Controversial Spider-Man Opinions

[Alan2099]

You know who should have Peter's back in those kinds of situations? The other teachers.

Being a teacher is a working-class job that a working-class guy like Peter Parker should have.

If superheroes are meant to act as a metaphor for people in the real world, and their problems are extensions of our problems, then a supervillain attack while Peter is on the job is akin to a real emergency happening in any of our daily lives.

I just don't think the schedule argument holds water when the same people are also advocating for Peter to still be a High School student. Talk about a set schedule.

That only works if you don't want Peter to have a secret identity.

[Kevinroc]

That only works if you don't want Peter to have a secret identity.

The other teachers having Peter's back does not require them to know his secret identity.

[Alan2099]

The other teachers having Peter's back does not require them to know his secret identity.

I'm not sure how teachers covering for him constantly when there are super villain attacks would work if they don't know he's going out to fight them.

Plus you haven't given them any reason to trust the new guy that keeps ducking out whenever there's a news report. If anything, I'd expect the guy that keeps cutting work or leaving in the middle of the day, or showing up with bruises and black eyes that he doesn't want to talk about would be the first guy they throw under the bus. You have to be reliable BEFORE people start giving you leeway.

[Vegan]

I'm not sure how teachers covering for him constantly when there are super villain attacks would work if they don't know he's going out to fight them.

Plus you haven't given them any reason to trust the new guy that keeps ducking out whenever there's a news report. If anything, I'd expect the guy that keeps cutting work or leaving in the middle of the day, or showing up with bruises and black eyes that he doesn't want to talk about would be the first guy they throw under the bus. You have to be reliable BEFORE people start giving you leeway.

Reintroduce Deb Whitman as a fellow staff member at the school. She basically figured Peter’s identity back in the day. Retcon her to have put 2 and 2 together again. Now there’s someone who has incentive to cover for Peter who knows his identity, who has his back. Now there’s a reason for the other staff to start to trust Peter as well.

[TinkerSpider]

Where did you get that definition?

From the publishing and library market. You are welcome to Google, in 999.9998% cases the definition of YA literature is something like, “Books written for an audience aged 12 - 18 that feature teen characters.” Books written for an adult audience could also fall under YA, but usually again because they feature a teenage character/coming of age. Adults read YA; YA refers to the primary audience and the themes of coming of age, but doesn’t limit who can find YA appealing.

Here’s one website: “For a book to fall firmly into the ‘young adult’ category, it must have at least one teenage protagonist, usually aged in the upper teens – between 15 and 19 years old. (Protagonists that fall towards the lower end of the teens tend to be more common in middle-grade fiction – a different category entirely.)”

Or, if you would rather use Wikipedia: “The subject matter and genres of YA correlate with the age and experience of the protagonist” and “ YA novels are ages 12–18, and tackle more mature and adult themes and content. Middle grade novels usually feature protagonists between the ages of 10 and 13, whereas young adult novels usually feature protagonists from 14 to 18.”

The ages might vary slightly in the two definitions, but overall a book is shelved as YA when it is written for audiences aged 12 - 18 and features protagonists who are high school aged.

People that want Pepsi don't necessarily want diet caffeine free zero calorie pepsi

So Miles isn’t a real Spider-Man, in your opinion? Interesting.

It's a horrible job for a guy that might need to leave to fight Rhino at any minute or was up all night fighting Dr. Octopus.

Anything that requires a set schedule is a horrible fit for Spidey.

Funny, high schools are generally very strict about their students being in class and adhering to their schedules. Same for TAs at universities. Yet most of the people arguing against the JMS status swoon over high school and Stern Spidey…

[Alan2099]

From the publishing and library market. You are welcome to Google, in 999.9998% cases the definition of YA literature is something like, “Books written for an audience aged 12 - 18 that feature teen characters.” Books written for an adult audience could also fall under YA, but usually again because they feature a teenage character/coming of age. Adults read YA; YA refers to the primary audience and the themes of coming of age, but doesn’t limit who can find YA appealing.

Here’s one website: “For a book to fall firmly into the ‘young adult’ category, it must have at least one teenage protagonist, usually aged in the upper teens – between 15 and 19 years old. (Protagonists that fall towards the lower end of the teens tend to be more common in middle-grade fiction – a different category entirely.)”

Or, if you would rather use Wikipedia: “The subject matter and genres of YA correlate with the age and experience of the protagonist” and “ YA novels are ages 12–18, and tackle more mature and adult themes and content. Middle grade novels usually feature protagonists between the ages of 10 and 13, whereas young adult novels usually feature protagonists from 14 to 18.”

I see no mention of highschool in those definitions.

So Miles isn’t a real Spider-Man, in your opinion? Interesting.

Miles will never be anything more than "that other Spider-man." The very fact that you have to call him Miles in discussions so people know who you're talking about, but can just say "Spider-man" when talking about Peter supports this.

Funny, high schools are generally very strict about their students being in class and adhering to their schedules. Same for TAs at universities. Yet most of the people arguing against the JMS status swoon over high school and Stern Spidey…

I wouldn't say it's funny at all. There's a lot less responsibility and a lot fewer hours in being a student than there are in being teacher.

[Kevinroc]

I'm not sure how teachers covering for him constantly when there are super villain attacks would work if they don't know he's going out to fight them.

