It's not completely uncommon for a sidekick character to be active in a Superhero identity before being "brought into the fold" or meet their mentor hero.Originally Posted by Prof. Warren;4348792
He is not. I don't know if you're deliberately dense or just not capable of successfully processing information but Peter is not, in any way, Tony's "sidekick."
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Certainly meeting Tony and getting involved with him seemed to legitimize Spider-Man to a degree he wasn't before when he was just a blur in Youtube videos.
But without that backstory it seems to take a backseat to the dynamic and relationship with Iron Man.As has been pointed out, there's a whole backstory to Peter becoming a hero that predates him ever meeting Tony. We just don't need a whole movie about it because there's already been two movies that cover the same basic information.
The difference with Robin is that he was a character deliberately introduced as a sidekick in Batman's story, while Spider-Man was introduced in what was basically an Avengers movie with Iron Man as a lead character, so it's definitely not one-to-one.Is there a whole backstory to Robin that shows him in action as Robin before meeting Batman? No. Robin is 100% Batman's sidekick. He becomes a superhero when Batman reveals his secret to him and brings him into the fold. Peter is his own man doing his own thing well before Tony enters the picture.
It's more like how some of the New Team Arrow members were introduced on Arrow, or members of Team Flash where established independent heroes get connected to a bigger name and end up as their sidekicks, or I guess Batgirl.
And that's pretty common for modern mentor heroes in sidekick dynamics. Just because Tony allows Peter more autonomy doesn't automatically prevent the pair from falling into a sidekick/mentor dynamic whenever they're actually together.Peter in Homecoming operates on his own. He doesn't go on missions that Tony assigns him, he doesn't accompany Tony on nightly patrols of the city, he is completely on his own. Tony's involvement amounts to cleaning up messes that occur due to Peter's eagerness and inexperience.
And he feels he is right to do so because he feels like he has that kind of control and involvement in Peter's life. Batman's "fired" Robin a few times.When Peter screws up so bad that Tony thinks he shouldn't continue to keep using his tech, his solution isn't to take him under his wing and give him proper supervision and make sure he only fights at his side in order to keep a closer eye on him, his solution is to take his stuff back and walk away, assuming that Peter will call it a day.
But under entirely different contexts from MCU Spider-Man. Comic Spidey is much more independent and established then MCU Spider-Man, especially as a "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" and doesn't need to be "saved" by a suit and a mentor hero who he rebuffed in a prior movie and make that prior decision seem pointless.That he gets pulled into a cosmic adventure in IW and EG doesn't negate that decision. In comics, Spidey is regularly pulled into bigger conflicts.
It doesn't need to be in the exact mold of Batman and Robin, but the hero/sidekick dynamic is an archetype that goes beyond Batman and Robin.Not at all. Unless you think that any story where there is an adult and a teenager is automatically following in the mold of Batman and Robin.
I don't think it was a snarky dig, Strange was just kind of incredulous at Tony bringing this kid who acts like you would expect from a "ward" or sidekick character.But they don't. Doctor Strange asking Tony if some young kid is his ward is a snarky dig at Tony, not asking whether Peter is Tony's "sidekick."