Is Spider-Man Jewish?

[Poochie]

I came across this article from Screen Rant claiming that Spider-Man is Jewish. Is this true or just speculation?

Here's the article: 15 Things You Didn't Know About Spider-Man

Someone once told me that Peter Parker was a Protestant according to the 616 continuity but I've never seen any proof of that either. Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things but it would be an interesting tidbit, especially considering how little Marvel touches on religion.

[Rob London]

Probably not. We've seen Aunt May go to church on a number of occasions, and it's just a generic vaguely Protestant service.

However, Spider-Man, in a meta-fictional sense, certainly has Jewish heritage - some of his most celebrated creators have been Jewish, including Stan Lee, J.M. DeMatteis (part-Jewish), Brian Michael Bendis, and Dan Slott.

[DieHard200904]

I came across this article from Screen Rant claiming that Spider-Man is Jewish. Is this true or just speculation?

Here's the article: http://screenrant.com/spider-man-trivia-facts-you-didnt-know

Someone once told me that Peter Parker was a Protestant according to the 616 continuity but I've never seen any proof of that either. Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things but it would be an interesting tidbit, especially considering how little Marvel touches on religion.

I believe he was Christian, Protestant most likely, a lot of his creative talent was Jewish, as is Stan Lee. But not all of the characters created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and other creative talent who are Jewish is neccessarily Jewish themselves.

[Troian]

Probably not. Stan may have wanted him to be Jewish but this may have been controversial for the whole Anglo Saxons that ruled America back then. So it was probably best to stick to with a "WASP" character. Even to this day, some Jews are still viewed as "sub-white" if you may, which is silly given how at the most extreme your stereotypical Ashkenazi (the branch that many American Jews can trace their roots back too) Jew most likely looks Southern European/Middle Eastern looking but hey, it is what it is.

[Vegeta]

There was a Hanukkah Holiday issue where all of Marvel's most prominent Jewish heroes got together to celebrate (Ben Grimm, Kitty Pryde, Moon Knight, etc.) It would have been a major oversight to leave the corporation's most popular mascot out of the mix.

[SpiderClops]

Don't know, don't care.

[John Ossie]

Don't know, don't care.

Pretty much my response.

[Celgress]

Don't know, don't care.

A valid position, and one I share.

The OP question reminds me of a thread about a hypothetical change of MJ's race (I guess to better line her up with her "counterpart" in Homecoming). As I wrote at that time: assuming the key personality traits of a character remain the same I could not care less what ethnicity she or he is.

[Starrius]

Probably not. Stan may have wanted him to be Jewish but this may have been controversial for the whole Anglo Saxons that ruled America back then. So it was probably best to stick to with a "WASP" character. Even to this day, some Jews are still viewed as "sub-white" if you may, which is silly given how at the most extreme your stereotypical Ashkenazi (the branch that many American Jews can trace their roots back too) Jew most likely looks Southern European/Middle Eastern looking but hey, it is what it is.

Genetic studies show that Ashkenazi Jews are mixture of mainly Middle Eastern and Mediterranean European ancestry
Most of their Y DNA is Middle Eastern, and most of their mitochondrial DNA is Mediterranean European

My maternal grandmother's mother was an Ashkenazi Jew
her father immigrated from Romania, and her mother immigrated from Latvia

I get a lot of DNA relative matches through the Ashkenazi Jewish at the DNA sites that I am a member of
23andme, AncestryDNA, and FamilyTreeDNA


You can be of the Jewish ethnicity and not practice Judaism.
There are Jews that don't practice Judaism. Some are even atheists,agnostics.