Warning! Spoilers ahead for Edge of Spider-Verse #5!
Comic publishers like Marvel have been stepping up their game for Pride month more and more as the years go by, and on top of this year's anthology one-shot and Pride variant covers, Marvel has announced its first gay Spider-Man: Web-Weaver! The new character will debut in September's Edge of Spider-Verse #5 by Dan Slott, Steve Foxe, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Bob MacLeod, and more. Co-created by Steven Foxe and Kris Anka, the new spider hero is just one of several being introduced to comics fans this fall ahead of Dan Slott's The End of Spider-Verse event series.
The first Edge of Spider-Verse series debuted in 2014, and it successfully shared the origins of popular new spider variants like Spider-Gwen and SP//dr while also reintroducing others like Spider-Man Noir. 2022's revamped Edge of Spider-Verse appears to take a similar survey of the web-slingers of the Marvel Multiverse. Among the spiders already announced to appear are returning heroes Araña and Spider-Man Noir and new characters Spider-Laird and Felicia Hardy, the Night Spider. This all leads up to yesterday's announcement of Web-Weaver.
Sharing the news via Twitter, writer Steve Foxe gave fans a tease by way of a cover announcement and a quick blurb on the gay spider hero dubbed Web-Weaver. "A not-so-mild mannered fashion designer at Van Dyne gets spider-powers and shows us a very different kind of Spider-Slayer," is the tagline describing Web Weaver in the Edge of Spider-Verse #5 solicit. If Web-Weaver's civilian career and wordplay were not enough to key fans in on the hero being part of the LGBTQ+ community, Foxe later retweeted a post from artist Josh Cornillion about his excitement about Foxe co-creating the gay spider. The cover in Foxe's announcement for Edge of Spider-Verse #5 by artist Josemaria Casanovas reveals a first look at Web-Weaver's yellow and black costume alongside fellow newcomer Hunter-Spider.
Since the Spider-Verse's introduction during Dan Slott's epic run on Amazing Spider-Man, the community of Marvel's multiversal spider variants has grown more diverse across lines of race, ethnicity, ability, age, and gender. It's long past time that the LGBTQ+ community gets to be represented there more and more. That's what makes the news about Web-Weaver's debut so exciting. Furthermore, it's even more special to have LGBTQ+ creators Steve Foxe and Kris Anka be the architects of Marvel's first gay Spider-Man.
Even though Marvel's first gay Spider-Man won't be swinging onto shelves until September, the announcement itself still makes Web-Weaver into a sweet Pride month surprise. To catch all of Web-Weaver's fellow web-slingers, check out Edge of Spider-Verse #1 which goes on sale in August 2022. The End of Spider-Verse might be coming soon, but here's hoping Web-Weaver is only the first LGBTQ+ Spider-Man, not the last.
Edge of the Spider-Verse #5 will be released by Marvel Comics in September 2022.
Source: Steve Foxe