Marvel fans have slammed Donald Trump’s administration for using Spider-Man in an ICE campaign. The White House shared the post on Instagram on Friday. It has since triggered a wave of online criticism from comic book fans and social media users alike.
The White House incorporated superhero imagery into an ICE campaign as online backlash spread
The White House’s official Instagram account shared a four-photo post captioned “Your friendly neighbourhood ICE agents.” The caption borrows from Spider-Man’s well-known moniker as the “friendly neighbourhood” superhero.
The first photo shows Spider-Man’s hand shooting his signature white web. The final image shows a group of men trapped inside that web. An ICE officer watches over the handcuffed men in it, accompanied by the caption: “Criminal illegal aliens will be caught and deported.”
The post got backlash from comic book fans online. Many urged Marvel, the company behind Spider-Man, to “sue for infringement.” Others tagged Tom Holland and Zendaya, the stars of the most recent Spider-Man movie, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” As of now, neither of them has publicly responded to the post.
The Spider-Man post is an addition to the Donald Trump administration’s use of the latest trending IP for their own political agenda. After all, this is not the first time the social media output has sparked outrage.
Several musicians have criticized the White House for using their songs without permission in videos showing ICE agents detaining immigrants. Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, Katy Perry and SZA have all called the clips inhumane, arguing that pairing their music with immigration enforcement video attaches their work to a divisive political agenda.
In March, the White House also shared a photo mimicking the visual style of a Pokémon game, featuring characters including Pikachu and Magikarp alongside the phrase “make america great again.” The same day, Customs and Border Protection referred to Detective Pikachu as “Border Patrol’s newest recruit” in a separate post.
The White House has also released an AI-generated parody of an AMC pre-show advertisement, reworking its script to celebrate Trump’s presidency.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.
