Tom Holland Says 'Of Course' Spider-Man Can Be Gay

Recently, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen a massive expansion of its diversity, shining a spotlight on characters of color in Black Panther, giving a woman the leading role in Captain Marvel, and casting their first transgender film actor in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Recently, Far From Home’s star, Tom Holland, suggested that it’s possible to go even further with his own character, saying he was open to Spider-Man being gay.

In an interview with The Sunday Times (via IndieWire), Holland answered “Of course” when asked if Spider-Man could be gay, adding:

“I can’t talk about the future of the character because honestly I don’t know and it’s out of my hands. But I do know a lot about the future of Marvel, and they are going to be representing lots of different people in the next few years."

“The world isn’t as simple as a straight white guy,” Holland added. “It doesn’t end there, and these films need to represent more than one type of person.”

Though there have been no plans announced to make Spider-Man part of the LGBTQ+ community, Marvel is aiming to introduce more representation in its upcoming films, with studio head Kevin Feige saying, per IndieWire, that the next phase of films will introduce an openly gay protagonist. Though some characters, such as Valkyrie, have been thought by fans and creators to be implicitly part of the LGBTQ+ community, no character has been explicitly out.

This comes after Marvel Studios received some backlash for Avengers; Endgame, when it advertised the first appearance of a gay character--who, in the end, was only a brief cameo role played by director Joe Russo.

In any case, we think Holland is right on the money--the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a great platform for promoting and reflecting diversity, and it can only get better by including more kinds of people.