As debate once again rages across the Internet as to whether Spider-Man has to be white, DC / Warner Bros has decided to follow Marvel’s example, and cast a black man in a prominent, once-white character role.
According to EW, Laurence Fishburne has been cast as Perry White in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. A thousand “Shouldn’t it be Perry Black?” jokes have already been made, echoing the hilarity over Idris Elba’s Heimdall being “the whitest god.”
Fishburne is a fantastic and formidable pick, and yet another actor who tilts this Man of Steel cast into pure awesome. I don’t know if the story or script will support these talented individuals (we’ve seen plenty of top-loaded comic book movies flop), but it certainly has a strong roster of players. I think I’ve said this before,but it bears repeating — I don’t know that I’m that excited for yet another Superman movie, but damn, I’m excited to see this version come together. I just want to see what it turns out to be, you know?
And that’s all that bears discussing. Not what color Perry White is or isn’t in the Superman comics. It’s the 21st century, people. Any day that Fishburne isn’t considered right for the editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet is the day I don’t care about comic fandom any longer.