What do you think about a black Peter Parker?

Editors Note: This appeared in Creative Loafing, with pictures, and an interesting poll. You know you wanna see the results! Check it out HERE!

Is it ok to have a black Peter Parker? That seems to be the question raised after comedian and Community star Donald Glover started a Twitter flurry to audition for the lead role in Spiderman 4. Since then, more questions than his acting ability seem to come up.

Glover seems to be a decent actor, and while I don't see any reason why he would be a good Peter Parker, I could have said the same thing about Heath Ledger in Batman, or even Toby Maguire in the original Spiderman. Both seemed odd choices that angered fanboys, and both turned out surprisingly well. So, obviously he should get a chance to prove his acting chops.

So, what is all the hubbub about an actor wanting to tryout for a role? Peter Parker has always been drawn and portrayed as white, and changing a small thing like that in a character seems to bring out a side of people everyone wishes would die; racism. Parker has never been purposefully white, and there has never been a story that uses that fact to solidify the character. Some characters in the Marvel universe use the background of their race as plot points, such as the Black Panther, but Parker has never been about his upbringing, it's about his decision to do what is right, despite society.

Websites such as Chud.com have proclaimed they have no problems with such things, and received hundreds of comments proclaiming the change of a character is fundamentally wrong. So, what do you think? Should Glover be allowed to try out for Peter Parker? Would you mind a black Peter Parker? Sound off in the comments!