Fans of Spider-Man spotted that ITV cut out a line that was deemed to be homophobic when it aired the first movie this week.
The original 2002 movie, starring Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man, was made before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was founded.
However, a lot has (thankfully) changed in the last 20 years since its release, and ITV’s edit of the classic flick reflected that.
Fans were quick to notice that the line Spider-Man says to insult pro wrestler Bone Saw had been edited.
The original line was: ‘That’s a cute outfit. Did your husband give it to you?’, which was shortened to just: ‘That’s a cute outfit.’
Viewers took to Twitter to praise ITV for the change, writing: ‘British TV network ITV removed the vaguely homophobic line Spider-Man says to Bonesaw in the first Raimi film. And nothing of value was lost.’
Others added: ‘THEY REMOVED PETER PARKER’S HOMOPHOBIA’ and ‘waiting for people to call this woke instead of adapting with the times.’
Another wrote: ‘When the punchline is gay marriage it’s not really a good punchline.’
Some felt they should have still finished the joke, adding: ‘I am glad they changed it. BUT they could have at least changed the line to “did your MOM pick it out for you”’.
While the Spidey suit has since been handed over to Tom Holland, Tobey did make a cameo as a multiversal Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, alongside Andrew Garfield’s version of the web-slinger.
Screenwriter Chris McKenna told : ‘There’s a crucial, moral moment that they help him [Tom’s Spider-Man] get through in the climax of the movie.
‘So much of that was brought by Tobey and Andrew’s ideas and shaping of what they thought their characters could bring to this story.’
