What did you think of Parker Industries?

[Frontier]

Yeah no...

That’s a horrible idea

It would be a step backwards for the character.

I mean, it's not like he has much career momentum anyways these days...

Liz being a CEO doesn't mean she isn't a civilian. MJ and Jameson using technology to come to Peter's aid once in a while doesn't make them any less civilians either. It didn't make MJ less of a civilian when she beat up the Chameleon with a baseball bat.

Liz as a CEO is a borderline Supervillain.

MJ beating on Chameleon with a baseball bat seems more like something a civilian could pull off.

The way that could have worked is if we got a sense that Parker Industries was something a) Peter wanted and/or enjoyed doing, b) believably good at.

That means that readers are happy to enjoy it while it lasts and will feel sufficiently invested to feel sad when it ends. When JMS made Peter a teacher, you got the sense that Peter enjoyed doing that. It wasn't exactly an ideal job but it was one he was happy to do and he was believably good at doing it. And it did feel sad when that ended, which you got in Back in Black when Peter briefly visits the school at night. To Slott's credit, Peter working at Horizon Labs was established and we did get a sense that he enjoyed being there and his boss Max Modell at least seemed to like Peter.

Neither was the case with the way Slott did Parker Industries. Peter treated that job as a burden, kept skiving away, and basically amounted to being in office and then telling employees to "science this into existence". Peter had an interest in science/technology yes but him being a businessman was never part of it. So again, we didn't get a real sense that this was something A) Peter wanted/enjoyed, B) He was good at. So there was no real sense of loss or tragedy when that ended.

I mean Nick Spencer's first issue is all about what a mistake it was for Peter to accept something he didn't earn and then deciding, "no that wasn't Parker Luck" it was entirely justified losing that and he's a much happier guy since than before.

Yeah, I think Horizon was conceptually something that worked even if the supporting cast just wasn't on the same level as the Bugle.

[PCN24454]

Peter's return to college is one of the lowkey interesting things going on right now. Wherever it leads, it seems like Spencer wants Peter to earn it. That's a good thing. Change can be fun when it feels like a natural, earned progression.

Let’s be real. There’s no ending where Peter is going to be financially successful.

It’s more likely that ESU is going to get destroyed and any work that Peter did is going to be rendered null and void.

[AlexCampy89]

When Stan Lee created Peter Parker he wanted him to be down and out on the brink of poverty.

When he stepped out of writing the character in ASM 100-101, he basically forced the poverty thing to all his successors. They could kill any side character, kill even Peter himself, etc but never he was supposed to be rich, because the richer you are, the less relatable you get.

So Peter will never be rich, truly rich, if not for a brief time.
Despite its non over the top Lenght, Parker-Industries have overstayed their welcome.

Excluding the Spider-Man/Deadpool six parter, I can't name a decent story coming out of the Parker-industries/worldwide saga.

[Vaegrin]

Let’s be real. There’s no ending where Peter is going to be financially successful.

Almost certainly true, and if he is successful for a time it will never last forever. Doesn't mean he can't obtain his degree and progress in a career, even if he still continues to struggle.

[Wild Fang X]

Honestly, I enjoyed Parker Industries and saw that destroying it in Secret Empire was a wasted opportunity. I'm pretty much done with the status quo of "Pathetic Parker: the Everyman". Parker Industries was a great launchpad for Peter's character to oh, you know, PROGRESS, but outside of the X-Men, status quo is God kicks in for everyone else. The "everyman" aspect of Spider-Man doesn't need to be disposed of, it could just be transferred to other spider characters, preferably Miles, Gwen and Anya. Let the Spider-Kids deal with the balancing school/saving NY thing while Peter can go about living up to his potential, for once and be the super-genius billionaire/philanthropist/scientist/motivational speaker/cult of personality he actually is and stop settling for being like everyone else.

[Huntsman Spider]

Honestly, I enjoyed Parker Industries and saw that destroying it in Secret Empire was a wasted opportunity. I'm pretty much done with the status quo of "Pathetic Parker: the Everyman". Parker Industries was a great launchpad for Peter's character to oh, you know, PROGRESS, but outside of the X-Men, status quo is God kicks in for everyone else. The "everyman" aspect of Spider-Man doesn't need to be disposed of, it could just be transferred to other spider characters, preferably Miles, Gwen and Anya. Let the Spider-Kids deal with the balancing school/saving NY thing while Peter can go about living up to his potential, for once and be the super-genius billionaire/philanthropist/scientist/motivational speaker/cult of personality he actually is and stop settling for being like everyone else.

