10 Things Marvel Wants You To Forget About Spider-Man

[Mister Mets]

Fun list from Mark Ginocchio about forgotten elements of Peter Parker's life, some of which aren't the obvious suspects.

Man, he was a jerk to women in the Bronze age.

[Pako]

I actually thought Peter punching MJ would be on this. (Or Skip's molestation thing!)

[normanosborn]

It's hilarious how he starts up a fight with every other hero he meets in Lee's stories. Including with beings like Silver Surfer lol.

The Spidey/Wolverine story is excellent, and it is a real shame him accidentally killing Charlie is not referenced more often. Slott gave a good explanation in No One Dies though, by explaining that Peter has been trying to forget the whole thing.

Besides Chapter One, I would also like to add the rest of the late 90's. It was mostly an awful time. Peter joined a high tech company, a bit similar to Horizon too, but it somehow ended up being just really lame.

[Huntsman Spider]

So Peter was more of an @$$hole than Marvel likes us to remember when he was younger and starting out. I suppose that's where the current Amazing movies run into controversy on Peter's portrayal; while we're used to seeing Peter as a borderline saint and the best of all Marvel heroes barring Captain America, or even exceeding Cap depending on how you view his more recent actions, the fact remains that as well-meaning and fundamentally decent as Peter is, he's still a teenager becoming a young adult and teenagers and young adults tend to not be the most aware of how their actions impact others or the most sensitive to the feelings and concerns of others. Hell, there are plenty of adults who still have a hard time with things like emotional sensitivity and empathy and such, so it's probably not something we can just pin on young people though theirs is more pronounced since their brains are still in the process of maturation and the parts responsible for empathy and consideration of the consequences of their actions haven't fully developed yet.

Going back to the original comics, Peter was definitely someone with a chip on his shoulder from all the social isolation and ostracism he had to endure from his peers, somewhat similar to Max Dillon in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Peter even admitted years later when stopping a would-be school shooter at his former high school that he could have turned out just like that shooter if Uncle Ben's death hadn't reminded him that great power came with great responsibility. Even with that spurring him to be a hero, Peter still had a lot of anger and resentment and being Spider-Man was as much a way for him to vent as it was to live up to what Ben taught him, hence him antagonizing villains and fellow heroes alike in those early issues. He matured over time and with experience, but given how he started out, it's not that big of a surprise that so many ordinary citizens and even a number of his fellow heroes didn't like or trust him very much.

[Dr. Skeleton]

And of course, Clone Saga's not in the list.

[Peter Parker]

FYI, the author is half of the podcasting team over at Amazing Spider-Talk. It is both a very well done podcast and a spider-man centric one too.

[Sardorim]

One More Day and Sins Past weren't on there...

Very disappointed.

[Tiamatty]

How dare he malign the magnificence that was the Spider-Mobile! The Spider-Mobile was awesome. I love it unironically. I want another Spider-Mobile story.

[Rob London]

There is one quibble here - if May had married Johnny Jerome, Peter would never have known her. Ben was his father's brother, and May's only related to him via marriage, so Peter would still have an Uncle Ben and an Aunt Someone Else.

[Qrx2]

One More Day and Sins Past weren't on there...

Very disappointed.

Yeah it's a list Marvel wants us to forget, sadly Marvel doesn't want us to forget those things...

[electr1cgoblin]

I dunno, seems like a list trying to prove a point; that Spiderman is kind of a jerk. I don't agree with the designation of 'jerk' applying to some of this behavior. The author is painting the Betty Brant thing a little darker than I remember it being, as well as the Deb Whitman situation. Yes, Peter could have been nicer, but he was quite young, frazzled beyond belief by studies, student teaching, working at the Bugle, taking care of Aunt May not to mention being freaking Spiderman and having his life threatened just about every day.

And that six armed story rocked.

[Shadow]

"Superior" is not on the list

[Pako]

"Superior" is not on the list

Why would marvel want readers to forget Superior when it sold well ? Spider-Girl would sooner be on the list than Superior..

[Confuzzled]

I actually thought Peter punching MJ would be on this. (Or Skip's molestation thing!)

The Skip thing should be made canon. There's already a song about it.

[normanosborn]

The Skip thing should be made canon. There's already a song about it.

It is technically canon because nothing contradictory was ever stated. However its up to the individual reader to decide whether they want it to be canon or not.