The Best Spider-Man, You Won’t See On-Screen

Spider-Men's been having a great streak in pop culture recently. I sometimes have the impression that he is the last hero who saves Marvel's reputation (Guardians of The Galaxy vol. 3 are great, but they're kinda different story). We've already seen many faces of Peter Parker on the silver screen (Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland), and recently also Miles Morales, with all the possible variants of Spider-Verse. Both Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse are great movies – although the idea of the multiverse is beyond me. I still have a grudge against Marvel, the comic book one, the cinematic one, and also against Sony itself. Because they still don't want to give us the adventures of the best Spider-Man ever created.

Think I mean some exotic version spinoff? Well, yeah, there is one, but that’s a different story (see caption below). I'm talking about something else. It's the same, mainstream Peter Parker, marked in the comics as the one from world 616. The thing is it was delivered according to a very specific formula by a unique author – and several others almost equal to him. A recipe that is now shunned. And that's because Marvel destroyed the maturity of this character. House of Ideas is shaking its pants when it thinks of it and it will sooner blow than let this idea into the mainstream again. As if it forgot that the world has moved on. There was more than one chance for the evolution of this character. Though I particularly regret one specific instance.

The hero who broke down

In the 1990s, Amazing Spider-Man, despite initial sales successes, was doing quite poorly, just like Marvel Comics in general. The decade began with record sales and ended with the total opposite. All because of bizarre publishing practices (inflating the bubble with special comic book editions for collectors) – and even stranger plot devices. Marvel was dreaming of a spectacular, game-changing crossover, a large comic-book story involving several characters and/or series that would permanently transform Spider-Man. Such as Knightfall for Batman or Death of Superman. And they did it. Oh my, how did they do that.

The audience eventually got The Clone Saga. I won't delve into the plot intricacies, as it'll give us a headache. Suffice to say, it's about genetic clones and the mystery of who the real Peter Parker is. The story featured a squadron of villains, such as Doctor Octopus, Jackal, or the original Green Goblin, had been considered dead at the time. The story spanned several months in four parallel titles, and if a particular superhero would turn out to be a hit, they'd get spin-off series. Many of them, in fact. And they were all side spin-offs at that.

Spider-Man Clone Saga Omnibus HC VOL 02 New PTG, script. J.M. DeMatteis and others, drawings. Sal Buscema and others, Marvel 2024,

It had its good, dramatic and atmospheric moments, at first it was intriguing and sold like hot cakes, but in the end – it pushed Spider-Man into a quality crisis from which it did not recover before the end of the millennium. The only good thing that came out of this is a certain Kaine aka Scarlet Spider (the second one – clones are a complicated thing), but his story is quite convoluted (check the text frame). Even Peter's temporary successor, the popular Ben Reilly (appears in Across The Spider-Verse), felt like driving an old diesel car.

The man who fixed Spider-Man

It was bad, nothing made sense, and the readers were abandoning the series. Marvel came to their senses, got a new editor-in-chief, Joe Quesada, who later caused a lot of trouble, but at the turn of the century was a savior. He hired a squadron of new artists and fresh, but already seasoned screenwriters, who had experience with, for example, television and movie scripts. Among them was J. Michael Straczynski. And it was he, who pulled Spider-Man out of the publishing necrosis.

If you're not immersed in the Marvel universe, you might not recognize this author, but he's the creative mind behind the once groundbreaking sci-fi series Babylon 5. He's written for Clint Eastwood (Changeling), and his scripts have made their way into the Underworld series, Walker, Texas Ranger, and numerous animated shows. He collaborated with the Wachowskis on Sense8, and in addition, he's penned a number of mainstream comics (Thor, Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Four, Superman) and independent ones (Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, Dream Police – all highly recommended).

The man joined with a fresh perspective, a knack for storytelling, a keen eye for observation, a nice, socio-cultural edge, a world- and myth-building flair, and above all, an incredible talent for writing dialogues and inner monologues of characters. And also with the awareness of what it's like to be a victim of violence – and how to get out of it. I recommend this piece to those interested in Straczynski's life and inspirations. Then it's easier to understand where everything he brought to the table came from when he started creating The Amazing Spider-Man (the main publishing series about Spider-Man, not to be confused with films!). And he contributed a lot.

The first encounter with Spider-Man a la Straczynski could have been a shocker. For teenage me – it was, and it was huge. After the era of TM-Semic and dozens of books plunged in darkness, strangeness and not always graceful translations, someone proposed a different formula. More colorful, funnier, but at the same time more human and mature.

