As sometimes happens when comic-book story developments become mainstream-media sensations, the official announcement yesterday that Marvel's new Ultimate Spider-Man is a biracial teen named Miles Morales has turned into a game of Telephone, with information added and dropped as the message goes along.

It didn't take long for London's Daily Mail to jump from Spider-Man has a half-black, half-Latino teen to a half-black, half-Latino teen ... who "could be gay in the future": "Fans will have to wait until the official Spider Man relaunch next month to find out how he came to be the superhero. But another surprise could be in the pipeline after his creators said that in the future they would not rule out making him gay."

As best as I can tell, the sole basis for that is a quote from USA Today in which Ultimate Spider-Man artist Sara Pichelli says, "Maybe sooner or later a black or gay — or both — hero will be considered something absolutely normal." It's not exactly the same thing, is it? Doesn't matter, though, as it's good enough for Matt Drudge to declare that the Spider-Man "reincarnation" "could be gay."

For the record, a Marvel spokesman was unambiguous when he confirmed for CBR News that Miles Morales isn't gay.

Still, a blogger for the gay magazine Instinct is pleased with the possibility, writing that "though my money was on Robin as the first mainstream superhero to come out, I'll be nothing but in awe if Marvel makes the great webbed one bat, err, spider, for our team!"

Meanwhile, Glenn Beck has weighed in on the new Spider-Man, saying, "Do I care if he's half-Hispanic, all Hispanic? No. Half-black, half -- I really don't care. Half-gay, all gay, I don't really care. ... I don't care. It's a stupid comic book." However, what he does care about is that ... Michelle Obama is somehow -- somehow! -- behind the "half-black, half-Hispanic gay Spider-Man."