Does Spider-Man Think He's Special?

[Tien Long]

Hi all. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on this particular question that I've been entertaining for a while. For many people, Spider-Man is arguably the greatest superhero ever. He has embodied all of these fascinating and worthwhile qualities. He is a hero who is imperfect and who struggles with ordinary, day-to-day challenges. Rather than being loved and adored, he has often been criticized and hated for his endeavors. Speaking of which, there have been a number of times when Spidey has tried to do the right thing, only to suffer for it. Still, Spider-Man goes forward, facing the next challenge motivated by the still powerful and relevant phrase "With great power, comes great responsibility." Over 50 years later, Spider-Man is still as popular and as intriguing as ever.

My question is within the Marvel Universe does Spider-Man realize just how (no pun intended) amazing he is? Does he know his importance? Or does he see himself as being a B or C-list hero? Does he see himself as being in the same league (hell, maybe even out of the league) as guys like Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Mr. Fantastic, or Professor X? Or does he see himself as being on the same level as a Darkhawk, Night Thrasher, or Speedball?

Conversely speaking, do you think that the other heroes of the Marvel Universe respect Spider-Man? Or do they think of him as being a small-time hero?

Any of your thoughts would be appreciated.

[Mister Mets]

He seems to have self-esteem issues, despite being a good, hard-working and intelligent man.

[ian0delond]

Sure he thinks he is special.
He has the great power great responsibility thing. If he didn't think about himself being special he wouldn't do the spider-man stuffs.

[SpideyCeo]

He seems to have self-esteem issues, despite being a good, hard-working and intelligent man.

Hes had some runs where he gets over his neurosis and acts like a confident man and dedicated human being with no regrets, but thats retconned away eventually just to see whiny lame peter for the basement dweller demographic again

[Frontier]

I think he views it as a gift, in that he can help people and do wondrous and fantastic things, and a curse, in how it negatively impacts his social life and desire for some kind of normalcy.

He's also probably pretty neurotic about it because of stress and his own issues.

As far as the Superhero community, I'd say Pre-OMD Spidey had a lot of respect from the Superhero community at large and was acknowledged as an experienced veteran. Post-OMD Spidey...not so much. Though granted he didn't act like someone worthy of respect either.

[WebLurker]

Not sure, although he does seem to be really hard on himself on occasion and certainly feels guilt easily, even if it's not his fault. I do know that on various occasions, friends and loved ones have expressed the sentiment. From the community at large, I recall there was a comic where time-traveler Cable encountered the pre-OMD Spider-Man and was thinking to himself that this was the guy who history remembered as the greatest superhero of them all (no clue if this still happened after Spidey destroyed his future in OMD or not). In the Ultimate comics, Captain America, who'd not been very historically supportive of Peter, did eventually offer the opinion that Spider-Man would become the greatest of them and after his presumed death was held in similar regard as 616 Captain America is.

[Vegeta]

Early in his career he had a bit of an ego, seeing himself just as good as any of the Avengers and when originally trying to join the Fantastic Four he considered himself worth "top dollar."

Modern Spider-Man gets flabbergasted when a newbie like Silk tells him off, so he probably sees himself as the superhero equivalent of garbage, even though he's saved the world countless times now.

[Frontier]

Early in his career he had a bit of an ego, seeing himself just as good as any of the Avengers and when originally trying to join the Fantastic Four he considered himself worth "top dollar."

Modern Spider-Man gets flabbergasted when a newbie like Silk tells him off, so he probably sees himself as the superhero equivalent of garbage, even though he's saved the world countless times now.

Not to mention he's been part of The Avengers for years, and has more experience then a good deal of the team he's currently on, and yet he still gets no respect from his teammates (Of Redwing) .

[Alan2099]

I don't believe Spider-man thinks of himself as special. He thinks of himself as a normal guy (that just happened to get powers) trying to do the right thing.

Does he see himself as being in the same league (hell, maybe even out of the league) as guys like Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Mr. Fantastic, or Professor X? Or does he see himself as being on the same level as a Darkhawk, Night Thrasher, or Speedball?

