So what is he? He’s a white, cisgender, straight male.
Peter Parker’s minority status as a teenager has been taken away from him. Fast-forward to the year 2013 and it seems like 70% of all media is focused around teenage and young adult protagonists. He was the voice of youth, a leading character that readers could relate to because of his age. This hero can’t catch a break! When Spider-Man was created in the 1960s, just having him be a teenager was a novel enough idea that it actually made Peter Parker representative of a minority. “The most important facets of Spider-Man’s character, I’d say, are his sense of responsibility to do the right thing and his put upon/down on his luck nature. MTV’s Splashpage thinks that’s a great idea – not just for gay visibility, but for the character. We mentioned yesterday that Andrew Garfield had mused that MJ could easily be a guy, and have Peter Parker exploring his sexuality.
Final act of gay men marrying straight guys’ girlfriends, Chris Colfer talks Course of the Force, and is there a gay moment for Nolan Funk in The Canyons?