'Spider-Man: Far From Home' Features MCU's First Trans Actors
The Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer was released earlier this week and it has the Internet abuzz [...]
The Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer was released earlier this week and it has the Internet abuzz talking about potential Marvel Cinematic Universe timelines, Peter and MJ's young love, and how Jake Gyllenhaal is going to make a great Mysterio.
Another important topic that's emerged since the trailer's release is diversity. One eagle-eyed viewer went as far as dissecting Tom Holland's (Spider-Man/Peter Parker) Instagram story and noticed that the movie might feature a Muslim character. From there, we learned that the film will also feature two trans actors.
not only that, but we have two trans actors playing students as well, one of which is a black man. ffh is going to be a diverse masterpiece //t.co/4vSayiODb3
— juliah will never recover (@spideystights) September 30, 2018
"I have no idea who that girl from Tom Holland's ig story is playing in Spiderman Far From Home but if we're actually getting a Muslim character who's more than just an extra in the movie I'm gonna build Jon Watts a shrine," wrote @infinitystony.
While it's still unclear who the woman is, the fact that she's hanging with Tony Revolori (Flash Thompson) leads us to believe she's more than an extra.
"Not only that, but we have two trans actors playing students as well, one of which is a black man. ffh is going to be a diverse masterpiece," @spideystights responded.
According to Advocate, the two trans actors are named Zach Barack and Tyler Luke Cunningham. Barack is set to play a friend of Peter's whereas Cunningham is listed as a featured extra.
According to IMDB, Barack is an actor, singer, and comedian from the suburbs of Chicago. You can follow him on Instagram here.
"I've been so lucky this year," he wrote earlier in 2018. The above photo was taken at the Hollywood Improv Comedy Club.
Cunningham is an actor who was featured in five episodes of the BBC's Boy Meets Girl back in 2016. You can follow him on Instagram here.
The above post from October shows him rocking a Spidey jacket on location, which spanned from London to Prague to Venice.
Tom Holland also posted a photo of some of the Far From Home cast meeting Baz Luhrmann (director of Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet), which features Barack.
Last summer, it was revealed that the movie was looking to cast "an 18-22 year old of any ethnicity, to play a gender non-conforming student." Considering Barack is listed as playing a friend of Peter's, there's a good chance this role was ultimately filled by him.
Far From Home's director, Jon Watts, who also directed Spider-Man: Homecoming, felt that making the movie diverse was extremely important, especially since the teen characters are all from New York.
"The very first thing I made was a look book of what I wanted the world to look like and what the kids should look like and the high school should look like," he said back in 2017. "I lived in New York for thirteen years and it should look like a school in New York, it shouldn't look like a school in the Midwest in the 50s."
We appreciate Watts' outlook and we're excited to see more inclusion, especially for trans actors, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Spider-Man: Far From Home hits theaters on July 5, 2019.