Some old comments made by former Spider-Man Andrew Garfield resurfaced this week after he was asked about them again, and caused an entirely predictable mini-storm online entirely of his own making.
Way back when doing promotion for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in 2013, just as “woke” was beginning the super-mega-turbo cancer-like phase of its spread across pop culture and media, Garfield was asked why there had not yet been a gay Spider-Man. He responded that he had discussed gender-swapping MJ with producer Matt Tolmach in a “joking / not joking” kind of way.
“I was kind of joking, but kind of not joking about MJ… 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?”
At the time, it caused a stir online, even pre-TikTok.
Out promoting Paul Greengrass’s The Uprising, Garfield was again asked about these comments by EW, to reflect on those comments. He had this to say:
“It was an exercise in rebellion that I felt passionate about. I just still believe that anyone can be in that suit.
That’s the point of why it’s such a kind of universally beloved character, one of the greatly beloved characters in the history of fiction is because you don’t see skin color, you don’t see gender, you don’t see sexuality. Anyone can project themselves into that suit.
I like the idea of a place where everyone is being honored and everyone is being included, and it was just a kind of act of saying, ‘Well, why not?’ And you’ll be telling on yourself if you have a strong opinion either way.”
Christ, it’s like a 2018 press training crib sheet of acceptable talking points. He’s only got to mention climate change and he’s got the full house. His programming has taken well and the Hollywood hivemind is pleased.
Anyway, in the process of all this nonsense one interesting thing has been revealed. Marvel has had the foresight to protect a lot of their IP from Hollywood progressive moronism through the insertion of enduring, non-negotiable contract terms. No matter how much a writers room may want to push their agenda on things, they can’t because they simply aren’t allowed.
The ever-lasting contract clause in relation to Spider-Man insists that Peter Parker must be portrayed as a Caucasian male, strictly heterosexual. He must be raised by Aunt May and Uncle Ben in Queens, New York, and get his powers from a spider bite. He can’t smoke, use illegal drugs, or kill except in self-defense.
So there!
These clauses seem like a great idea. I hope they catch on.
