Was Spider-Man Better Off Without Marvel?

On February 9, Marvel Studios announced that it had reached a deal with Sony to bring Spider-Man [...]

By Jamie Lovett

538cd3628a05e

On February 9, Marvel Studios announced that it had reached a deal with Sony to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The internet had a joyous meltdown, and practically chanted "welcome home Spidey."

Does anyone else think this might not be the best idea? Or that maybe Spider-Man is better off on his own?

Considering the state of The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, I'm glad somebody stepped in to do something, but did it really, specifically, have to be Marvel? The company has a stellar track record so far, but they're not perfect.

There seem to be two major reasons why fans wanted to see Spider-Man go to Marvel Studios, and neither of them are all that captivating.

The first is that he's a key component of the Civil War narrative. I've already written about why that's a false notion, the short version being that if Spider-Man isn't already established as part of the universe prior to Civil War than his presence becomes purposeless.

The second major reason seems to be that fans really want to see Spider-Man interacting with the Avengers characters, and likely becoming part of the team, as he has been in Marvel Comics for the past ten years. While Spider-Man has, admittedly, had some shining moments involving the Avengers, the idea of being part of the team has always rung false and watered down the core of who the character is.

We're going to simplify Marvel's superhero stable of characters into two types: the celebrities, and the downtrodden. Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and most of the other Avengers are celebrity types. They're known to the public and generally regarded as idols to be admired. Spider-Man is one of the downtrodden. He's frequently seen as a menace, hunted by the authorities, has to keep his identity secret and constantly sacrifices his personal life to be a better hero.

When Spider-Man joined the Avengers, he transitioned from downtrodden to celebrity, and something was lost. In addition to being married to a successful supermodel, Peter Parker was also best bros with Tony Stark. This gave him basically guaranteed job security, an apartment in Avengers Tower, and an Avengers ID card that could get him out of most tight spots, not to mention the extended support network that the Avengers themselves represent.

Suddenly, the relatable everyman became part of the elite. If not for his wit and specific set of superpowers, you could have put anyone in Spider-Man's place and it would barely have made a difference. Suddenly, Marvel's flagship character became lost in a crowd of heroes he previously had very little in common with.

This is my fear for Spider-Man at Marvel Studios, that he'll become "just another Avenger." So far, Marvel Studios has dealt almost exclusively with heroes of the celebrity variety, with the one exception being Incredible Hulk, one of their least successful endeavors, and now even Bruce Banner has the Stark/Avengers connection to help him with his problems. They can handle celebrity superheroes deftly, but they've yet to prove themselves with the downtrodden.

As his core, Spider-Man is a downtrodden loner, and it's hard to take his everyman struggles seriously when he has gods on speed dial. If Marvel can make him a part of the universe, redefine his struggle, and not entangle him too much with the Avengers, then maybe we can see something good here, but considering how crossover fever has swept across pop culture over the past few years, I'll remain skeptical at best.

Trending Now: