...otherwise they'd be an everyboy (or everygirl)
The Spider-Totem idea was an interesting new mythical spin on Spidey's origins.
Gwen Stacy should have been the surprise resurrection at the end of One More Day.
Last edited by Sacred Knight; 06-03-2014 at 01:57 PM.
I don't really think Peter Parker is an "everyman." He's more a wish-fulfillment character. Like Superman but with a bit more pessimism. He only seems like an "everyman" in the grand scheme of the Marvel Universe with characters like Mr. Fantastic, Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Thor, and more running around.
Spider-Man is not an everyman. No superhero is an everyman.
Peter Parker is a super genius. Only in a world with Reed Richards and Tony Stark does he seem like an "everyman."
There was a great article by Chris Sims where he says Spidey is the best super hero. Because in his mind, if we look at super hero as metaphor, Spidey teaches readers that they are going to screw up, and it is going to hurt, but it is possible to get back up.
I don't think that those making the claim forget so much as they don't really believe in the concept to begin with. Often times it feels like the everyman complaint is made by those that are looking for a way to give a moral justification to undo the changes they dislike. But those claiming for him to be returned to his everyman origins seem to be the first to either defend or implement changes that arguably take the character away from said roots.
Peter being married to a gorgeous woman ruins his everyman status and ages him too much, but he can become a Doctor and own his own company, which doesn't age him or take away from his everyman status qt all.
Peter being a teacher is unreasonable and makes things too difficult to be Spider-Man and too unnatural, but having a job that he can come and go at his leisure, take items developed by his coworkers for his own benefit, work on super science projects involving things like time travel, and be paid cash funds that solve his money woes somehow doesn't.
I think it's less of a concern for ruining his everyman appeal and more trying to find someway to find a way to give a greater morality for position positions, since it's harder to justify a personal dislike of something and far easier to argue that the change or status quo is somehow harmful or detrimental to the character and his mythos.