In a book coming out in September, Marvel Comics, which is owned by Disney, will introduce its first Spider-Man who is openly gay. This Spider-Man will have feminine traits and dress in lace.
The comic book company first told fans about its plans in a June 16 solicitation. According to Comic Book Resources, the solicitation said of the new character, "WEB-WEAVER: A not-so-mild-mannered fashion designer at Van Dyne gets spider powers and shows us a very different kind of Spider-Slayer."
But that's not the only notice that employees of the company have shown.
Steve Foxe, the writer, also said that he has the "huge gay honor" of making the first gay Spider-Man.
“SURPRISE: I had the huge gay honor of helping to co-create WEB-WEAVER, who’ll make his debut in EDGE OF THE SPIDER-VERSE #5 this September!” Foxe wrote.
SURPRISE: I had the huge gay honor of helping to co-create WEB-WEAVER, who'll make his debut in EDGE OF THE SPIDER-VERSE #5 this September!
— Steve Fo🅧e Updates (@steve_foxe) June 16, 2022
Designed by the one and only @kristaferanka, cover by Josemaria Casanovas, with our interior artist to be revealed soon! pic.twitter.com/d3qaN4nBBJ
Foxe added in another tweet that he didn’t make his new gay character representative of “ALL gay men.” And according to the frilly, lacy costume and the stereotypical pose in the character reveal, it appears that Web-Weaver will represent an effeminate version of homosexuality.
Something I realized immediately when conceiving Web-Weaver is that he can't--and shouldn't--represent ALL gay men. No single character can.
— Steve Fo🅧e Updates (@steve_foxe) June 27, 2022
His fearlessly femme identity is central to who he is, but it's not the STORY...which you can experience for yourself in September!
🌈🕸️ pic.twitter.com/PD1nhppqbc
The character's costume was also shown in a tweet by artist Kris Anka. It showed the character's flowing sleeves, glam eyelashes around the eye blacking, and lace collar.
Web-Weaver
— krisanka (@kristaferanka) June 23, 2022
my design for the brand new Spider, debuting in Edge of Spider-verse 5 pic.twitter.com/vl2qVUtGVq
There have been other Spider-Man characters who are gay. In 2003, the company made a version of Mary-Jane Watson who was a lesbian and fell in love with Sunfire, a female character. But there has never been a version of Spider-Man that was about being gay.
Kris Anka made the character that was used in Web-Weaver. "From the start, I got a lot of ideas from McQueen and Mugler," tweeted Anka on June 23. "I used a wide net to find the original designs, and I also looked at new and different spiders that Foxe suggested. In the end, I chose this look."
Foxe said in a post on June 16 that Web-Weaver would first appear in Edge of Spider-Verse #5. He also put up information about how to order the issue, which was written by Dan Slott, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and others, and had art by Bob McLeod and others. In the summary, it says, "Here, three brand-new Spiders are born. WEB-WEAVER: A fashion designer at Van Dyne who isn't very nice gets spider powers and shows us a very different type of Spider-Slayer. Imagine Sergei Kravinoff got Spider-Powers in HUNTER-SPIDER. You are not yet ready for Spider's hardest level. Both of them, along with the Spider-Verse movie directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, make a new Spider just in time for THE END OF THE SPIDER-VERSE!"
Edge of Spider-Verse is a new five-issue series that starts in August. It was made by Slott, Mark Bagley, and other artists. Each issue has three different stories about Spider-Man characters that fans love, like Spider-Ham, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Mobile, and more. Along with Web-Weaver, the series will also introduce a few new characters, such as Kraven the Hunter's "Hunter-Spider," a web-slinging Tyrannosaurus Rex, Felicia Hardy/Black Cat's new Night-Spider, and others. Edge of Spider-Verse will build to a big finish over its five issues.
Web-Weaver will debut in Edge of Spider-Verse #5, due out in September.
The limited series will end the "Spider-Man Multiverse" in a "blaze of glory," with three Spider-Man stories in each issue.
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