Will Peter Parker ever be as respected as Steve Rogers In the Marvel Universe?

[HaveAtThee]

Depends where their characters go from here. I don't think anyone within the universe will be as well-respected as Cap. Perhaps Parker or maybe Thor, but Parker annoys most other heroes and Thor is a god from another realm who still may cause some measure of pause or caution.

[MichaelC]

Sure, and that's why I qualified it with 'when written correctly' at the start. Stuff like the Incursion issue is an example of where it all goes wrong with Steve - there is an interesting story to be told when there is the chance that having to wipe out another planet in the name of Earth's survival is not only viable but even logical.... BUT because Steve Rogers disagrees there is all sorts of time jumping and other plot contrivances so that he'll be right in the end, because he's Steve Rogers and Is Never Wrong Ever, even when he is. He's admirable for sticking to his principles and beliefs... but many writers forget that those beliefs can still be wrong and keep him an inspirational figure.

Exactly. Cap has become completely insufferable because writers have collectively decided that he Never Wrong Ever Man.

[pageturner]

It always fascinates me how many people want Spider Man to end up leading the Avengers or something and are mad that he isn't.

Like there a Super Hero hierarchy out there and Spider Man is stuck on some lower rung.

The whole point of Peter Parker is and was that he had a life outside the mask and that life was at very least as important to him as what he does as Spidey.

That's what Spider Man has a camera on his uniform so he could take pictures of himself fighting crime and sell them as Peter Parker for eating money and rent.

Steve Rogers is defined as pretty much not having much of a life AT ALL outside of being Cap(dude was basically homeless in the Bronze Age. No joke).

Steve HAD civilian friends and lovers a an actual Civilian job for a brief spell but those all got left behind. Steve sees this as the price he has to pay for being Cap.

Steve Rogers is a dude whose apartment is basically a crimefighting bunker.

Peter Parker might look up to Spidey but he wouldn't want Cap's life.

To be what Cap does, that level of commitment is pretty what would have to happen when Cap splits his every waking hour between going on missions and running the Avengers and nothing else.

Cap was not always like that he had a social life in years past and girlfriends. He was a struggling artist and his apartment was more a loft. He morphed into the 24/7 solider as time passed.

Peter was, is, and shall ever be as you describe. They are already sowing the seeds for him to lose his company and be back as a loser probably back taking pictures before long.

[Vic Vega]

Cap was not always like that he had a social life in years past and girlfriends. He was a struggling artist and his apartment was more a loft. He morphed into the 24/7 solider as time passed.

Peter was, is, and shall ever be as you describe. They are already sowing the seeds for him to lose his company and be back as a loser probably back taking pictures before long.

It's completely plausible for a late 20-something like Peter Parker to maybe have his own company. That doesn't necessarly mean that his company would be doing well.

Who is gonna invest in this guy they've never heard of? Is Pete going to swallow his pride and ask Tony Stark or Reed Richards for venture capital?

Him running a struggling startup with Hobie Brown and maybe Morbius would have struck a balance between him being prosperous science dude and him being a "loser".

You can have your own company and still be as broke as heck.

You are right about Cap. His in story life after getting dragged out of the ice was this weird progression from having no life at all outside of the Avengers or Shield, to him finally getting one after yearsof strugle and then eventually giving it up for no good reason.

60's Cap was penniless. I can't stress this enough-he was living off the Avengers, then SHIELD then Sam Wilson. He had a job as a Cop for a bit, but he couldn't hold it.

90's Cap had gotten a lump sum of Army back pay for all those years on ice and was independantly wealthy. Not Stark rich, but never-have-to-work-another-day-in-his-life rich all the same.

Despite this Steve cut himself off from all his civilian ties and moved into a bunker.

You could make a good case that Steve Rogers is way, way more dysfuntional than Pete is.

[VJ.]

In a word, no.

In a few more words, Parker is a whiny, needy man-child with mother-issues (or in his case, auntie-issues) who was perfectly happy to let an established villain reshape all of reality, purely for his own selfish reasons and his inability to simply accept that sh*t happens.

Respected? If the truth was ever revealed to the MU at large, he'd more likely be ostracised.

^^This bears repeating - of all the spider-man incarnations, Peter Parker is undoubtedly the worst - his own villain made a more compelling spider-man than him. Furthermore, as someone else pointed out to me in another thread he's become a bystander in his own book:

Indeed, all the big recent Spidey events have been about stuff essentially removed from him, rather than being about Peter as a character; Spider-Island - Everyone gets his powers; Spock - he gets replaced by a villain; Spider-Verse - bring in a bunch of other Spider-powered characters.

