The anger over black Mary Jane confuses me

[Just Crouton]

So,

 

Eartha Kitt, a black actress, can play Catwoman in the 1967.
Billy Dee Williams, a black actor, can play Harvey Dent in 1989.

Michael Clarke Duncan, a black actor, can play Kingpin in 2003.

Halle Berry, a black actress, can play Catwoman in 2004.

Laurence Fishburne, a black actor, can play Perry White in 2013.

Candice Patton, a black actress, can play Iris West in 2014.

 

But in 2016, the same year that Will Smith, a black actor, played Deadshot, and

Keiynan Lonsdale, a black actor, is set to play Kid Flash, people cry SJW pandering when they thought Zendaya, a black actress, might be playing Mary Jane in 2017?

 

I'm lost. Can someone explain to me why the Internet's suddenly treating this very common, almost 50-year old practice like it's something that started happening last week?

[Kaiji]

Don't mind them, it's the same nerds who got mad over Ben Affleck batman. There's no reason to give this any attention.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

CUZ MUH CANON

And because people are on attack mode for anything somewhat SJW lately

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

Mary Jane is a Red Head everywhere. 

 

Not many Red Headed Blacks ik

[Susie]

Because people wanna whine about things and while Im not the biggest superhero follower im quite sure that Mary Jane has a more repeated design than Catwoman, Kingpin is just a guy who you can make as a big bald dude and people will be happy, had to look up Harvy Dent but im not too sure what to say with him, also had to look up Perry White but from what I can see his design seems pretty flexible as well, and I had to look up Iris White as well but I cant really say much for her either.

[Delibirb]

Don't care she's black.

 

I'm apprehensive because it's Zendaya, who from what I've seen, isn't very good. It might be just the writing for what she's done, but it could just be her, too. So we'll see.

[Fusion X. Denver]

I think it's fine. I'll admit that I got a little uppity back when Johnny Storm was cast by a black actor, but I gave it more serious thought and decided that kind of factor really shouldn't matter in casting. Portraying a character's personality and essence is the priority and if they happen to think Zendaya is the best fit to play MJ, then they should totally do that. Marvel's pretty much nailed every casting choice in the MCU as of yet, I doubt this will be a misstep.

 

I think some people feel bothered because they feel they're retconning a character's appearance just for diversity's sake. But superheroes are modern myths; they've had and will continue to have multiple takes on their character through movies, TV, and other media. Like Machismo said with Harvey Dent, he had a black actor portray him in 1989 and then a white actor portray him in Dark Knight. There will be other Harvey Dents in the future, maybe the next one will be Asian or Indian, who knows/cares?

I would think people would want things shaken up each time so it's not the same thing over and over. Like with Jared Leto playing the Joker, I don't want him or whoever comes after him to imitate Heath Ledger, I want their own unique take on the character.

 

Besides, Zendaya could wear a red wig or dye her hair. Kirsten Dunst did both of those. And Bryce Dallas Howard dyed her hair to play Gwen in Spider-Man 3.