The Real Reason Spider-Man: Homecoming Got Diversity Right

The sequence in Spider-Man: Homecoming that deserves the most praise was also the moment I realized the creative team was on another level. It was not only the best and most well-acted scene in the movie, it was a straight up “Oh, shit” moment.

Caution. Spoilers ahead.

If you haven’t guessed already, I’m talking about the scene where Adrian Toomes, aka The Vulture, is revealed to be Liz’s father. Liz, of course, is Peter Parker’s crush. She’s the head of the academic decathlon team, a senior and a woman of color. So when Peter heads over to her fancy home to pick her up for the homecoming dance, he was shocked to see who her father is. And not because he’s white, but because he’s The Vulture. The villain’s reveal, of course, overshadowed this fact. To many fans in the audience, this situation was probably a double whammy. When Liz’s mother walks into the kitchen, there was a second big, “Ohhh.”

The Vulture being Liz’s father may have felt out of the realm of possibility, not only because we never see this in movies, especially not done correctly, but also because mixed race relationships are often only depicted in just one way. As Marc Bernardin articulately says on the Fatman on Batman , this is “diversity as subversity.” The casting directors very well could have put an actor such as Zendaya in this role. She’s a woman of mixed race, and her features back most of society’s understanding of what mixed race people look like. But the fact of the matter is, a lot of people who are mixed race don’t necessarily look mixed race in the way society defines it. Biracial people are often identified by others as either one race or the other. There’s no real reason Liz couldn’t be mixed race.

“You don’t think it possible because your brain doesn't go there, your brain won't connect those dots. But of course it’s possible,” Bernardin added. “Why couldn’t a white dude be married to a black lady who has a mixed race kid.”

While Spider-Man: Homecoming made amazing casting decisions with Ned Leeds, Flash Thompson, MJ and Liz, the writing for these roles was even better. I hate the word diversity because it often relegates minority actors to roles as placemats and “tokens.” But this was one of many refreshing moments in the film that not only defied stereotypes, but informed young audiences what diversity should really mean.