Andrew Garfield really looked at Peter Parker’s love life and apparently thought, why settle for MJ when we could have MBJ?
Michael B. Jordan, that is.
Long before superhero universes became increasingly comfortable with queer characters, Andrew Garfield was already wondering why Peter Parker couldn’t explore his sexuality. And not in some vague, blink-and-you-miss-it way. The former Spider-Man actor actually suggested that Peter could discover his bisexuality and that MJ could be a boy.
Honestly, Andrew, we are listening.
Forget MJ, What About MBJ?
Let’s throw it back to 2013, when Andrew was swinging around New York as the web-slinging hero in The Amazing Spider-Man era.
Speaking to The Independent, the British actor revealed that he had been obsessed with Michael B. Jordan since The Wire, praising the actor’s charisma and talent. He then took his idea for Spider-Man in a decidedly queer direction, suggesting that Peter could explore his sexuality and potentially have a male MJ. Garfield even envisioned an interracial romance.
The idea was not merely a cheeky fantasy from an actor who wanted to flirt with another handsome leading man. Garfield was questioning why Peter Parker’s sexuality had to be treated as fixed when the character could instead be allowed to explore something new.
And apparently, not everyone was thrilled with him saying it.
Garfield later explained that he had faced pressure to walk back his comments, which he found particularly frustrating. His point was essentially that asking whether a beloved fictional character could be bisexual should not require an apology.
Fair enough.
READ: This Spiderman Actor is a Hunky Daddy in Latest Photoshoot-Take a Look!
Jordan Wasn’t Exactly Sold
Michael B. Jordan, meanwhile, was considerably more cautious about the idea.
When asked about Andrew’s proposal, Jordan said he didn’t really have an opinion on it, while noting that audiences can sometimes resist changes to characters they have grown up with.
So, no Spider-Man romance was born.
But Garfield’s comments remain interesting because they arrived at a time when major superhero franchises were still treating queer representation as something requiring extraordinary justification.
Garfield was asking a surprisingly simple question: Why can’t Peter like boys?
Garfield Was Also Questioning Himself
There is another layer to Garfield’s comments that makes the whole story even more fascinating.
In a 2018 interview with Out, Garfield discussed his sexuality while explaining that he had only experienced sexual attraction toward women. At the same time, he described himself as open to whatever impulses or experiences life might bring.
He ultimately identified as heterosexual, while acknowledging that playing a character so meaningful to audiences made him question whether he was “allowed” to explore those possibilities.
That openness has become part of Garfield’s public persona, particularly given his long history of supporting LGBTQ+ causes.
From Spider-Man to Tony Winner
Garfield has certainly traveled a long way since his Spider-Man days. He went on to win a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for Angels in America, before earning a Golden Globe for his performance in Tick, Tick… Boom!.
But somewhere in the middle of all those awards and acclaimed performances, there remains one wonderfully queer alternate-universe question:
What if Peter Parker had actually gotten a boyfriend?
And perhaps the bigger question is, why did nobody let Andrew Garfield cook?