‘They removed Peter’s homophobia’

A British broadcast channel removed a homophobic joke made by Toby Maguire in the 2002 Spider-Man movie.

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The line occurs after Peter Parker enters a cage match against a bearded wrestler named Bone Saw. Despite his bulky opponent, Parker is confident in using his powers to knock out the wrestler and even trash talks the man before the fight.

“That’s a cute outfit. Did your husband give it to you?” Maguire’s Parker asks in the original cut. However, one Twitter user noticed the line had been changed while watching the movie on ITV2.

“They cut out Peter Parker’s homophobia in Spider-Man one on ITV2, watch this,” @PaperPlaneTF wrote on Twitter. He also posted a video of the scene playing on his TV. Parker still says, “That’s a cute outfit,” but the rest of the line is cut.

THEY REMOVED PETER PARKER’S HOMOPHOBIA pic.twitter.com/QmbFabVpc7

— PaperPlane (@PaperPlaneTF) April 23, 2022

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What Does the Spider-Man Cut Mean?

The altered scene sparked mixed reviews from Twitter users, but ultimately many argued the change was for the better. One user noted that gay marriage isn’t a joke.

When the punchline is gay marriage it’s not really a good punchline.

— Dustin “New Game+” Mitchell (@KidFalconSS) April 24, 2022

Another user posted a meme where Bone Saw calls Spider-Man out on his homophobia and tells him he’s “on the wrong side of history.”

pic.twitter.com/uKgI2pIhMM

— Proper Drashig (@ProperDrashig) April 23, 2022

We’re glad to see networks and broadcast stations making an effort to remove tasteless jokes made at the expense of the LGBTQ+ community. Maybe they are following Spider-Man’s example and “trying to do better.”

As of now, there is no word on whether or not other stations will follow in ITV2’s footsteps and remove the line.