Entertainment

Andrew Garfield: Spider-Man is Jewish

Spider-Man is not just a superhero — he’s one of the chosen people.

Or at least that’s what Andrew Garfield, the British actor who plays the latest iteration of the web-spinning vigilante, told Time Out London during a recent interview.

“Peter Parker is not a simple dude,” Garfield told Time Out. “He ums and ahs about his future because he’s neurotic. He’s Jewish. It’s a defining feature.”

Parker doesn’t have a doting Jewish mother, but he does live with his aunt in Forest Hills, a historically Jewish neighborhood in Queens. He’s known as a science-whiz teenager who has a difficult time connecting with his peers.

“He’s an over-thinker,” Garfield said. “He never feels like he’s doing enough. And Peter suffers from self-doubt. It would be much easier if he was a life-saving robot.”

While Garfield acknowledges that many of the attributes he describes Parker as having are stereotypes, he hopes his characterization of Spider-Man is not perceived as offensive.

“I hope Jewish people won’t mind the cliché because my father’s Jewish. I have that in me for sure,” Garfield said.

Spider-Man creator Stan Lee is also of Jewish ancestry and some have even speculated that Spider-Man’s story is allegorical for the post-Holocaust Jews who had to start over after the war ended.

Like many Jews, Parker is orphaned and forced to hide his real identity to avoid persecution.

Garfield took the biblical references a step further, comparing Spider-Man to Jesus.

“I don’t mind the Jesus parallel for Spider-Man,” Garfield told Time Out. “Jesus is an awesome guy. When Pontius Pilate said, ‘They say you’re the son of God. If you’re the son of God, tell me,’ Jesus was like, ‘I know who I am, bitch.’”

Spider-Man’s Jewish identity is just one of the many ways Garfield bonds with the character.

“I like being Peter,” Garfield said. “He’s a kid struggling with being misunderstood. We’ve all been misunderstood. That’s universal, too.”

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” is set to swing into theaters May 2.