My love of Spider-Man as a whole comes from Into the Spiderverse- adamantly not Across the Spiderverse, I didn't like it, but that's a different story- and Insomniac/Spider-Man PS4. And Spider-Man wasn't a foreign thing, I watched the original trilogy with Tobey Maguire when I was little and watching Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, and my family pulled me into the Marvel franchise so I watched the Tom Holland Spider-Man trilogy. But my love of Spider-Man comes distinctly from Into the Spiderverse and the lines, "Anyone can wear the mask. You can wear the mask."
I'm watching the Andrew Garfield movies now, and I realised something: The live-action Spider-Man movies are a stories of integrity. You do what's right, even if no one will thank you. Anyway Andrew Garfield is great and I like those movies but I can't convey why I like them so idk watch them yourself
The thing is: After watching the movies, you don't actually feel like you can be a hero. With the live-action movies, you can't picture yourself. And maybe that's just me, who knows, but for a character whose sole identity is someone who can reflect the audience... I don't know. You have a suit that hides everything, but under it all, you've got a heterosexual, white, middle-class man.
And then, there's Into the Spiderverse. And Spider-Man is still goofy, still does the right thing, still gets up when he's knocked down. It draws you in, and you find yourself rooting for Miles. But you can still see yourself in him- he struggles to adapt to school, he's awkward, he's got a weird relationship with his dad. There's Gwen, too, and the other Spiders.
I was 11 on the internet during the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming (which is awful to say as I sit at my college dorm desk), and it was... fine. New Spider-Man. The main thing that happened was more Marvel-Family fics. A year later, Into the Spiderverse came out, and suddenly, BAM. ANYONE can be Spider-Man, not just a person with the (American) majority of genetics. You get Spidersonas, you get Spider-Man AUs, and that spiked again after Across the Spiderverse.
All this is to say diversity is important. And I say this as I listen to this amazing video by Anthony Gramuglia. Saying "anyone can wear the mask" doesn't actually mean anything if you don't follow through. And, as shown by the success of Into the Spiderverse and the amount of LGBTQ+ and/or POC Spider-Folks people have created, it serves for a more impactful story.
Spider-Man is for everyone and anyone. Anyone can be friendly. Anyone can help out wherever they're needed. And anyone can be amazing. This shouldn't be a foreign concept. The only stories people don't get tired of hearing over and over again are love stories, so stop telling the same story of the same Spider-Man.
And for the love of everything worth enjoying, actually put effort into making and marketing it. Do it for the love of the game.
