How old is Peter Parker now?

[daBronzeBomma]

I typically don't read Spider-Man comics, but I do watch some of his movies and cartoons.

How old is Peter in the 616 main comix?

I get that Marvel never hard-reboots like DC constantly does, so how much time has passed on-panel since AMAZING FANTASY #15 in 1962?

I believe Peter was only 15 years old then, and he got married in 1987 (so maybe he is 22 years old there, so maybe 8 years growth on-panel after 25 years IRL have passed since his debut).

I would guess he's in his 30s now?

Over at DC, the main universe Clark and Bruce are both in their early 40s now with teenage sons.

Any help would be appreciated.

[TheCape]

He originally was 16 when he got bitten, that was retconed recently thought.

According ti Spencer he is in his mid-20s (thougth if you actually pay attention to all the timeskip that his has gone througth since like the 90s, he probably should be is in his 30s).

[Revolutionary_Jack]

As per the current writer on Amazing Spider-Man, Nick Spencer, Peter Parker is in his "mid-20s".

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/rece...-to-mary-jane/

Mid-20s can be between the ages of 24-27.

As per the Marvel Universe dictates, the current 616 continuity takes place 14 years after the rocket flight that gave Spider-Man his powers. Peter Parker was 15 when he got bitten by a spider and the Fantastic Four were established heroes by then. At most, something like 10 years have passed in Peter's life and that's all will ever pass. Marvel Editorial will apparently not allow Peter to age past 30. On a relative scale...Peter is slightly younger than Johnny Storm but significantly older than Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Kamala Khan.

And before you ask, yes the timeline is too compressed...because essentially it would mean decades worth of stories would in-page count for mere months if you approximately try and round it up proportionately. As time passes...and older stories carry more weight than newer ones, it will fragment even more.

On another note, there's a miniseries called SPIDER-MAN LIFE STORY which is basically an attempt to portray what Spider-Man's story would look like if he aged in real time since 1962 to 2019.

[Riv86672]

About twenty seven.

[Frontier]

I think Learning to Crawl indicated he'd be about 28-29 now.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

To quote Grant Morrison: "It doesn't matter. These people aren't real...They never grow old because they're different from us. They're paper people."

To be fair, Peter is a special exception because he did actually get older. Still, even without a Quesada breathing down his neck and turning him into Peter Pan, I doubt he will ever get older than whatever age Superman and Batman are at, that is to say "thirties-ish". As humans we are generally uncomfortable with watching our heroes grow old. Characters like Spider-Man are in some ways a glimpse into what it's like to be immortal.

I personally don't have a problem with freezing Peter in the late 20's-early or mid 30's range since age is just a number the more you get older.

[PCN24454]

He's an adult.

[Spidey_62]

I swear when BND was kicking off they said he was 25, and that's been 12 years and there's been different mentions of it in years since.

I remember in books from the 70s through the 90s there's times where they say it's been years since things have happened. I think during the course of the Conway run he says it's been a few years since Gwen died by the end because a few years had passed by the time the run was winding down. There would be mentions that it was years since Norman Osborn died, or how specifically it was 5 years in the Clone Saga. I'd imagine he's closer to his 30s realistically but ever-hovering around that nebulous area.

[SuperiorIronman]

According to Civil War he's been Spider-man since he was 15. Learning to Crawl takes place 13 years prior to Cindy Moon's introduction and another year has to pass leading into GDS. So Peter should be 29.

[Digifiend]

As per the Marvel Universe dictates, the current 616 continuity takes place 14 years after the rocket flight that gave Spider-Man his powers.

Uh, Spidey's not a founding member of the Fantastic Four...

[Celgress]

The problem is they stated when Slott was writing Amazing that Cindy Moon spent 13 years in the bunker then there is another "hard" (in-universe) year after that because Peter sent a villain one year forward in time and has since fought said villain (I forgot the guy's name, but it still counts, lol), thus Spidey has been around 14 going on 15 years by now and so Pete has to be 29 or *gasp* close to the dreaded 30. I do believe since Spencer started on Amazing they have since compressed the timeline from roughly 15 down to roughly 10 years, which makes not a damn lick of sense especially with Miles and the other young heroes being active.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I swear when BND was kicking off they said he was 25, and that's been 12 years and there's been different mentions of it in years since.

Any time Marvel gives something like hard numbers about what age Spider-Man is at present...the thing to do is to ignore it.

I remember in books from the 70s through the 90s there's times where they say it's been years since things have happened.

"Years" is vague enough as a descriptor.

I think during the course of the Conway run he says it's been a few years since Gwen died by the end because a few years had passed by the time the run was winding down.

Well Peter was still in college at the start and end of his run...and he still hadn't completed his bachelors until Marv Wolfman's run where he graduated from ESU and then went into grad school (where he's been in and out of since then).

Ultimately it's up to every reader to mentally compartmentalize this stuff.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Uh, Spidey's not a founding member of the Fantastic Four...

D'oh. I mixed things up.

[Venomous Mask]

Old enough to know better, too young to care.

[Alan2099]

Old enough to know better, too young to care.

With Spider-man, Old enough to care, still too young to know better, might be more appropriate.