- Issa Rae spoke to Insider about voicing Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse."
- In the animated film, Jessica is a superhero who's also pregnant.
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" star Issa Rae said that her character being a superhero who's also pregnant led her to reevaluate her own biases toward expectant mothers.
"That's such a dynamic and interesting piece that the filmmakers chose to include, that specific arc for Jessica Drew," Rae told Insider during a recent virtual interview for "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse."
The Emmy-nominated actor joined the critically acclaimed animated "Spider-Verse" franchise as the voice of Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman. In addition to her involvement in the elite Spider Society, which is tasked with preserving the multiverse, Jessica has a baby on the way.
It's an aspect of the character that is also part of Jessica's run in the comics, but has led to varying reactions online.
While some have said it sends a positive message that a woman can be pregnant and not sacrifice her work, others have questioned the safety of engaging in superhero activities while expecting a baby.
"It made me think about just my own biases towards pregnant women," Rae said. "Like sometimes we do imagine them as these fragile creatures. For me, even in thinking about, 'Oh, if I become pregnant, everything's gonna stop.'"
"It's so incredible that you have this superhero who in the literal sense is this supermom who is sacrificing to save the world, but also has these superpowers," she added. "We know that she's not putting her child in harm's way. She is basically putting herself on the line to save the world. I just think it's incredible to look at that and just be like, just because the baby is on the way doesn't mean that life stops. "
"You can still be super," Rae said, mentioning tennis icon Serena Williams, who competed while pregnant.
"There's so many incredible women doing incredible things with child," she said.
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is now playing in theaters.