Welcome to I Am Your Target Demographic and today we’re looking at Spider-Man from Marvel Comics.
We’re going to cover the history of the character, some highlights, and some cool
facts you likely didn’t know.
Let’s dive into it.
Spider-Man first appeared in 1962, in a comic called Amazing Fantasy.
In that time, teenagers were often seen as sidekicks, like Bucky Barnes or Robin.
Spider-Man was a teenager but was on his own.
He was meant to relate to young readers struggling with real-life issues, as well as fascinate
them with out of this world adventures.
His real name is Peter Parker and he lost both of his parents, a trope somewhat familiar
to many superheroes, and was raised by his aunt and uncle.
Peter was smart, a young scientist, and was often the underdog in his stories.
After being bitten by a radioactive spider, Peter Parker gained super strength, the ability
to climb on walls, and something called a spider-sense, which would alert and warn him
about potential threats.
He used his scientific brilliance to invent wrist-mounted web shooters, which is how he’s
able to travel the city so quickly.
Spider-Man was an instant success and got his own line of comics soon after.
In the late 60s, college students took a poll of their favorite revolutionary icons and ranked
Spider-Man alongside Che Guevara and Bob Dylan.
They often cited that Spider-Man was “like them” and encouraged them to fight for what
they believe in.
His popularity continued to skyrocket to the point of Marvel publishing up to four Spider-Man
comics concurrently.
His success led to Spider-Man appearing on television basically from the mid 60s until
now, with many different shows throughout that time.
There have also been (as of this video) 5 live action Spider-Man films, portrayed by
both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, with a new Spider-Man played by Tom Holland debuting
in Captain America: Civil War and followed up with a solo movie called Spider-Man: Homecoming.
This new Spider-Man is unique in that he exists in what’s called the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
alongside the other Marvel heroes like Captain America and Iron Man.
Spider-Man even had a Broadway musical, called Turn Off the Dark which ran officially from 2011-2014.
It was expensive to run, costing over $75 million to produce,
compared to typically 5 to 15 million.
Six people were also injured while working on Spider-Man, usually due to stunt mishaps.
The show wasn’t received well critically, but it did very well in terms of sales.
So what makes him so popular generally?
In addition to being the underdog, his adventures also feature an eclectic series of villains.
Spider-Man isn’t incredibly powerful, so these rogues aren’t world-ending threats,
but they’re interesting and colorful.
Many of them, like Spider-Man himself, are the embodiments of animals and insects, such
as the Scorpion, the Rhino, and the Vulture.
Spider-Man’s most popular villain is the character called Venom, which appears almost
like a dark version of Spider-Man himself.
Spider-Man discovered something on an alien planet, a black suit that gave him some additional
abilities, but he soon discovered this suit was sentient and he got rid of it.
This suit, somewhat in a jealous rage, sought out one of Parker’s rivals, Eddie Brock, and bonded
with him to create the first iteration of Venom.
This suit, part of an alien race that we call the symbiotes, and they can bond to others, evolve, and
even create offspring such as the maniacal Carnage and the symbiote with healing abilities
known as Anti-Venom.
If you’re interested in learning about all the various symbiotes, I have another video
that explains all of that, there’s a link in the description.
Another reason that Spider-Man is so popular is that he’s generally likeable and is one
of the more light-hearted Marvel heroes, usually joking and quipping as he saves the day.
*Clears throat* You know, in the future if you're going to steal cars, don't dress like a car thief.
Are you a cop?
Really? You seriously think I'm a cop?
Things can get dark for Spider-Man too though.
Much like how Batman has a very iconic origin moment, that of his parents being killed,
Spider-Man has a similar moment.
One where his uncle gets killed by a man that Spider-Man could have stopped.
It’s this same guy, Uncle Ben, who gives Peter wisdom that has since become one of
the most well-known catchphrases in comic book history.
Remember... With great power, comes great responsibility.
With great power, comes great responsibility.
Uncle Ben and his death is what really makes Spider-Man step up and become the hero that
he eventually becomes.
Spider-Man has another moment that is incredibly iconic, which is the death of his first love,
Gwen Stacy, which was finally realized on the big screen in Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man 2.
This moment, where the villainous Green Goblin throws Gwen Stacy off a bridge and Spider-Man
attempts to save her, catching her with the web just in time.
However, it’s ultimately the whiplash from the webbing that kills her, haunting Peter
Parker for a long long time.
This was monumental at the time, as killing important characters was still a taboo thing to do.
The trope of killing off loved ones is still referred to as the “Gwen Stacy effect.”
Peter Parker was able to move on though, falling in love with Mary Jane Watson.
This relationship is more synonymous with Spider-Man, since Mary Jane has been his
on again, off again romance for many many many years.
He even went on to get married to Mary Jane and there are even storylines imagining if they had a family.
However this was all undone by a controversial storyline that aimed to make Peter Parker younger and cooler again
by undoing his marriage to Mary Jane.
Those are just some highlights.
Like other character profiles like this, I could go on for days about story moments and
characters that stand out... the Spider-Man mythology. But this is meant as a brief and
superficial overview.
In the comments below, tell me your favorite Spider-Man related things.
Favorite stories, favorite villains, favorite movies…
Let’s talk about Spider-Man.