Spider-Man fixing people

Almost everything has been repaired and changed. Dark colors and chaotic drawings were abandoned in favor of clear graphics with the characteristic nerve of John Romita Jr., who was then at his peak (unlike now... check at your own risk). The stories became denser and although a few main threads dominated everything, individual episodes contributed even more.

Amazing Spider-Man, dir. J. Michael Straczynski, illustrator John Romita Jr., cover. J. Scott Campbell, Egmont 2023

Peter was separated from MJ, moving towards repairing the relationship, becoming a school teacher straight from The Wire. Aunt May found out who is hiding under the Spider-Man mask – which resulted in one of the best comics in history. The entire issue about explaining and revealing the mystery focused on a conversation between two people – and it blew everyone's socks off. Both old and new enemies were placed in Parker's path, including those associated with Straczynski's rewriting of the character's mythology.

Well, it was J.M.S. who expanded the well-known backstory about being bitten by a radioactive spider, explaining how and WHY the whole thing happened. Mysterious Ezekiel, with a mentor-like determination, asked this question, and then Straczynski answered it through subsequent conflicts and events. In fact, Peter represented one of the totemic powers, of course, the spider. This was associated with the introduction of more magic and mysticism into the Spider-verse (although this had happened before, for example during the Kraven’s Last Hunt or Torment), along with mystery and unease, but also – with a new portion of enemies. Readers may recognize such adversaries as Morlun, Shathra or Shade.

Especially the first one made quite an impression. He appeared in first story of Straczynski's run, called Revelations. By the way, the writer even snagged an Eisner award for it. The mysterious, almost invincible energy vampire feeding on totems created a mystery and always appeared whenever some transformation was taking place in Parker’s life. Later, less talented screenwriters, such as Dan Slott, wiped their mouths with this character, but then, at the beginning of the first decade – Morlun and the entire totemistic circle were upping the ante. They also caused some controversy, but the publishing house chewed them over, since the biggest (though not very good) spider crossovers of recent years, i.e. Spider-Verse (here the foundations of the idea for the films with Miles were laid) and Spider-Geddon, based on a shallow approach to Straczynski's ideas.

It's a pity that the author himself wasn't present at the time, but in 2007, he left Amazing Spider-Man after the story One More Day forced by Quesada (Straczynski wrote another controversial story in the middle of the run, Sins Past, but its consequences were quickly dismissed), in which Spider-Man - after revealing his identity and unsuccessfully rescuing the injured Aunt May - makes a pact with the devil to undo everything – at the price of his recently regained marriage with Mary Jane. This must have been the moment when someone at Marvel arbitrarily decided that Spider-Man can never fully mature. It was that moment when Spider-Man got softened, repressed.

And he was severed from the most natural narrative arc anyone had ever planned for him. Not only did he get new interesting powers from Straczynski through death and resurrection in The Other; he also... matured. Along with his entire environment. He was maturing emotionally, even maturing to some degree of punctuality, to openness in matters of feelings. To new, more responsible roles. He didn't have to become a father right away for that. He simply stopped being a busy egoist hiding behind superpower and responsibility. In one of the best "romantic" comics I've ever read, he was also able to articulate why he loves and why he needs love from Mary Jane.

The Amazing Spider-man, dir. J. Michael Straczynski, illustrator John Romita Jr., Marvel Comics

Furthermore, he naturally began to pay attention to his surroundings and the consequences of his actions, including superhero ones (without losing his delightfully malicious humor). Straczynski showed what repercussions Spider’s bravado can have and how many shades a criminal problem can have – all thanks to sensitivity to the social background. That was inspiring. Inspired to consider things from many perspectives, induced empathy, but also to not give up. In a healthy, organic way. As myths should.

You see, Straczynski's characters achieved the incredible – they learned from their mistakes and honestly vocalized their emotions. They drew conclusions. Such excellent, full dialogues, leaving with the feeling that reading the comic about a man in spider leggins brought something of value to our lives – which is not very common. They reacted – to their relatives and friends, to the superhero fights and their aftermath. This way, the cast evolved along with the story and the unveiling of new cards of Spider-Man's mythology.

And all of this was sold through excellent narrative tools, and sharp, witty, and emotional dialogues. They were reinforced by internal monologues, which not only commented on current events and enhanced the action, but above all allowed a glimpse into how Spider Man looks at the world, processes events, and how his wound-up, neurotic mind of a genius and a troublemaker works. The whole thing was supported by short "genre scenes" intertwined with the urban backdrop. This was the most mature, funniest, and most human Peter Parker that pop culture has ever witnessed.

