“Spider-Man” fans rejoiced after a controversial line in the 2002 superhero flick was cut in a recent broadcast on Britain’s ITV.
The television channel dramatically slashed a “homophobic” scene in which Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker insults another character during a wrestling match.
In the scene, Peter-as-Spider-Man dons a low-budget version of his red-and-blue costume as he tells the other person he’s about to fight: “That’s a cute outfit. Did your husband give it to you?”
ITV shortened the line to: “That’s a cute outfit.”
The change was captured in a viral clip on Twitter — captioned “THEY REMOVED PETER PARKER’S HOMOPHOBIA” — and viewers praised the cut of the script’s line.
One person did their own dub to change the line, writing, “Why cut the joke out entirely? Why not try to change it somehow? I threw this together pretty quick, changes it from homophobic joke to classic ‘your mom’ joke.”
“I am glad they changed it. BUT they could have at least changed the line to “did your MOM pick it out for you,” someone suggested, while another noted, “When the punchline is gay marriage it’s not really a good punchline.”
“British TV network ITV removed the vaguely homophobic line Spider-Man says to Bonesaw in the first Raimi film,” one more added. “And nothing of value was lost.”
Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire remade the iconic “Spider-Man pointing” meme during the filming of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” last year.SonyOthers denounced the change, with one tweeter offering, “Eventually everything becomes ‘problematic,'” while another added, “Political correctness Strikes again.”
Maguire, 46, starred as the titular hero in Sam Raimi’s version of the Marvel series for three films, spanning from 2002 to 2007.
The “Great Gatsby” actor reprised his Spidey role in last year’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
He joined star Tom Holland — who is the most recent actor to portray the web-slinger — and Andrew Garfield, who sported the Spider-Man suit for two films released in 2012 and 2014.
The three Spider-Men all appeared in the MCU action-adventure, shocking fans with their surprise emergence. The trio even recreated the infamous “Spider-Man pointing” meme, showing them dressed in their costumes and pointing their fingers at each other.
