13 Years Later, Andrew Garfield Still Wants a Gay Spider-Man in The Franchise

Andrew Garfield hasn’t worn the Spider-Man suit in a while, but he’s still fighting one particular battle for the character. In 2013, while promoting his run as Peter Parker, Garfield sat down with Entertainment Weekly and floated an idea that lit up the internet.

He had been talking with producer Matt Tolmach about the character’s love life, and wondered aloud what would happen if Mary Jane Watson were a man. He asked aloud during the interview, “Why can’t he be gay? Why can’t he be into boys?” While it caught attention, even Stan Lee brushed the idea off as a joke.

Thirteen years later, Garfield hasn’t budged. Speaking to the same outlet in a recent interview, the 43-year-old actor was reminded of those old comments. He didn’t walk them back. Instead, he called the original remarks an act of rebellion he genuinely believed in, and doubled down on why the mask itself is the whole point of the character. He shared (via Entertainment Weekly):

He further shared that he liked the idea of a place where “everyone is being honored and everyone is being included.” It remains to be seen whether the actor’s suggestion would be taken seriously this time around.

Andrew Garfield Suggested Who Should Play Opposite a Queer Spider-Man

Andrew Garfield’s 2013 pitch didn’t stop at a hypothetical. He also pitched a name who could play opposite his bis*xual Spider-Man. He shared that he had been a fan of Michael B. Jordan since The Wire and believed that he would be perfect in the male MJ role. He believed that this casting choice would have made Peter Parker’s love story both queer and interracial in one go. He shared:

We all know that Garfield’s dream didn’t come true. But Jordan found his own path into Marvel as Erik Killmonger, the Black Panther villain, which was widely praised as one of the MCU’s best villain turns and a major reason the film became a cultural event.

The franchise did open up to inclusive ideas, just not on the live-action side. Sony’s animated Spider-Verse films built an entire multiverse on the premise Garfield was arguing for. Miles Morales, a Black Puerto Rican teenager from Brooklyn, became the lead of two of the most acclaimed Spider-Man movies ever made. Alongside him came characters like Gwen Stacy’s Spider-Woman, Peni Parker, Spider-Man Noir, and a talking pig.

Marvel Comics Already Has a Gay Spider-Man Awaiting Adaptation

Cooper Coen, aka Web-Weaver | Credits: Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics already has a gay Spider-Man. In 2022’s Edge of Spider-Verse #5, writer Steve Foxe and artist Kris Anka (interior art for the issue was given by Kei Zama) introduced Cooper Coen, also known as Web-Weaver, who is the first openly gay Spider-Man in the comics. Cooper’s origin flips the familiar story.

On a school field trip, he saved his crush, Peter Parker, from a radioactive spider and took the bite himself. Kicked out by homophobic parents, he moved in with his aunts, went to fashion school, and landed a job designing at Janet van Dyne’s fashion house. He built his own suit, obviously, and it looks incredible.

He’s a ready-made adaptation waiting to happen, and the multiverse gives Marvel an easy door. Spider-Man: Brand New Day has already crossed $2 billion worldwide, so the franchise has room to experiment. Tom Holland told Esquire UK he’d be glad to hand the role to a younger actor eventually, floating Adolescence star Owen Cooper’s name, and said he would want to mentor whoever comes next, the way Robert Downey Jr. mentored him.

Holland isn’t done yet. But a future where several Spider-Men share the screen, with Holland’s Peter as the veteran and Miles Morales finally in live-action, no longer sounds far-fetched.

What do you think of Andrew Garfield’s suggestion? Let us know in the comments below!