Marvel and PlayStation released a brand-new Spider-Man game on Friday (7 September) and gamers and others alike are loving it.
From the popular selfie mode, to winning a trophy for greeting civilians (putting an emphasis on the neighborhood and friendly parts of Spidey’s mantra), it’s the perfect game of millennial culture.
Recently, fans noticed another thing to rave about in the game — a pride flag in the city.
Saladin Ahmed posted about the neighborhood decor in a tweet over the week.
‘Wow. I stopped to perch on a building in #Spidermanps4 and looked over and saw this,’ he wrote.
‘Thinking about all the 12-year-old kids who will be playing this game and seeing this in towns where it’s not safe to put that flag up.’
He accompanied his tweet with a photo of Spider-Man on a brick wall with a rainbow flag billowing behind him.
Ahmed’s tweet | Photo: Twitter @saladinahmen
Ahmed followed up with another tweet, acknowledging it’s not a ‘radical move’.
It still means something, though. ‘As someone who came up 30 years ago playing Spider-Man video games with boys who constantly hurled homophobic insults at each other IRL,’ he wrote. ‘This is…different.’
Turns out the flag was intentional representation — not just getting an accurate depiction of an NYC neighborhood (which many have identified as Greenwich).
One of the game’s developers, Ryan Benno, responded to Ahmed.
‘Representation is so important. It’s something we wanted to put in this game, even in a small way like this,’ he said.
Tweet response | Photo: Twitter @BryanRenno
Praise all around
Other fans also applauded the inclusion of the pride flag and what it means.
For Joe Glass, he wrote that ‘sometimes inclusion doesn’t have to be huge’.
THIS! This is exactly it. Sometimes inclusion doesn’t have to be huge. Sometimes it can be something seemingly small and minor – but believe me to gaymers and young queer kids playing, this will FEEL huge. https://t.co/O4yoFUIqlj
— Joe Glass 🏳️🌈 Thought Bubble VicHall 55! 🏳️🌈 (@josephglass) September 8, 2018
He also added that for ‘gaymers and young queer kids playing’, this will be an important feature.
Another came up with a new name for the web-slinging hero:
sPRIDErman
— Stone Cold Parmasean Astin (@LetsHearItForMe) September 8, 2018
Jennifer Harrison posted other photos of Spidey with the pride flag and rainbow wall.
Spidey with the flag | Photo: Twitter @GeneticJen
And the wall | Photo: Twitter @GeneticJen
Long live our friendly neighborhood hero who’s also 100% behind the community.
More from Gay Star News
WATCH: Marvel’s new animated film stars Latina LGBTQ superhero Miss America
Someone made Billy Eichner the voice of Captain America and it’s perfect
Spiderman’s Tom Holland thinks RuPaul’s Drag Race is a show about cars
