Comics The obvious way to progress Peter Parker...

[Dark Prophet]

Okay, so Marvel has a problem with Peter not connecting to the everyday person anymore. They believe the marriage is getting stale. Did anyone ever think about getting his daughter back?

Honestly, the only way to go from here to keep things fresh isn't to go BACKWARDS by making him single again... we've already been there, it's to go FORWARDS, make him a parent having to deal with the struggles of being a parent, work a full time job, and be spider-man all at the same time while struggling with the idea that his daughter may have inherited his powers. I mean, these things write themselves and I've just pulled all this out of my ass one morning.

Even if they end up killing off MJ, it could be interesting to see Peter as a single parent...

Although I haven't been familiar with the most recent Spider-Man comics, I get the impression that Jameson and co arent' really involved as much anymore since Peter is a teacher. Peter becoming a teacher is one of the better ideas... I mean they had him living off taking pictures of himself almost into his 30's or so. I'm sure SOME writer could think of a reason and move these characters around so Peter would come in contact with JJJ and the others frequently in his life. I haven't been keeping up so I could be wrong but it seems to me that the other characters don't really need to be apart of Peter's story anymore and have essentially been written out.

Thoughts on these suggestions?

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

But isnt re-visiting the "daughter" scenario also going "BACKWARDS" in a way?


Im not real interested in reading about "spider-Dad"...back when they originally presented that idea i was, but they dropped it and moved on, and so did i...i mean, the day Peter becomes a father is the day he should hang up the webs forever, imo.

Right now as a fan, all i want from the Spider books is a bit of drama, problem solving, romance, and a LOT of adventure.

I've had enough "life-changing events" for awhile.

 

[farmernudie]

yeh...i don't really want to see Spidey the widower single dad either.

Ages him horribly.

I want them to move on with the marriage. Maybe have a baby (with MJ, no one else please). I want FORWARD movement and no "backwards" movement wrapped up in smoke in and mirrors to make it appear like change when it is only recycled old stuff we've already gone thru multiple times.

The whole marriage controversy is all a farce to begin with...it doesn't exist...Joey Q made it up!

I want a story where paste pot pete seals Spidey's wrist up and corks em' up good so he can go back to web shooters...lol

 

[Dragon]

No kids. Peter needs to be taken back to his roots and reinvigorated. We're talking about a "superhero" who couldn't protect, or even avenge his first child. We're talking about a superhero who is the dupe of anyone coming along with a good line (Ezekiel, Stark, even Osborn). We're talking about a superhero who's hospitalized annually for gimmick purposes.

Adding a child, with all of the child-of-hero cliches needs to be avoided like the plague and will only serve to weaken the marriage even further. Peter by himself, and or Peter and MJ together need to be strengthened. Adding a child won't do that.

 

[Infinity9999x]

I'm all for Peter having a kid, in fact, I wanted him to have the kid they were going to have during the clone saga. But, I wouldn't want him as a single dad. What they should have cut the clone saga short and ended it before it became ridiculously long, by reaveling Ben as the Clone, and keeping him on as a guest/supporting character in the Marvel Universe, and deal with Pete's struggles trying to Raise a kid as Spider-man.

But if he randomly had a kid now it would seem kinda weird, escpecially since he doesn't seem to give a damn that his last child "died"....as far as he knows.

 

[SpideyInATree]

They did bring back Peter Parker's daughter. The comic book is called Spider-Girl and it's written by Tom Defalco. That's why we'll never see the baby return. We've already got it in the pages of Spider-Girl. So, you won't be seeing it in the regular Marvel universe unless they FINALLY cancel Spider-Girl and it's buried for a while.

And that's going to be a really long time because the Spider-Girl fans won't allow it to be cancelled.

If you want to get techincal they shouldn't have killed off or written off the baby in the first place. And, in the first place, Ben Reilly should have stayed the one true Spider-Man. This cancels out the whole having to divorce, kill, or retcon MJ/Peter. It lets Peter Parker, whether he's a clone or not he's Peter, and Mary Jane live happily ever after.

But, of course, Spider-Man fans can't really seem to take the fact that Spider-Man was a clone for many, many years of the comic reading. Which, in my opinion, shouldn't really matter. Whether he's a clone or not it's still Peter Parker. It's still the same man.

But now I'm just getting sidetracked. But to the fans of Spider-Man who are angry about recent events. Would you rather have Peter Parker/Mary Jane/Baby May live happily ever after but Ben Reilly had to be the one true Spider-Man? Yeah, you'd take that in a heartbeat, people.

 

[Dark Prophet]

I think some on this board said in passing, and I agree, that Ben Reilly would make an awesome Venom!!!