He's basically just become a bystander to events in his own comic.

If he's not even the main focus of his own book anymore, why should he be respected?

[Sandy Hausler]

Out of universe he already is.

In universe hopefully never. Captain America is completely insufferable and sanctimonious, because writers have collectively decided that he's perfect and right about everything, and use him as the voice of the the author/god to declare in the most obnoxious manner what's right.

I disagree with your view of Cap, but I agree that Spider-Man will never have the respect of Cap in-universe. That would be counter to the whole point of Spider-Man, which is the normal guy with real problems. That's not Cap.

Sandy Hausler

[davew128]

90's Cap had gotten a lump sum of Army back pay for all those years on ice and was independantly wealthy. Not Stark rich, but never-have-to-work-another-day-in-his-life rich all the same.

IIRC the IRS came in shortly after and whacked him for tax that he couldn't pay.

Despite this Steve cut himself off from all his civilian ties and moved into a bunker.

You could make a good case that Steve Rogers is way, way more dysfuntional than Pete is.

Wouldn't argue that. What you're seeing is the WWII/superhero version of "What does a soldier do when the war is over?" His was was won while he was on ice. As a superhero, the war never ends. If the world didn't need superheroes, Rogers would be standing at a street corner with a sign, because quite literally he would have no purposes in life.

Having said that, considering most heroes nowadays don't even have secret identities, one could say that about most of them.

[Anarchist]

Pete should be the real *Heart and Soul* of the MU.
Cap always acts all White Knight and purity-sue, but when the situation calls he is more than willing to kill.
Reason?
*Duh, its war, thats different*

Petey would never do that. He is far more morally good than Steve will ever be (One more Day-nonsense excluded).

[Heasensy32]

Pete should be the real *Heart and Soul* of the MU.
Cap always acts all White Knight and purity-sue, but when the situation calls he is more than willing to kill.
Reason?
*Duh, its war, thats different*

Petey would never do that. He is far more morally good than Steve will ever be (One more Day-nonsense excluded).

This. It's amazing that people bash peter for being man childish and out of touch when batman is the same and not only is he respected both in and out of the comic hierarchy but he like cap gets to lead the superhero pantheon after superman.

[VJ.]

This. It's amazing that people bash peter for being man childish and out of touch when batman is the same and not only is he respected both in and out of the comic hierarchy but he like cap gets to lead the superhero pantheon after superman.

If it's any consolation, I can't stand Batman either; but that's because I think he's a mass murderer rather than a man-child.

[MyriVerse]

Him running a struggling startup with Hobie Brown and maybe Morbius would have struck a balance between him being prosperous science dude and him being a "loser".
You can have your own company and still be as broke as heck.

In fact, I'd wager it's more common than not.

If it's any consolation, I can't stand Batman either; but that's because I think he's a mass murderer rather than a man-child.

I don't keep up with Bats, but I thought he stuck very hard to his "not killing" code... at least outside of the Golden Age.

Pete should be the real *Heart and Soul* of the MU.
Cap always acts all White Knight and purity-sue, but when the situation calls he is more than willing to kill.
Reason?
*Duh, its war, thats different*

Petey would never do that. He is far more morally good than Steve will ever be (One more Day-nonsense excluded).

Not only would Peter, but he has.

[VJ.]

I don't keep up with Bats, but I thought he stuck very hard to his "not killing" code.

Yes & by doing so is indirectly responsible for the death of the innumerable victims of the Joker. Sure, give the crazy psycho a few chances to redeem himself, but once the pattern of "catch him -> he escapes and commits an atrocity -> catch him" emerges the more moral option eventually becomes to kill him outright. Batman has never done that despite having had many opportunities to do so over the years.

[Jabare]

Not with the current writers and editorial.

About 8 to 10 years ago I would have said yes.

However, with the way Marvel handles him now and the Marvel Universe I'm not so sure.

Captain America may to be as respected as he is now if this trend to make heroes quasi villainous and immoral continues. Feels like its been going on for about 7 to 8 years now.

[Heasensy32]

Peter needs a statue like Cap. That and a avengers inauguration to chairman.

[Rising7]

I think in some ways he gets decent respect. I could see him getting wider respect but perhaps in a different form from what Cap gets. One of the things I like is when others acknowledge how he can be crazy good at being a superhero, like the "Amazing - Spectacular" exchange at the end of Civil War or when he manages web trickshots (like jamming a cannon just as it fires) with seemingly little effort. And of course his friendliness helps him a lot in team ups, especially if to bypass the obligatory pre-team up misunderstanding.