Spiderman has always, always been Jewish!! It’s especially apparent in Stan Lee’s original writing of course, but even the 80’s cartoon references it from time to time. Not just Peter Parker himself, but the whole story is full of Jewish literary themes, values, and tropes. Examples: with great power must also come great personal responsibility (as opposed to wondering what God’s Plan is, noticeably absent from Peter’s way of thinking); growth through self-reflection and connection to your community without involving God or Temple (worship isn’t an important part of Peter’s life and doesn’t have to be); and friends who love each other but are also a flawed petty drama nest of dumb idiots (ever seen Seinfeld? Or any Jewish-written group of longtime friends really? Yeah. Peter, Flash, Gwen, Liz, Harry, MJ, all of them are dumb sluts originally). The concept of “righteous VS sinful,” or a Savior or The Devil or Temptation that usually at least flavors most Christian characters or writing, is conspicuously absent from Spiderman once you notice it’s actually not there. There’s no “commupance,” Sin, Fate, or Hell. Most of the time, characters are their own worst enemy, or victims of circumstance. Very often even THE WORST dudes still have redeeming qualities, even if it’s just being hilarious, or catastrophically unlucky. (The word for that one is schlimazel, and Peter himself falls into that particular Jewish trope A LOT). Even Spiderman’s iconic reflective internal running monologs during webslinging are themselves a very Jewish hero thing. Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof does the same thing: casually rants at God like he’s personally wronged him, no deity presence or formality. Peter Parker is emblematic of immigrant reformist Jewish Americans in New York; he may not be religious, but he’s still significantly influenced by his Jewish heritage. Including it in new media not only retains where Peter comes from, literally and literarily- it makes him more human. And the other side of this coin is that he’s decidedly not Christian, which also explains and informs his perspective as a character. When he tells Miles, “It’s a leap of faith,” he clearly doesn’t mean Christian faith; he means a faith in something that must be found on the inside, not the outside. Faith in oneself, and facing the abject fear of jumping when nobody can catch you but you.
I would even say Spiderverse’s “Spiderman belongs to everyone - anyone can wear the mask,” is a very Jewish theme. There is no one savior; you can be your own savior. Sharing knowledge and not just letting it be adapted, but celebrating the re-examination, change, reinvention and growth that comes with combining perspectives of different cultures and histories - reform Jewish all over!
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