Is Spider-man the most relatable hero?

[nikkorod29]

Batman has always been my favorite superhero. But I’ve always had a soft spot for Spider-Man. You can relate to the trauma that Batman as a hero has to go through, and can connect to some of the personal dilemmas he faces. But the average person can’t relate to the life of Bruce Wayne. They can with Peter Parker. He is the underdog. He has real life problems. He’s a nerd who gets picked on and has a crush on a girl that is way out of his league. He has to deal with school bullies, not having many friends, and has to cope with his general shyness. Peter often times has to hide the truth from his aunt, which at some points may led to unwanted altercations between the two, and eventual worry and disappointment from his aunt. Even though Peter never intends it. He has to cope with making a living in the biggest city in the world. He has to take odd jobs just to make rent because he’s broke, takes jobs that he doesn’t like but needs, deals with crappy bosses, and has to face failure day in and day out. He has to learn to deal with girls despite his awkwardness. He often times finds himself caught up in love triangles with his own friends. He tries his very best not to disappoint his aunt and make her proud and at the same time keep his girlfriend happy. Whether that be Mary Jane, Gwen Stacey, etc. His work often times intersects with his personal life, which affects his relationships. He faces personal dilemmas in which he has to chose one thing or the other, and deal with the consequences of not picking the thing he’d rather do but instead pick the thing that he has to do. He often ruins things for himself and drops the ball, which makes him feel like nothing ever goes his way. Most importanlty, he struggles with having to do something for the greater good, which prevents him from doing the something that would make him happy. I think we all struggle with some of these problems in life. Sure we’ve never been bitten by a radioactive spider, but we can connect to Peter on a human level. In my opinion, Spider-man is the most relatable superhero there is.

[Huntsman Spider]

Compared to (most of) the other superheroes in the Marvel Universe, who are increasingly fantastical in scope and divorced from the ordinary people they protect (to the degree it can be called "protecting"), I'd say you're generally on the mark when it comes to Spider-Man, as he has maintained that human core despite all the power he has, which is why he does deserve the title of the GOAT (greatest of all time), at least when it comes to Marvel's roster of heroes.

[nikkorod29]

I agree, Spider-Man is the GOAT of all Marvel heroes. While he isn't the first ever Marvel hero, he definitely is the best.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

He is the underdog.

Not when he's fighting Mysterio, Vulture, Chameleon, Kraven the Hunter, The Lizard, or most of his rogues barring Doctor Octopus, Venom, Green Goblin, Rhino, Sandman.

Spider-Man is the odds-on favorite against most of his enemies.

He has real life problems.

He has some real life problems.

Fundamentally, Spider-Man's life is charmed and sanitized compared to the majority of Marvel heroes. Of the lot only Miles and Kamala Khan have it better than him, and that's it:
-- He's had more profound and deeper and meaningful relationships than Iron Man's ever had or ever will.
-- He's faced fewer tragedies than Matt Murdoch, Frank Castle, and a lot of the X-Men (some of whom are genocide survivors after Genosha).
-- His self-loathing and guilt is nothing, and I mean, nothing compared to Hank Pym.
-- Likewise his loneliness and angst doesn't compare to Captain America who lost his entire world when he went under the ice.

...not having many friends,

Actually no friends. To be honest, I always find it odd that people claim to relate to Peter's friendlessness growing up because my understanding is that this is quite rare (I didn't have friends growing up so when I related to Peter, it was because he was exceptional and not universal in that regard). Most average people do grow up having friendships and so on as I was constantly reminded and insulted about growing up.

Peter Parker is also a character who relates more to women than men, and his relationships with women are always deeper and higher priority than any of his male friendships, which is also quite rare [a]in life, [b]in pop culture.

In my opinion, Spider-man is the most relatable superhero there is.

A lot of people feel that way and I relate to Spider-Man but I don't know if he is the "most relatable superhero" because it's presumptuous and tends to put the character on a pedestal.

[Jman27]

he has the coolest costume

[Spiderfan001]

I agree, Spider-Man is the GOAT of all Marvel heroes. While he isn't the first ever Marvel hero, he definitely is the best.

Facts.He really is

[Spiderfan001]

He is.
Not because of what he deals with(supervillains, girls, etc.) but how he deals with them.
He is the most Human character in superhero comics and that is why he is the most relatable.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

he has the coolest costume

Ah but does having the coolest costume truly make you relatable? How many of us get to wear the coolest costume in a social situation.

[Spiderfan001]

Not when he's fighting Mysterio, Vulture, Chameleon, Kraven the Hunter, The Lizard, or most of his rogues barring Doctor Octopus, Venom, Green Goblin, Rhino, Sandman.

Spider-Man is the odds-on favorite against most of his enemies.



He has some real life problems.

Fundamentally, Spider-Man's life is charmed and sanitized compared to the majority of Marvel heroes. Of the lot only Miles and Kamala Khan have it better than him, and that's it:
-- He's had more profound and deeper and meaningful relationships than Iron Man's ever had or ever will.
-- He's faced fewer tragedies than Matt Murdoch, Frank Castle, and a lot of the X-Men (some of whom are genocide survivors after Genosha).
-- His self-loathing and guilt is nothing, and I mean, nothing compared to Hank Pym.
-- Likewise his loneliness and angst doesn't compare to Captain America who lost his entire world when he went under the ice.



