Op-Ed: Andrew Garfield and the Possibility of a Major Superhero Being Gay

Fanboys seem to be having an interesting week. Pacific Rim has arrived to wildly divisive response, Comic-Con fever is about to hit and we’re in the thick of the summer movie season. But the biggest news of the week was derived from an interview with current Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield in which he tells Entertainment Weekly that he talked with his director about the possibility of MJ being played by Fruitvale Station actor Michael B. Jordan. Not only would Spidey then get a male love interest but have an interracial relationship, which is rare on screen in any movie, let alone a superhero one.

Recently, he says, he had a philosophical discussion with producer Matt Tolmach about Mary Jane or “MJ” to fans. “I was kind of joking, but kind of not joking about MJ,” he tells EW. “And 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?” Garfield even has an actor in mind: “I’ve been obsessed with Michael B. Jordan since The Wire. He’s so charismatic and talented. It’d be even better—we’d have interracial bisexuality!” The star has clearly suggested a sexually flexible Spidey to his director, Marc Webb, as well.

First of all, when I read this I cackled audibly at the innate foolishness and incredibly amazing thing that this could actually be. It’s hilarious to me that Garfield would select Michael B Jordan as his MJ and I’d give anything to see this happen just so that Michael could avoid that Fantastic Four remake he’s been rumored for. But what’s so amazing about this is that Garfield never comes off as if he’s joking or making light of the possibility of flexible sexuality of his character, something that incredibly refreshing.

In terms of an actual plot line, I don’t think this will work for this Spider-Man franchise just because logistically they’ve attempted to weave in MJ with Shailene Woodley (although they recently cut her out and might be brining in Holland Roden). But if Jordan were to play a different character other than MJ I couldn’t see why this type of storyline wouldn’t work. There have been gay characters in comics and given that cannon behind characters is changed all the time in the actual comics, it’s certainly doable. Also in the plus column, this is a REBOOT. They can shape and craft the story however they want, given the freedom they’re afforded.

The bigger issue here is whether any major studio would introduce a same sex love interest for any of their major properties. We can talk all we want about equality, but for all intents and purposes, comic books and films are one of the last bastions of culture that’s not ripe to fully embrace this. There’s a myriad of reasons from the sociological (the fanboys who used to be persecuted are now the establishment) to the basic (stories are just told from a straight perspective). I’m reminded of the wonderful book The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay in terms of why this is the case. The main roadblock standing in the way of more fluid sexuality amongst these superheroes is money. If movie studios were guaranteed they’d still make the same money with major same sex love interests, they’d crank them out like hotcakes. But unfortunately, the established status quo is much safer. Like Alyssa Rosenberg mentions in her article regarding this issue, studios are loathe to try for anything different, even when it comes to rebooted properties. It’s disappointing, but I wonder if we’ll ever reach a tipping point where audiences aren’t just gonna keep clamoring for the same thing over and over just with new actors.

Verdict: Sexy times between Garfield and Jordan unlikely.

P.S. The only thing that would give me pause about this is that apparently Spidey has another man in his life. I had no idea people shipped Spideypool till I got on tumblr and seeing as how Deadpool was portrayed by Ryan Reynolds, I’d DIE to see them on screen together.