Spider-Man: Lotus controversy, explained

Spider-Man: Lotus may be coming out in a few days, but that doesn’t mean we’ve all forgotten about the controversy that nearly tanked the crowdfunded fan film. Fans of the Spidey Universe were initially psyched about the movie after a trailer released in 2021 garnered 2.7 million views on Youtube. It even managed to grab the attention of Andrew Garfield and Jon Watts, who directed Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far from Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The trailer indicates that Peter Parker is grappling with guilt and grief after the death of his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, a storyline neither Sony nor Marvel have dived into much.

However, the public quickly turned against the creators when leaked messages revealed their true colors.

Leaks revealed ‘Spider-Man: Lotus’ actor using racist slurs

In June 2022, an anonymous Twitter user shared screenshots of messages where the movie’s star, Warden Wayne, throws around the N-word like he’s Jay-Z in the late nineties. Wayne, a white cis male from Arkansaw, plays Peter Parker.

The actor quickly released a lengthy statement on Twitter apologizing for his actions, blaming it on being homeschooled and raised in a conservative environment. He also blamed his friends claiming he surrounded himself with people who “encouraged and perpetuated these habits.”

“I was an immature kid with too much time and no sense of integrity. I was stupid… I’m embarrassed and sad at who I was, and I’m sorry to anyone I may have hurt years ago, or to anyone I may hurt now by revealing this information.”

Responses were mixed, but many fans immediately forgave Wayne for his racist comments. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the last of the Spider-Man: Lotus controversy.

‘Spider-Man: Lotus’ director addressed the leaked messages

After Wayne’s messages leaked, Spider-Man: Lotus director Gavin J. Konop also released a statement regarding the controversy. According to Bounding Into Comics, Konop wrote in a now-deleted tweet:

“This morning, many of us were shown resurfaced message that Warden Wayne, the lead actor of Spider-Man: Lotus, had sent on Instagram, and yes, I am just as disgusted by those messages as anyone else is. They’re hurtful, obscene, and offensive. There is no defending them, and the outrage is justified… In the past, Warden has been open with me about his former ignorance, as well as what could surface as a result, and I have done everything in my power to hold him accountable – not only then, but also today, and forever. I bluntly told him that this is going to live with him for the rest of his life – there’s nothing he can do about it, and that’s the reality that he has accepted.”

Konop asks fans not to let Wayne’s racism detract from everyone else’s work, as “they don’t deserve to have their work diminished because of one person’s actions.” However, it wasn’t just one person’s actions, as more leaked messages revealed that Konop was just as guilty as Wayne.

Konop’s racist and homophobic messages got leaked

It seems Konop’s reaction to the Spider-Man: Lotus controversy didn’t sit well with some. Specifically, Twitter user @Berkmanboom shared screenshots in a now-deleted post showing Konop using various racial and homophobic slurs. According to the photos shared by Bounding Into Comics, Konop made these comments using the N-word, R-word and called a movie critic a homophobic slur.

Like Wayne, Konop released a lengthy apology that largely blames others. He claims all of the screenshots are either fake or from when he was a teenager, owning up to using the R-word and F-word regularly.

“While I can’t attest to all of them, I can say that some pretty disgusting screen-recordings & screenshots out there are real. In my early years of middle school & high school, the R-word, along with other unacceptable terms such as the F-word, were part of my vocabulary, and I had used them fairly frequently. I’m not proud of it, and I wish I had been more mature to know better than to use them, along with several other immature & nonsensical statements.”

Konop also blamed some of the messages on admins who owned his Instagram page before handing it over to him in 2018. However, @Berkmanboom, who originally leaked the screenshots, claimed this was a lie and came clean on why he went after Konop in the first place.

‘Spider-Man: Lotus’ director got exposed by a resentful teen

 It turned out that @Berkmanboom was a 15-year-old named Matt, who met Konop five years earlier. In a Twitter post, which has since been deleted, the teen shared how he looked up to Konop and bonded with him over their shared love for comics.

“He was even going to help me make my own Spider-Man fan film,” Matt claimed. “He was going to write and edit the whole project. He eventually started to get more followers and changed his platform to Gjkcentral and started to drop me. I had other friends, but no one who I felt understood me like Gavin.”

