This week, Andrew Garfield caused comics fans to literally (LITERALLY) explode when he asked a simple question to EW: What if Spidey was gay?
The actual full quote: “And I was like, ‘What if MJ is a dude?’ Why can’t we discover that Peter is exploring his sexuality? It’s hardly even groundbreaking!…So why can’t he be gay? Why can’t he be into boys?”
Good question, Andrew Garfield. Why can’t Peter Parker be gay? Well, I’ll tell you why.
Because after this article hit EW.com, the comments immediately started crying out against the idea. Because you “don’t change an established character like that,” or something. Because it’s promoting AN AGENDA to make Spider-man gay. Which agenda? I’m guessing the one that insists that gay people are a lot like straight people and don’t deserve the shit they get socially and legally and when it comes to the media.
It’s also because when Marvel ran an innocent image of Hulking and Wiccan from Children’s Crusade, showing the openly gay teens about to share an intimate moment, the Facebook comments blew up claiming Marvel was, once again, promoting an agenda. Or worse, corrupting youth by showing them gay superheroes and encouraging them to emulate them. Or something. Bonus points to all of the people claiming they were only going to buy DC comics in the future because DC wasn’t “shoving gays down their throats.” Here’s a tip for those people: start your new-found devotion to DC by reading Batwoman.
In short, Andrew Garfield, the answer is simple: there is no good reason that Spider-man CAN’T be gay.
Because all of these arguments are bullshit. “Purity” of the character? So, characters who were created in a different generation should never evolve and grow with the times? You want Superman to act and talk and look exactly how he did in Action #1?
No, you don’t. You probably love Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns which took a new look at the character. Or Extremis which changed the status quo for Tony Stark. And if you don’t want a gay Spider-man but are okay with the ending of Man of Steel, I hate you. Your call for “purity” of the character is bullshit.
As for “agendas,” what you mean by that is “doing things for the sake of selling comics.” Because this is a recent thing designed to destroy comics for straight men who love comics, because it’s only because of the feminists and the gays that this could happen. It’s not like Dick Grayson was introduced as Robin in order to sell comics. Or Jean Grey returning from the dead. Again.
Get over yourselves. Here is a fact: COMICS ARE A COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE. THEY ARE A BUSINESS. THE POINT OF THE COMICS INDUSTRY IS TO SELL COMICS. I mean, this doesn’t necessarily apply to indie comics, but we’re not talking about that. We’re talking about DC and Marvel and they want to fucking sell you things to make money off of you. This is not punk rock, this is not about keeping the message in the subculture, this is fucking comics. And here’s a fact you have to deal with as well: gay people buy comics. So do women. And they deserve to see themselves represented not just as minor characters or sidekicks.
So, what if Spider-man was gay? What if, straight male comics fans, you identified with a gay character? What if you could understand him and relate to him just the same as a gay or bi or bicurious character as you can when he’s written as straight?
What if identifying with a gay character means you might be gay?
What if you start thinking that you’re a little further along the Kinsey scale than you previously thought?
What if you realize you’re not totally turned off by the idea of kissing another guy, though maybe you’re not gonna go out looking for a chance to do so?
What if you’re asked to challenge your culturally and socially ingrained sense of masculinity and sexuality and it means you have to re-examine yourself and a lot of beliefs or stereotypes you didn’t even know affected you?
Now, lemme ask you again: Why can’t Spider-man be gay?
Ashly is an IHO Geek staff writer who wants you to keep things civil in the comments but isn’t necessarily holding her breath. She can also be found on Twitter (where she is more than willing to use the “block” function) @newageamazon
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So I thought the title was misleading, I honestly was expecting a reason why he can’t. I see plenty of reasons why he can, and of course you point out the absurd reasons why he can’t. Another point to add though is Marvel comics especially with the X-Men was designed to be an analogy with the civil rights movements of the 60’s. It’s no surprise that they are doing the same with homosexual rights. I’ll be honest I don’t want Peter Parker to be gay, but if there is another spider-man down the road (similar to what happened in the Ultimate series) then that’s completely okay. I think that though is just more of an attachment of who that character is.
steathgyro “stole” my response by being here first. There’s no reason why Spider-Man can’t be gay, but I’d balk if Peter were gay. Sure, comics are full of retcons, but that doesn’t mean I have to like retcons or think they aren’t full of crap. Pete’s always been chasing skirts let him keep his heteroness. Now, if he wants to step aside and let someone else take the Spidey Mantle, I don’t care if they’re gay, lesbian, or even a crossdresser. It’d be a new character to explore.
