Ironically though in the real world the Spiderman franchise is anything but the underdog, raking in billions!
Daddy Issues!
Let’s focus on that difficult home life for a moment. Peter isn’t just a kid, he’s a kid that has some of the worst things imaginable happen to him. Peter is an orphan who lives with his uncle and aunt. And then in a tremendous amount of bad luck, his uncle Ben gets killed! Making Peter more unlucky than the guy who walked under a ladder into a black cat on Friday the 13th.
Not that black cat, cause that would be lucky
Luckily he still has his aunt, which means he at least has a stable maternal figure in his life. Sadly the same cannot be said for a father figure.
Quick, what does the Green Goblin, the Lizard and Doc Ock have in common. Other than the fact that they are all scientists that went insane and took up super villainy, they also acted as peter’s father figure at some point.
No other hero has this. The Joker was not batman’s uncle. The Mandarin was not Ironman’s granddad and the Red Skull was not Steve Rogers cousin. But somehow each and every one of Spidy’s villains has some convoluted relationship with Peter Parker.
And most of the time it’s in the form of father figures. For an orphan who’s dad is clearly out of the picture, Peter sure has some daddy issues. And this is mainly because of his many, many father figures turning out to be evil. But that’s the thing Spiderman’s character needs a father figure. Because fundamentally Spiderman’s story is one of growing up. It’s a coming of age story in superhero form.
Even in the latest Tom Holland’s version of the character, this need for the father figure character is seen in the form of Ironman, who sadly was the best replacement dad Peter ever had. In the 2nd Spidy movie of the MCU Spiderman: Far from home, Spidy again gets another father figure in the form of Mysterio who…spoiler alert…turns out to be evil.
Now while so many father figures and all of them disappearing or turning evil may seem counterproductive and repetitive, the truth is this element is also a core element of a Spiderman story.
Every damn time!
For us to be constantly reminded that Spidy is a child we do need a more mature older character to guide him. Even in the latest movie this role seems to be played by Dr. Strange.
Stuck in High School Limbo
Now this creates a very unique problem, We love Spiderman because he is an everyday teenager who goes up against super villains. So when Spidy grows up he loses a lot of his appeal. This creates a strange limbo in which Spiderman is not allowed to grow up and changing the status quo. And this brings us back to the title of this Article.
Just like Peter Pan, Peter Parker also just cannot grow up. But unlike Peter Pan who did not want to grow up, peter Parker is stuck in permanent adult hood because it would be extremely unprofitable for the entities that own his rights to let him grow up. Even in the latest Spiderman: No way home, returning things to the status quo by making everyone forget who Spiderman is seems to be a huge plot point.
The best solution I’ve seen to his predicament is seen in the into the Spiderverse animated movie, were Spidy finally gets to take up the role of mentor for Miles Morales. This allows the character of Peter Parker to grow up, while keeping the Character of Spiderman(Miles Morales) still a teenager, with a fresh batch of teenager issues. And let’s hope that the current Spiderman in the MCU is also allowed to escape perpetual puberty and finally become a full-fledged Superhero that stands with equal reverence and awe as the others in his world. A fraction of his popularity in the real world.
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