Yeah, I can see that reasoning, though the way you phrase it at the end kind of reminds me of the X-Men's current status quo and ethos under Jonathan Hickman, which has been very compelling so far in terms of concept and writing. In that regard, what would your vision of Spider-Man "unleashed" from the shackles of the status quo to fully live up to and embrace his potential be like?

[Celgress]

Dan Slott really wanted to write Iron Man by this point.

LOL indeed he must have.

[Celgress]

Almost certainly true, and if he is successful for a time it will never last forever. Doesn't mean he can't obtain his degree and progress in a career, even if he still continues to struggle.

A valid point, which I often wish the Marvel Office would take to heart.

[Jman27]

Yeah, I can see that reasoning, though the way you phrase it at the end kind of reminds me of the X-Men's current status quo and ethos under Jonathan Hickman, which has been very compelling so far in terms of concept and writing. In that regard, what would your vision of Spider-Man "unleashed" from the shackles of the status quo to fully live up to and embrace his potential be like?

stable rent, stable career, peak strength, no more aunt may health scares. happiness for both Peter and Spider-Man.

[Ursalink]

It was weird seeing Spider-Man as as hybrid version of Batman/Spider-Man, but I personally liked it. Mainly because it gave Peter a power that matches his responsability. It really bugs me they ruined it in Secret Empire. Instead of working for Stark, I would have loved to see MJ working for Peter. I bet everything she could even lead the company better than peter himself. (Just look at them in the "Mergeverse").

[Wild Fang X]

Yeah, I can see that reasoning, though the way you phrase it at the end kind of reminds me of the X-Men's current status quo and ethos under Jonathan Hickman, which has been very compelling so far in terms of concept and writing. In that regard, what would your vision of Spider-Man "unleashed" from the shackles of the status quo to fully live up to and embrace his potential be like?

For me, I would love to see Peter take on a no-nonsense attitude when fighting certain opponents (Carnage, Kraven, Osborn, Fisk, Knull, etc), but still cracking wise against others, but the banter would be more condescending from Parker due to both strategy and how he actually sees his opponents (imagine Peter taking some savage swipes at Rhino or Scorpion, both verbally and physically). I would also reintroduce the Way of the Spider fighting style and have his powers from the Other unlocked to help maximize his power level. On the civilian side of the equation: Peter and Parker Industries would developing cutting edge and state-of-the-art technology to help solve various issues such as mass hunger, the ongoing energy crisis, various forms of medicine and cures for different diseases. An added and unexpected twist, Parker Industries would partake in the weapons & defense business by creating and selling weapons only to countries that have no other means of defending themselves adequately. Some countries would include, Atlantis, Symkaria and most infamous of all, the isle of Krakoa.

Another major point I would like to see is that Peter start showing a backbone while dealing with other heroes. I would be hype for Peter to get along with the likes of the Hulk (Banner), T'Challa, Doctor Strange, Moon Knight, the FF, Prowler, Namor, Daredevil and Ghost Rider (Blaze), but have a more rivalries with the likes of Stark, Danvers, Rogers, Barton, heck, let Spidey have beef with a vast majority of the Avengers on grounds of Spidey seeing them as more of a liability than allies, not to mention their connection to the likes of SHIELD, SWORD and the government would make him wary of them.

Also, not making it a normal thing, but Spidey needs to loosen up on his childish "No Killing" rule regarding certain villains (all of the encounters with Carnage and the Goblins being prime examples). Simply put, set up Spidey as a loose cannon type of vigilante while Peter Parker is considered a lovable science/business maverick. And finally, MJ is out of the picture. Time for a new, and preferably, super-powered, love interest.

[Mago dos Gatos]

I really like Parker Industries.It was great to see Peter realizing his potential in a professional career.
I personally think it was different enough to not make him identical to other comics's companies.
One thing would have liked to see was the period of time were it went from a small business to a big corporation.The growing pains of managing this kind of industries would lead to some great stories to Peter Parker.
When they decided to get of Parker Industries,I have never felt the status quo hammer hitting as hard as this.

[Jman27]

For me, I would love to see Peter take on a no-nonsense attitude when fighting certain opponents (Carnage, Kraven, Osborn, Fisk, Knull, etc), but still cracking wise against others, but the banter would be more condescending from Parker due to both strategy and how he actually sees his opponents (imagine Peter taking some savage swipes at Rhino or Scorpion, both verbally and physically). I would also reintroduce the Way of the Spider fighting style and have his powers from the Other unlocked to help maximize his power level. On the civilian side of the equation: Peter and Parker Industries would developing cutting edge and state-of-the-art technology to help solve various issues such as mass hunger, the ongoing energy crisis, various forms of medicine and cures for different diseases. An added and unexpected twist, Parker Industries would partake in the weapons & defense business by creating and selling weapons only to countries that have no other means of defending themselves adequately. Some countries would include, Atlantis, Symkaria and most infamous of all, the isle of Krakoa.

