Aloha,
Here's more on Slott's take on the personality of Peter Parker.
Nrama: … where it's revealed that Peter Parker's defeat is effectively secured by the revelation that he wanted to prevent Doc Ock from performing surgery on the girl in #8, because he feared it would lead to him being discovered.
Slott: Yep. It's that one moment where he goes, "I knew the minute you did that, you'd get that helmet, and I'd be on your radar, and I'd be in trouble. And for a moment, I hesitated." In the end, he doesn't. But he has that moment. Maybe it was for a nanosecond. Maybe it was for a billionth of a nanosecond. But it was there.
There's a legion of fans that have grown up with Peter — especially the last 20 years — where they look at Peter Parker as a paragon of humanity. As a saint, who would never make the wrong choice. Would never do anything less than true heroism. Who would never have a dark thought or impulse — even for a billionth of a nanosecond. Somewhere down the line, people starting thinking of Pete as Steve Rogers with spider-powers.
Sorry, that's not Peter Parker. Peter Parker is that guy in Amazing Fantasy #15 who has all the powers of Spider-Man, and is going to selfishly use them for him and his family, and to hell with the rest of the world. He goes right into showbiz, and that burglar runs right past him, and he could have stopped him a million ways, and he couldn't be bothered. And then that guy goes on to kill Uncle Ben, and that's when it resonates. That's when he learns that with Great Power Must Come Great Responsibility. If that burglar had shot someone else's uncle, Peter would just be going along jim-dandy, two shows a night, matinees off on weekends.
But he did learn that lesson, and from that moment on, it does not mean he's perfect. It doesn't mean he's suddenly baptized, and born again as a saint. What it means is, over the years, when he has those moments — when he has that moment of human imperfection that all Marvel characters have — even for a billionth of a nanosecond — the guilt slams down. But he still has that moment.
In the '60s, you get these moments where boy, does he want to punch Flash Thompson. And he's fantasizing about it, and he's ready to do it. And there's that time where Flash dresses up as Spider-Man, and Doctor Doom kidnaps him. And Peter Parker is walking down the street, whistling about it. "This is great! Flash got kidnapped by Doctor Doom! That'll show him! Hahaha!" And then the guilt slams down. "Aw crap, I gotta go save him." But for one moment, he's a horrible human being. This is Doctor Doom we're talking about! He could atomize Flash Thompson in that moment! A moment where Peter gave into that thing that we'd all love to give into, for a moment.
And it keeps happening. This isn't some adolescent flaw. This is his nature. People can talk about "growing up" and "maturing" — but if that were the case, every old person in the world would be a paragon of humanity. There are some truths to us that go all the way to our cores.
In the '70s, Gwen Stacy's going to have a birthday party, and poor Peter Parker can't afford to get her a good present. He breaks into a jewelry store! He busts right in. He's ripping the doors off the hinges off the safe, and he's pulling out this great necklace. "I'll give Gwen this!" And for a moment, he's a thief. He's a horrible person. And then the guilt slams down. He goes, "What am I doing?" And he leaves, and he puts the stuff back. But he still busted up a guy's safe, and broke into his jewelry store. Does he leave money for that? No.
And then, after Norman and Gwen die, J. Jonah Jameson's running all these anti-Spider-Man articles, because he's so mad his pal Norman Osborn is dead. And no one knows he's the Goblin, they all think Spider-Man's a killer. Jameson's running all these pieces, and at one point Spidey, who's still reeling from losing Gwen, loses it. He just goes ape*****, and he puts on the costume, and he's racing to the Bugle, because he's going to ***** Jameson up. He's not going to web him to a chair, or web his mouth shut. Jameson is going to lose some teeth. Jameson is going to get some ribs kicked in. It is going to be nasty. The only thing that stops Spidey from doing this is Man-Wolf jumping in. And then suddenly all the correct thoughts pop into his head. "You know what? I gotta protect Jonah." But the whole reason he was on his way — was to do this man serious bodily harm. That's Peter Parker's dark side.
In the '80s, the Beyonder turns an entire building into gold. Peter Parker takes a gold notebook. "This will solve all my problems. This is great!" And then he thinks about it and changes his mind. But he holds on to that notebook for a hell of a long time. Way longer than a billionth of a nanosecond. And then the guilt pops in. This isn't the responsible thing to do, and he knows he can't keep it.
Peter Parker is allowed to be a horrible person for a moment. And then guilt kicks in. And that's what happened in issue #8. For a moment in time, he was horrible.
Nrama: And it's relevant that he was in a uniquely desperate position.
Slott: Oh, totally. Never been more desperate. He's frickin' Sam Wheat in Ghost. He can't do anything, and this is like the one tiny thing he can do to try to stop himself from being wiped out completely.
Spidey rules
...wait....what're we talkin' about?
