Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has been one of the most anticipated movies of 2023. Following the box-office hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the sequel continued to leave its audience mesmerized by its animation as well as its incredible storyline.
The movie has done amazingly in the theaters, making $120 million in its opening weekend, and has fans gushing over what is to come next in the two-part movie. However, it would seem that due to a certain poster in a single frame, the movie has been banned from certain countries.
‘Protect Trans Kids’ Poster in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, during a sequence in Gwen Stacy’s or Spider-Gewn’s room, we can see a poster on a wall in her room. This poster has the words ‘Protect Trans Kids’ written on it. Along with this, there have been quite a few fans who believe that Stacy’s character may be Transgender in the movie. Though this is not outwardly mentioned, fans seem to have quite a lot of circumstantial proof to back up this claim.
“Whenever Gwen is struggling with her identity as Spiderwoman, especially in regards to “coming out” about it to her father, the colours of the movie become pink, blue, and white. As in her colour palette, and the palette of the background, change entirely to the trans flag.” One fan noticed, “Replace “Spiderwoman” with “woman” and divorce it from the context of the story, and it hits very close to home.”
The Spider-Verse franchise is not one to feed every single plot detail to its audience, choosing to instead leave much to their interpretation and imagination. This is why this claim by the fans is not quite surprising, however, this has caused trouble to stir up for Spider-Man fans living in much more conservative countries.
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Has Been Banned in Two Countries
This Pro-Trans message in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse did not sit right with people against the LGBTQ+ community and this apparently includes two Middle-Eastern nations, Saudi Arabia and The United Arab Emirates (UAE). The movie was scheduled to release on 22nd June in the UAE, but now, all pre-bookings will be refunded due to these countries banning the movie adhering to their strict laws against LGBTQ rights.
“That’s literally it. Nothing else. There’s absolutely nothing LGBTQ+ about this film other than that ONE frame in a 2 hour and 20-minute movie.” said one fan.
“THIS SUCKS! I’ve never missed a movie with Spider-Man in it since 2012. I was badly waiting for this one. This ban ends my streak.” said another fan.
After this news broke, fans were incredibly upset, stating that the message can only blatantly be seen in one single frame of the movie, the rest is all just speculation. Another fan added that they have never missed a single Spider-Man movie and will now have to end this streak due to the ban.
Also Read: “Silk”: Into the Spider-Verse Producer Phil Lord Gives Huge Update on Upcoming Spider-Man Spinoff
Source: Twitter
