Thread Drift: Is the MCU Peter Parker just Iron Man's sidekick?

[Arsenal]

Yes. Say what you want about the previous Spider-Man films, but at least they remind us of the character individuality and do it yourself works of his webshooters and costume. I mean with some effort he could have made the costume minus the AI suit.

Spider-man NEVER NEEDED an AI Suit. Now every time I would see the MCU Spider-man, I would just see Iron Man JR.

As seen in the 3rd act of SM:HC or anything he did while in space during IW, MCU Peter clearly doesn’t need an AI suit to be good at what he does.

[Frontier]

As seen in the 3rd act of SM:HC or anything he did while in space during IW, MCU Peter clearly doesn’t need an AI suit to be good at what he does.

The 3rd act of SM:HC also showed that Spider-Man doesn't need a Starksuit to be Spider-Man, now if only he can go a movie without needing to wear a Starksuit...

[CRaymond]

I liked the sidekick/mentor relationship. It’s fun and funny and mutually beneficial.

The MCU is a ton of fun but it’s only one Marvel Universe.

[Mistah K88]

I wouldn't say sidekick, but there is quite the bit of doe eyed servitude with MCU's Peter that I'm not particularly fond of. You DEFINITELY know that Peter isn't seen as an equal, so it's more of a respect thing that rubs a few people the wrong way.

[Frontier]

I liked the sidekick/mentor relationship. It’s fun and funny and mutually beneficial.

How so? I can see what Iron Man gets out of the relationship, but I'm not really sure the positive benefits for Peter.

I wouldn't say sidekick, but there is quite the bit of doe eyed servitude with MCU's Peter that I'm not particularly fond of. You DEFINITELY know that Peter isn't seen as an equal, so it's more of a respect thing that rubs a few people the wrong way.

I would say it's that and how involved Tony is in Peter being Spider-Man, designing his suits and gear.

Everytime we see Peter in his more traditional Spider-Man look in his movies...that's Tony Stark.

[Arsenal]

The 3rd act of SM:HC also showed that Spider-Man doesn't need a Starksuit to be Spider-Man, now if only he can go a movie without needing to wear a Starksuit...

We’ve seen that 5 times already.

As long as MCU Peter doesn’t depend on tech to be Spider-man (which we just established he doesn’t) I don’t see a problem with him being a bit more tech savvy. Once he becomes more familiar with it, take it a step further and let him modify or outright create stuff on his own. We already know this version of Peter is capable of it.

[Snoop Dogg]

Peter is Ned's sidekick.

[theoneandonly]

I thought he was going to be the vultures sidekick seeing that he was his prospective father in law if the relationship progressed to that point. maybe they will do a what if on it.

[phantom1592]

He isn't a sidekick. And they aren't partners. People act as though he spends the entire movie trailing a step behind Tony rather than doing everything on his own, with Tony being largely out of the picture.

More like he spends the movie asking for permission to do what he wants to do. Constantly contacting Happy to beg for more Avengers missions... Stark had him locked out of most of his suits functions... When he left his designated New York area to go to Washington, They had him on GPS and needed an excuse on where he was going and why.

Stark doesn't treat him like a sidekick... it's more like an Intern or employee.

Then when he screws up Stark takes the suit back and fires him

There wasn't any kind of partnership or respect going both ways there... Tony saw him as a science project and his curiosity demanded him to see how this turned out.

Peter does a lot on his own free time... but then turns in reports hoping to impress the boss. That never felt like Spider-man to me.

[SpiderClops]

Jeez people, it's fine that you don't like MCU's interpretation of Spider-Man, but you don't need to literally change the meaning of words to confirm to your biases. Because apparently, half the posters here don't know what 'sidekick' means. Who knew?

And people have a problem with "Mr. Stark" now? Jesus, how dare Peter have some manners! He should just go with "Yo, Tony!".

Also, apparently, it's worse to be associated with IM in any capacity than to need to watch freaking YouTube videos to know how batteries work.

[Prof. Warren]

More like he spends the movie asking for permission to do what he wants to do. Constantly contacting Happy to beg for more Avengers missions... Stark had him locked out of most of his suits functions... When he left his designated New York area to go to Washington, They had him on GPS and needed an excuse on where he was going and why.

Peter doesn't ask permission to do anything, he hounds Tony because he wants to be involved in bigger missions and wants to help on a bigger scale.

But by the end of the movie, when he finally gets the invite to play on that bigger stage, he realizes that it's important for him to remain a "friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

And they had him on GPS and locked him out of the suit's higher functions because they still see him as a kid. But Peter rejects those rules and steps out of bounds anyhow, rather than wait for anyone's permission.

Stark doesn't treat him like a sidekick... it's more like an Intern or employee.

He doesn't treat him as an equal. But by the end of the film, Tony has a new regard for him.

Then when he screws up Stark takes the suit back and fires him

Tony doesn't fire him. He simply takes his tech back. Peter is still free to operate as Spider-Man, if he chooses. Which, eventually, he does.

There wasn't any kind of partnership or respect going both ways there... Tony saw him as a science project and his curiosity demanded him to see how this turned out.

That suggests a callousness on Tony's part that simply isn't there. Tony genuinely cares about Peter. He doesn't show it but that's not Tony's way. Peter is certainly not a "science project" to him, though.

Peter does a lot on his own free time... but then turns in reports hoping to impress the boss. That never felt like Spider-man to me.

Again, he wants to show Tony that he's ready for the big time. He has all this power and he wants to use it for the greater good. But eventually he realizes that he can serve the greater good just by helping the people directly around him. He doesn't have to save the world every time out, he just has to protect the neighborhood. That feels exactly like Spider-Man to me.

[Prof. Warren]

Everytime we see Peter in his more traditional Spider-Man look in his movies...that's Tony Stark.

But it isn't. The fact that Tony gifted him the suit doesn't mean that it's Tony inside. It's still Peter, making his own decisions.

If the suit was emblazoned with Stark Tech logos - or, worse, was an actual Iron Spider armor decked out in Tony's colors - sure, it might be a tad distracting. But it isn't.

What makes Peter Spider-Man isn't his skills as a fashion designer, or his access to state of the art tech. It's his humanity and his fallible nature.

Wearing a suit designed by Tony doesn't change that.

[theoneandonly]

Jeez people, it's fine that you don't like MCU's interpretation of Spider-Man, but you don't need to literally change the meaning of words to confirm to your biases. Because apparently, half the posters here don't know what 'sidekick' means. Who knew?

And people have a problem with "Mr. Stark" now? Jesus, how dare Peter have some manners! He should just go with "Yo, Tony!".

Also, apparently, it's worse to be associated with IM in any capacity than to need to watch freaking YouTube videos to know how batteries work.

do you include the mod who created the thread title in your post when you talk about all those people?

[Prof. Warren]

do you include the mod who created the thread title in your post when you talk about all those people?

The mod is labeling the thread to reflect the discussion therein, not expressing a personal opinion.

[Snoop Dogg]

"Ay, YO TONY! I donna, I donna feel so good... YO TONY!"

"Ehhhhhhh fuggedaboutit kiddo it's just the post-movie climax jitters"