'Spider-Man: Far From Home' casts trans actors in Marvel blockbuster
The internet was buzzing earlier this week as the first trailer for "Spider-Man: Far From Home" was released by Marvel, featuring Spidey and film star Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio.
But the web is also excited about the film for reasons beyond the main players. Marvel has cast trans actor Zach Barack as one of Peter Parker's buddies who travels with him to Venice on a high school field trip.
The 22-year-old actor hails from Evanston, Illinois and is an actor, singer and comedian. This marks one of the first times a trans actor has been featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In Barack's Instagram posts, you can see the actor alongside good buddy Jacob Batalon, who plays Peter's bestie Ned in the upcoming Marvel film.
Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland, posted a group shot of the cast, including Barack. The gang is certainly all here!
In addition to Barack, The Advocate reports the film also cast trans actor Tyler Luke Cunningham as a featured extra.
"Spider-Man" follows popular CW show "Supergirl," which cast 21-year-old Nicole Maines to play hero Dreamer. In the show, Dreamer is transgender, like the actress, but she doesn't let this define her in any way, other than just always fighting for what's right.
Maines, a transgender activist and actress, knows how special this season was for actors like Barack.
"If I had had a trans superhero, someone who looks like me wearing a cape, [while] growing up, that would have changed the game," the actress recently told USA TODAY. "That would have been an entire new level of validation in myself to think that I can be a superhero!"
"Marvel-ous" and "Super" indeed!
Marvel and ABC News are both owned by parent company Disney.
