Spider-Man actor was worried about new show being 'annoying & woke'

Just ahead of the premiere of Marvel's latest animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, actor Hudson Thames spoke about his biggest fear of taking on this latest Spider-Man role, much to the chagrin of fans.

"I thought it was awesome," Thames told Colliderabout reprising the role. "I mean, my biggest fear was that it was gonna be annoying and woke, and it wasn't, and 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."

"Woke" is defined as being aware of social and political issues when it comes to race and sexuality. For practical reasons, however, that word has essentially become a conservative insult against inclusive media. In recent years, conservatives slammed 2023's Barbie and Marvel's She-Hulk as too "woke." It's unclear why the 30-year-old anticipated this new Spider-Man series for Disney+ would be "annoying and woke" — though another casting choice for the show made headlines ahead of its premiere.

As soon as Oscar-nominated actor Colman Domingo was announced as the voice of Norman Osborn for the show, that casting choice quickly faced racist backlash (via Reddit), igniting online debates about race-swapping characters. Though, as Collider points out, Osborn isn't necessarily white in the comics and even had a Black hairstyle called waves in certain storylines. On the other hand, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films in the 2000s influenced the general public's perception of these characters — in them, actor Willem Dafoe became the face of a live-action Norman Osborne.

Showrunner Jeff Trammell told GamesRadar+ he wanted to subvert expectations for Osborne in this show, which is set in an alternate timeline. Thus, according to Trammell, casting Domingo for the role was a perfect choice.

"I wanted to introduce a Norman Osborn that felt very much like the Norman we know, but also very different. Because I think every single Spider-Man fan is going to come to this show and go, 'Oh, there's Norman Osborn. That's bad news,'" said Trammell. "But as the show is going on and you get to know this Norman, there is a part of you that's like, 'Well, is he like the Norman that I think he's going to be, or is he different? Am I pre-judging him because of all this history with the character?'

Thames originally played Peter Parker/Spinder-Man in Marvel's 2021 What If...? series.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is scheduled to premiere on January 29 on Disney+.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com