As the director’s popularity grew, so did Matt’s anger and desire to expose his former friend for dropping him. However, he chose not to because he feared the backlash he’d receive from fans who were rooting for the Spider-Man: Lotus creator. But after someone else accused Wayne of making racist comments, Matt decided to share similar messages Konop had written.

According to the teen’s statement, the director lied in his apology about other people writing some of these messages.

“Every time his accounts would say something like that, it wasn’t some admin. It was him. I’m disappointed in him for not taking full accountability and putting the blame on others.”

Matt’s actions encouraged others to share screenshots, one of which shows Konop referring to Asian people as “dog eaters.” Then another cast member got accused of racism.

‘Spider-Man: Lotus’ actor got called out for siding with Konop

The controversy continues, and this time it involves Derrick Woods, the writer and director of a similar crowdfunded Spider-Man film that has yet to be released. Woods shared a screenshot of what appears to be a conversation between Wayne and actor John Salandria, who portrays the Green Goblin in Spider-Man: Lotus.

The screenshot shows Wayne using the N-word again and Salandria using it while defending Konop. While Woods may have ulterior motives for calling out the “racist goblin,” as they both worked on similar projects, he also shared a conversation with Salandria where the actor conveys a super cringe take on his use of the N-word.

“This is what I mean, you people focus on the wrong things, you give the word too much power and you actually make these people feel like superheroes when they say it.”

Salandria is also incredibly patronizing in the conversation and implies that Woods’ slang makes him less intelligent.

VFX dropped ‘Spider-Man: Lotus’

After all of these controversial messages began circulating on Twitter, the film’s special effects team quit. One of the VFX artists, Max Aurnhammer, shared a video explaining what happened.

“About two months ago, DMs were leaked on Twitter, showing the director and star of the film saying some pretty terrible stuff. While some of the DMs were fake, a lot of them were very real, and they were super shocking and disappointing to see for all of us on the VFX team, as I’m sure it was for all of you guys. The film’s reputation was ruined, and it no longer aligned with what Spider-Man represents as a character. This ultimately led to each member of the VFX team deciding to step away from the project, which was super sad because it also meant stepping away from all the incredibly cool stuff we got to work on.”

The video also cleared up some rumors, assuring fans that the director never mistreated them while working on Spider-Man: Lotus. Furthermore, since it wouldn’t appear in the film, the VFX team shared a video showing off some of the incredible work they did for the movie.

Konop released an apology video

After disappearing from Twitter and Instagram, Konop finally took to YouTube in September 2022 with an apology video. While reflecting on his teen years, he calls himself a “giant loser” who often said things to get attention from others. He took accountability for his words and used the word “sorry” in his apology, which is more than most public figures can manage.

Later in the video, he assured fans that he had never abandoned the film and that it would still be released. Some media outlets reported that the project got dropped at the time, leaving backers confused and upset. Despite Konop assuring everyone that while delayed, the film was still in production, donors began demanding their money back.

‘Spider-Man: Lotus’ creators denied refund requests

Konop and Wayne used Indiegogo to raise money for their film, earning over $100k from backers. To encourage people to give them donate, they offered a ton of level-based perks, such as t-shirts, sweatshirts, a copy of the film score, Blu-Rays or digital copies of the film, and a copy of the script. It seems after hearing about the controversy surrounding the creators of the film, some backers wanted a refund.

Comments from donors as recently as July 2023 are demanding refunds. Others don’t want to be associated with the film and have requested that creators remove their names from the film credits and IMDB page. It doesn’t look like anyone will see that money again, though.

Konop shared an update on Indiegogo in October 2022, stating:

“It’s important to note that items such as the sweatshirts, hoodies, Blu-Rays, etc. were not directly purchased — they’re gifts for donating a certain amount to the production, if that makes sense. Whether it was a $30 donation or a $300 donation, they already went directly into the movie (crew member compensation, equipment, travel, lodging, or catering), but the perks themselves were not directly purchased. I can make accommodations for certain things, but as a college student working a 9-5 job every weekend, it just isn’t feasible to refund what was already spent.”

Who is going to watch ‘Spider-Man: Lotus’?

Despite heavy delays and controversy, Spider-Man: Lotus will premiere on Aug. 10. While some people connected to the film have some growing up to do, the rest of the cast and crew worked hard on the project. Even though many will boycott the movie, others say they’ll check it out in support of everyone else who worked on set.

You can see Spider-Man: Lotus on Youtube for free after Aug. 10.

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