Tom Holland’s fans are defending him against homophobic backlash after he appeared in a sex scene with another man in the latest episode of his Apple TV+ series “The Crowded Room.”
After the episode aired over the weekend, homophobic viewers hit Twitter to complain about the Marvel star’s scene, posting a litany of bigoted tweets with the hashtag “NotMySpiderman.”
In the scene from Episode 8, “Reunion,” Holland’s character, Danny Sullivan, dances with a man at a club and has sex with him in a bathroom. In a separate scene, Sullivan is high on drugs and performs oral sex on a different man.
Holland’s fans rallied on social media to support the actor and make it clear they wouldn’t tolerate any hateful remarks about LGBTQ+ people.
Many of his fans also seemed perplexed over the backlash, considering that former “Spider-Man” actors Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield have each portrayed gay characters as well.
Holland first appeared as Spider-Man in 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War,” and has since starred in multiple Marvel films, including a well-received trilogy of his own, as the friendly neighborhood web-slinger.
Last month, the English actor addressed the pretty bad critical reception of “The Crowded Room,” a psychological thriller series inspired by the real-life case of Billy Milligan, a young man arrested for the kidnapping, robbery and rape of three women around the Ohio State campus in 1977.
Milligan became the first person acquitted of a crime due to dissociative identity disorder (at the time called multiple personality disorder) in an insanity defense.
After “The Crowded Room” earned a skimpy Rotten Tomatoes score of 31%, Holland defended the show, saying it “carries a really important message.”
“The message of the show, which can speak to so many different issues, is that asking for help should be something that we as a society celebrate,” Holland told Unilad’s “Get a Job” in an interview posted June 23.
“It’s an act of bravery,” he continued. “Standing up and asking for help is not something you should be ashamed of, and I hope that this show can represent that in a truthful and authentic, and most importantly, sensitive way.”
Holland, who is also an executive producer on the series, added: “If we can somehow make people feel empowered by saying ‘I’m not feeling good, I really need some help,’ then we’ve done what we set out to do.”
Less than two weeks earlier, Holland had shared his gratitude to fans who supported the show despite its negative reviews.
“I would like to say a massive thank-you to my fans, and the people that have seen the show, because we’re at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes,” Holland said during a June 12 appearance on “Live With Kelly and Mark.” “I feel so grateful that I have a wonderful community of people that support me and are there for me, so I’m honored and really excited for the rest of the show to come out.”
New episodes of “The Crowded Room” air Fridays on Apple TV+.