Heh, well, since he stole your response, I’ll leave my reply to both of you here.
I feel like “I don’t know that I could buy Peter as gay” is a much more valid argument than the general ones I’m talking about here. I can get that, in fact I think you’d have much more success making him bicurious and even THEN it would take a really strong writer to do so. I feel like there’s room to launch there (his superhero fanboy worship as a launching pad) but it’s like trying to get me to buy something different about one of my beloved characters: you’ve gotta do one hell of a job.
And I really appriciate people who don’t try to act like it’s some blasphemy to comic books to make a major established character gay.
Why can’t we change canon?
I was as far back as I could remember, I loved alternative universes, cross overs and anything unusual.
Don’t get me wrong, im not saying lets throw away history, but why can’t we make variations?
Just don’t give him organic web shooters. I don’t care how gay he is as along as he’s a scientist!
I’m gonna start a shit storm, but here goes…
Spider-man can’t be gay.
To explain why, I’m going to first address another popular comic character- Robin.
Batman was running around in clouds of thought bubbles that disconnected him from the audience. So Bob Kane gave us a sidekick that Batman could talk to; Robin.
But Robin did alot more for the young reader then act as a sounding board. He allowed the reader to become a part of the story. Robin WAS the reader. Robin made it possible for a little kid to save the day every time they picked up that comic book.
A side effect of that connection was a dramatic increase in sales.
Spider-Man became Marvel’s answer to Robin.
He was written to be ULTRA-RELATABLE to Marvel’s targeted demographic. He was a teen. He was into science. He was awkward.
But he also was smarter then people gave him credit for and kicked the crap outta the bad guys. He made it fun to be a hero.
Spider-man fans have grown up, but he’s still used as a gateway character for youth readers.
In the Ultimates universe, Peter died and we were introduced to Miles. I liked their call, because Peter had outgrown his demographic. Miles is everything to a modern reader that Peter was to us diehards. Like Miguel O’Hara before him, his stories allow him to be an ultra identifiable character without any unique attributes that distract from his vanilla teen existence.
Now, I need everyone here to understand that I’m not against comic book characters and stories that explore alternative forms of sexuality.
Both of the “Big 2” have opened their worlds in very tasteful ways.
But Spidey is hands off.
He’s a mediocre hero, but an AMAZING Character.
He was designed with a very special purpose that shouldn’t be messed with.
Well, to counter that I’ll point out that Spidey and Robin were both introduced during times where they were fairly groundbreaking as characters. You’re right, they were important as gateway characters.
But here’s the thing: in 2013, we are not exactly short on gateway characters for young male, assumed heterosexual, readers. Robin and Spidey both led to a ton of characters which helped get young boys into comics and that’s definitely important. At the same time, times have changed and we need gateway characters for other readers across the board, and I think a gay Spider-man would help that.
You look at media and you see shows like “United States of Tara,” “Glee” and “Teen Wolf” presenting normalized gay teenagers. And in those cases it’s easy to just introduce a new character in seasons 1-3 because you’ve got a few years of background rather than, say, 50. And I feel like showing this is important, not just as a demographic issue (like I said, gay people read comics books, so do women, so do people of color, etc.) but as a “trust me, you can relate to someone who isn’t EXACTLY like you in every single way.”
Why can’t Spider-man be fat?
Why can’t Spider-man be short?
Why can’t Spider-man be weak willed?
Why can’t Spider-man be a bigot?
Why can’t Spider-man be ugly?
It’s not just homosexuals who would like to be accepted into society on equal terms.
Okay, gonna deal with the more obvious stuff here first: while this article focuses on sexuality, I definitely agree that we need more representation across the board for minorities in comics. DC’s sacrifice of Oracle to the gods of the New 52 is part of what initiated my break-up with the company, and it’s sad that eliminating one character pretty much eliminates an entire demographic in your books. I and other writers on this site have written about similar issues here and elsewhere. I’m not saying sexuality trumps any of those, I’m saying in this particular instance Andrew Garfield said something, there was a shitstorm and that shitstorm was stupid.
But, um…did you REALLY just suggest we need more positive portrayals of bigots in mainstream comics?
So why don’t we need more bigots represented? If your opinion on sexuality is valid and should be respected, why shouldn’t theirs? Oh right…because nobody who disagrees with you has the right to an opinion. Typical liberal hypocrisy. If you truly believe in equality and fairness…which we know you don’t…you consider both views equally valid…even if you personally don’t agree with one of them.