New Spider-Man Movie Causes Trouble Due to Racism and Homophobia

A new "Spider-Man" movie for free on YouTube? Indeed: The fan-directed film "Spider-Man: Lotus" already has 3.5 million views after its release nearly 2 weeks ago. We'll tell you what the movie is all about and why it's causing heated discussions on the web.

The animated film "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is likely to have pleased fans. The film was a total success for Sony and is sure to increase the anticipation for "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse" beyond measure. Apart from the adventure of Miles Morales, however, another Spidey movie was released on the quiet.

"Spider-Man: Lotus" is a fan-directed movie that tells us the story of Peter Parker after the death of Gwen Stacy and it first drew attention in 2021. It presented amazingly good VFX shots in a first sequence, in which Spider-Man was swinging through the streets of New York, which were in no way inferior to the official projects of Marvel and Sony. This footage not only excited fans, but also appealed to Andrew Garfield and director Jon Watts.

The early euphoria and excitement quickly turned to contempt and resentment when one day leaked conversations between lead actor Warden Wayne and director Gavin J. Konop were published via Twitter, in which the two made racist and homophobic remarks. In response, Wayne published a lengthy apology on Twitter in which he attempted to defend himself for the choice of words. He justified his remarks by saying that they stemmed from his time in Arkansas, which was characterized by a very conservative environment. Wayne emphasized that he now understands the severity of his past actions and recognizes the insensitivity of his words. The fans, on the other hand, found this apology difficult to accept, as these terms can hardly be associated with the friendly neighborhood spider.

Director Konop also commented on the news. He published a YouTube video in which he apologized about his language. However, he claimed that some screenshots published in the course of the Twitter post might be fake, with the aim of further damaging his reputation.

Nevertheless, those weren't the only setbacks the project had to face: the entire VFX team stepped down, citing an extremely toxic work environment. One of the people involved published a YouTube video in which he recounted his experiences on set. According to the video, Wayne and Konop behaved in a way that clearly conflicted with the principles of Spider-Man. This decision probably also had an impact on the visual aspects of the film - after all, the effects were highlighted over and over again.

Due to the controversy surrounding the movie and the attention it has attracted, there could also be a possibility that Disney will take legal action against the project to protect its character's image. If you still want to see "Spider-Man: Lotus" for yourself, feel free to do so: The movie is available for free on YouTube.