With Great Power Comes Great Relatability

Since his inception in 1962, Spider-Man has been one of the most profitable franchises in film, merchandizing, and other forms of media. Just this past year in 2021 Spider-Man reached the top of the box office charts earning short of two billion dollars worldwide with the film Spider-Man: No Way Home. The film still remains at the second highest grossing movie of 2022 as of April per Box Office Mojo. In an uncertain time throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, no film has come close to reaching the incredible total the film has grossed. Having earned over double the profit of the next runner up, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the only logical explanation is that we went out in droves for Spider-Man because he is Spider-Man. We have come to appreciate the character for more than surface level traits like the fact that he is a superhero or that his stories have action. We love him because he is just like one of us.

Peter Parker in almost every iteration is a kid who is bitten by a radioactive spider and given superhuman abilities. He is forged by loss, learning, and change. His superpowered identity is like most. He wears a colorful costume and battles colorful, exaggerated, or comical foes. What sets him apart from the rest of the library of fictional heroes is the man behind the mask. The stories crafted around Peter’s life make him a vessel for the medium consumer.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought Peter Parker into life with Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962. While Lee was pumping out titles like The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, and The X-Men he found himself with a form of writer’s block. There he, “saw a fly crawling on a wall. And I said, ‘Boy, it would be great if I could get a superhero who could stick to walls like an insect.’ ” and then the greatest fictional character was born. Lee’s writing combined with visual input from Kirby and Steve Ditko formed Parker’s personality as a nerdy teenager that goes through tragedy and had been given enormous amounts of power. The choice to make him a teenager in a time when younger people were more rebellious and blasting Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan was the most relatable thing they could do.

In an article published from Parade they quote Stan Lee when he said, “I like Spider-Man because he’s become the most famous. He’s the one who’s most like me–nothing ever turns out 100 percent OK; he’s got a lot of problems, and he does things wrong, and I can relate to that.” and this is the crux of the character in every iteration. A staple of the character is his ability to endure loss. Peter loses those closest to him more often than not. In every major adaptation Parker loses his Uncle Ben due to a selfish incident. Every depiction varies on the how, but still sticks with the central theme. For example, in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man (2002) Peter loses his uncle to a criminal that he let get away. All over some money owed, his actions had dire consequences. The Kübler-Ross model for the five stages of grief reflects each of Peter’s actions during and after his uncle is killed.

When Peter finds his uncle in the street he calls his name as if he were unharmed and says, “I’m here Uncle Ben” in a voice that can only be described as shocked. This reflects stage number one: denial. Shortly after this he overhears an officer identifying the suspect for his uncle’s murder. Peter immediately swings through the city in a fit of rage going after the man. The suspect reflects the third stage of grief asking for a chance when Peter confronts him and Peter counters asking if he gave his uncle a chance. The suspect falls to his death trying to escape from Parker leaving him feeling responsible. Shortly after in the film he graduates high school and his Aunt finds him crying alone in his room saying, “I missed [Uncle Ben] a lot today” which reflects the fourth stage of grief: depression. After an uplifting talk with his aunt, Peter picks up a drawing of his Spider-Man costume and the words, “With great power comes great responsibility” are uttered by his uncle which fades into Peter’s suiting up as Spider-Man for the first time followed by montages of his heroic deeds. This is the final stage: acceptance. In the acceptance portion of the paper Elisabeth Kübler-Ross & David Kessler say, “We can never replace what has been lost, but we can make new connections, new meaningful relationships, new inter-dependencies. Instead of denying our feelings, we listen to our needs; we move, we change, we grow, we evolve.” which very closely reflects Parker’s arc in the 2002 film.

Speaking of the 2002 film, in a recent interview promoting his new movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Sam Raimi spoke with Moviepilot and said of Peter Parker, “He’s identifiable as a human being, he’s got problems, he’s got bad skin, he doesn’t have enough money and yet he struggles to do the right thing. He puts everything he’s got. He sacrifices everything… it’s somebody you can identify with and look up to. And it embodies the thing I love about a great superhero movie which is, ‘I could do that. A little part of that could be me’.”

