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Back in March, Zendaya was cast in Spider-Man: Homecoming, a reboot that takes place during Peter Parker's high school days.
Now The Wrap has revealed who she's playing: the superhero's longtime love interest Mary Jane Watson.
Fans are excited for the franchise to finally have a person of color in a starring role. Judging by the social media reactions, people are fed up with the expectation that only white people should play traditionally white characters.
Zendaya is the first black woman to star in the Spider-Man series AND she's going to play Mary Jane. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY
— “” (@riversholland) August 18, 2016
Zendaya is playing Mary Jane in Spiderman: Homecoming? Black girls STAY WINNING y'all ✨ #prettybrownandnerdy pic.twitter.com/nraX9ZlUkb
— Pretty Brown & Nerdy (@PBNtweets) August 18, 2016
However, a look through Twitter also reveals that this expectation and its racist roots are alive and well. Some are saying it's not about race; it's just about hair color, since Mary Jane is a redhead. (They failed to acknowledge that Kirsten Dunst, a blonde, previously played the character.)
Zendaya's supporters had a response to that, too.
Choke on this, fanboys (and fangirls) complaining that Mary Jane cannot be Black because of the red hair strawman. pic.twitter.com/SmFJDiiFR5
— Wicked Annie (@fangirlsmash) August 19, 2016
"MARY JANE IS A REDHEAD!!"
— мoтнer мercy (@Rowemanticize) August 19, 2016
Okay. Zendaya can just dye her hair red.
"THAT'S NOT THE SAME THING." pic.twitter.com/6wao6Yfv7m
To everyone saying Mary Jane needs to have red hair. Zendaya always slays 😏 #SpiderManHomecoming pic.twitter.com/CKOyfAnnQr
— Markell Bailey (@tenorbuds) August 19, 2016
people stay mute when characters get white washed but kick up a fuss because zendaya doesn't have red hair for her Mary Jane role? lol okay
— chelcey (@brbkissed) August 19, 2016
Given that it's a fictional story, Black people can be redheads, Zendaya herself has had red hair, and Mary Jane hasn't even always stuck to her original color, the only grounds on which people can actually make this argument is racism. And thankfully, people have called it out for exactly what it is.
[Editor's note: A previous version of this article stated that Emma Stone played Mary Jane Watson. Stone portrayed Spider-Man's other famous girlfriend, Gwen Stacy.]
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