A homophobic line from the original 2002 Spider-Man has been cut for broadcast on television. Spider-Man, which introduced Tobey Maguire as the titular web-slinging hero and began a trilogy that would run until 2007's Spider-Man 3, was an enormous box office hit for director Sam Raimi (who is now helming the upcoming Doctor Strange 2), landing itself at the #1 slot on the domestic chart for the year. It is also frequently credited with being responsible for the current boom of superhero films, which includes the massively successful Marvel Cinematic Universe, in which Maguire himself recently made a cameo as a multiversal Peter Parker in the 2021 megahit Spider-Man: No Way Home.
In Raimi's Spider-Man, there is an early scene when Peter Parker is beginning to test out his powers by earning money in a cage match with a wrestler named Bone Saw. In addition to wearing an early prototype version of his iconic costume, he also begins to show off a bit of the sarcastic, quippy nature that will go on to define the Spider-Man character. Unfortunately, this early stab at comedy results in a homophobic line where he attempts to insult Bone Saw by saying "That's a cute outfit. Did your husband give it to you?" This line is very typical of the casual homophobia that was common in the media of the early 2000s, but it is certainly one of the Spider-Man moments that have aged the poorest.
Twitter user PaperPlaneTF shared a video of their experience watching Spider-Man on the British television channel ITV2. The user discovered that the homophobic insult was cut out of the film entirely rather than redubbed. In this version, Peter Parker only remarks "That's a cute outfit," before jumping back down and resuming the match. Check out the video below:
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It has not been confirmed if this line has been cut for broadcast on other television platforms globally. While the moment that was cut from the film is minor and has no real impact on the plot, it does play into an overarching conversation about censorship of pop culture that has been playing out for quite some time. This debate has especially raged around the Best Picture winner Gone with the Wind, as people fall on either side of the line as to whether problematic material from older films should be censored or shown in full with a warning attached that reminds the viewer that the project is from a different time that had different cultural standards.
This particular Spider-Man cut likely won't make too many waves in this debate, however. Television networks are notorious for editing down movies, especially a free channel like ITV2, which are designed for easy access by people of all ages. Sex, violence, and language are usually removed entirely from rebroadcasted films on such channels, so this omission could have occurred for a similar reason.
Source: PaperPlaneTF/Twitter