The White House has a way of using popular movies, TV shows, and music and incorporating them into social media posts regardless of any permissions granted. That’s what seems to have happened with an Instagram post made after the 2026 Spider-Man: Brand New Day movie was released. The post insinuates that Spider-Man would be all for working with ICE if the superhero was real.
That alone is an issue for those against ICE, MAGA, and Donald Trump. But others see a big problem with Spider-Man-themed images being used by the Trump Administration, seemingly without permission. And even after users commented with their grievances, the White House, or whoever is in charge of social media, did not remove the post.
The White House’s post shows Spider-Man’s unmistakable web shooter.
The Instagram post features a close-up of Spider-Man’s hand shooting out webs. The next two photos follow the line of web until the final photo, which shows a line of people are ensnared by webbing with an ICE agent looking on. The caption says, “Your friendly neighborhood ICE agents.”
Some of the top comments under the Instagram post criticized the use of the comic book and movie character for the purpose of the White House pushing its ICE and immigration agenda. Some die-hard Spider-Man fans even commented to point out that there is a comic book where Spidey makes it his job to protect undocumented citizens.
“Btw there’s a comic of Spider-Man defending undocumented immigrant families and giving them a chance so it just proves that spider man would never support ICE,” someone commented.
Even so, the White House did not remove the post.
Fans think Spider-Man would not be a Trump supporter.
white house just dropped the worst post of all time pic.twitter.com/2phK5g4QTz
— Jozu 🇵🇦 (@JozuJoestarr) August 7, 2026
Fans of the character and the comic shared a similar sentiment on X (formerly Twitter). An account called Spider-Man Vibe shared the images used in the White House’s Instagram post and wrote, “I don’t usually get involved in political stuff, but some things need to be said. Spider-Man and Stan Lee would never support ICE. Not now. Not ever. F–k ICE.”
In the comments under the post, the same user continued their ideas about Spider-Man, his mission, and how he would respond to the Trump Administration.
“Spider-Man’s whole thing is ‘with great power comes great responsibility,'” they wrote. “He protects the little guy, the immigrant, the kid who’s just trying to survive. He doesn’t side with the people kicking down doors and ripping families apart. Stan Lee spent his career writing stories about standing up to bullies, prejudice, and systems that crush the powerless. That’s the exact opposite of what ICE does. They wouldn’t support it. Not even close.”
Someone else, however, commented that they believe Spider-Man would be forced to help ICE, in a way. Hat is, if the fictional character was a real superhero in real life.
“Except that illegal immigrants contribute to a good bulk of NY crime so Spider-Man would still have to stop them and libtards would still label him as a racist for doing so,” they wrote.
Then, to that, someone responded, “He’d also have to stop white criminals so you’d call him an anti-white antifa terrorist or some f–king stupid s–t like that.”
Some think Disney should file a lawsuit.
The White House once again turned to pop culture in characterising their immigration strategy, this time using Spider-Man imagery to portray Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as 'friendly neighbourhood' figures.#spiderman #DonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/p2IKu23wk5
— Delhi Times (@DelhiTimesTweet) August 9, 2026
Because the Spider-Man franchise is owned by Sony and Disney owns Marvel and controls much of the merchandising related to the franchise, some Spider-Man fans want Disney to sue the White House. How that would even work seems to be beyond fans, but they’ve called for it nonetheless after that White House post.
Fans of the web-slinging superhero commented on the original Instagram post to say that the White House should be sued for using Spider-Man’s likeness, even if it’s just his hand and web, without express permission. But for now, the post is still up.
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