Spider-Man: Lotus

About

Spider-Man: Lotus is a fanmade film based on the Spider-Man franchise directed by Gavin J. Konop and starring Warden Wayne as Spider-Man. The film deals with themes of coping with loss and takes place after the death of Gwen Stacy. It is inspired by the 1984 Amazing Spider-Man story "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man" about a Spider-Man megafan with leukemia. The film was announced in January 2021 and raised over $100,000 on IndieGoGo. In June 2022, several controversial messages written by members of the crew (including the director and lead actor) surfaced online, sparking controversy after many perceived them to be racist.

History

Announcement and Crowdfunding

On January 16th, 2021, director Gavin J. Konop posted a video to YouTube^[1] announcing Spider-Man: Lotus and its IndieGoGo^[2] campaign (shown below). In the video, Konop says the film is inspired by the 1984 story from The Amazing Spider-Man comics "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man." In the comic, Spider-Man visits a kid with leukemia, Tim Harrison, who is Spider-Man's biggest fan. Konop says the film is about "how we encounter loss, how we deal with it and how we grow from it." The video gained over 121,000 views in a year. The IndieGoGo campaign surpassed its goal of $20,000 US, raising over $30,000 US by February 28th, 2021. As of June 2022, the film has raised over $112,000 US.

Production

Konop posted frequent updates about the project and its production over the following months. On March 25th, 2021, he posted a video to YouTube^[3] discussing the film's cast (shown below, left). On June 9th he posted a video to YouTube^[4] showcasing the film's theme song, gaining over 140,000 views in a year (shown below, right).

On July 16th, Konop posted a teaser for Spider-Man: Lotus to YouTube,^[5] gaining over 681,000 views in 11 months (shown below).

On October 28th, Konop posted a full trailer for the movie to YouTube,^[6] gaining over 1.7 million views in eight months (shown below). The trailer teases a release date of Summer 2022.

Controversies

Warden Wayne Leaked Messages

On June 18th, 2022, Twitter^[7] user @Thnnnder posted several screenshots showing Warden Wayne, the actor playing Spider-Man, using the N-word over DM, writing, "Is this your Spider-Man?? Warden Wayne is so gross, hoping Lotus recasts him," gaining over 850 likes and 400 retweets in three days (shown below).

On the same day, Wayne apologized for his offensive remarks in a tweet,^[8] gaining over 4,800 likes and 330 retweets in three days (shown below). In the statement, he claims he used to use the word in high school as a joke but is now "ashamed" of it. He writes that he was "raised in a homeschool conservative environment in a small town in Arkansas" and added that his "ideas of right and wrong were skewed." He also claims he's grown and changed over the years as his bubble expanded.

On June 19th, Konop posted a statement to Twitter^[9] about Warden Wayne, writing that he was "disgusted" by the messages. He states that Wayne was open with him about his former ignorance in the past and also added that the film will still be released, writing, "These people have put themselves on the line to achieve the vision that I have set forth, and they don't deserve to have their work diminished because of one person's actions." He then apologizes for the statements from Wayne.

Gavin J. Konop Leaked Messages

On June 20th, 2022, Twitter^[10] user @Berkmanboom posted, "Since Warden Wayne has been exposed, I think it’s a better time than ever to expose Gjkcentral aka Gavin Konop," sharing several screenshots in which Konop purportedly writes the N-word and uses the contentious term "retard" (shown below). @Berkmanboom posted several other allegedly leaked tweets and messages showing similar behavior throughout the day.

On the same day, Konop then posted a tweet^[11] in response to the accusations, claiming some of the messages are photoshopped, some are "screenshots of things that old admins had sent from my account several years ago" and some are "old messages that do not need to be addressed." In his response, he writes, "Be back with an in-depth response to it all, but for right now, I’m taking a step back from social media."

In a Twitter^[12] post from the same day, the leaker @berkmanboom posted a statement explaining who he is. He writes that he is 15 and met Konop in 2017 and looked up to him. The two bonded over Spider-Man and Konop promised to help @berkmanboom make a Spider-Man film, but then started to distance himself from him. He writes that he didn't understand how "toxic" Konop was at the time and wanted to expose him before, but was too scared.

Konop was also criticized by some for not adequately paying the film's storyboard artists and purportedly treating the film's VFX artists poorly. In one leaked DM posted to Twitter,^[15] Konop writes, "honestly I don't understand why people were so upset over me not paying the storyboard artists." On June 20th, Twitter^[16] user @low_res_jpg, who claims to have worked on the VFX team, described how the team eventually quit due to several problems with Konop (shown below).

Script and Footage Leaks

At the time of the controversy, script pages and footage from the film were also leaked online. On June 20th, 2022, Twitter^[13] user @hurglemorn leaked the first three pages of the script, gaining over 130 likes in a day.

Spider-Man: Lotus In Theaters

On August 6th, 2023, the movie received an official theater release in the United Kingdom.^[17] Twitter^[18] user @jayjjalen posted a picture of Spider-Man: Lotus actor Warden Wayne on the red carpet for the movie premiere (shown below), which garnered over 40,000 likes and 1,100 retweets in a day.

Online, the movie premiere became a trending topic on Twitter, with users commenting on the controversies surrounding actor Warden Wayne and the movie director Gavin J. Konop. For example, on August 6th, Twitter^[19] user @CastleDead posted a clip mocking the film's fans (shown below), which received roughly 129,000 views and 5,100 likes in a day.

Spider-Man Lotus fans seeing Miles Morales at the premiere https://t.co/rCPVK2xa2V pic.twitter.com/qxNbHxYu0O

— Castle (@CastleDead) August 6, 2023

On the same day, Twitter^[20] user @TheRealTCU posted a video showing the inside audience of the movie premiere (shown below), which received over 4.8 million views and 3.700 likes in a day.

Inside the Spider-Man Lotus premiere💀 pic.twitter.com/ZQmonjNphh

— TCU (@TheRealTCU) August 6, 2023

Search Interest

External References