Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Andrew Garfield: ‘Spider-Man is Jewish’

That nice Jewish boy next door? Could be a superhero in disguise.

Turns out, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is a member of the tribe — at least, according to Andrew Garfield, who plays the famed superhero in the upcoming “Amazing Spider-Man 2.”

““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.”

Stereotype much? Garfield can get away with it — he’s one of us.

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

So, what do you think? Spider-Man creator Stan Lee (born Stanley Lieber) is definitely Jewish. And Peter Parker does live in Forest Hills (a heavily Jewish area in Queens) with Aunt May…

We’re just going to go with it. Pass the matzo, Spidey.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.