Overview

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Voice Actor Controversy refers to a viral controversy regarding a quote from voice actor Hudson Thames (who voices Peter Parker in the Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man animated series) in which he stated, “My biggest fear was that it was gonna be annoying and woke," to a Collider journalist during an interview in late January 2025. His comment sparked a backlash against the Disney+ show and the actor, as well as jokes and memes targeting what some perceived as Thames' lack of comprehension of what social and political issues the original Spider-Man Marvel Comics delved into.

Background

On January 28th, 2025, the entertainment news site Collider^[1] posted an interview with Hudson Thames, the Peter Parker voice actor in the Disney+ TV show Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, which aired its first episode on January 29th, 2025.

In the interview, Thames was asked, "What it was like having a chance for a fresh take on Spider-Man in a world featuring characters never-before-seen in the MCU," to which he replied, "I thought it was awesome. I mean, my biggest fear was that it was gonna be annoying and woke, and it wasn't, and 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."

The quote was also shared on Collider's X^[2] / Twitter account, which amassed more than 1.9 million views, 480 likes and 170 replies in a day.

Online Reactions

Hudson Thames' quote, particularly the use of the slang term "woke," quickly sparked backlash and criticism on social media, as some fans of the Marvel hero asked for a recast of the voice actor.

For instance, on January 28th, 2025, X^[3] user @SpiderMan_MCU_ replied to a post about the controversial quote with the hashtag "#recast," amassing more than 410,000 views and 23,000 likes in a day.

On the same day, Redditor^[4] u/cmaia1503 posted about Hudson's "annoying and woke" comment to the /r/entertainment subreddit, which received more than 1,700 upvotes and 760 comments in a day (seen below).

Discourse about Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man being an "anti-woke" show also spread online after Hudson's interview went viral. For example, on January 28th, 2025, TikTok^[5] user @virgo_blade posted a video explaining the controversy (seen below), which received roughly 160,000 plays and 17,000 likes in a day.

Various Reactions

Search Interest

External References