That gaping hole in my soul

Yeah, so today's the day I'd usually be talking about last night's "Lost." Except, there is no more last night's "Lost." I'm sure that like any loss, I'll one day feel whole again, but it would sure help if Evangeline Lilly were here to kiss the boo-boos and make it all better. Instead, there's news that another sexy Lostie is about to get a shot at fame and fortune. Avengers News says that Josh Holloway, he of chesty glory, has been picked up to...do something in some movie. Yeah, that's as specific as they get. He's been tasked to play "a major role" in "an upcoming movie." Many have started inserting him instantly into The Avengers in every role from Ant-Man to Dum-Dum Dugan (yes, somehow someone heard "major role" and thought "Dum-Dum Dugan"). I think the former is more likely, although there's still the chance that the studio ditched Jeremy Renner and inserted Holloway into the Hawkeye role, which is about the best fit I could see for him. Then again, who is to say that this isn't for some other movie? A headliner in some other film we're not thinking of? I mean, seeing as how even though I love the guy I acknowledge the only superhero that springs to mind for him is Gambit and that's at another studio, it could be absolutely any other role (except Black Panther).

All I know is that whatever role he is in better have a few of these in the script:



Speaking of Marvel casting, I still haven't given up on the #donald4spiderman twitter campaign, and you shouldn't either. The more I think about it, the better of an idea it is. I will say that all the hate directed on the interwebs about the race issue is enough to make me champion this cause extra hard. I talked to a guy (non-hate-filled, but not exactly open-minded) on Twitter yesterday who said "What if they offered Luke Cage to a white guy." I explained how stupid that would be, on account of his race being KEY to his character. Facts are facts: Spider-man is my favorite character, I've studied him for years, and he doesn't have to be white. He does need to be funny and played with affection: He needs to be Don Glover.

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I want Dong Lover for Spider-man...I mean, Don Glover. Sorry.

My passion, yes I said passion, for Don Glover dates back to the first time someone showed me a YouTube video for Derek's Comedy. Within an hour, I had watched everything the small-time comedy troupe had assembled and nearly burst my pancreas laughing. To take nothing away from the rest of the boys in that ensemble, there was no question that Glover was going to be stupid-mega-famous (you just don't think up a sketch like "Spelling Bee" and not end up a comedy god). In short order, he was writing for "30 Rock" during their best period and hopped onto my favorite comedy on television ("Community"), where he crafted my favorite moment in NBC comedy history (I won't post it again here, but let me just say "Donde esta la biblioteca?"). I follow him on Twitter, I loved his stand-up routine special on Comedy Central, I thought Mystery Team was perhaps the funniest movie in 3-5 years, and over the weekend I found out his latest ambition: He wants to play Spider-man.

There's every possibility that this started as a joke, but I don't think it is anymore and I don't think it should be. You're talking to a man drinking out of a Spider-man coffee cup, sitting in front of a wall decorated with a Romita Legacy Spidey print, beneath shelves holding various Spider-man mini-busts, and directly below a skateboard hand-decorated by a friend that depicts ME as Spider-man. I love the character just a wee bit...and I don't care if he's black. More than that, I would love it if he was. You could argue that ANY superhero could be given a racial makeover, but that's kind of not true. Circumstances for some really would require bending or changing significant aspects of their identity. Not true with Spidey. He's a smart, nerdy high-school student who is being raised by his aunt and uncle in New York City. Not only is there nothing in his origin that demands white skin...it makes literally just as much sense for him to be black. So now that we've moved past the most obvious element, we can get into the other questions. Don is lean-built, hilarious, and has a baby face that means he can play high-school age easily. The biggest thing missing from these movies has been Spidey's wit, and I can't think of anyone better to incorporate that aspect. Okay, so what now? Well, in the same way that America caught "Bieber fever," we need to leverage social media. It got Betty White on SNL and it can get Don Glover an audition for Spidey. #donald4spiderman is the hash tag you want to dump on Twitter. Also, by now there's a facebook group with a few thousand fans you should join. Do I think that Sony, a studio that jettisoned a profitable franchise, is going to bow to Internet pressure and let a black man who has never been in a major movie and who is way outside their targeted age group play Spider-man? No. Do I think he's the most refreshing and possibly best choice? Hell yes. Let's at least see if we can get someone to entertain such a notion, shall we?

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