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The White House has made an enemy out of Marvel fans.
A recent post on its official Instagram account sees Spider-Man imagery being used as part of media campaign to promote Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Accompanied by the caption “Your friendly neighbourhood ICE agents”, the four-part post shows Spider-Man firing a web which ends up in the final image, showing a group of men caught in the web.
The final caption reads: “Criminal illegal aliens will be caught and deported.”
This sort of thing is not usual for Donald Trump and his administration, who love to co-opt popular culture, specifically movies, as part of his “memetic warfare”.
Several cultural touchstones used by Trump on Truth Social or the White House have included Superman, Hannibal Lecter and Jedis, and the references have backfired every time – not only by sparking the ire of the original creators and fans, but also for how these hijacked cultural winks displaya lack of appreciation or understanding when it comes to the references themselves.
This Spider-Man post clearly shows that the White House couldn’t resist the cultural moment the latest Spidey film is having, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day smashing all box office records and becoming the second fastest film in history to cross the $1 billion box office milestone.
However, the desperate attempt to be a part of the cultural moment has massively backfired…
The post has sparked controversy online, with people calling for the account to take the post down and Marvel fans outraged that their favourite hero has been used to promote ICE.
Many are calling for Marvel and Sony to sue, with fans rallying behind comments like “This is the worse misrepresentation of Spider-Man to the highest order. Marvel/Sony need to get off their damn knees and take legal action immediately.”
The comments section for the White House post includes: “Stan Lee would never approve”; “I am so ashamed of this administration”; and “Our government is a freaking joke posting unprofessional things like this”.
One post added “spiderman would NEVER”, while another user stated: “Coming from the official communications arm of the United States government, this is embarrassing.”
“It would be the opposite actually. Spider-Man would take down ICE and that shit fascist president in one night,” another chimed in.
Today’s post follows several high-profile artists who have previously condemned the White House for using their music in ICE or military videos.
The likes of Ariana Grande, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, SZA and Katy Perry have all slammed the use of their songs to promote Trump’s controversial political agenda.
Perry recently added her name to the long list of musicians who have called out the Trump administration for unauthorised use of their songs.
She took to X last month to express her anger at a video showing footage of military strikes, writing: “I am deeply appalled and angry to see ‘Firework’ used on the @WhiteHouse TikTok account as a backing track for video footage of military strikes. I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it.”
She added: “I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments. To see a message of self-worth and upliftment weaponized to soundtrack destruction and violence is a complete violation of everything my song stands for. My music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare.”