I thought I'd make a topic to analyze what and how we appreciate Spider-Man, and the various ways his character have managed to stay relevant. He's noteworthy for a number of different reasons. For example, while the flagship of Marvel has fluctuated between Fantastic Four, X-Men and Avengers as the years pass, Spider-Man remains constant as the other flagship that's unlikely to get demoted. Even if Marvel fails to regain Spider-Man for the MCU, I have a hard time believing they'll try to get rid of him like they did with the X-Men and Fantastic Four before the Fox buyout. He's just too core to Marvel. For this, I'll use the other hot Marvel superhero at the moment for comparison, Iron Man, and demonstrate why the Webhead has always held up over the Shellhead.
I think the only individual who is as synonymous with a comic book company as Spider-Man to Marvel, is Batman to DC. Coincidentally, Spider-Man is my favorite Marvel hero and Batman is my favorite DC hero. No, I'm not basic, it just happened that way.
As for why Spider-Man has always been so fascinating for me, it's because he's relatable. Sure, he has powers, fights a wide variety of colorful villains, and takes part in all the over-the-top stuff that comes with superhero comics, but he's just like... a dude. He struggles with the mundane like we do, whether it's about paying bills, being there for his friends, maintaining a relationship, or just living life the way he wants. He refuses to be selfish and use his abilities for personal gain, because the one time he did, he lost Uncle Ben. His corner is (almost) always the area where realism reigns; the dead stay dead, there's an abscence of retcons, characters develop, and the status quo changes have actual and meaningful consequences, while organically transitioning from one era to the next. Of course, that can be thrown out the window if a greedy marketing team takes over, a writer has a "bright" idea, or an editor has an agenda to push, but most of the time, it's true.
That's also why Spider-Man has always been so much more interesting than Iron Man. Sure, Tony isn't without his own struggles (the alcoholism comes to mind), but he's still a "genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist", which is a lot harder for the common man to relate to. Not to mention he's kind of a "heroic mad scientist" in that he'll go to great lengths to do something for "good" or just "scientific discovery". Oh, and he became a fascist bully who enforced the asinine SHRA on the entire superhuman/superhero population. That kinda led to the person who least needed the power, Norman Osborn (the archenemy of Spidey as it turns out), to be given the keys to the kingdom.
It's telling that Peter has always been A-list and beloved, while Tony had always been a firm B-lister who had a fanbase but was never a standout, and then became widely hated due to the aforementioned villainizing arc. It took the MCU becoming a massive success and RDJ's performance to make Tony a true A-list character. Think how often you'd see people dress as Spider-Man as cosplay or for Halloween versus Iron Man before the MCU. Yeah, that would be a sad comparison (for Tony, anyways).
All of this isn't to knock on Iron Man, as he does have great stories, but most of them feature outside elements. Armor Wars for example features Nick Fury, his then-helper Ant-Man (Scott Lang), and the Avengers. The best story I can think of that only focuses on Iron Man and his cast is the Extremis arc, but that's just one story. Spider-Man can hold many great stories without anyone from the general MU popping in. Example: Kraven's Last Hunt, quite possibly the best Spider-Man story ever, did not feature anyone outside Spider-Man's part of the MU. Many other stories considered classics don't feature others as well, and if they do, likely not in a prominent way. In fact, OMD, the worst story, did feature everyone and it only made the story even worse by making the entire Marvel Universe (from physics-defying scientists, reality-warping wizards, and people who specifically have the power to heal others) look insanely dumb.
Another thing I really appreciate about Spider-Man's stories is that there's a definite sci-fi element, what with the superpowers, technology like webshooters, gliders, power armor, shock gauntlets, super serums, robotic tentacles, and so on, yet it's perceived through the eyes of the mundane. It never overtakes the focus on the realistic element (most of the time... looking at you, Clone Saga). The focus by-and-large is on how Spider-Man and his supporting cast get through everyday life, and they see these things as just added elements. Sure, Spider-Man and Fantastic Four could both be considered "sci-fi", but compare the former to the latter, and the difference is immediately noticeable.
To sum it all up, Spider-Man is fascinating because he's relatable, and his view of the world is like ours if it were one where superheroes existed. That's what separates him from people like Iron Man, who view everything from the top and fully embrace the fantasy of the superhero genre. It's cool to have that, but at the same time, it makes them a little less relatable in the process.
I think MJ said it best in ITSV: "We all have powers of one kind or the other, and in our own way we are all Spider-Man."
That's my take. I was curious to see your opinions. Feel free to share what makes Spider-Man interesting to you. I think this will be a fun discussion.
Disclaimer: I don't hate Iron Man and didn't make this just to rag on him, he's a pretty cool hero himself, but it's also true that Iron Man isn't as relatable to Spider-Man and relies much more heavily on the general MU. I was using him for comparison.