Spider-Man Actor: Beloved Hero Might Just Be Gay, 'World Isn't as Simple as a Straight White Guy'
The actor who plays Spider-Man in “Spider-Man: Far from Home” has said he is fine with Spider-Man being gay.
Actor Tom Holland told the Sunday Times, in a widely replicated interview, that there is a vast web of complexity to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“The world isn’t as simple as a straight white guy,” he said, according to The Daily Wire. “It doesn’t end there, and these films need to represent more than one type of person.”
Holland said he’s not giving out inside knowledge about his character, because there is nothing definite.
“I can’t talk about the future of the character because honestly I don’t know and it’s out of my hands,” Holland, 23, said.
“But I do know a lot about the future of Marvel, and they are going to be representing lots of different people in the next few years,” he said.
The comment triggered extensive discussion on Twitter.
I’m just saying, Spider Man can’t be gay because his biggest weakness is his loved ones, MJ and Aunt May. Other heros, absolutely, 10p% can and are gay, and it fits their story.
— Nikolas Rivera (@Nik42R) July 5, 2019
i’m gay, i don’t think everything needs to be socially aware. Spider ? man doesn’t need a sexuality change just bc it’s 2019 and everyone is trying to incorporate that into their stories. it’s just not a relevant change. in my opinion
— شاي (@shay_venti) July 5, 2019
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has indicated that Marvel would be having an LGBTQ hero in the future.
“Avengers: Endgame” did include a gay character — Grieving Man.
The character, who talked about a man he was dating, had a small role, however.
One critic said it was too little, too late.
“As disappointing as [previous] missed opportunities for queer representation were, none of them stung anywhere nearly as much as the Grieving Man’s introduction inadvertently does, because his presence comes across like an inconsequential afterthought,” Charles Pulliam-Moore wrote for Gizmodo.
However, Feige said Marvel’s intent was not to make a big deal about its first gay character.
“That was never meant to be our first focused character,” Feige told Gizmodo.
“That was just meant to be a matter of fact and a matter of life and a matter of truth. And I liked it that our hero, Steve Rogers, doesn’t blink an eye at that fact,” he said.
“It is just truth and is heartbreaking for his loss and for the life he’s trying to put back together. It was never meant to be looked at as our first hero. I guess it’s the first reference so it does, of course, get a lot of attention.”
Feige’s advice to viewers was to stay tuned.
“We haven’t been shy about saying that that’s coming and that there’s much more prominent LGBT heroes in the future,” he said, adding that the character’s time was “coming soon.”
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