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Credit: Inside the MagicWith the success of Miles Morales and Sony Animation’s Spider-Verse series, it seems like Marvel is gearing up to retire their Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. While Peter Parker’s story is practically mandatory for any superhero fan, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to give someone else a turn in the limelight.
Fans aren’t ready to move on from Marvel’s golden boy. Despite Miles’ popularity and success, there will always be support for the one true original. But do we need to see the same story again?
Marvel Fans Cling to Spider-Man
On our recent coverage of Parker V. Morales, dozens of fans quickly offered their thoughts in the comments. Remarkably, many of them still hold Peter Parker as the golden standard, despite the character getting rebooted not once but twice over his cinematic career.
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“Bolt” comments,
“Miles who? I have absolutely Zero Interest (and I know I’m not the only one) in seeing any other character play Spider-man other than Peter Parker. And for what it’s worth, I also preferred the original movies with Tobey.”
And “Jason sisk” adds,
“Peter Parker is spider man, stop ruining everything, lately anything Disney touches is turning to crap, not everyone or everything needs to conform to today’s society!”
And the comments of this caliber continue to flow. For as well as Miles Morales does at the box office and in the comic book world, people are growing increasingly protective of Peter Parker. The truth is he’s not going anywhere; audiences just don’t want him to grow up.
When Stan Lee created Spider-Man, he was putting an awkward teen in a position of power, which drew audiences to him. Nearly all audiences can relate to the struggles of a high school outcast, and that’s part of how Spider-Man proves anyone can wear the mask. The problem is that Peter Parker eventually grows up, and some people aren’t ready yet.
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As seen in Across the Spider-Verse, Peter is married, has a daughter with MJ, and juggles adulthood with his superhero duties. He’s grown beyond his teenage years; even his MCU counterpart is attending college. He’s not out of the picture; he’s just out of high school.
Miles Morales represents a new generation of young viewers growing up with their version of Spider-Man, but the world still needs a Peter Parker. Just as Bruce Wayne passed the mantel on to Terry McGuinness in Batman Beyond, so must Peter Parker pass on the title of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
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Fans of Marvel Comics will know that Peter never really ages out of his career as Spider-Man, but he’s not the only one to take up the title. Adulthood comes with just as many relatable struggles for Spidey as it does for the viewer, but until we see Peter’s canonical return, Miles is here to welcome in a new era for Spider-Man.
Would you want an adult Peter Parker story, or are you a follower of Miles Morales? Tell Inside the Magic what you think in the comments below!