Ever since Marvel and Sony reached an agreement over the future of Spider-Man, speculation has been rampant that the studios would cast a black actor in the rebooted version, thereby pursuing the thread found in the Ultimate Comics lore. In fact, during a recent appearance on Meet the Movie Press podcast, The Wrap’s Jeff Sneider claimed that he is now “95% certain” that the next actor to don the famous guise won’t be white, lending credence to the possibility of swapping out Peter Parker for Miles Morales.
Here’s what Sneider had to say on the matter:
Listen, this is not set in stone guys, but I’m telling you right now, Spider-Man’s not going to be white. Spider-Man’s not going to be white. I’m 95% sure. Spider-Man’s going to be most likely black. But there’s a chance he could also be Latino. 95% sure, not white.
Granted, neither Marvel or Sony have confirmed anything at the time of writing, but this rumor does align with the studios’ strategy to cast a much younger Spider-Man, taking the action back to his days in college. In backing up his bold claim, Sneider pointed to the recent Sony hack which unveiled a slew of the company’s internal and controversial emails, suggesting that they make a move to cast a non-white protagonist to counter claims of racism.
I really feel strongly. Sony has an opportunity to beat Marvel and DC to the punch with a major black comic book character. Like I mentioned last week, the emails that leaked were perceived as racist in some quarters. I really think that’s going to play into things.
What we do know for sure is that Spider-Man’s first Marvel appearance has been slated for next year’s Captain America: Civil War, where he will be introduced alongside Tony Stark and Captain America in some shape or form.
As for the webslinger’s solo outing, Sony has pegged a release date for July 28, 2017. As such, it’s likely that we’ll learn who exactly will play the part of Spider-Man in this latest incarnation before long. In the meantime, let us know what you think of the possibility of a non-white protagonist down below.
