New Spider-Man rumored to be black?

[ComicConnoisseur]

George Takei wants to be Spider-Man.

[DR.X]

I hear rumours it was going to be Emanuel Lewis as " Son of Spider Man".

[Prince Namor]

If you want a black kid who can climb walls and relate to teenagers, then freakin' write a story about one and make it a blockbuster property on it's own. Trying to rework an existing franchise by shoehorning in a non-traditional character seems extremely short-sighted.

 

Smartest thing anyone has written in this silly thread.

 

Great time to be a fan of comics - but it's also scary, because what happens to the hobby when it finally implodes? When Marvel, DC and Image have fragmented their comic and media universes to the point that the same character isn't really the same anywhere? We have that going on now in comics (and always have to some point) but with the movies it's getting worse.

 

I mean, the DCU TV universe is different than the Movie universe - do they expect me, as a fan, to accept Will Smith as Deadshot in the movies when the TV version is much better? Or anyone else on Flash or Arrow that didn't make the movie cut for that matter? As a fan, I've made a connection to those characters, I'm not so willing to give that up. Would someone accept a different actor for Mulder or Scully in an X-Files movie while the original actors are still on TV? Or someone else as Picard?

 

+1

 

Franchises that succeed usually stick with the actors that play the role in it.

 

Once you start making changes, then the audience that has a brain (the older audience that helps make it a blockbuster), sees it for what it is. A money making franchise.

 

When studios start making changes, it's because they feel something has run it's course and they have to go after the base element to sell tickets. The segment of the population that will buy a ticket regardless of what they put up there. The younger audience.

 

They used to do this with TV shows, where in the seventh or eight season, as ratings would start to wane, some niece or nephew who was considerably younger and had a 'cute' appeal would show up and become a part of the show. And it would always fail and be looked at as a horrible time in the history of the show.

 

If you want a superhero movie to succeed financially - and become a franchise that continues down a successful path - then you have to write it so that an older generation of NON fans will be interested in it. Comic Book dum dums will go no matter what. A superhero movie is going to pull $100 million in no matter what. That's not going to cut it today with budgets that are escalating.

 

You have to appeal to a wider audience.

 

There's a reason that Peter Quill's interest in music was 10-15 years older than he was (plays to a 40-50 year old audience). There's a reason Robert Downey Jr. is successful as Iron Man (40-50 year olds grew up and loved his movies). There's a reason the Dark Knight movies were so successful (took the character seriously - 40-50 year olds can relate)

 

Think about the big name movies that failed....

Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern...

Andrew Garfield as Spider-man...

and it's why, ultimately, the new Fantastic Four movie will PROBABLY fail to live up to expectations....

It just doesn't look to be written for 40-50 year NON comic books fans.

And at a budget that I imagine is going to come in at north of 175 million - that's not a winner....

 

If they want Spider-man to be a black actor - for whatever WEIRD reason they want it - and SUCCEED at the box office - they better hope to god that Will Smith comes to the rescue to play the part. He at least is a legitimate movie star that could possibly pull it off.

 

No 30 year old virtually unknown singer rapper is going to save this franchise. Disaster.

 

You can hack this post and send it straight to Sony.

Very good post.

One thing to keep in mind though.

Probably the only time that the age group 40-50 year NON comic books fans matters with Hollywood and advertisers, as for the most part they want the under 34 year old crowd which could be risky when the 40-50 year NON comic books fans become 50-60 year NON comic books fans because you don`t want your audience to get too old.

 

I used 40-50 year olds as an example.

The actual demographic is 34-50, but...

There's no 'long term' view in advertising and marketing.

It's what can you get now.

And, as I'm sure you know, the 34-50 year old market has disposable income available to them better than any other market, and it's why it's considered the most important.

They want them to buy 'right now'.

What they do 10 years down the road is some other ad reps dilemma.