Actor In Disney’s New Spider-Man Series Was Scared It Would Be ‘Annoying And Woke’

An actor featured in Disney’s latest Marvel animated series says his “biggest fear” about the project was that it would be “annoying and woke.”

Voice actor Hudson Thames, who stars in the upcoming Disney series “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” said in a recently published interview with Collider that he was worried that the series would follow the woke trajectory of so many other recent Disney projects. After reviewing the script, he was pleasantly surprised to find that it was “awesome.”

“My biggest fear was that it was gonna be annoying and woke, and it wasn’t,” Thames told the outlet. “I was like, ‘Yes, this is great, it’s so well written,’ like, it feels real. I’m the oldest of five boys, so I feel like I kind of know what’s happening in their lives and in high school, and it felt like it was doing that justice.”

Thames also played Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the Marvel animated series “What If…?” in 2021.

This departure from overtly woke storylines comes after several instances of the Marvel Cinematic Universe coming under fire for being too leftist. This resulted in some major box office flops and an overall reputation for being woke.

Disney investor Nelson Peltz slammed the company for its turn to “woke” themes with its Marvel superhero films. Peltz spoke with The Financial Times in March 2024, mentioning films like the female-led “The Marvels” and “Black Panther.”

“People go to watch a movie or a show to be entertained,” Peltz told the outlet. “They don’t go to get a message.”

“Why do I have to have a Marvel that’s all women?” he added. “Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that? Why can’t I have Marvels that are both?”

These attributes went beyond just the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. The “Star Wars” spinoff series “The Acolyte” was also trashed for pushing a leftist agenda, including overt LGBTQ themes, and was rewarded with bad ratings and a cancelation after just one season. The lead actress blamed the cancelation on“hyper-conservative” bigots. But it was more likely that the majority of viewers didn’t want the leftist propaganda.

Could Disney have gotten the message that woke doesn’t sell? That remains to be seen, but for now it appears that “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” is at least politically neutral, according to the lead actor.

Showrunner Jeff Trammell previously discussed what fans can expect in the narrative. “You know, I want to give a cliché, ‘expect the unexpected’ answer but, honestly, I think you can expect Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. He’s hanging around New York; it’s not a huge intergalactic adventure.” 

“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” became available on Disney+ starting January 29.