Peter Parker and Aunt May in Spider-Man: Far From Home

Spider-Man Spotted at Black Lives Matter Protest in Brooklyn. You Mess With One of Us, You Mess With All of Us.

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Batman, witches, the Amish, and Anonymous have all come out in support of Black Lives Matter, and now, our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man took to the protests in Brooklyn last night. In a now-viral tweet, someone dressed up like Spider-Man can be seen climbing up onto one of the ledges on the bridge to hold up a sign that reads “Black Lives Matter,” and the crowd cheered him on, even yelling “Do a flip”—a line from the beginning of Spider-Man: Homecoming.

This also comes after Spider-Man star Tom Holland has also taken to his Instagram to promote the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement and where to donate. But there is something fun about seeing someone dressed like Spider-Man at the protest, in the same way that many felt when Batman walked into the protests, and you can clearly hear someone yell “HE’S HERE” in the background.

Twitter all joined in with the excitement of seeing Spider-Man at a protest because there is a kind of hope we put into these characters. There’s a reason we will spend money seeing the same superhero story over and over again. We find hope in what they stand for and, for New York, that hope has always been linked to Spider-Man, whether he’s Miles Morales or Peter Parker.

The protest itself was peaceful, and then the NYPD trapped protestors on the Manhattan Bridge. They let them cross the bridge and had the Manhattan entrance blocked, sufficiently blocking them in on either side without a way to get off the bridge. Not only is this dangerous, but things like this show that police interfering with protests isn’t about keeping people “safe” but sending a clear message of who they believe to be in charge.

Part of being an American means the right to assemble and the right of free speech. That’s all being challenged by those elected officials and the police force by forcing citizens into their homes with curfews and telling the protestors that the curfews won’t stop until the protests do.

So yeah, these little moments of levity in this time are fun because we look to these heroes, frequently, as our figures of hope and change. So, New York banding together to yell quotes from the Spider-Man movies is emotional. He’s New York’s hero, even though it’s just a citizen in a costume. Still mad he didn’t do the flip, though.

(image: Marvel Entertainment)

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Rachel Leishman
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.