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A quote from Marvel Comics’ legend Stan Lee puts the latest Spider-Man drama in perspective by summing up what being woke actually means. A quote from a voice actor has got the Spider-Man and larger Marvel community up in arms and has fans everywhere debating the character’s ‘wokeness’.
Hudson Thomas, who voices Peter Parker on the new Disney+ show, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, incidentally ignited a firestorm online in an interview where he communicated his fear that the show would wind up being woke. As fans continue to debate what Thomas did or didn’t mean, another quote from Stan Lee has started making the rounds online that defends a more socially conscious view of humanity.
Even in 1968, Smilin’ Stan Discussed Being Woke
This controversy started when Hudson Thomas did an interview with Collider’s Mike Thomas to promote the new animated series, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. During the interview, Thomas was asked about the cartoon’s new take on the Spider-Man franchise and the actor responded positively, saying it was great. However, Hudson drew the ire of some fans by saying he was initially afraid of how Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was going to play out, fearing that it would be “annoying and woke“.
It should be noted that this new Spider-Man cartoon has a much more diverse cast than previous ones, with some characters portrayed as different races (such as Norman and Harry Osborne, who are Black in this series’ continuity). Thomas’ quote quickly circulated online with many pointing out the irony of Spider-Man’s voice actor bristling at the idea of Spider-Man being woke when his stories and superhero comics at large have almost always had an element of social justice. On Reddit, one fan posted one of Stan Lee’s old musings from his column, Stan’s Soapbox.
In this musing, Lee discusses how racism and bigotry are the worst ills of humanity that can’t be easily beaten and how exposing vile behaviors and beliefs is the only way of destroying them. Lee highlights how mad it is to hate an entire race, culture, or religion and that people must learn to judge based on merits. Lee ends his commentary by pointing out that tolerance for everyone is the only way humanity is going to live up to its potential and that equality for all is something everyone should strive for.
Stan Lee’s Thoughts Bring New Perspective to Spider-Man Drama
Is Spider-Man Woke?
In the last few years, the idea of wokeness has become a dominating topic of discussion, especially when it comes to media consumption. Though the word initially was applied to people who were in-tune with modern social issues, it’s been appropriated and is often used as a derisive label (usually targeted to people who are only interested in championing progressive values). While that’s not to say that’s how Thomas meant it when describing his fears about Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, that’s how the community has taken it and why Lee’s quote is important to hear now.
Lee, like a lot of comic creators in the Golden and Silver Age, was Jewish and experienced discrimination firsthand. It was important to him to communicate how wrong it was to judge others by their race, religion, sex, or anything spurred on by blind and ignorant hatred. The heroes and stories crafted by Stan Lee reflected these beliefs, and they taught an entire generation a lot of positive values that, by today’s standards, many would indeed consider woke.
The concept of ‘woke’ is hard to discuss, frankly, because many who use it derisively don’t have an agreed upon framework for what is and what isn’t woke. But to put it simply, Spider-Man, and the majority of other superheroes, do champion progressive values, and they fight to make a better world for everyone. Stan Lee knew that years ago when he penned that musing, and his words are no less true today than they were back in the late ’60s.
Spider-Man is Always Going to Be a Hero for Everyone
As Stan Lee Would Say, “Nuff Said”
There’s always going to be people who criticize comics and creators for being too ‘woke’ or too liberal or whatever the insult of the time is. But the truth is, Spider-Man and other heroes like him have been fighting the same fight for decades, all the way back to when Stan Lee was running the show at Marvel Comics. It’s a bit ridiculous for anyone to fear Spider-Man being too woke because, as Stan Lee points out, fighting against society’s ills is the most heroic thing anyone can do.
“}]] Icon Stan Lee knew what ‘woke’ really was. Read More