Actually no friends. To be honest, I always find it odd that people claim to relate to Peter's friendlessness growing up because my understanding is that this is quite rare (I didn't have friends growing up so when I related to Peter, it was because he was exceptional and not universal in that regard). Most average people do grow up having friendships and so on as I was constantly reminded and insulted about growing up.

Peter Parker is also a character who relates more to women than men, and his relationships with women are always deeper and higher priority than any of his male friendships, which is also quite rare [a]in life, [b]in pop culture.



A lot of people feel that way and I relate to Spider-Man but I don't know if he is the "most relatable superhero" because it's presumptuous and tends to put the character on a pedestal.

Hence they team up, or innocents are in danger, etc.
And he faces a lot of the worst of life and pushes through, it's not just physical.
1)Most people have meaningful relationships, the way they are built is what makes them relatable.
2)Nope, pretty sure Peter is right up there if not worse than them.Not that it matters, all of them have tragedy rooted in their cores.
3)Hank Pym is an extreme, extreme example.Peter is perfect in his amount of self-loathing and how he gets out of it.
4)Peter has been through worse, and again extreme example.
He doesn't need to suffer the most to be relatable.

Avg. people don't have friends like depicted in Media.Peter's friends feel real, much weaker than media and just like real life.He has some ride or die's as well but that came later.

Yeah, he was bullied a lot.And female friendships are rare but his relationships with them are relatable in their content.

He is, at the end of the day the most Human character.Hence why he's the most relatable.

[Jman27]

Ah but does having the coolest costume truly make you relatable? How many of us get to wear the coolest costume in a social situation.

i say its more common now these days. As for why he is relatable? Well he fails in both aspects of his life as a hero and as Peter Parker. Although now these days I'm kinda getting very tired of that aspect of his character. But for a time that interest me.

[nikkorod29]

He's is an underdog. What skinny, nerdy, awkward geek from Queens just magically gets bit by a radioactive spider and is tasked by with protecting the entire city of New York?

How could average person relate to the personal life of Iron Man who is a rich kid who's parents got clipped. It's not often that you fall in love with your assistant who runs your multi-billion dollar enterprise.

Not everyone can survive a genocide's or go through wars, but a lot of people have been affected by gun violence. Much like Peter has.

Not everyone can have the love of their life trapped in the Quantum Realm, but they can have relationship issues like Pete and MJ.

Not everyone can get rapped in an Arctic Tundra, but you many feel the lonely void of a missing father figure like Peter does.

In terms of his friends, I agree with you on that. Harry was a childhood friend to Peter and a close confidant, but all that changed as Harry battled his own demons and betrayed Peter.

Spider-Man is the most relatable character. That's why he lasted for so many years through the many incarnations of him through comics, films, television etc. While each Spider-Man iteration is unique in its one way, the character has always stayed true to itself in terms of the day to day real life problems that Peter faces.

[nikkorod29]

Agreed. Very well put.

[nikkorod29]

Very well explained. That's why he's able to immediately connect with the audience.

[Spiderfan001]

He's is an underdog. What skinny, nerdy, awkward geek from Queens just magically gets bit by a radioactive spider and is tasked by with protecting the entire city of New York?

How could average person relate to the personal life of Iron Man who is a rich kid who's parents got clipped. It's not often that you fall in love with your assistant who runs your multi-billion dollar enterprise.

Not everyone can survive a genocide's or go through wars, but a lot of people have been affected by gun violence. Much like Peter has.

Not everyone can have the love of their life trapped in the Quantum Realm, but they can have relationship issues like Pete and MJ.

Not everyone can get rapped in an Arctic Tundra, but you many feel the lonely void of a missing father figure like Peter does.

In terms of his friends, I agree with you on that. Harry was a childhood friend to Peter and a close confidant, but all that changed as Harry battled his own demons and betrayed Peter.

Spider-Man is the most relatable character. That's why he lasted for so many years through the many incarnations of him through comics, films, television etc. While each Spider-Man iteration is unique in its one way, the character has always stayed true to itself in terms of the day to day real life problems that Peter faces.

For the underdog thing it's more he has had a very difficult life.
And he was skinny and awkward for a very small time, even w/ out powers he would have glown up as people do.The powers just made his glow up pretty amazing.

Rest is very well put

[Revolutionary_Jack]

He's is an underdog. What skinny, nerdy, awkward geek from Queens just magically gets bit by a radioactive spider and is tasked by with protecting the entire city of New York?

Well what orphaned kid gets to study at a mansion for outsiders who don't fit in? That applies to Cyclops and so many other X-Men.

Not everyone can survive a genocide's or go through wars, but a lot of people have been affected by gun violence. Much like Peter has.

This is weird argument. Genocide and wars are still things that happen (and by the way are also lives mainly affected by gun violence).

Nobody would equate suffering during war and genocide with the kind of domestic crime situation as Peter Parker's.

Not everyone can have the love of their life trapped in the Quantum Realm...

I was referring to comics' Hank Pym not the movies.

Harry was a childhood friend to Peter and a close confidant,

That's not the comics.

Are you basing your view on comics or adaptations?

Spider-Man is the most relatable character. That's why he lasted for so many years through the many incarnations of him through comics, films, television etc. While each Spider-Man iteration is unique in its one way, the character has always stayed true to itself in terms of the day to day real life problems that Peter faces.

The truth is that Spider-Man has changed and grown multiple times across his history and that's the secret of his longevity. Him changing and evolving has what kept him relatable.