Hudson Thames was worried Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man would be ‘annoying and woke’
Hudson Thames has spoken out about Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man not being ‘woke’. (Disney+/Marvel)
Hudson Thames is reviving his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and has said he was worried that the series would be “annoying and woke”.
Marvel’s latest animated series features Colman Domingo voicing Norman Osborn, Kari Wahlgren as Aunt May, Eugene Byrd as Lonnie Lincoln and Hugh Dancy as Doctor Octopus.
Thames also returns from season one of What If…? to voice the iconic titular character once again. However, in an interview, he appeared to tell Collider that he was initially hesitant about joining the cast for fear of, *checks notes*, the show being progressive.
After being asked about what it was like being a part of the new series, which shone a new light on Spider-Man’s existence outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Thames responded: “I thought it was awesome. I mean, my biggest fear was that it was gonna be annoying and woke, and it wasn’t.
“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.”
As the outlet pointed out, the term “woke” is often used as an anti-progress dog whistle by right-wing pundits whenever a TV show, movie or brand dares to showcase anything other than white, straight and cis-focused storylines or advertising.
It’s a dance that happens all too often, where progress meets resistance. Marvel’s recent Disney+ offerings The Acolyte and Agatha All Along have succumbed to a similar fate after being review-bombed by less progressive viewers.
Even the hugely successful movie Wicked was accused of “go woke, go broke” due to its LGBTQ+ diverse cast and was threatened by boycotts, despite becoming the highest-grossing musical film adaptation of all time.
Thames’ comments come after Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man showrunner Jeff Trammell told the outlet his reason for setting the series in New York City, which is “flush with representation that accurately portrays the many different cultures in one of the biggest cities on Earth”.
Trammell said: “Taking place in a sister timeline one universe over allows us quite a bit more freedom and helps us tell stories that don’t necessarily have to go down a familiar route.
“One of the big things we wanted from the series was to not only show Spidey at his peak but also his valleys, he has his fair share of victories but experiences some big losses as well, which will hopefully make him a more adept hero in the long run.”
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man premieres on Disney+ on 29 January.
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