Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends is, by and large, a fun trip down memory lane. The short-lived show is a continuation of the web-slinger's campy adventures, this time featuring Iceman and Firestar, a brand-new character. The three live together in an apartment while attending college and saving the city from monsters and evil-doers; however, while it is a nostalgic watch, there are problems with the show that can't be overlooked, and Disney+ is aware of this, attaching a disclaimer before the third episode, "Sunfire," warning viewers about racially insensitive content.

The disclaimer states the episode contains negative depictions of people and cultures. Disney+ chooses to acknowledge the problematic and racist portrayals in "Sunfire" instead of removing the episode from the streaming service entirely, unlike what happened to "The Quest of the Red Skull," a Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends' episode that features Nazi imagery and is not featured on Disney+ at all. 

Disney+ appears to want to learn from past mistakes, hoping to, "spark conversation to create a more inclusive future." The message goes on to explain how committed to diversity Disney is, and it ends with a link to its "Stories Matter" initiative. This initiative is dedicated to acknowledging harmful depictions of cultures and people in past shows and films in order to discuss why these portrayals are offensive and how creators can avoid repeating the same behavior. It's also aiming to elevate the voices of communities that have been erased or forgotten in popular media. 

firestar and sunfire

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While not containing any Nazis like the aforementioned "The Quest for the Red Skull" episode, "Sunfire" is still offensive in its own right. The episode follows Spider-Man, Iceman and Firestar as they encounter the titular Sunfire, a Japanese superhero, and his evil uncle, Genju. Both Sunfire and Uncle Genju have stereotypical "Asian" accents. However, while Genju is at least voiced by an actor of Asian descent, Sunfire is voiced by a white American, Jerry Dexter. This results in an extremely cringeworthy interpretation of the Japanese characters.

Furthermore, Uncle Genju dresses in samurai armor, has a horde of samurai style robots and disguises his lair as an "Ichi Ban Electronics" warehouse. Genju is also portrayed as duplicitous and evil, even going so far as to trick his own nephew into aiding his nefarious plan to create a fire kaiju. This, along with the stereotypical imagery, feeds into the harmful misrepresentation of Asian cultures in American media that's been present for decades.

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In what is undoubtedly the most baffling scene of all, the end of the episode features Firestar over-hearing Iceman and Spider-Man discuss ways to cheer her up, following the sudden dissolution of her budding romance with Sunfire. Their suggestions, which are entirely serious, include seeing a Japanese horror movie and going to a Japanese restaurant. This joke reinforces the notion that Firestar was only attracted to Sunfire because of his race, continuing the problematic fetishization of Japanese culture.

Firestar, seemingly upset, responds by presenting the boys with chopsticks, much to their confusion. Aunt May then appears presenting pizza. Everyone laughs at this, with the boys being relieved that they don't have to use chopsticks or eat sushi, ending the episode on an offensive and weird note. This is also the end of Sunfire, who never appears again in the show.

The disclaimer before "Sunfire" is definitely warranted. The episode features bad accents, offensive stereotypes and even a problematic reference to Custer's Last Stand. However, even if it were removed from Disney+, the episode's fire kaiju still appears in the series intro, providing an ever-present reminder of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends' problematic past.

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