Nancy J. Johnson says, “discussions come alive when readers meet characters of complexity, substance, and familiarity… there is still plenty to discuss when authors introduce story characters who exhibit human attitudes, behaviors, and physical traits… readers can then talk about characters with the same intensity they have for people they know”. Peter Parker is a vessel for us as readers to try and project ourselves into a world where people have magic hammers and big green men can jump over buildings. Regarded as one of the most influential arcs in Spider-Man history, the aptly titled Spider-Man: No More saw Peter Parker struggle to balance his personal and superhero life. The arc was even adapted as the main framework for the 2004 film Spider-Man 2. An entry in the psychological journal PsyArt discusses the 2004 film and analyzes the core aspects of the plot. Robert M. Peaslee says, “the sexualization and omnipotence of the superhero, coupled with the reader/viewer’s tendency to read the narrative from the point of view of him or her, marks a clear point of narcissistic pleasure for that reader/viewer”. The journey Peter faces in the film is the theme of, “with great power comes great responsibility” with the issue facing him is not feeling safe letting in Mary Jane Watson into his life while being Spider-Man. Peter even says in the 2004 film, “Am I not supposed to have what I want?’ right before deciding that his uncle’s words about responsibility are more important. Peter’s choice to give up trying to get MJ to be with him makes the “hero” in superhero earned. Peter’s journey throughout the film with the costs and benefits of being a hero is a very human journey. Wanting satisfaction is the “sexualization” of humanity like Peaslee had discussed. The story of Spider-Man: No More and Spider-Man 2 are stories about choices not about how to save the world or fight an intergalactic villain like most superhero stories. The impact of these two in pop culture shows that people care more about relatable stories apposed to otherworldly.

To be able to project ourselves onto a character is hard so when speaking of Spider-Man and his wearing of a mask, Lee gives the key to how anonymity makes the costume a blank canvas for the people when he says, “He is completely covered so any kid could imagine he’s Spider-Man because no color of the skin shows. He could be black under that. He could be red. He could be yellow. He could belong to any race… it was done accidentally… making him so he could be anybody under that costume.” Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created a hero that could be anyone. Robin S. Rosenberg says, “We propose that superheroes allow us to see ourselves in stark and entertaining ways and to dream of what we might be”. The book they wrote called The Psychology of Superheroes: An Unauthorized Exploration takes a deep dive into what makes a hero act the way they do. Another point in the book Rosenberg says, “Most folks, including your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man want the chance to shine. The appeal of positive psychology certainly wouldn’t be lost on Peter Parker, a teenager whom life seems to have dealt a poor hand.”

Building a character to be even compelling before relatable is a challenge itself. Masterclass wrote a piece on how to develop fictional character where they define it as, “In fiction writing, character development is the process of building a unique, three-dimensional character with depth, personality, and clear motivations. Character development can also refer to the changes a character undergoes over the course of a story as a result of their actions and experiences” and they also say when talking of building a protagonist, “Give the protagonist flaws. Protagonists or heroes don’t have to be perfect specimens of humanity. In fact, those protagonists tend to be boring. Great characters emerge from the trials they encounter, and believable characters have human flaws, just like people in real life.”

Spider-Man follows the guidelines put out by Masterclass and another literary genius Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero With A Thousand Faces. The book goes through a multistep act on events that occur in the “hero’s journey”. Peter Parker in his initial appearances in every incarnation goes through this journey. All of the steps in a heroes journey are universal and seen in other franchises like Harry Potter, Star Wars, or even the Lion King. Ruth Anne Roberts wrote a piece titled Harry Potter, Ruby Slippers, and Merlin: telling the client’s story using the characters and paradigm of the archetypal hero’s journey where she says, “We place ourselves into the story and walk with the characters. In terms of persuasion, we walk in the shoes of the protagonist. If we can marry the concepts of storytelling to the “collective conscious” in our statements of the case, we will potentially create powerfully persuasive undercurrents in the case that should help persuade in a more subtle way.”

The hero’s journey is not what exactly makes a character relatable. It adds to the depth of the character but doesn’t make the character relatable as much as making them the underdog we want to root for and succeed. A character like Luke Skywalker isn’t relatable in the sense of character interactions. He goes through the hero’s journey just like Spider-Man but he is an intergalactic space wizard that swings a laser sword. Peter Parker is a nerdy kid from Queens that has every day problems. The hero’s journey is more of a stepping stone towards relatability. Not saying it is the only way to reach that status. For example, as kids most of us boys probably saw ourselves as one of the kids from the Sandlot only because the ability to project ourselves was there. Story elements, character interactions, and themes build relatability. The reason Batman and Superman are popular isn’t the same reason Spider-Man is. They are two characters that often find themselves in comic style events like the end of the world, killer psychotic clowns, or outer space threats. Batman and Superman also go through the hero’s journey. They are arguably great characters, but the creators behind the scenes want them to serve a very different purpose. Superman is a god trying to be a man and Batman is the world’s greatest detective.

Let’s talk about tactics from creatives in stories. The first ever Robin, Dick Grayson has evolved over the years into the character Nightwing. A thesis submitted to Graduate College of Bowling Green State University where Joshua R. Smith says, “Realism permeates Grayson’s character, as he is constructed to reject the copious wealth that Bruce Wayne uses to fuel his crusade as Batman, refusing to tap into Wayne’s funds. Rather, Grayson’s still-sizeable (although not endless) fortune comes from a smaller inheritance that his parents had left him.” Smith tends to equate morality and realism where in reality, the number of people who can’t agree with something like Grayson’s decision isn’t as high as Smith hopes. Realism or relatability is struggling to make enough to put food on the table, not deciding which huge bank account to dip into.

