Recasting for Inclusion or Illusion

By Andrew Xie May 20, 2026

On March 12 2023, the trailer for the live-action adaptation of the animated film “The Little Mermaid” dropped online and, within hours, garnered tens of millions of views. Online, two sides emerged almost immediately: one flooded with parents sharing videos of their young daughters joyously pointing at the girl on the screen, and another filled with fans of the original, frustrated that something fundamental to the film was lost. When Halle Bailey, a Black singer and actress, was cast as Ariel, the internet made it clear that Hollywood had struck a nerve by reimagining a beloved icon. This casting decision, along with many others, has split audiences—some celebrate it as long-overdue progress towards diversity and equality, but others criticize it, feeling that a character from their childhood had been unnecessarily tampered with. While the push for diversity in popular media is both necessary and legitimate, recasting established characters is a shortcut that often stirs more controversy than actually advancing representation. Instead of simply swapping faces on old templates, studios should invest in new characters whose diverse identities are built into the narrative from page one.

For decades, Hollywood’s default lead was white, leaving entire demographics without a reflection of themselves on the big screen. Recasting legacy characters offers a fast track to correcting that imbalance, rather than taking the risk of building a new character from scratch.

Yet, the criticism is not as simple as it may seem. Although some of the pushback may be due to blatant racism, many of those who push back against diversity recastings are not opposed to representation. If a character’s race is being changed to show a shift towards inclusivity, a more meaningful choice would be to create a brand-new character with that diverse identity built into their story in a significant way. Swapping a character’s face without changing anything else can reduce diversity to an insincere gesture. This cycle continues with the casting of Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape in HBO’s upcoming “Harry Potter” series and Zendaya as Athena in Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.”

The stronger path forward is one Hollywood has already proven to work, but rarely chooses to execute. Debuting in the 2018 animated film “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Miles Morales brought a fresh Afro-Latino identity to one of the most recognizable characters in popular culture. By offering a unique take on the Spider-Man story rather than simply replacing Peter Parker, he expanded what it meant to be Spider-Man entirely. The film and its sequel, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in their respective years. Morales succeeded because his journey was genuine, relatable and entirely his own.

“Miles Morales has had so much success in the mainstream because his story was never anyone else’s. Rather than being handed a legacy and told to conform to it, he paved his own. This is what it means to actually show diversity in popular media,” said Sophomore Lucas Sutijono.

The success of characters like Miles Morales has made it clear that audiences are not against diversity in the media that they consume. “Black Panther” proved that audiences crave original, diverse worlds, while the “Star Wars” sequels expanded their reach by introducing new protagonists like Rey and Finn instead of recasting legacy icons.

The next steps towards progress should not simply consist of a shallow race swap of iconic characters, but the creation of new characters with original stories that bring both diversity and depth to the industry. Hollywood’s representation issue stems from studios choosing the path of least resistance over the work of original creation.

---

About the Contributors

Andrew Xie

Staff Writer

Andrew Xie is a sophomore at Leland High School and the Sports and Opinions Page Editor for The Charger Account. When he's not sleeping in on weekends, you can find him playing video games, watching movies, or hanging out with friends.