Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is, in fact, “annoying and woke,” no matter what star Hudson Thames has to say about it. The voice actor’s recent interview with Collider is going viral for all the wrong reasons after he shared his thoughts on the new series.
“I thought it was awesome. I mean, my biggest fear was that it was gonna be annoying and woke, and it wasn’t,” Thames said. “I was like, ‘Yes, this is great, it’s so well written,’ like it feels real. I’m the oldest of five boys, so I feel like I kind of know what’s happening in their lives and in high school, and it felt like it was doing that justice.”
It’s unclear exactly what Thames meant by “woke,” but given that Thames said it with a negative connotation and paired it with “annoying,” the internet’s in agreement that he was likely critiquing diversity and inclusion in media, specifically representations of queer people and people of color. Needless to say, it’s a major disappointment and is hampering lots of the series’ hype.
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But if Thames is claiming that the series isn’t “woke,” he’s sorely mistaken. Both on-screen and behind the scenes, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is chock full of diversity. Alongside Thames, the series stars out gay actor and Oscar nominee Colman Domingo. It also features one of Marvel’s foremost bisexual characters, Nico Minoru (voiced by Grace Song), who’s already been confirmed as queer in the series’ first two episodes. That’s not to mention the series’ accurately diverse depiction of New York City, where the series is set.
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Then there’s Spider-Man himself, aka Peter Parker, who’s always stood up for the underdog. In modern day New York City, who is that if not marginalized community members like queer folks and people of color?
All this is to say that despite Thames’ hypocritical take on the show, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man still offers plenty for fans to love, including both quality representation and a satisfying superhero story. The first two episodes are out now on Disney+, with new episodes releasing every Wednesday. Check out the trailer below.
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