On the flip side of that we can look at a story like the run of Superior Spider-Man specifically issue number twenty from 2014. Peter Parker lost control of his body to Doctor Octopus and uses Parker’s body to become rich and successful in the science community. That isn’t in line with what we’ve been discussing, but if we look closer into the themes and plot of the story, we can see it is a story of Peter trapped in Otto’s mind debating the choices he makes and wanting him to do the right things. Peter’s sense of good in Otto’s sick and twisted mind humanizes the latter into becoming a better man and building the relationships we have in our everyday lives and the regrets of both men. There are other elements not in line with the Spider-Man story but the presence of Peter grounds all of those to tell a human story that all of us can relate to.

Where Parker and Grayson differ as well is their overall purpose in the context to their larger universes. Spider-Man was born on his own account and forged into the hero he is on his own to feet. Grayson on the other hand is an emotionally complex hero with depth, but he is a supplementary character. His initial purpose as to make Batman more “relatable” and kid friendly according to Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and the other creatives. Without Batman, there is no Nightwing. Without Spider-Man, there is still a very interesting character in Peter Parker. He still goes through the girl problems, the rent issues, and all the other every day troubles.

Humanity in the stories about Peter is what keeps us enthralled. Like the previous mentions of grief, choice, and responsibility these are all human aspects of the character. The reason the Spider-Man franchise has earned singlehandedly more than Batman, Superman, and the Avengers franchise is clear. None of these are tales of an everyday person. Batman is a regular person with a lot of money and Superman tries his hardest to live among the people being a mild mannered reporter. The Avengers is a collection of different Marvel heroes. Spider-Man as a franchise has earned $8,258,514,461 while Batman has earned $6,799,185,517 and the Avengers films have earned $7,756,577,508. A franchise abut one character versus the Avengers franchise took six films to get going and has numerous different sub-franchises and spinoffs misses the mark with humanity. Yes the second highest grossing film of all time is an Avengers film but it is a direct result of twenty one previous films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It doesn’t hold the same value as a character centric film franchise like Spider-Man. His story is of loss, choice, and responsibility. The previous film franchises mentioned do not touch on the human aspect like the Spider-Man franchise has.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, AMC theaters, which is the largest chain of theaters worldwide, lost $4.58 billion dollars in 2020 during the pandemic. With an easier access to movies with streaming in 2020, many analysts from places like Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and other entertainment outlets predicted that cinema was leaving the theaters and into people’s homes. The dour outlook of cinema was turned on its head with the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in December of 2021. CNN reported that in just twelve days the film reached one billion dollars at the box office falling just behind other Marvel Studios properties Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War. No Way Home was the first film to cross one billion dollars since 2019. The main draw of the film was the heavily rumored appearances of two former Spider-Men in Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. The previous film in Tom Holland’s franchise was not nearly as financially or critically praised as No Way Home. Deadline reports that the latest entry in the franchise grossed $1.889 billion dollars worldwide. The other releases of 2021 that were supposed to garner financial support like Shang Chi or Eternals came nowhere close to matching No Way Home.

The Washington Post looks back on leaked internal emails from Sony’s film department, who owns the cinematic writes to Spider-Man, where Stan Lee appears to disprove the fact that Spider-Man could be anybody. ” But we originally made him white. I don’t see any reason to change that” and, “But again, I don’t see any reason to change the sexual proclivities of a character once they’ve already been established. I have no problem with creating new, homosexual superheroes” (Miller) so there seems to be no place for any form of LGBT or minority group apparently. Lee said in response to criticism of racism and homophobia, “It has nothing to do with being anti-gay, or anti-black, or anti-Latino, or anything like that. Latino characters should stay Latino. The Black Panther should certainly not be Swiss. I just see no reason to change that which has already been established when it’s so easy to add new characters. I say create new characters the way you want to. Hell, I’ll do it myself.” Harkening back to Lee’s comments about the mask serving as a way for anyone to be under it. Film critic Matt Brown had this to say about Spider-Man’s ambiguity, “Ignoring the color of his skin in the comic books you read when you were growing up, name exactly one element of Peter Parker’s story-line that can only take place if Peter is white” which is completely missing the point of relatability. Experiences can transcend skin color and race. Some are unique to certain races but not every aspect of Peter is relatable. He is just meant as a vessel for every one of us.

Peter Parker has been and will continue to be a vessel for kids, adults, and anyone who wants to immerse themselves in the superhero medium. He is most likely the most relatable character in any form of media to the general public. If there is someone out there experiencing grief or going through hard times, they can open a comic book or turn on the TV and find themselves immersing themselves in the world of a guy who has been in their shoes at least once.

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