GAY SPIDERMAN?: Andrew Garfield says ‘anyone can be in that suit’

In 2013, when Garfield talked about how he speculated with one of the film producers that the character could be portrayed as homosexual, he told Entertainment Weekly, “I was kind of joking, but kind of not joking about MJ… I was like, ‘What if MJ is a dude?’ Why can’t we discover that Peter is exploring his sexuality? It’s hardly even groundbreaking!… So why can’t he be gay? Why can’t he be into boys?” MJ in the Spider-Man movies stands for Mary Jane Watson, the love interest for Peter Parker.

He has doubled down on his comments, and told the same outlet in an interview on Monday, “It was an exercise in rebellion that I felt passionate about. I just still believe that anyone can be in that suit.”

He said that the character could be used in an effort for diversity. “That’s the point of why it’s such a kind of universally beloved character, one of the greatly beloved characters in the history of fiction, is because you don’t see skin color, you don’t see gender, you don’t see sexuality. Anyone can project themselves into that suit.”

“I like the idea of a place where everyone is being honored and everyone is being included, and it was just a kind of act of saying, ‘Well, why not?’ And you’ll be telling on yourself if you have a strong opinion either way,” he added.

He made the comments as he was promoting his new movie "The Uprising," which will be released in October in the UK.