The animated sequel to 2018’s Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was released on June 2 reuniting viewers with the first biracial Spider-Man, Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore), and countless Spideys from other dimensions, including Spider-Gwen, also known as Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld). Fans who’ve seen the film are now theorizing that Gwen is trans – or at least an allegory for the trans experience due to several queer-coded (and queer-colored) clues. It all comes after Spider-Verse fans noticed a Trans Pride flag bearing the words Protect Trans Kids in the background of a trailer for the film earlier this year. In a film with multiple animation styles, the color palette used for all of Gwen’s scenes on Earth-65 appears imbued with the pastel blue, pink and white colors of the Trans Pride flag. Gwen and the environment around her have practically been drenched in the Trans Pride colors during the sequence, with many seeing the scene itself as a metaphor for coming out. In the film, Gwen is forced to hide her identity from judgmental eyes in a world where society misunderstands and despises Spider-Woman. To top it all off, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that during the same scene, a Trans Pride flag badge could be seen pinned to Gwen’s father’s police uniform. Gwen Stacy is trans. The internet will not be convinced otherwise.
