Andrew Garfield has reflected on comments he made in 2013, speculating that Spider-Man could be portrayed as gay.
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The Oscar nominee played the webslinger in The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012, along with its sequel in 2014. He would leave the role until 2021, when he returned as part of a multiverse team-up with Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
During his time in the role in 2013, he said to Entertainment Weekly: “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?”
Now, Garfield has doubled down on that opinion, telling the same outlet in an interview published Monday (August 31): “It was an exercise in rebellion that I felt passionate about. I just still believe that anyone can be in that suit.” He then explained that the reason for the character’s appeal is its possibility for diversity.
“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,” he continued, “is because you don’t see skin colour, you don’t see gender, you don’t see sexuality. Anyone can project themselves into that suit.”
He concluded: “I like the idea of a place where everyone is being honoured 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.” The actor spoke while promoting his new film, The Uprising, which is in UK cinemas from October 9.
In June, Luca Guadagnino’s film about OpenAI, which stars Garfield, was dropped by Amazon, just months after the company announced a $50billion (£36.9billion) investment in the AI firm.
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