Is Spider-Man Gay, Bisexual or Straight? What Is Marvel Canon?
There are a lot of iconic Marvel superheroes, but Spider-Man takes the title as the most consistently loveable character by the fans. Of course, sexual discourse in popular culture is always apparent among the fans, particularly Spider-Man’s preferences. Because of that, we will analyze the most notable versions of Spider-Man, whether they are gay, bisexual, or straight, and see what Marvel canon truly is.
Spider-Man is straight, according to Marvel canon. The creator of the character Stan Lee, publicly discussed that the character of Peter Parker’s Spider-Man should not change from the original version, which was him loving ladies. However, there are some subtle hints in the comics of Spider-Man being bisexual – encounters with Deadpool, Johnny Storm, and other fellow Marvel characters. Sony’s version of the superhero still loves ladies, but Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland said multiple times that they would not mind exploring Peter Parker’s sexuality further.
We will discuss this topic more by mentioning each notable version of the character, their partners in the comics, mention Sony Cinematic Universe canon, and some opinions from creators and actors that worked on Spider-Man movies. If you are interested in the preferences of the most likable Marvel superhero, stay with us until the end of the article.
Spider-Man’s Relationships in Marvel Comics and Movies
The era of 1960s comics was the decade of change, and Marvel started creating characters that are not your usual perfect characters but ones that are flawed and are dealing with everyday problems. Spider-Man was also unique in another department – he was a teenager who learned how to be a superhero by himself. Bucky’s and Robin’s as teenage sidekicks to badass, more experienced superheroes were not a sole thing anymore. People welcomed Peter Parker with open hands, especially younger audiences.
Being so impactful to the fans and popular culture, Peter Parker as Spider-Man became a “lovechild” of the Marvel universe. With the discussions about sexuality becoming less of a taboo, Spider-Man became part of the conversation.
First Spider-Man Peter Parker is the most notable version of Spider-Man, and he had a handful of relationships that impacted his character massively. His first crush in high school was Liz Allan, and his first date was with Betty Brant, a secretary to the Daily Bugle newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson. The relationship was present, but the pair broke up pretty fast.
After breaking up with Betty, Peter Parker meets the love of his life, Gwen Stacy, whom he met in college. Gwen was Peter’s first love, and her presence and love impacted him greatly. Unfortunately, Gwen Stacy died in the comics with her father, an NYPD Detective Captain, George Stacy. Green Goblin killed off both father and daughter in the comics.
Gwen Stacy’s death was impactful, and the fans were also shocked by this development. However, Peter Parker had to move on and meet Mary Jane Watson, his best friend, and later wife. She is probably the most significant love interest of Spider-Man, and her relationship with Peter has ups and downs.
When he wasn’t with Mary Jane, Spider-Man had a passionate relationship with the antihero Black Cat, also known as Felicia Hardy. Other love interests of Spider-Man also include Cindy Moon and Carlie Cooper.
In the live-action, more specifically, Sony Cinematic Universe, Peter Parker had relationships with Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy – the first one being with Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, while Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man was in a relationship with Gwen Stacy.
Another notable version of Spider-Man is Miles Morales, still a fairly new spider in the Marvel comics but not less popular. Some fans reluctantly received this young teenager at the beginning since he replaced the deceased Peter Parker. Still, his comic book stories were amazingly good, and the fans started to like the character pretty fast.
An alternate version of Miles Morales was in a relationship with the alternated version of Katherine Bishop in our universe known as Hawkeye. Miles also displayed crushes on Spider-Gwen, an alternate version of Gwen Stacy. The radioactive spider beat her in place of Peter Parker in the critically acclaimed animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse.
Miles also has a crush on Kamala Khan, also known as Ms. Marvel, in the comics, but recently got in a relationship with the granddaughter of Spider-Man’s enemy Vulture, Starling, also known as Liz Allen. This relationship reflects the one Peter Parker had with Felicia Hardy, Black Cat – it is complicated.
Thirty more versions of Spider-Man reside in the alternate universe, but as far as we know, most are straight. So, what is the preference of Spider-Man? Let’s find out.
Is Spider-Man Gay, Bisexual or Straight?
After looking through the comics and investigating Spider-Man’s romantic interests, all of them are women, including Peter Parker and Miles Morales. The current Marvel canon and even Sony’s live-action Spider-Man are in a relationship with Mary Jane Watson. However, nothing is black and white, at least in the comics, and Spider-Man’s character displayed subtle bisexuality traits during multiple comic book runs.
Mostly Peter Parker, whose relationship with Deadpool still confuses some fans today. Deadpool likes to mess with Spider-Man using his insistent flirting. We did make an article similar to this questioning Deadpool’s sexuality and preferences which is very open and fluid and mentioned his chemistry with Spider-Man.
Other instances included Spider-Man’s encounters with Johnny Storm, a running gag in the comics. Andrew Garfield said multiple times during his Amazing Spider-Man era that he would not be opposed to Spider-Man’s character exploring sexuality in the movies. Still, the original creator of Spider-Man, Stan Lee, expressed reluctance toward this happening.
He thinks Peter Parker should stay straight and white but would not mind other versions of Spider-Man being queer or of other races, like Miles Morales.
So no, Peter Parker’s Spider-Man probably won’t be queer. Still, the alternate versions or other versions of heroes in the same universe have the potential of being bisexual or gay for a good reason. Spider-Man always showed subtle bisexual vibes in the comics.