Spider-Man Star Jake Johnson’s Simple Gesture of Kindness Toward His Fans Quickly Took a Dark Turn After He Received Over 100,000 Emails
- Jake Johnson reveals one gesture he did as Peter B. Parker for kids during pandemic.
- The actor is not very keen on bringing his character from animated version to live-action.
- Jake Johnson states he is always trying to fight to honor Peter B. Parker.
Actor-filmmaker Jake Johnson is widely known for his work as Nick Miller on the Fox sitcom New Girl alongside Zooey Deschanel. The actor has been appreciated for his work on the sitcom, which remains one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time. Johnson is also known for voicing a version of Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and 2023’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the first animated movie in the Spider-Man franchise. Jake Johnson voiced Peter B. Parker, Miles Morales’ reluctant mentor, and was highly appreciated for his performance. His legacy will be tied to Spider-Man for the rest of his career, and he is grateful for that. But fans are grateful for one gesture that he made during the pandemic.
Jake Johnson reveals the one reason why he loves the Spider-Man franchise
Actor Jake Johnson appeared on ReelBlend Podcast to talk about his feature directorial debut, Self Reliance, in which he starred alongside Anna Kendrick, Natalie Morales, Emily Hampshire, and more. During the conversation, the actor recalled the gesture he made in order to encourage the fans of Spider-Man during the pandemic. He said,
I started doing these Peter Parker things where I would send voice notes out to kids like Peter Parker. And it started as like a little nothing kind of fun thing I did where I just posted something on social media. Like, ‘If your kids are spooked, send an email here, and I’ll say, as Peter Parker, that it’s going to be fine.’
Johnson explained that he posted that late at night because he was scared about the pandemic just like everyone else and his kids were young, asking questions that were getting spooky. The actor further mentioned,
The number of responses was probably over 100,000 in a day. And I needed to get UTA to help distribute. But what hit me was how sad a lot of the emails were and how scared everybody was. And how it would be adults being like, ‘Hey man, I know you said kids. But I’m 47. I live alone. I’m by myself. I’m terrified. I’m not an idiot. I know Peter Parker’s not real. If you don’t mind, could you say, like to Steve, ‘It’s going to be okay’?
The New Girl actor added that he thought it was cool, explaining that it is one of the reasons why he loves the franchise so much, noting that it’s like an individual is using a fictional thing to just help them get through a hard moment. He concluded that it does not matter if the person is 80 or 60.
Jake Johnson will be on-board to bring Peter B. Parker to live-action under one condition
Actor Jake Johnson earlier this year, during an interview with ComicBook.com, was asked if he’d be interested in bringing his character of Peter B. Parker into a live-action movie. He said,
I really love how it is. I think the animation is great. I think for me, truthfully, it’s all about Phil Lord and Chris Miller. If Phil Lord or Chris texted and said, ‘We think this is really cool and we would like you to be part of it,‘ then I’m in. If it’s Sony that says they have a really fun idea and it’s a new director who’s at a great studio rate, I feel less excited about that.
He explained further that some projects are just made to make money. And then there are a few people who, according to the Self-Reliance actor, really care about the project, and he’s on board to work on those projects. Johnson added that if Phil or Chris told him that they were going to put him in front of the green screen, he’d do it because he knows that the project is going to be thoughtful and mean something to the people.
Upon asking about the future of his character, Jake Johnson mentioned during the interview that he’d be sad if Peter B. Parker would not be returning to Spider-Verse because he feels attached to the character. The actor explains that he has always fought to honor the character he’s played. He lastly added that Peter B. Parker means a lot to him.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
