I was having a talk with a friend yesterday about MCU Peter Parker vs. Spiderverse Peter Parker vs. Spiderverse Miles Morales (in regards to places in their narratives and their characterizations, not as a competition, we like and enjoy all of them), and neither of us read comics so idk if we actually knew what we were talking about, but…
The impression I always got from Peter Parker is that he got his powers in a world where superheroes and supervillains weren’t really a thing yet, so he was one of the first people to become a publicly known hero. It was just a 15/16yo kid in an ordinary neighborhood who suddenly got these amazing powers, used them badly and lost his uncle, and then decided to put on a homemade mask and fight crime with no real precedent and no real resources. There was no mentor to follow and no mantle to uphold, besides that of Ben Parker’s “with great power comes great responsibility” and Peter had to decide what that meant. He made Spider-Man with no idea what he was doing and then over the years he made Spider-Man into a hero with his own blood, sweat, and tears.
Which is why Peter Parker is such a little shit. He’s been doing this superhero thing for just as long as or longer than other heroes who are 2-3 times his age. He did it pretty much independently too, besides the help and support of his friends and family. People tell him as a 26yo to shut up, but by then Peter has been a pretty successful self-made superhero for TEN YEARS (at 21 he’s been doing it for FIVE) and his main stance on being told to stop by the “real adults” is essentially “lol, bite me, noob” (followed by “k I’m sorry I said that but I’m also not sorry and I’m not stopping”).
So, to hold Peter Parker in high-school forever does a disservice to the real-life legacy of Spider-Man as a trailblazer in the history of superhero comics and movies. Which is why I think Spiderverse’s Peter Parker was so successful; it works on a meta level to actually recognize Peter Parker’s Spider-Man as a long-standing part of pop culture and one of the first well-known heroes.
“Wow, sorry,” says Peter Parker, searching his pockets, being confronted about his humble origins as a hero. “I’m just looking for where I ever asked your permission to be a kickass superhero.”
So, by his point of introduction in the MCU and the role they’ve given him, MCU Peter Parker has been robbed a lot of his historical independence and distinction as a “self-made” hero. (This is not an insult towards Tom Holland’s performance or me saying that you cannot enjoy MCU Peter Parker, but it is a mild criticism of the MCU and an attempt to understand what makes the MCU interpretation and depiction of Peter Parker feel so different.) By making Iron-Man his mentor and his mantle to uphold, there’s very little room for Peter Parker and Spider-Man to breathe as an independent hero and independent identity.
Also, of Peter Parker’s five appearances in the MCU so far, only one really qualifies as a “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” situation. And “Spider-Man: Homecoming” travels quite a bit. The MCU has largely separated Peter Parker from his identity as a New Yorker and a neighborhood hero. The MCU isn’t super interested in letting him be that Jewish kid from Queens. Plus, I was under the impression that Peter Parker’s two main hobbies were photography and chemistry; I can’t remember any significant photography and Peter seems to have swapped chem for engineering.
He’s also got a different surrounding cast, which I think combined with all of the above definitely contributes to him overall feeling like an entirely different character. Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn aren’t around. Ned Leeds is pretty new (inspired by one of Miles Morales’ friends I hear). Flash and MJ have been reinterpreted (which isn’t inherently bad, just different). And there’s been very little mention, if any, of Ben Parker and how crucial his life and death was to Peter’s character and origin story. And did MCU Peter have parents?
I’ve seen a bit of criticism of MCU Peter Parker borrowing heavily from the personality and story of Miles Morales. Other people have spoken on it better than I can, but… yeah, if Spiderverse is any indication of how the comics went, Miles Morales is someone who got his powers in a world where superheroes and supervillains already existed in the public eye, and inherited a mantle from a late mentor that he felt unprepared to uphold.
Which is the story they gave MCU Peter Parker.
I think the MCU wanted an apprentice/protege character for Tony Stark, picked Peter Parker, and then made it work within the narrative they wanted to tell. Some people are really annoyed by having Iron-Man be such a big part of Spidey’s origin as a hero in the MCU and other people really enjoy their relationship; it’s a matter of personal taste. The MCU has changed a lot of characters to suit the movies they want to make.
I don’t think MCU Peter Parker is a bad character - I like MCU Peter Parker a lot and I enjoy watching him - but I do think he’s a very different character to the previous incarnations of Peter Parker, and that this difference was increased by taking him out of the city Peter Parker usually calls home and away from the ensemble cast Peter Parker usually interacts with. Spiderverse Peter Parker (and the Maguire and Garfield Parkers) and MCU Peter Parker feel like almost entirely separate characters to me personally and to my friend, and overall I think these changes to the character and the world are why we feel that way. He’s a different Spider-Man with a different origin story (whatever supposedly happened in the background, all of his on-screen origin story has been devoted to his relationship with Tony Stark) in a different world being used to tell a different story.
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