeing as how the actress is pretty young her marriage to Ned Leeds probably wont factor into the story. But with Bettys connection with the main characters Im sure shell play a major role.
Zendaya plays Mary Jane
Last and, arguably, the most important cast member outside of Spidey himself is Zendaya. She's has been announced to play Mary Jane Watson the long time love interest of Peter Parker. Controversy aside, this casting is pretty spot-on. Her real life characteristics and on screen portrayals as Rocky Blue and ,C, lends itself very well to Mary Jane. That all, but wraps it up, I'm going to hold off on my opinion about the cast as a whole, but at least James Dunn seems to think this will be the best Spider-Man film to date.
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Does This Cast Give You Hope for the Upcoming Spider-Man Movie?
Thanks to Comiuc BVook Movie for allowing me to share my Movie Pilot article.