How Spider-Man went from a story about one character to a “team franchise”

[mathew101281]

Spider totems, Spider verse, Spider-Man really has come a long way from a kid getting bitten by a Spider. I still feel Spider-Man’s best stories tend to be more grounded street level faire though. How do you feel about how the franchise has grown in the last 20 years?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Spider totems, Spider verse, Spider-Man really has come a long way from a kid getting bitten by a Spider.

I still feel Spider-Man’s best stories tend to be more grounded street level faire though. How do you feel about how the franchise has grown in the last 20 years?

I don't consider this in terms of growth or evolution because that implies that "grounded street level" is automatically at a lower end or some lesser thing, which it is not.

I think the "franchising" of Spider-Man, whatever you call it, really began with Bendis' NEW AVENGERS and Spider-Man going to Avengers Tower, that made Spider-Man part of a superhero team for the first time ever.

Then OMD essentially destroyed Peter as a character in a story. To paraphrase what Chris Claremont said in another context, "they replaced the character with tropes" and since OMD Spider-Man for the most part hasn't really functioned as a character in a story or a character in page, but more as a mascot character or as a panel-and-balloon toy.

What that means is that the people who can function as characters first and not toys isn't going to be Peter but rather new characters who come in, like Miles Morales who is the biggest new character in Spider-Man since Venom and Carnage.

[NC_Yankee]

I don't consider this in terms of growth or evolution because that implies that "grounded street level" is automatically at a lower end or some lesser thing, which it is not.

I think the "franchising" of Spider-Man, whatever you call it, really began with Bendis' NEW AVENGERS and Spider-Man going to Avengers Tower, that made Spider-Man part of a superhero team for the first time ever.

Then OMD essentially destroyed Peter as a character in a story. To paraphrase what Chris Claremont said in another context, "they replaced the character with tropes" and since OMD Spider-Man for the most part hasn't really functioned as a character in a story or a character in page, but more as a mascot character or as a panel-and-balloon toy.

What that means is that the people who can function as characters first and not toys isn't going to be Peter but rather new characters who come in, like Miles Morales who is the biggest new character in Spider-Man since Venom and Carnage.

I do not think Spider-Man has ever been about one character. Look at the rich supporting cast that Peter has going back to Ditko. I happen to also think this is why Peter still matters ( unlike the other identies of heroes). Why? No Peter? No JJJ and likely no MJ (as is). As for OMD, the question is why did it happen? I addressed this before but I will again: The same reason why the earlier Clone Saga happened: Fear: Fear of a loss of income because Marvel did not believe the public would accept a married and adult Spider-Man. As we edge closer to Amazing 1000, it becomes even more relevant. What do I think will happen? Miles will increase in importance and Peter will decrease. Why? Demographic changes which means the demand for Miles Spider-Man merchandise increases. Marvel and their Disney corporate parent will act accordingly to meet the demand. What about female spider characters like Gwen, Cindy and the rest? That is a largely untapped market because historically superhero comics ( even Wonder Woman) have not catered to girls. But I guarantee Marvel will try to reach them and Gwen, Cindy etc stories and toys will appeal to the tween girl more then Peter stories and toys. As we approach ASM 1000, it will be interesting to watch and see what happens?

[Chris0013]

I think Spidey is for action...Peter Parker is for character development. They need more of Peter interacting with family and friends...normals and supers. But not constant team ups. I have said before I would like to see Pete be the go to guy for tech stuff for his friends who are supers. Like if Luke, Danny, Jessica, Jessica, Anya, etc...come across some piece of tech in their adventures it is Pete they come to to figure it out. But I also want to see Pete and MJ interact socially with some of those friends as well. I would love to see Pete and MJ have a friendship with Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.

[NC_Yankee]

I think Spidey is for action...Peter Parker is for character development. They need more of Peter interacting with family and friends...normals and supers. But not constant team ups. I have said before I would like to see Pete be the go to guy for tech stuff for his friends who are supers. Like if Luke, Danny, Jessica, Jessica, Anya, etc...come across some piece of tech in their adventures it is Pete they come to to figure it out. But I also want to see Pete and MJ interact socially with some of those friends as well. I would love to see Pete and MJ have a friendship with Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.

It should be Miles doing the Team-Ups. Let Peter be for MJ and his rogues gallery

[CosmiComic]

While not everything has worked out, I think in the end it's better for the franchise to evolve this way. I like seeing multiple Spider-heroes, and seeing Peter Parker interact with others rather than just be a solo "I don't need anyone" type of guy. As NC_Yankee pointed out, demographics are changing, and having multiple Spider-heroes from different demographics can appeal to those demographics who've long been underserved. Plus, it's nice to see the Spider-Man template used in a different way besides the same way it has been. I think Peter himself needs to be allowed to evolve and not be stuck in the same repeated story tropes.

[Chris0013]

It should be Miles doing the Team-Ups. Let Peter be for MJ and his rogues gallery

I am not against team-ups...but they should be the exception not the rule.

[Tmacaoni]

Spider totems, Spider verse, Spider-Man really has come a long way from a kid getting bitten by a Spider. I still feel Spider-Man’s best stories tend to be more grounded street level faire though. How do you feel about how the franchise has grown in the last 20 years?

Very odd for me at least. It seems like a bunch of people shoehorned into his world that really had no connection with him like that. I'm really basing this off of Jessica Drew and Julia Carpenter. These characters worked independent from him and had their own things going on, yet now have been tied to him. Like, are they even friends like that?

Characters like Silk and Miles I understand because to a large degree they have connections to Peter, so do Kaine and Ben. All these characters have actual dealing with Peter and heavily involved in his lore. Spider woman characters in general just don't have that connection to Peter to me. (which for some reason is hilarious to me) Arana also fits in this no connection to Peter really category. I think they are working on it to make it more believable, but I'm not there quite yet with them.

[Spiderfan001]

Very odd for me at least. It seems like a bunch of people shoehorned into his world that really had no connection with him like that. I'm really basing this off of Jessica Drew and Julia Carpenter. These characters worked independent from him and had their own things going on, yet now have been tied to him. Like, are they even friends like that?

Characters like Silk and Miles I understand because to a large degree they have connections to Peter, so do Kaine and Ben. All these characters have actual dealing with Peter and heavily involved in his lore. Spider woman characters in general just don't have that connection to Peter to me. (which for some reason is hilarious to me) Arana also fits in this no connection to Peter really category. I think they are working on it to make it more believable, but I'm not there quite yet with them.

Many of them aren't.And the ones that are are being seperated.

Miles rarely teams up with Pete even though they should have a mentor student relationship.Silk also hasn't teamed up with him for a while.Same with Ben and Kaine.Neither does Anya.Julia does but she's rarely ever there.

Spider-fam is a bad take on the Spider-verse.They shouldn't be in the 616 at all and an even worse execution at that.