 

[DACrowe]

I agree. Moving forward was what Stan created. He went through high school and college, dropped out of grad school became a full-time steady photojournalist and then a teacher. He was lonely, ackward, became semi-accepted to a normal guy socially who dated, loved, lost and got married.

Trying to stick him in the status quo permanently (which is what Joey Q is doing now) is what is killing the series. The next step is for him to become a father, not a swinging bachelor agian. You do that, you killed what Stan Lee created then.

 

[wolvie2020]

I think some on this board said in passing, and I agree, that Ben Reilly would make an awesome Venom!!!

You know, that is a cool idea. It's the only way I'd wanna see Reilly again

 

[Infinity9999x]

They did bring back Peter Parker's daughter. The comic book is called Spider-Girl and it's written by Tom Defalco. That's why we'll never see the baby return. We've already got it in the pages of Spider-Girl. So, you won't be seeing it in the regular Marvel universe unless they FINALLY cancel Spider-Girl and it's buried for a while.

And that's going to be a really long time because the Spider-Girl fans won't allow it to be cancelled.

If you want to get techincal they shouldn't have killed off or written off the baby in the first place. And, in the first place, Ben Reilly should have stayed the one true Spider-Man. This cancels out the whole having to divorce, kill, or retcon MJ/Peter. It lets Peter Parker, whether he's a clone or not he's Peter, and Mary Jane live happily ever after.

But, of course, Spider-Man fans can't really seem to take the fact that Spider-Man was a clone for many, many years of the comic reading. Which, in my opinion, shouldn't really matter. Whether he's a clone or not it's still Peter Parker. It's still the same man.

But now I'm just getting sidetracked. But to the fans of Spider-Man who are angry about recent events. Would you rather have Peter Parker/Mary Jane/Baby May live happily ever after but Ben Reilly had to be the one true Spider-Man? Yeah, you'd take that in a heartbeat, people.

I was a little kid when the whole clone saga thing started up, so I never knew that they wanted to turn Ben into the real SM. I've always wanted peter to be Spider-man, but I always wanted Ben to stay around as a supporting character too. Back then it was because my friend Nick, who was a blonde kid, could play a spider-man, and I could play a spider-man, and there would be no hassle over who go to be Spider-man.

Now that we don't play "spider-brothers" anymore, I still want Ben back, but because I love the character. I s'pose I wouldn't have minded him being Spidey, but I like Peter more.

 

[Infinity9999x]

You know, that is a cool idea. It's the only way I'd wanna see Reilly again

That'd be frickin nuts. He'd be hard as hell to beat though.

 

[Canadian Rider]

Two words ...

BLACK CAT!

 

[DACrowe]

Isn't that a step back to the '80s though?

 

[diespinne]

"The obvious way to progress Peter Parker..." ???

...make him use his brain just a wee bit more! PLEASE!

 

[Dark Prophet]

I agree. Moving forward was what Stan created. He went through high school and college, dropped out of grad school became a full-time steady photojournalist and then a teacher. He was lonely, ackward, became semi-accepted to a normal guy socially who dated, loved, lost and got married.

Trying to stick him in the status quo permanently (which is what Joey Q is doing now) is what is killing the series. The next step is for him to become a father, not a swinging bachelor agian. You do that, you killed what Stan Lee created then.

Yeah, Peter Parker has progressed so far in the comics over time and at this point everyone's somehow chosen that he cannot progress forward in his life even further? I mean, for the entirety of my life the 616 status quo has yet to be changed permanently for Peter. He started out in high school, went to college, and got married... wouldn't the next step be to logically have a kid? How did having a kid become the taboo for Peter? In the place of Peter NOT having a kid we've had Aunt May DIE and come back. He's been married to MJ since at least the eighties... even fricken' Marvel can tell it's getting stale they're just going about the wrong way to fix it. If they don't go forward they will most definitely attempt to go backwards with the characters unsuccessfully.

 

[Redwoods Wolf]

Don't want Peter Parker the Parent. That WOULD be the end of Spider-Man.
I think they should just get back to doing regular Spider-Man stories: hero vs. villain, good plot, good characters. Not "let's alter Spider-Man's entire existence every time you blink." Get JJJ more involved, for crying out loud. That man practically writes himself.

 

[DACrowe]

But good characters are what drives Spidey. The comics have always been hero vs. villain(s), this is very true. But what makes Spidey stand out out is his great supporting cast and his progression as a character. For people like Superman or Batman for the most part (save for maybe Batman's acceptance slowly towards sidekicks) most of the arc is over after the origin.

