“With great power, there must also come great responsibility” – the iconic phrase was immortalised by Stan Lee in 1962’s Amazing Fantasy #15, and ultimately set off an incredible fifty years of storytelling. Spider-Man was born. Of course, there’s a radioactive spider-bite in there that gives Peter Parker his superpowers, but it’s his moral compass and relatability that has kept readers glued to the page (or screen) for decades. As the years go by, the wall-crawler has changed to keep up with the era. From his cheesy one-liners to the gritty 1990s where he became a brooding hero with an edgy costume… Or was that his clone? Let’s take a look at how much your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man has changed with the times.
Humble Beginnings and the Start of the Bronze Age
While his dialogue in the 1960s and 70s might feel cheesy and hamfisted compared to modern storytelling, Spider-Man has always been one of Marvel’s biggest stars. His underdog nature and witty remarks were an immediate hit with readers. When the Bronze age of comics started around 1970, comics edged towards darker stories; heroes were tackling difficult, real-world subjects like racism, addiction, and grief (although they were always still fun to read – the incredibly silly Spider-Mobile debuted in 1970, let’s not forget). But Spider-Man has always had to bear the weight of responsibility for his actions, it was no more prevalent than after his infamous battle with the Green Goblin in The Amazing Spider-Man #121; “The Night Gwen Stacy Died”. Spoilers; Gwen Stacy dies – if you couldn’t tell from the title…
When the deranged Green Goblin (AKA Norman Osborne) hurls Gwen off the George Washington Bridge, Peter catches her with his webs. Afterwards, he dodges Goblin’s glider, which then impales Norman – also killing him. It’s not clear if Goblin killed Gwen before he threw her, or the whiplash from the web snapped her neck. Regardless, Peter failed to save the woman he loved. With both Gwen and his Uncle Ben, two deaths on Peter’s conscience is a lot for a teenager to cope with.
The 1980s, New Costumes and Crossovers
Marvel began pushing even bolder choices and storylines and the most notable change of the decade came from their company-wide crossover, Secret Wars. A whole bunch of superheroes and villains are plucked from Earth by the Beyonder and forced to fight each other on Battleworld, sounds like an average Tuesday. But in Secret Wars #8, Spider-Man discovers the black and white Symbiote suit. The simple, elegant design struck a chord with readers and Peter ended up wearing the costume for the next four years.
That is until Spidey had to ditch the symbiote suit because it made him too violent. Remember when Spidey nearly killed the Sin Eater after he murdered Detective Jean DeWolff in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #110? Peter even beat up Daredevil when he tried to stop him. The Symbiote later attaches itself to Eddie Brock and transforms into the iconically monstrous villain; Venom. With snarling jaws and ooze drooling from his fangs, Venom got dark. It was around this time that the Modern Age started and comics took on an extreme approach to superheroism, and Spider-Man along with them.
The Modern Age of Comics and Miles Morales
While we could spend time talking about how The Clone Saga was created in 1994 as a response to other big comic events like The Death of Superman or The Dark Knight Returns, we won’t – it wasn’t particularly well received by fans. Arguably the only great thing to come from it was Ben Reilly and his blue hooded costume… but I digress! Spider-Man really swung into the Modern Age of Comics, with major appearances in groundbreaking events like Civil War, Age of Ultron and Spider-Verse.
But the biggest moment of modern Spider-Comics? Passing the mantle to an Afro-Latino teenager; Miles Morales. Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli brought in this brand new Spider-Man after Peter was killed by the Sinister Six. While it caused some controversy with a small minority of fans, it was the perfect generational shift in storytelling for 2011 and the future of the character.
Movies
After some back-and-forth with James Cameron as a potential director, Sony chose Sam Raimi to bring Peter Parker to the big screen in 2002. The Tobey Maguire trilogy put Spider-Man in a realistic world, where he struggled to balance his personal life with super-heroics and pay rent all at the same time. It reminded audiences why Spider-Man was so relatable in the first place. When a fourth film in the series struggled to make it off the ground, Sony rebooted the franchise. Since other films like Batman Begins (2005), Iron Man (2008) and X-Men: First Class (2011) had proved that grounded, gritty origin stories worked well, Spidey got the same treatment in 2012 with The Amazing Spider-Man.
With a practical, home-made costume, Andrew Garfield’s hipster Parker fought The Lizard/Curt Connors while wooing Gwen Stacy. After a sequel and a mooted Sinister Six spin-off, an agreement allowed Marvel Studios to use him in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Peter Parker became an Avenger. Spider-Man: Homecoming examined what it would be like to go back to normal life after taking part in something like a superheroic Civil War. It also managed to weave in all the core elements of Peter Parker without a reimagined gritty or dark vision. The film made Spider-Man fun again.
Do we even need to mention the Oscar-winning, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse? Miles Morales’ story framed against several other multiversal iterations of Spidey was a beautifully animated adventure that reached critical acclaim as well as a successful box office run.
Back in the MCU, while Peter faced off against cosmic threats during Avengers: Infinity War, it didn’t compromise his nature in service of the plot; “Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?”. Then his brief appearance in Endgame was exciting, but also heartfelt. Next up, he’ll be taking a European vacation in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Until he’s pulled into a web of mystery that is, because a group of destructive monsters called Elementals are wreaking havoc across the world. He’ll have to team up with Nick Fury and Mysterio to bring them down.
