How Serious Should Spider-Man Be?

[Agent Z]

I'm talking about the character and the tone of his stories. How much gravitas should the plots be treated with? How should things like dying affect Peter?

[SuperiorIronman]

It depends on the story. In the hands of a skilled writer anything can be great and I feel Dan Slott has done a wonderful job giving us some varied spiderman stories. I think though during No one dies Dan hit the nail on the head. Peter makes jokes and can laugh at a situation but the guilt and failure he feels for everyone he lost and the toll spiderman has taken on his life always sits in the back of his mind and it really gets to him.

I say the tone should be light but it needs to have a bit of seriousness to it because at the end of the day Peter still runs the risk of injury and or death of himself or a loved one.

[cyberhubbs]

Cool thing about Spidey, and what separates him from other superhero icons, is that he can go either way in tone and not feel like he's straying from his wheelhouse.

[Agent Z]

A part of me thinks that we don't really see Peter actually deal with depression. He either lashes out violently or jokes it away and by the end of the issue it's business as usual. How long do you guys think it should take Peter to deal with depression and PTSD from events.

[cyberhubbs]

Peter's personal worries tend to be short-lived because he's usually too busy grieving over other dead folks.

[Mister Mets]

It does depend on the story.

Dematteis had a serious Spidey, and it was great.

Slott has a jokier Spidey, and it's been great.

[Heasensy32]

Imo short of squirrel girl and she hulk(surpasses them in determination and inspiration); Spidey should be the most light hearted hero in the marvel universe.

[Agent Z]

Imo short of squirrel girl and she hulk(surpasses them in determination and inspiration); Spidey should be the most light hearted hero in the marvel universe.

But his origin does involve him losing a loved one due to his own hubris. That's arguably darker than Bruce Wayne's origin were he's a victim. I'm not saying go full grim and dark, but I think there should be some seriousness when the situation demands it.

[Harley Quinn]

I don't think he should be Batman level dark as I enjoy a lighter Peter. Serious sometimes but not all the time is the way I like it. I come to spider-man sometimes when I have read too much Batman and need to get away from all the full on angst. I love Batman don't get me wrong (favorite SH) but sometimes I need to get away and get a Spider-man joke. Though like I said earlier, I don't want Spider-man to be too jokey either. A nice mix which I have been enjoying lately.

[Heasensy32]

But his origin does involve him losing a loved one due to his own hubris. That's arguably darker than Bruce Wayne's origin were he's a victim. I'm not saying go full grim and dark, but I think there should be some seriousness when the situation demands it.

I just don't see Peter being Steve Rogers serious and all about business, he takes life as a game as much as possible and makes fun of things. He doesnt really have a core sense of settlement and content. He's the guy that gets into anything and everything without rhyme or reason but life being a bitch as usual and he somehow succeeds and lives through it and then it's back to normal joe parker life.

Besides look at beast boys origin which is even worse than parkers and see his character now.

[Mister Mets]

Imo short of squirrel girl and she hulk(surpasses them in determination and inspiration); Spidey should be the most light hearted hero in the marvel universe.

Spider-Man is basically Marvel's most successful lighthearted hero, so that is something for writers and editors to keep in mind. It distinguishes him from other Marvel heroes, even if he does something experience tragedies and life sometimes sucks.

[Confuzzled]

Superficially lighthearted but masking immense gravitas, just like Peter's characterization. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Avatar: The Last Airbender (now Korra too) are franchises which perfectly refined this tone and effectively used it to tell epic stories. The overall lighthearted nature of those series provided the darker moments that much more impact. An ideal Spidey series should be exactly like that!

[AJpyro]

Superficially lighthearted but masking immense gravitas, just like Peter's characterization. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Avatar: The Last Airbender (now Korra too) are franchises which perfectly refined this tone and effectively used it to tell epic stories. The overall lighthearted nature of those series provided the darker moments that much more impact. An ideal Spidey series should be exactly like that!

So just go watch Spectacular Spider-man?

[Heasensy32]

Superficially lighthearted but masking immense gravitas, just like Peter's characterization. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Avatar: The Last Airbender (now Korra too) are franchises which perfectly refined this tone and effectively used it to tell epic stories. The overall lighthearted nature of those series provided the darker moments that much more impact. An ideal Spidey series should be exactly like that!

Spidey like batman has many iterations of the tone of the series. And unlike those shows you mentioned, Spidey lighthearted aspects are a signature aspect of the character because he is showcased for a big kid audience. Seriously, sells more toys than any singular superhero in the market.

Ultimate Spider-man to me is an ideal show because it spreads the character out into a more versatile canvas with a bigger role than just my life sucks compared to other Marvel heroes.

[Agent Z]

Spidey like batman has many iterations of the tone of the series. And unlike those shows you mentioned, Spidey lighthearted aspects are a signature aspect of the character because he is showcased for a big kid audience. Seriously, sells more toys than any singular superhero in the market.

Ultimate Spider-man to me is an ideal show because it spreads the character out into a more versatile canvas with a bigger role than just my life sucks compared to other Marvel heroes.

Well, the problem critics have with USM is that is goes too far in the opposite direction and gives us a Spider-Man who seems learn the importance of responsibility only to forget it every episode. There's also the fact that it seems to be a vehicle for Marvel to advertise other characters not related to Spidey when it would be better to give them their own shows.