Why Hollywood isn't seeking Americans to portray superheroes
Leigh Scott writes on Big Hollywood of how Tinseltown has given the roles of comics heroes like Superman, Spider-Man, and even Batman to British born actors of recent. While this does have plenty to ponder in how, unlike other countries, American is more open to letting foreigners try their stuff on national treasures, it did make me think of something more in relation to the comics medium itself: why, whenever DC/Marvel hire a writer - if not an artist - from a foreign country, it almost always seems to be one from Britain? Why not writers from Australia and New Zealand, or even France, Portugal, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Serbia, Estonia, Romania, Ghana, Korea, Japan, or other non-English speaking countries? Do they not have the talent it takes to tackle a writing gig for an American comic book?
My guess is that it's because, unlike the UK's Mark Millar, Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis, a writer from some of these aforementioned countries wouldn't have the same bleak, downbeat approach they could, laced with hyperviolence. It's quite possible that some Australian based writers with potential could indeed wish to take a more optimistic approach than what the British ones do, and TPTB wouldn't allow it, discouraging them from ever seeking a comics writing gig with DC and Marvel.
And on top of all that, the truth is that foreign based writers from outside the American continent aren't being given a chance to tackle American comics, unlike American movies, where they could be. Which could also provide another clue to how the comics medium isn't very "diverse".
Going back to the subject of movies, it looks as though the upcoming Superman film may not have Lois Lane in it, similar to how the Spider-Man reboot won't have Mary Jane Watson.
My guess is that it's because, unlike the UK's Mark Millar, Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis, a writer from some of these aforementioned countries wouldn't have the same bleak, downbeat approach they could, laced with hyperviolence. It's quite possible that some Australian based writers with potential could indeed wish to take a more optimistic approach than what the British ones do, and TPTB wouldn't allow it, discouraging them from ever seeking a comics writing gig with DC and Marvel.
And on top of all that, the truth is that foreign based writers from outside the American continent aren't being given a chance to tackle American comics, unlike American movies, where they could be. Which could also provide another clue to how the comics medium isn't very "diverse".
Going back to the subject of movies, it looks as though the upcoming Superman film may not have Lois Lane in it, similar to how the Spider-Man reboot won't have Mary Jane Watson.
Labels: Batman, Spider-Man, Superman
