During the golden age of comics, the creation of new superheroes was common among the editorials that gave life to our favorite characters. Many of our city protectors who fight against evil and corruption, became famous and legendary, becoming a symbol for many people, a flag that morally represents what we defend and want. We can find them in groups (X-Men, The Fantastic 4) or individual (Captain America, Thor, Hulk), always available to solve the problems of the most defenseless. Each of them differs from the other, from their personality to the way of thinking, having empathy with many people.
The fantasy was something that overflowed in an incredible way in those stories, although after a while, they were becoming repetitive, so Marvel changed the formula, creating a different product with a different protagonist. This is how Peter Parker was born, a young middle-class teenager who lives with his aunt, carrier of a great responsibility that contracted through the bite of a spider; a character that we feel identified by the most "human" superhero among many. Depending on the universe we are reading, Peter will have some different facets, although it will always maintain its essence. He is a boy with problems (loving, economic, social, etc.), who goes to school and has his job; that does common things of any young person.
That's why today I bring you 10 Things You Did not Know about Your Friendly Neighbor, Spider-Man.
1 - The idea to create this superhero is born one day that Stan Lee saw a fly walking in a wall. At that moment, he decided that his new character would have this quality (walk on the walls). The fly was going to be inspiration for many of the characteristics of Peter's costume and his abilities, although everything changed once the film "The Fly" had its premiere at the movie theater.
2 - There is a great debate among the fans about two very famous female characters that appear in the arachnid comics: Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy. One group says that Peter's first love is Mary Jane, while the other sector says Gwen is the first and true love of our hero, but what many do not know is that Peter had other relationships before the two of them appeared in his life. Betty Brant was really her first love. They met while working for J. Jonah Jameson in the Daily Bugle although their relationship ended after Betty cut in with Peter because she was jealous of Liz Allen .
3 - Stories within the Marvel universe are connected, so it's common to see some heroes team up with others. As many already know, Spidey was part of The Avengers (for a while), but perhaps what you did not know is that he was also a member of the Fantastic Four. There was a time when the Human Torch was dead and Spider-Man joined the fantastic family and their Future Foundation. This group (among other things) gave him the opportunity to enjoy a suit of advanced technology, similar to what happened with Tony and the Iron-Spider.
4 - Have you ever wondered what happens with all that spider web that uses Spider-Man to swing around New York buildings? Well, that spider's web has a life time, an hour before evaporating in the air. So the street cleaners can rest easy, as they will not have to clean up all the spider web left by Spidey as it swings through the skies.
5 - The animated series of Spider-Man of the 90's (considered by many as the best tv series of Spider-Man) his objective was to develop a relationship between Peter and Mary Jane that would end in marriage. That idea was discarded because the producers found it more attractive to see Peter suffer for a love that he would not be able to get for his alter ego.
6 - Spider-Man is a superhero who has always used his abilities to face adversity no matter how hard it is. Although in many occasions, you have to change the planes to be able to face the enemies. That is why he did not care to leave aside (temporarily) his classic red and blue suit to use stronger ones, developed with high technology, giving new characteristics. Among those suits stand out:
Iron-Spider: The most famous armor of the arachnid. It was a gift from Iron Man and is made with Stark technology. It is yellow and red, equal to the armors manufactured by Tony. It has three mechanical arms, better resistance to shock, among other things.
Spider-Armor: Armor created by Peter with the ability to withstand bullet attacks. The great problem with this armor is its weight.
Black Suit: The suit of Spider-Man changes to a black color due to the symbiote, a kind of extraterrestrial parasite that seizes the body of Peter. This symbiote gives young Parker much more strength, agility and reflexes.
Future Foundation: This costume was a gift from Reed Richards once Spidey was part of the fantastic family. Unlike the other suits, this does not give many benefits, but has the ability to enter stealth mode and the ability to indestructibility.
Spider-Armor MK III: Armor created by Peter to defeat the Sinister Six, in a simple way. This armor allows Spider-Man to take some advantage against each of its enemies.
Captain Universe: Force that is conceived to Peter by a space entity, which gives it the ability to fly, super strength, launch cosmic rays, etc.
Among others.
7 - Many people think that there is only one friendly neighbor, but the truth is that it is not like that. Marvel some time ago decided to create a series of alternative stories of this superhero, taking the name Spiderverse. Here it is normal to see Spider-Man be interpreted by some other character or by the same Peter but with different characteristics than usual. Among the large amount of Spider-Man that exist we can mention:
Ben Reilly: Known as Scarlet Spider. He is a clone of Peter Parker created by The Jackal with the objective of killing Peter. Its name derives from a mixture between the last name of aunt May and the name of the uncle of Peter, Ben.
Spider-Woman: It's a girl named Jessica Drew who was genetically manipulated and altered by Hydra. After a while, she would become a hero, being a member of the Avengers.
Silk: Also known as Cindy Moon. It is a girl who was bitten by the same spider that stung Peter, which gave him powers similar to those of Spider-Man.
Bruce Banner: In this reality, it is Bruce who receives the spider's bite, becoming Spider-Man.
Miles Morales: He is a boy who was bitten by a spider, something similar to what happened to Peter. In this reality, the original Parker dies and is Miles who becomes the new Spider-Man.
Spider-Gwen: In this reality, Peter is the one who dies, and it's Gwen Stacy who becomes Spider-Woman.
Among others.
8 - In the last Spider-Man movie we can see that Peter is a fan of the Star Wars saga. In the comics it was not like that and that's because in the 70s-80s, the comics of Luke and its galactic universe were very famous, so the writers of the stories of Spider-Man reflected this disagreement as a joke in its pages.
9 - The blood of Peter is radioactive and once, trying to help aunt May by a blood transfusion, almost kills her.
10 - Peter has always kept his identity a secret, although once, during the events of the Civil War of the comics, he reveals his identity to the public due to the manipulation of Tony Stark, which brings as a consequence that all his enemies know who he really is and where to find him.
Spider-Man is really a pretty charismatic and loyal superhero, comedic and human, and it is these qualities that make the audience feel empathy for him. Over the years we have seen him grow, make decisions that have had a positive and negative impact on his life, but above all we have seen him defend his ideals and those he loves. Peter Parker is an character easy to love, since he is a very noble person. We must admit that Marvel has the formula to humanize all his superheroes, making us understand in that way that in truth all his problems are real.
