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16 January 2019

‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ praised for being the first Marvel film to cast out trans actors

Zach Barack and Tyler Luke Cunningham will star alongside Tom Holland in the upcoming movie

By Steve Brown

Spider-Man: Far From Home has been praised for being the first Marvel film to cast trans actors.

The trailer for the highly anticipated sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming was released yesterday and fans cannot wait to see Tom Holland reprising his role as the iconic webslinger and see Jake Gyllenhaal make his Marvel debut as villain Mysterio.

But the upcoming film has also been praised for casting two trans actors – American actor Zach Barack and British star Tyler Luke Cunningham – cast to play Peter Parker’s classmates as they travel through Europe.

Following the release of the trailer, Barack took to Twitter to celebrate his trans identity and wrote: “Being able to work with other trans people is a gift. Trans people are a gift. Im so lucky to be me”

The film has also been praised for having a diverse cast and has been described as a “diverse masterpiece” with its trans inclusion and ethnic minority cast members.

They wrote: “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”

LGBT+ characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and other comic book movies has been extremely under-represented despite there being dozens of out superheroes in the comics.

In Thor: Ragnarok, Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie was intended to be bisexual but her ‘coming out’ scene was edited out of the final cut.

Let’s hope, Barack and Cunningham’s casting as featured extras will pave way for a more inclusive MCU.

Watch the trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home below:

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