Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man showrunner defends Peter Parker actor after 'woke' comments: "I believe he simply misspoke and I know that's been weighing on him"

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
(Image credit: Disney Plus)

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man showrunner Jeff Trammell has defended the Disney Plus show's Peter Parker actor Hudson Thames after he voiced his fears that the animated series would be "annoying and woke".

"I love Hudson and didn’t focus too much on what he said. I believe he simply misspoke, and I know that’s been weighing on him," Trammell said during a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) thread.

Trammell continued, "I think we made a fantastic show that is going to appeal to a wide audience and hopefully captures what I love about this Spider-Man: that he’s a guy who cares deeply about the people around him and always tries to do the right thing."

Previously, Thames raised more than a few eyebrows after suggesting the writing for the show wasn't 'woke' ('woke' is a term frequently used as a dogwhistle to describe media that typically involves diverse and inclusive casts and themes) during an interview with Collider.

Thames said, "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."

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, which re-imagines Spidey's gallery of rogues and allies away from the confines of the MCU's Sacred Timeline, features a cast including Colman Domingo as Norman Osborn, Grace Song as Peter's best friend Nico, and Kari Wahlgren as Aunt May.

The animated series has reportedly already been renewed for two more seasons, which ensures we're getting more wallcrawling antics in future on Disney Plus.

For more, check out our very own Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man review and our Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man release schedule so you don't miss an episode.

After that, head on over to our guides to all the upcoming Marvel movies and how to watch the Marvel movies in order.

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.