Plus you haven't given them any reason to trust the new guy that keeps ducking out whenever there's a news report. If anything, I'd expect the guy that keeps cutting work or leaving in the middle of the day, or showing up with bruises and black eyes that he doesn't want to talk about would be the first guy they throw under the bus. You have to be reliable BEFORE people start giving you leeway.

It almost sounds like you have the potential for stories with that status quo. Some teachers who support Peter and some teachers who hate Peter.

[Vegan]

Miles will never be anything more than "that other Spider-man." The very fact that you have to call him Miles in discussions so people know who you're talking about, but can just say "Spider-man" when talking about Peter supports this.

That has nothing to do with the quality of the characters and everything to do with the fact that one has been around for 60 years and the other has for around a decade.

[TinkerSpider]

I see no mention of highschool in those definitions.

LOL.

And just how old do you think people in high school are? I even say "high school age," which is 13 - 19.

Miles will never be anything more than "that other Spider-man." The very fact that you have to call him Miles in discussions so people know who you're talking about, but can just say "Spider-man" when talking about Peter supports this.

Interesting opinion...

I wouldn't say it's funny at all. There's a lot less responsibility and a lot fewer hours in being a student than there are in being teacher.

You said, "Anything that requires a set schedule is a horrible fit for Spidey."

Schools require a set schedule. Not to mention all the extracurriculars necessary in order to get into college.

[Spider-Tiger]

Anything that requires a set schedule is a horrible fit for Spidey.

Depends on the type of teacher. I probably wouldn't make him anything more than a substitute at the high school level.

If I was writing Spider-man, Peter would be an assistant college professor who does research at the school. That provides much more flexibility in his day to day schedule and work environment and a pretty modest income.

And tbh, just working in a science lab is a pretty boring profession. Teaching provides much more opportunity to expand the supporting cast and tell diverse stories with students, coworkers, faculty, etc.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

I don't recall these criticisms. Where these from critics or comic fans?

Fans, but is that relevant?

Outside of one scene where he's dismissive of Peter's fascination with science, nothing in the movies suggests Harry is bad at science.

Even if we go with the theory that the formula was enhancing what was there, at most that means Norman was much better at keeping those tendencies under control when the formula wasn't a factor.

The Raimi movies (the first one especially) absolutely portray Harry as not that good at science. He got kicked out of a private school. He asks Peter for science tips to hit on girls. Him sucking at it is the whole reason Norman sees himself in Peter more than in Harry, and why Harry is jealous of that and seeks his father's approval.

I'm not sure how teachers covering for him constantly when there are super villain attacks would work if they don't know he's going out to fight them.

It's not like it's a problem that happens every day. Peter never had to skip classes in Lee/Ditko or Spectacular. He had to skip class only once or twice in Ultimate. So the same would be true of Teacher Peter.

Clearly while there are a lot of weekday afternoon attacks in the Marvel Universe, they're not common enough to cause Peter to bail out consistently (which is what you're implying).

[Agent Z]

Fans, but is that relevant?

It is if we are to gauge how accepted a good Norman is by the mainstream.

The Raimi movies (the first one especially) absolutely portray Harry as not that good at science. He got kicked out of a private school. He asks Peter for science tips to hit on girls.

We don't know the context of him getting kicked out of private school and he doesn't ask Peter for science factoids. He does use one Peter tells him (unprompted) to hit on MJ after initially dismissing it as something no one would be interested in.

It's not like it's a problem that happens every day. Peter never had to skip classes in Lee/Ditko or Spectacular. He had to skip class only once or twice in Ultimate. So the same would be true of Teacher Peter.

Clearly while there are a lot of weekday afternoon attacks in the Marvel Universe, they're not common enough to cause Peter to bail out consistently (which is what you're implying).

To add to this, Peter lives in a city crawling with superheroes. He doesn't need to jet off every time he hears about a supervillain attack.

[marhawkman]

That only works if you don't want Peter to have a secret identity.

Honestly? most secret IDs don't work if you try to make them "realistic"

[Daibhidh]

Back when Peter was a teacher in JMS's run he and other writers had Peter having to bail out of classes all the time, but that's really a choice of the writers. The presence of superpowered heroes and villains, alien invasions, demonic incursions, and other weirdness has so little effect on people's daily life; and I don't want to think about the economics of superheroism or supervillainy. (Really, if Otto has enough money to build an underwater base in the Master Planner saga why doesn't he just spend that money on whatever he's trying to accomplish with his evil scheme?)
I think arguing that this or that career or family set-up wouldn't realistically work is a bit selective in its application of realism. Peter's world needs to be more grounded than the Fantastic Four, but it's ok for it not to be as grounded as Daredevil. The writers could just write that supervillains execute their evil schemes under the cover of darkness and therefore outside school hours. That said, I think it is a consistent theme of Peter's life that being Spider-man means that he has to juggle being Spider-man and being Peter Parker and having him have to be in class at particular times makes that harder to write convincingly.

[Refrax5]

If 616 Peter becomes a dad under a writer who respects his history, he won't be boring.

This idea that a kid would inevitably turn him boring... you could have used that same logic against Peter becoming a teacher prior to JMS. A lot of teachers have boring conservative personalities. Teacher Peter was nothing like that. JMS made a point that he was different from other teachers. It's why his students connected with him.

Same rules would apply to a 616 Dad Peter, right? He can be different from other parents. He wouldn't allow himself to become the boring parent you're describing.

He was kind of boring in RYV. Most of his personality was just that of an exasperated parent type cliche.