Marvel Introduces The First Gay Spider-Man In Upcoming Comic

The Spider-verse continues to grow folks! With the new Edge of Spider-Verse #5 which is a patch in the larger quilt coming dubbed The End of Spider-Verse, artists Steve Foxe and Kris Anka introduce Web-Weaver. This rendition of the character will be the first gay Spider-Man. In the art, he is seen embracing his femme side and working fashionably with his suit, ComicBook.com reported. 

Steve Foxe, however, wrote on his now-private Twitter account, “Something I realized immediately when conceiving Web-Weaver is that he can't--and shouldn't--represent ALL gay men. No single character can. His fearlessly femme identity is central to who he is, but it's not the STORY...which you can experience for yourself in September!”

Anka described the character, Web-Weaver in their Twitter post saying, “A not-so-mild mannered fashion designer at Van Dyne gets spider-powers and shows us a very different kind of Spider-Slayer.” In addition to this Spider-Man, there is another too, described as, “HUNTER-SPIDER: Imagine a world where Sergei Kravinoff got Spider-Powers. You are not ready for the most hardcore Spider yet!” All of these spiders are teased to come together for a larger crossover event. “Both of these and Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, the filmmakers behind the Spider-Verse movies, create a new Spider just in time for the END OF THE SPIDER-VERSE!", Anka writes in her post. 

The artist also added where they got the inspiration for this character, explaining, “from the jump, I looked at a lot of McQueen and Mugler for this as inspiration. I cast a wide net for the original designs while also looking at new and unique spiders that @steve_foxe has recommended, which eventually paired [sic] down to this look.” This sort of news generally carry an avalanche of controversy within the community, making headlines and inciting passionate responses online. In extreme cases, fans bring in Stan Lee, the creator of the character when one user named, Eduardo Lanza said, “Dude why do you have to ruin Spider-Man? Stan Lee said not to make him gay, your doing something out of some else idea, changing a few things and calling it original character. Don't you brainstorm before this kind of things?” 

Meanwhile, other fans are concerned that the character when shown as effeminate or campy only caters to a certain form of representation of queer people. One user named, Ancient-Onyx, said, “I respect what they're doing.........but making the first gay Spiderman Effeminite and Camp could be really tone deaf depending on how he's written...I would have rather had a Peter who acts like the Peter we already know but he's in love with another guy.” These kinds of conversations online while do create space for productive conversation, more often than not become aggressive. 

With the storm of this backlash and support, Marvel goes forward with releasing the series, with the first two issues out from the series. The fifth issue introducing this character will be out in September.