After 61 Years, It’s Time for Marvel to Kill Spider-Man’s Most Toxic Trait

Warning: Spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man Gang War: First Strike #1!

Introduced sixty-one years ago, Spider-Man has always struggled to maintain a social life – but after all that time, it seems as though the issue extends beyond Peter Parker’s superhero career, and has become a core part of his character, one that Marvel should consider putting a rest to, in order to let the enduring character move forward.

The Amazing Spider-Man Gang War: First Strike #1 – by Zeb Wells, Cody Ziglar, Joey Vazquez, Julian Shaw, Bryan Valenza, and VC’s Joe Caramagna – is the prelude to Marvel’s next major event, “Gang War,” Among the heroes Peter Parker has recruited to bring peace to New York City is fellow Spider-Man, Miles Morales.

However, getting Miles on his side will be easier said than done, as the issues show how Miles isn’t the biggest fan of Peter right now. The issue exposes how Peter – simply put, whether he’s wearing a mask or not – may be a bad friend, a character progression Marvel should consider reversing.

In his series, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, the title character’s been going through varying levels of stress lately – including, but not limited to, nearly gets killed by Carnage, his Spider-Sense has been malfunctioning, and more – and Peter has been nowhere to be found. As far as Miles is concerned, Miles disappeared on him for the last six months, without an explanation. When he finally runs into Peter, as he’s tailing the supervillain known as Slyde, Miles takes the opportunity to unburden himself to Peter. He accuses Peter of ghosting him when he needed him. The more that Peter tries to make light of things, like he always does, it just compels Miles to go even harder on him.

Even as Peter says he’s sorry, Miles makes it clear that he is through with apologies. What he wants from Peter now is for the older hero to change his behavior, and to actually start showing up for his friends, especially as Peter keeps blowing off Mayor Cage and Misty Knight in their efforts to brainstorm ways to make it legal to be a superhero again. Miles then reminds Peter of their motto: with great power comes great responsibility. Even though Peter feels like he just got his “butt kicked,” he’s grateful for the pep talk and the words seem to be getting through to him.

Readers have seen variations of such a pep talk in the past, as Peter Parker has been called out by a number of his friends for blowing them off in the past. However, whereas he could often write off these shortcomings as a result of the disconnect between his superhero responsibilities and personal life, this time it is different. Miles, a fellow superhero, needed Peter to be there for him personally, and Peter wasn’t able to be. Great responsibility might come with great power – but life is about more than great responsibilities, it is also about the day-to-day responsibility of showing up for others.

For Marvel to make Peter Parker’s Spider-Manthe most heroic version of what he’s supposed to be, the character has to be written to consistently recognize this and act accordingly. The use of Peter’s shortcomings for dramatic purposes demonstrates that Marvel recognizes this perennial flaw in the character; however, rather than exploiting this weakness for narrative opportunities, the company should eliminate it, making Peter Parker a stronger, healthier character, who has overcome the adversity within himself in order to face the many external threats to the Marvel Universe. Sixty-one years is a long time to be a bad friend, and it its time Spider-Man learn how to be a good one.