Another major point I would like to see is that Peter start showing a backbone while dealing with other heroes. I would be hype for Peter to get along with the likes of the Hulk (Banner), T'Challa, Doctor Strange, Moon Knight, the FF, Prowler, Namor, Daredevil and Ghost Rider (Blaze), but have a more rivalries with the likes of Stark, Danvers, Rogers, Barton, heck, let Spidey have beef with a vast majority of the Avengers on grounds of Spidey seeing them as more of a liability than allies, not to mention their connection to the likes of SHIELD, SWORD and the government would make him wary of them.

Also, not making it a normal thing, but Spidey needs to loosen up on his childish "No Killing" rule regarding certain villains (all of the encounters with Carnage and the Goblins being prime examples). Simply put, set up Spidey as a loose cannon type of vigilante while Peter Parker is considered a lovable science/business maverick. And finally, MJ is out of the picture. Time for a new, and preferably, super-powered, love interest.

agree with everything execpt the killing and Mj removal just make the Mj marriage permanent

[Mister Mets]

Dan Slott really wanted to write Iron Man by this point.

He did say that he wanted to explore how Spider-Man would be different if he shared the trappings of Iron Man. If you make Peter Parker Tont Stark, he won't act like Tony Stark.

The concept is cool, and under the hands of a better writer it might have been the new status quo now. Different, yes, but this could effectively give Peter that reward he deserves for a life of struggle, and from our perspective, give us a cool take of "Spider-Man as Batman". The execution on the other hand left a lot to be desired. It just wasn't nearly as cool as it could've been.

I'm not sure this works as a reward for a life of struggle, as that would imply a permanent status quo.

From what we know of the timeline it was due to Bendis.

Dan wanted to go over to Iron man but Bendis beat him to the punch, so Dan Slott had an extended stay over on Spider-man. Since he wanted to write Iron man his Spider-man run became his test bed for Iron man. So all that **** we gave him about Tony Stark-lite during that was absolutely what he was doing and we all knew it long before we heard about the writers retreat. Once Bendis announced he was leaving or maybe Dan got first-dibs, he of course got Iron man.

Has this been confirmed in any interviews or comments by people at Marvel?

The entire idea never really worked because it didn't have any sense of reality to it nor have anything tied to the characters.

Did Peter have plans to develop a startup before or any time leading to it? No. Since Peter never really expressed a desire for it, didn't work towards it, there was no real satisfaction when he got it, nor sadness when he lost it. In fact, the general sense and reaction was relief across-the-board. When Peter taught at high school there was tragedy to it because a) Peter liked the job, b) Was good at it, c) Lost it because of his Spider-Man stuff, d) As is clear in a moment in Back in Black, missed it when he lost it.

The entire seed of development seems to stem from "if you're so smart why aren't you rich", I mean it was started by Otto-In-Peter and the whole idea is "Otto is smart and evil so if he were in Peter's body he would start a business company because he's smart and evil". Erik Larsen said on twitter that if Otto had that kind of business acumen before how come he couldn't start Octavius Industries all by himself? So there's a kind of grade-school logic behind that conception that doesn't really work.

Likewise, Parker Industries never really dealt with any of the logical story potential in that concept. Like what would Peter Parker be like as a businessman with his sense of ethics? That was the entire point of JMS' run on Spider-Man with Peter teaching high school, it was about showing how Peter's ethics fit that milieu. If you wanted to, you could make a tragic story about how hard it's to be a good guy and be a businessman. There's a Frank Capra-like angle there. Instead Peter brazenly does deals with China without any of the ethical issues involved.

There have been some hints of Peter going in this direction. One of the alternate futures of One More Day had Peter as a soulless CEO.

We also did get a sense of how his ethics affected his role as CEO. There was his decision not to get paid more than a middle-manager at the company.

[Wild Fang X]

agree with everything execpt the killing and Mj removal just make the Mj marriage permanent

I really don't see the point in Peter keeping the no-kill at this juncture regarding certain villains, not to mention that it can be used as a point to expand upon a plot of Spider-Man giving a voice to the "justice system being broken" deal, which would put Peter in major conflict with many other heroes (Avengers, possibly FF), but also attract and inspire others that think along the same lines (Moon Knight, Punisher, Ghost Rider). Also, I think the MJ relationship has ran its course for years and I just think that it's time for Pete to move on with someone that can actually keep up with him in and out of costume, and Mary Jane just does not have that dynamic.