An issue of representation. Not one major Spider-Hero is canon LGBTQ

[Majesty]

Spider-Gwen's going to be in two mainstream Spider movies as a secondary protagonist. Something Felicia Hardy has yet to accomplish as she hasn't been in ONE yet. And when she does, it will be as Black Cat, not as whatever one-shot version of herself is going to appear in this Comic.

Also Felicia already existed. The main version of herself is already LGBTQ so they aren't "adding" anything.

Think of it this way. If someone said "Iceman is gay. But now there's an alternate universe version of Ice-Man and he has Spider Powers! BUT he is STILL gay! So now you have a gay spider-hero!!" is how it comes across. Also there doesn't need to be just one.

What is surprising to me is how so many people are trying to latch on to alternate universe Felicia as the "See!? You got what you wanted now! A main Spider Character!!!" Except she isn't.

It's not an argument right now that Spider-Gwen is more popular in the mainstream that the original 616 Gwen-Stacy is, there's no argument that when you say Gwen Stacy that Spider-Gwen is going to be the one you see represented a lot in the mainstream, especially in films. You could now argue that Gwen Stacy is a main Spider character. With her own successful solo comic series and the fact she's going to be in two mainstream movies(thus far). Heck her 616 version has also been in two mainstream movies played by Emma Stone. This is something Felicia Hardy does not have in animated films nor live action movies. Maybe you can say "See that character that was there for 10 seconds? Thats supposed to be Felicia!" that's her mainstream importance in those mediums, which are seen by a lot more eyes than comicbooks nowadays.

Outside of the Comics, Felicia's best moments in terms of a featured character in the mainstream was a Spider-Man Animated TV Show from over 20 years ago. And as bonus DLC Mission/Cameo in a Spider-Man video game.

Even in those instances, you're going to be getting the Black Cat variant. Not this "Spider" variant. If you see the Spider-Variant she won't be treated as important as her Black Cat one, nor would it be a very long appearance. You cannot say the same for Spider-Gwen. She has surpassed her 616 variant in terms of importance, not just in the comics but in the mainstream as a whole.


So when we're talking about 'main' Spider characters, we're not talking about one shots of alternate characters that are already LGBT. It's more about characters that already exist that haven't had anything confirmed about them as yet and are considered a main spider character.

Again, Mayday Parker, Jessica Drew, Araña, Silk(Cindy), Agent Venom(Flash Thompson), Miles Morales, Ben Reilly, Venom(Eddie Brock), Miguel(2099), Anya Corazon, Anna-May Parker(Spiderling), heck even Scarlet(Kaine).

These are the kinds of characters that we're talking about. Not ones that you can just put in the background say "Hey they exist" and then we rarely if ever see them again. You have a lot to work with in terms of characters that could be LGBTQ, so taking a character that already is confirmed and just creating an alt universe variant with Spider-Powers and trying to 'count' that, in comparison is silly. You could just say "Felicia Hardy is LGBTQ across all universes" and that wouldn't add anything new to the equation as that would be expected now as the 616 version of her already is. So you aren't 'adding' anything. Would you take Mystique and split her into 10 variants, not change their orientation and go "See!? They created 10 new LGBTQ characters for ya'll!" No.. you wouldn't.

There's enough 'main characters with Spider-Powers' to do this with in terms of LGBTQ representation, Felicia already is, so you aren't adding anything by saying there's an alternate reality where she has Spider powers. Unless she's going to supplement the most popular version of Felicia Hardy as Black Cat and that isn't happening.