Andrew Garfield has reiterated his support for a gay Spider-Man more than a decade after first suggesting the iconic superhero could explore his sexuality.
The actor, who played Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man films, revisited his comments from 2013 while promoting his new film The Uprising, saying he still believes the character should be open to wider representation.
Garfield originally sparked debate when he questioned why Spider-Man could not be attracted to men, suggesting at the time that the character’s long-standing love interest MJ could be reimagined as a male character.
Reflecting on those remarks in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Garfield said: “It was an exercise in rebellion that I felt passionate about. I just still believe that anyone can be in that suit.”
The Oscar-nominated actor said Spider-Man’s enduring appeal comes from the fact that audiences can see themselves in the masked superhero, regardless of their background.
“That’s the point of why it’s such a universally beloved character,” Garfield said. “You don’t see skin colour, you don’t see gender, you don’t see sexuality. Anyone can project themselves into that suit.”
Garfield added that he likes the idea of “a place where everyone is being honoured and everyone is being included”, describing his original comments as an attempt to ask: “Why not?”
During his 2013 press tour for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Garfield suggested Peter Parker could be exploring his sexuality and floated the idea of actor Michael B. Jordan playing a male version of MJ.
While Garfield has continued to champion a more inclusive vision of the character, no live-action Spider-Man film has featured an gay version of Peter Parker. Tom Holland currently plays Spider-Man on the big screen, while Marvel’s wider Spider-Verse has introduced a number of alternative Spider-People in comics and animation.
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