Iti s just beginning once the origin is over for Peter. He was ackward and a lonely geeky teen. He became more ocnfidant and braver, he dated, he played the field as he went to high school, college, grad school, dropped out of grad school and got a steady job. He loved and lost, had his flings and married his only true confidant over the years and only other character that got him best (MJ). They've been married for 20 years now in the comics.

The marriage storyline they've given them bumps and bruises. They almost seperated, but they didn't and they are happily married. That is great, if you want to end there fine, this will go off into the sunset well. But to tell a story with the same point over and over again can get dull.

He needs to progress. Taking a step back is just stupid as you are pretending he is 5 years younger again and just out of college (which is what Joey Q wants to do). That ain't Spidey anymore. He moves on. The next step is having a kid. I think you have at least 20+ before worrying the kid gets over 8 or so. I personally support him having a kid as it is taking him to the next step.

If you want him stuck in status quo fighting villains as a teen the Ultimate line is over a hundred issues in and he hasn't aged a year yet. Go there, then.

 

[SpideyForPrez]

Wow, I was sitting in class all day today thinking about this same subject and how I was going to start a thread on it. I'd love to write comics someday and right now I hate some of the stuff that's happening to Spidey today. JMS is a great writer who more than often has really bad ideas and I think all of us true spidey fans feel the same way about that awful Joey Q. Anyway it'll be a long time before I work for Marvel if ever, so I've been trying to come to terms with whats been happening to Pete and were all afraid of what we know will happen and what might happen. It's pretty likely May will die and this upcoming "one more day" arc will either split up or somehow change Pete and MJ. I'm in favor of May dieing in order to progress Pete as a man it might have been nice for her to die of old age instead of murder, does it always have to be Pete's fault? But I love MJ and I believe her to be an essential staple in Spidey's life if shes gone for good then so am I (616 wise). But this whole civil war/ back in black idea could actually turn out to be a really interesting story if done a certain way, so heres my idea. May dies and so does Cap (but not really him) Peter feels responsible for both deaths and enters a dark, angry and depressed mind state (Back in Black) him and MJ begin to have problems because he can't be the man she loves while he's in this dark period but deep down she knows that he still is the man she loves and that maybe one day he will be again but he needs time to work through his grief and forgive himself for all his stupid decisions. And Peter would be more paranoid than ever for MJ's safety so the two of them make a mutual decision, they split up... but not permanetly. Peter stays in New York and focuses on redeeming Spider-Man and letting the whole unmasked thing cool down. MJ however will adopt an entirely new Identity and move to California or somewhere she can pursue her acting career, but shes not Mary Jane Watson Parker anymore so she's finally taken seriously and is cast in big time serious movies. Her new name would be some kind of hint as to her former identity something like May Widow, and she would die her hair black and keep an hour glass shape of red hair in the back (yeah that would be hot). Then every so often we get a random mention about May Widow being cast in a new blockbuster and that there is alot of buzz around this new actress, this would be mentioned on some paper or magaziene Peter would see it and smile her success would help him with his grief. Still not ready to re-unite for good but missing each other they ocasionally find time to see each other every so often where they enjoy a secret love affair. Then whenever Cap reveals that he's not really dead and Peter feels redeemed enough the two can get back together and progress their marriage, as far as the baby thing goes that should be when Pete quits for good but it should happen just not soon. There you have it, Peter sends MJ away for her own good and for the sake of their marriage, MJ becomes successful, Peter comes to terms with his mistakes and develops a better attitude twoards his dual identity since he's worry free over MJ, yet he's not completely alone given the secret love affair they have which gives their marriage a jump start. You want Romance 'Dark Prophet' well IMO this idea of mine seems very romantic and that it could produce interesting stories. These are just the ramblings of a weary college student decompressing from his midterms but if you managed to read my whole idea then I'd love to kow what everyone thinks.

 

[e-three]

Y'know, when people complain that Spidey is too old, and that he's really meant to be a teenage superhero and never should have gotten married because it ages him further, the typical response to that argument is "if you want an unmarried, young Spider-Man go read Ultimate." (Not to mention Marvel Adventures Spider-Man and Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane...three titles with a young, single Spidey!) And these same people who refute the "young, single Spider-Man" argument will go on and on about how Spidey needs to start having kids and Marvel is evil for keeping baby May in limbo, blah blah blah...well, guess what? If you want Spider-Man to be a dad, go read Spider-Girl. He has two kids over there!

