New Spider-Man Reveal Makes His ‘Marvel’s Funniest Hero’ Status Secretly Tragic

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #1!Spider-Man is perhaps the greatest superhero in Marvel Comics history, and while that’s due to his iconic costume, his cadre of villains, and his incredible powers, Spider-Man is also widely beloved because he’s absolutely hilarious. One could even consider Spider-Man as Marvel’s funniest hero, as he slings as many quips as he does webs during any given mission. However, there’s a hidden darkness behind Spider-Man’s sharp wit – something that was just revealed by Marvel Comics.

In a preview for Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #1 by J.M. DeMatteis and Michael Sta. Maria readers are taken back to the early days of Peter Parker’s career as Spider-Man. Peter is still a teenager who’s coming to terms with having superpowers, but more than that, he and Aunt May have just lost Uncle Ben, and they are only beginning the grieving process.

While sitting together in their kitchen, Peter and May each pretend that everything’s fine for the sake of the other, and themselves. They are both crushed by Uncle Ben’s death, and so they’ve developed coping mechanisms to get by. May would avoid talking about Uncle Ben in front of Peter; that’s how she decided to hide her pain. As for Peter, he would “crack lame jokes” to cover up how he was really feeling – and he never stopped.

Spider-Man’s Iconic Quips are a Coping Mechanism to Deal with Uncle Ben’s Death

Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin explains 1 important aspect of Peter Parker’s origin

While the revelation that Spider-Man’s iconic quips are a direct result of his trauma from Uncle Ben’s death may be a bit shocking, it actually explains a lot about his character in terms of his dramatic personality switch from ‘powerless Peter Parker’ to ‘Spider-Man Peter Parker’. In Amazing Fantasy #15, before Peter Parker got his powers, he was shown as being a quiet and timid teenager. His intelligence got him labeled as a nerd, and that high school status made him the subject of daily bullying.

In response, Peter kept his head down, stuck to his studies, and waited out his miserable high school experience. Then, after getting bit by the radioactive spider, Peter seemingly got a boost of confidence that was exhibited in both his normal life as Peter Parker as well as that of his alter ego, Spider-Man. He became sarcastic, assertive, and even a bit of a punk, which is a dramatic shift from his earlier depictions. Fans have always chalked this up to Peter gaining confidence after becoming Spider-Man, but now, it’s revealed that quite the opposite is true.

Peter’s life was permanently altered with the death of Uncle Ben, and he turned to humor to cope. This happened while he was adjusting to life as Spider-Man, which explains the initial confusion in the fandom as to why Peter went from being a shy nerd to a confident outsider, but now fans know that the ‘confidence’ was veiled trauma being covered up with humor.

The Origin of Spider-Man’s Quick Wit Explains His Darkest Moments

What’s most striking about finding out that Peter’s wit stems from his trauma of losing Uncle Ben is that it has lasted so long without Peter addressing it. Spider-Man just perpetually uses humor to cover up his pain, and while that will work for a time, it’s just not a healthy way to heal from trauma. All that darkness is just bubbling beneath the surface at all times, and now that fans know that, it explains why Spider-Man would go so dark at the flip of a switch – including and especially when Spider-Man threatened to kill the Kingpin (as shown above).

It’s sad to learn that the aspect of Spider-Man that has made people smile and laugh for decades is rooted in such personal and deep-seated suffering. It wasn’t the confidence boost of becoming Spider-Man that made Peter Parker ‘Marvel’s Funniest Hero’, it was the trauma of losing Uncle Ben, as humor was his only way to cope – and it never went away.

Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #1 by Marvel Comics is available April 3, 2024.