Do you think current Peter Parker is miserable?

[Alex_Of_X]

Yea or nay?

This question was sparked by a comment on this here forum about how fans may find Spider-Man, and the underlying message of responsibility, not that inspiring since his responsibilities only give him grief. (Gwen, Capt Stacy, OMD, etc.)

This got me thinking: what does Peter Parker himself, in your estimation, think about his life? Is he presently satisfied? Dissatisfied? Depressed?

My view here is largely optimistic--I think Peter feels quite good about his life! He has family who adores him (May), close friends and confidants (Randy, JJJ, Norman), colleagues who respect him (FF, Avengers, X-men, Kamala). He has been shown as mature in love, having healthy-ish relationships with MJ, Felicia, Carlie Cooper and Bobbi Morse, just to name a few. Sure, he is presently single, but by no means despondent about the prospects of his love life.

And ofc, he has the mask and the responsibilities it brings.

He has a gig at Oscorp which he doesn't just do for the money. he's emotionally involved due to the Norman of it all, and so far mostly rewarded for his trust in Norm's redemption.

There's an argument to be made that Peter had a tough period from the flashbacks of Dead language to ~ASM 5-9. But from the AXE tie-in and further, he seems to me more and more comfortable in his skin. Content, if busy. Which has sorta been the through-line of Slott, Spencer's, and now Wells's runs. Look at how the last two runs ended, and +- where the current one finds itself rn

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now, sound off below on what y'all think!

[Vortex85]

The fact that this even has to be asked or is up for debate is one of the biggest failures with Spider-Man writing these days, and is why Peter feels like a side character in his own book. We need to be in his head more.

[Frontier]

Compared to before he definitely feels like, to me, that he's just going through the motions and just getting by even when he puts up a smiling face or cracks a joke and just doesn't seem...invested in anything.

[ImOctavius]

No doubt about it.

[fjmac]

He *appears* not miserable starting a few months ago, but that's because all the misery elements that swamped this run from the beginning seem to have been swept under the rug in a ham-fisted attempt at a half-assed page turn. If you choose to go along and ignore all the unaddressed threads then sure, I suppose he can come up as not miserable.

[Kevinroc]

Yes, he absolutely is miserable. Just because he hasn't given up and waited to die for awhile doesn't mean he isn't miserable.

[Garlador]

At least happier than Mary Jane is.

He’s had that “smile to hide the pain” vibe for months though.

That pillow is definitely tear-stained.

[Matt14teg]

Lol like what, this feels more like peter should be happy less than if peter is happy. He's definitely happy after the end of this last chapter.

[Matt14teg]

He *appears* not miserable starting a few months ago, but that's because all the misery elements that swamped this run from the beginning seem to have been swept under the rug in a ham-fisted attempt at a half-assed page turn. If you choose to go along and ignore all the unaddressed threads then sure, I suppose he can come up as not miserable.

remember when we were mourning kamala yeah that was a sad impactful corner of the comic that really hit the storyline, good thing they rezzed her.

[xpyred]

certainly makes me miserable having to read the nonsense they put out.

[fjmac]

remember when we were mourning kamala yeah that was a sad impactful corner of the comic that really hit the storyline, good thing they rezzed her.

I had goosebumps. Goosebumps, I tell you!

[Frontier]

I don't know if I'd recently call him "mature-in-love" the way you see how he handled the relationship with Felicia and his relationship with MJ seems to change issue-by-issue.

[Spidey_Legend]

Yes, he absolutely is miserable. Just because he hasn't given up and waited to die for awhile doesn't mean he isn't miserable.

Pretty much this.

[Kurus]

He honestly come off as someone dealing with clinical depression. Like he feels numb.

[ZeroBG82]

I don't know if he's miserable. But he's definitely a LOSER. Not a lovable loser, just a complete loser.

There hasn't been anything inspirational or aspirational about Peter Parker in a LONG time. His biggest achievements belong to his villains (Ock, GG) rather than himself. And have all since been undone. He lost his girl to a genocidal nobody, while also failing to reconnect with his misguided ex. The only reason he has a job is because Osborn, of all people, has taken pity on him. And when you're relying on the kindness of the GREEN M-Fing GOBLIN you know you've just about hit rock bottom.

We're supposed to believe that THIS is the greatest hero in the Marvel universe. A spoiled manchild who has relied on nepotism and deceit (though admittedly through no fault of his own) in order to accomplish or achieve anything for the last decade plus. Who is incapable of having mature, adult relationships with women of any kind.

If this is the price of great responsibility, then you can keep it. Because this isn't the life of a responsible, adult man. This is a fully Flanderized rendition of Peter Parker whose only victories MUST be Pyrrhic, and whose greatness is a bigger illusion than anything Mysterio has ever conjured.