Last year, Miles Morales made his big screen debut in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, showing us that audiences had no problem relating to a Spider-Man who was a person of color. But what about a wall-crawler who was also part of the LGBT community? Is that something that should happen and would fans be open to it?
The latter part of that question remains to be seen, but the first half has now been addressed by current Spider-Man Tom Holland, who reiterated that he definitely thinks there should be a gay Spidey. After showing support for it happening earlier this year, the actor once again said that he backs the idea, explaining as so:
“I think that would be a very progressive way to kind of create a new character,” Holland said. “So, yeah, I think there should be one day, and I hope that I get to share the screen with that person.”
While there aren’t any plans just yet to have a gay Spider-Man up on the big screen, Tom might get his wish should the rights to the webhead be returned to Disney and Marvel Studios. After all, Kevin Feige has already promised that the MCU will really focus on diversifying its roster of heroes in Phase Four.
Not only will we be getting the franchise’s first gay lead, who’ll appear in The Eternals, and the MCU’s first Asian superhero in Shang-Chi, but prominent African-American heroes like Ironheart and Namor, who’s often viewed as being of an Asian heritage, will be making their debuts in the next few years, too.
As for the chances of a gay Spider-Man, specifically, well, it’s not like Holland’s going to be replaced as Peter Parker. Whether the character’s rights stay at Sony or make their way back to Disney, Tom’s here to stay. But there’s no reason we can’t have two versions of the hero swinging around on screen. Especially with the concept of the multiverse really about to kick in thanks to Doctor Strange 2.