But Stan Lee created him to be a character that's always growing and changing, you say? Remember that Spider-Man's aging slowed dramatically during Stan Lee's run. In the beginning, time practically moved at the same rate as "real life" but got really slow once he entered college. Pete didn't graduate college until Marv Wolfman came along. And things are pretty stagnant "progress"-wise over at the Stan Lee written Spider-Man comic strip. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but even when it was decided that Peter was going to be a father for good (well, before "Peter is the clone" idea tanked terribly), I don't recall Stan gearing up for Peter to have kids in the newspaper strip. And yet Stan has no trouble crafting fun stories in the strip, so perhaps having children is not as necessary as some people on this board believe. You do realize that there are married couples out there in real life that have grown old and never had children, right? Would you say that they haven't "progressed" because they didn't have kids?

Personally speaking, I don't really have a firm stance on "should Spider-Man have kids or not?" As this post no doubt suggests I do lean more towards him not having children but I wouldn't hate it if he did. I understand where pro "Spider-Dad" people are coming from, and I do like Peter's character in Spider-Girl. I just don't think that having kids is something that MUST BE DONE to move the character forward.

 

[SpideyForPrez]

Yeah, you raise some good points... but what about my idea?

 

[DACrowe]

Well, he did slow dramatically in college, but he did go to grad school and drop out and get married. That is what I"m saying you can drag it out. You could have them trying to get pregnant for a few years and then have the pregenancy last a few years in the comisc and then the baby would most likely age a year or two a decade. Not really a problem for a long time.

Peter was meant to grow up. If you notice that is what the movies are about and what the comics in the their glory days about. Not about a near 30-something losing his wife and becoming a swinging wild bachelor again. That just won't work, really.

 

[farmernudie]

I hope they dress Pete in some ultra hip bell bottoms again and have him go disco dancing again too.

That was always fun and cool.

He can go back to working with JJJ and riding a motorcycle too.

And he can date ladies who say "Tiger" and "keen" and "swell" again too....that is, until those relationships get too serious and they need to kill off or mindwipe those relationships too.

We seem to be heading in the right direction again, mostly thanks to Joey Q. I am feeling more relieved with each passing arc/event and the more he talks with the media and the press about his ideas for spider-man.

 

[Fran]

We meet again, farmernudie.

 

[SpideyForPrez]

Does anyone think that the marvel people ever look at these boards for ideas or for our opinions?

 

[Donald Thomas]

But isnt re-visiting the "daughter" scenario also going "BACKWARDS" in a way?


Im not real interested in reading about "spider-Dad"...back when they originally presented that idea i was, but they dropped it and moved on, and so did i...i mean, the day Peter becomes a father is the day he should hang up the webs forever, imo.

Right now as a fan, all i want from the Spider books is a bit of drama, problem solving, romance, and a LOT of adventure.

I've had enough "life-changing events" for awhile.

Aloha,
great thread. For me the issue is where will Peter Parker/Spider-Man be 20 years from now.It all goes back to the concept of the Spider-Man Mythos. What we as fans of Spider-Man and Peter Parker know to be the Essential Spider-Man is made up of Silver /Bronze Age Amazing Spider-Man continuity. That Peter Parker has been self employed as a free lance photographer,lost family and loved ones to violence,published a book of photography,graduated HS & College, dropped out of graduate school, married,involved in domestic violence,pregnancy,loss of baby,seperated from his wife, reconciled his marriage,currently married on the run.Where will he be 20 years from now?Time moved much slower within the first 25-30 years of Spider-Man, than it has in the past 10-15 years.In the sole survivor of the MC2 Universe, we have the Peter Parker, who would be Spider-Dad. And I agree with the Capt.that once he becomes Spider-Dad, it's retirement time for the character The Amazing Spider-Man. The next EIC of Spider-Man(hint), will have to take the position that Spider-Man as a character is going to be around for many decades to come. If we accept Peter Parker's age to be between 25-27, and that took 44 years of comic book history. How old will he be in 20 years, if we apply the same aging process?What other character's within the Marvel Universe are we applying this same rate of aging?Peter started out as a Super Hero at 16 years old. Most of the other First tier characters in the Marvel Universe were young adults when he was a teenage.That would mean that Marvel would have a bunch of Senior Citizen Super Heroes 20 years from now and that ain't happening.We are forgetting that this is THE OTHER Peter Parker Meaning that he is no longer bound by the normal concept of 25-27 years old. For me, this means, he can and should stay about just the age he is for the next 20 years.It's already been established that he and MJ have lived from pillar to post and Penthouse. His marital dynamics make great drama and reading. But to me ultimately, it's the Rouges Gallery and commitment to the action and adventure that has made the character what he is today and that's what should be exploited to the hilt. That will be the fan maker and money maker for this character for the next 20 years and beyond.
Spidey rules now and in the future