Peter was raised to respect his elders, so people like Cap, Iron man, and Thor he tends to view as better than he is. usually. He does has his moments of jealousy and the occasionaly ego acting up, but then again, he's only human.

As for characters like Darkhawk, Speedball, and Night Thrasher, he doesn't consider himself better than they are. He's just more experienced and willing to pass on a few lessons he's learned. That doesn';t make him better in his eyes, just that he's been around longer.

He is more loved than the Hulk.

but thats retconned away eventually just to see whiny lame peter for the basement dweller demographic again

Really? You're going to go there? "People that don't like the same changes to the character that I like are all big losers! Any Spider-man other than the one I enjoy is stupid."

[WebLurker]

Really? You're going to go there? "People that don't like the same changes to the character that I like are all big losers! Any Spider-man other than the one I enjoy is stupid."

I can personally attest that this specific change is a really sore point for some readers (me personally, I'd abstain from the franchise rather than read it). It also doesn't help that most fans of our stripe have felt rather disenfranchised for years now, so I'd beg for a little slack. However, I will concede that politeness should be expected from everyone.

[Digifiend]

As for characters like Darkhawk, Speedball, and Night Thrasher, he doesn't consider himself better than they are. He's just more experienced and willing to pass on a few lessons he's learned. That doesn't make him better in his eyes, just that he's been around longer.

Yeah, he can relate to the New Warriors, because he was the same age or younger than most of them (Rage was younger) when he himself started out. He knows they'll make some of the same mistakes that he himself made. That's probably part of the reason why Ben Reilly - who, remember, has all the same memories up to a certain point - joined the team.

[blackspidey2099]

Hes had some runs where he gets over his neurosis and acts like a confident man and dedicated human being with no regrets, but thats retconned away eventually just to see whiny lame peter for the basement dweller demographic again

Haha, exactly. This is probably the most accurate answer.

Personally, my favorited interpretations have Peter recognizing he is one of the most experienced, skilled, noble, intelligent, and strategic heroes out there, but not letting that get to his head. I've always liked Peter as an overly humble person, willing to take advice from anyone and help anyone, so I like seeing Peter as the quiet leader in the back of the group. He lets a guy like Captain America or Cyclops make the plans and be the leader in name, but he is there backstage to show other heroes what to do.

[Tien Long]

I don't believe Spider-man thinks of himself as special. He thinks of himself as a normal guy (that just happened to get powers) trying to do the right thing.


Peter was raised to respect his elders, so people like Cap, Iron man, and Thor he tends to view as better than he is. usually. He does has his moments of jealousy and the occasionaly ego acting up, but then again, he's only human.

As for characters like Darkhawk, Speedball, and Night Thrasher, he doesn't consider himself better than they are. He's just more experienced and willing to pass on a few lessons he's learned. That doesn';t make him better in his eyes, just that he's been around longer.

He is more loved than the Hulk. "

Haha, exactly. This is probably the most accurate answer.

Personally, my favorited interpretations have Peter recognizing he is one of the most experienced, skilled, noble, intelligent, and strategic heroes out there, but not letting that get to his head. I've always liked Peter as an overly humble person, willing to take advice from anyone and help anyone, so I like seeing Peter as the quiet leader in the back of the group. He lets a guy like Captain America or Cyclops make the plans and be the leader in name, but he is there backstage to show other heroes what to do.

These points are quite appealing to me. I like this idea of Spidey being humble while in reality being potentially the best leader out there. He is willing to listen to other heroes while at the same time offer advice. It's an intriguing notion to think that he could be the one to initiate the plans and command the troops, especially after all of the years of him being labeled as the loner.

Thinking the matter over some more, I'd like to ask another aspect of "special." Do you think Spider-Man ever wonders why he seems to be involved in these huge, all-important events? We as the fans know that it's because he's a (if not the) flagship hero of the Marvel Universe. Still, do you think he has these moments when he thinks, "Man, how is a kid from Queens always involved in all of these Infinity Gauntlets, Secret Wars, Secret Invasions, Sieges, House of M's, Onslaughts, and AvX's?" He has to notice that certain other heroes aren't a part of these situations with the same frequency as he is.

Does he just explain it all off as due to "the Parker luck?"

As usual, any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.