The Things Marvel Won't Let Sony Do With Spider-Man

[Mister Mets]

Yes, but they probably thought it was about as necessary as a 'don't stand in a bucket of water while doing electric work' stipulation.

Seriously, who has ever thought Peter's parents were involved in a great storyline? Fleshing out their back story has been a mistake from the very beginning, and it just got worse from there. Peter's parents should not be SHIELD agents, the robo-parents story was a disaster, and their involvement in Bendis' Clone Saga was when USM took a nosedive in quality.

I did really like the Ultimate clone saga. Though the Ultimate comics had a more subtle handle on the parents, which worked much better. There were a few references in the first TPB. A project the parents were working on was significant in the Venom storyline a few years later. And there was a satisfying payoff to Richard's apparent return in the Clone Saga.

[Scott Taylor]

USM didn't have any parent stories. In the USM Clone Saga, it wasn't Richard Parker, but a clone of Peter Parker. So not a parent story, even if Aunt May and Peter and everyone were fooled at first. Plus - not only did the story say definitively "this is not Richard Parker here," but he also dies (there was a body, so its real) in the end, just in case there was any doubt about him being important for anything. I respected that.

The only other USM reference I recall was during the Venom story, and that was pretty minor in flashbacks.

I honestly have no idea what inspired the use of Richard Parker in the movies.

[Mister Mets]

USM didn't have any parent stories. In the USM Clone Saga, it wasn't Richard Parker, but a clone of Peter Parker. So not a parent story, even if Aunt May and Peter and everyone were fooled at first. Plus - not only did the story say definitively "this is not Richard Parker here," but he also dies (there was a body, so its real) in the end, just in case there was any doubt about him being important for anything. I respected that.

The only other USM reference I recall was during the Venom story, and that was pretty minor in flashbacks.

I honestly have no idea what inspired the use of Richard Parker in the movies.

Any story in which someone is claiming to be Peter Parker's dad, or Peter's dad as a video, counts as a parent story, I'd say.