Credit: Sony PicturesFor comic book enthusiasts, Spider-Man has held a special place as a beloved superhero for several decades. The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has long stood as an emblem of the vibrant streets of New York City, where he combats supervillains while navigating the complexities of his personal life, family, and friendships. This immensely popular Marvel Comics character has been brought to life on the big screen not just once or twice, but thrice in recent times.
Thanks to a fortunate agreement between Sony, the owner of the film rights to “Spider-Man”, and The Walt Disney Company’s Marvel Studios, a momentous event occurred in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). This film marked the first time that different incarnations of Spider-Man/Peter Parker, portrayed by Tobey Maguire (from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies), Andrew Garfield (from The Amazing Spider-Man franchise), and Tom Holland (in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s portrayal of young Peter Parker), were united. This exciting crossover was made possible within the Multiverse Saga storyline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), thrilling both Marvel enthusiasts and movie-goers alike with exciting Spidey action amidst the collision of multiple universes.
But the MCU was not the only place where the Spider-Verse, featuring multiple Multiversal variants of Spider-People, had been thrown wide open.
Why is Spider-Verse being called “racist”?
Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Spider-Verse has witnessed remarkable expansion in recent years, beginning with the groundbreaking release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Christopher Miller). In the film, Shameik Moore portrays Miles Morales AKA Spider-Man, whose universe’s original version of Peter Parker (Chris Pine), tragically perishes at the hands of Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Liev Schreiber), in the initial film. As Miles delves into a conspiracy involving his uncle Aaron Davis (Mahershala Ali), who transforms into the villainous Prowler, he joins forces with various Spider-People from different dimensions. This includes Gwen Stacy AKA Spider-Woman, portrayed by Hailee Steinfeld — who also plays Kate Bishop in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — while Jake Johnson takes on the role of Peter B. Parker. They will reprise their roles in the upcoming film, Across the Spider-Verse, slated for June 2, 2023. Joining the cast are Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara, who is Spider-Man 2099, Issa Rae as Jessica Drew, also known as Spider-Woman, Daniel Kaluuya as Hobart “Hobie” Brown, or Spider-Punk, Jason Schwartzman as Jonathan Ohnn, the Spot, and Brian Tyree Henry and Jefferson Davis and Rio Morales, who portray Miles’ father and mother, respectively.
User @ElioHerondale shared the following image of the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse poster from Mainland China, which depicts the characters of the Spider-Verse film in the garb and style of several important figures from Chinese mythology — including a well-known god, Sun Wukong:
Chinese advertising poster for “Spider-man: Across The Spider-Verse” pic.twitter.com/I6QTyknRQt
— エリオ・ヘロンデール (Arrowette Era) (@ElioHerondale) May 25, 2023
Initially universally praised with close to 80K likes (at the time of writing), it seems like members of the public now have a lot to say about this choice — some even calling it racist.
The reason why the new Spider-Man poster is being called out for racism is because Miles Morales is dressed in the mythical garb of the god Sun Wukong — who is an immortal known as the Monkey King. Users online have taken offense to that,
A follow-up tweet (from a currently suspended account, @Harumeya) seemingly accusing the Spider-Verse marketing as “racist” also went viral, with many users flooding the comments with replies like Johnny Guitar’s, trying to explain why people were offended by this:
The Chinese marketing team are massive racists and think miles is a monkey is what they mean
— Johnny Guitar (@Johny_Scissors) May 25, 2023
Others, however, sought to defend the artwork, explaining the true cultural significance behind the choice. User @razorcrestqueen explained the Sun Wukong is “one of the most beloved heroic characters in Chinese myth”:
sun wu kong is one of the most beloved heroic characters in chinese myth and you jump to racism? really?
— clovér (@razorcrestqueen) May 26, 2023
Indeed, Sun Wukong is in fact a “stone monkey” that transcended mere mortal humans in Chinese myth — ascending to immortality and godhood. It is commonly known that Sun Wukong had become so powerful that he was able to go against the entire might of Heaven (with the title of “Heaven’s Equal”), with only the Buddha being more powerful than him. The translated English name of “Monkey King” is therefore doing the mythical figure a bit of a disservice, as he is a beloved example of the underestimated underdog-turned-mighty god — a parallel to many modern superheroes, which makes sense to connect the god’s mythic role to Spider-Verse‘s Miles Morales.
When user @senpaiquadry brought up how “vast racism truly is”, and how the “decision [was] very telling” to use “the monkey king for a black character”, “regardless of wukongs status” — user @razorcrestqueen responded that they were “looking for racism that isn’t there”. They continued, explaining that this poster was “for Chinese audiences”, featuring their “beloved hero”, and it was chosen “because of his status not regardless of it”:
Considering how vast racism truly is…it’s not inconceivable that there is racism behind it…like of all the characters they could’ve used…why the monkey king for the black character? Regardless of wukongs status…that decision is very telling.
— ENDWALKER (@senpaiquadry) May 26, 2023
he’s the main character, you’re looking for racism that isn’t there. Remember that this is the poster for chinese audiences, and sun wu kong is a beloved hero for them with many stories about him facing the odds and winning. It is because of his status not regardless of it
— clovér (@razorcrestqueen) May 26, 2023
The choice to use Sun Wukong and other mythical deities is not too different from CS Lewis’ Narnia stories using the character of Aslan the Lion as an allegory for Jesus — distanced from any real connotations of the animalistic “lion” and instead a symbol of great supernatural power. This is not to say that racism doesn’t exist in China — but in this case, people are calling to boycott a movie because of a racist connotation that does not really exist in the country where these marketing materials are being used. Instead, connecting Miles Morales to Sun Wukong would likely be seen as a great honor, rather than an act of denigration or discrimination.
Regardless, it seems as if the debate continues to rage online, with people on both sides of the fence.
Do you agree that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s marketing was racist? Share your thoughts in the comments below!