Broken circle

Caprice and the vision of securing the highest profit of the publishing department took that away from us. Just because someone there didn't like the relationship with Mary Jane (sic!). And that because someone else calculated that the immature Peter Parker would sell better (this never was as obvious to me as it seems to be to the bosses) and hence decided that he'd always attract new audiences.

And let me tell you what a load of crap it is.

I understand all these reasons. There's nothing particularly wrong with rebooting the series after it reaches its planned finale. There's nothing wrong with refreshing an existing character, if it's done with consideration. Researchers in mythology and philologists believe that myths are elliptical stories. With minor changes, they're retold anew, over and over again, by successive generations, nations, civilizations, all of them giving these stories their own spin. This phenomenon is as old as society itself. Every mythological figure made countless laps in this never ending race from birth, through death, and resurrection (or another form of transformation), introducing new orders, and so on – until some culmination. And then someone picks up this story and retells it with their own ideas. Sometimes with exactly the same character, sometimes with someone completely new.

Pop culture can do that too, but in such a hackneyed, fast-forwarded, and almost numbingly mindless pace that it doesn't let these stories to resonate, because someone might get bored right away. Perhaps one of the few superheroes lucky enough to get a true closure was Robert Kirkman's The Invincible. His story was long, but it had a beginning, middle, and end.

Straczynski's The Amazing Spider-Man could also just live through the entire series properly. With the proper expansion and conclusion of all lore-related, superhero, and personal threads. There was no need to crucify him, kill him or send him into oblivion right away. Just leave the character at a point after a full-on adventure where a strong, meaningful punchline resonates, and some stage of life gets summed up. Damn, he didn't even need a kid (they tried, but quickly backed out and shifted it to alternative worlds, better don't ask). The problem is that Straczynski's The Amazing Spider-Man looks cut in half because they were afraid to give this character a true evolution. Consequences of a hitherto unknown direction, something that could be too unusual for the readers of the flagship series. This hero was left in the limbo of eternal adolescence and returns to the starting point. His circle was broken too early.

A ride downward

What was done to Parker as a result of publishing conservatism is a crime on literature and pop culture. A crime that seeps into movies and comic books to this day. In the comics, Dan Slotta's vision reigned supreme for years. He's a very talented writer – although a bit of a douche online – with a knack for epic, multi-character stories, but Spider-Man completely didn't fit him. And he still doesn't. Meanwhile, Dan Slott was responsible for the flagship series for years.

He had ideas better and worse, but his comics were overall barely readable. Shallow, overcrowded with guest appearances, never allowing the most interesting ideas and emotions to get the proper exposure. Whenever a spark of something strong or sincere appeared – Slott immediately got distracted and returned to his worst habits or smuggle in some Avenger cameo, because no comic book can be complete without an Avenger.

Kaine as Scarlet Spider

Imagine that Clint Eastwood, Spider-Man, and Wolverine had a son, however bizarre this might seem. It would be Kaine, the anti-hero clone of Peter Parker. He's a scoundrel, trying to leave his nasty past filled with dead men behind and live in peace, but the Parker genes won't let him ignore the suffering of others. He's wandered through the Spider-Man comics, entangled in twists and turns since the infamous Clone Saga – at once a villain, murderer, and a twisted protector of the Parkers' private life. The 1990s were strange. They took their chances with another clone, Ben Reilly, the first Scarlet Spider. He then returned, was still a villain, sacrificed himself for Peter, rose from the dead and began a slow crawl towards narrative autonomy. He even got a great comic book, Scarlet Spider by Chris Yost, which ran for two years. It was the best Spider comic book at a time when all others were failing. It even had some of the charm of Straczynski's works.

The plot drove Kaine to Houston, where he met new friends, faced madmen, faced the past, faced corporate thugs, faced regular thugs, human trafficking, and a few enemies he inherited from Spider-Man. He was such a popular character that he also appeared in the main Spider crossovers, including Spider-Verse, Spider-Geddon, and Clone Conspiracy – and we could already get acquainted with these in the Egmont edition. Generally, it's worth struggling through Dan Slott's writing for this character, although it's best to reach for Yost's run. You will get a simpler, compact, but engaging adventure of the most interesting Spider-Man of the last several years. Damn, it literally makes me want to write my own story about him.

Under his care, Spider met several interesting women, fought dozens of duels, battled an invasion of people endowed with spider powers, with Morlun's family and the entire multiverse, founded a company that Elon Musk would envy, was possessed by Doctor Octopus, and then triumphantly returned to his own body. A lot has happened and it was very spectacular. But still, Peter was never allowed to fully mature.

He was subjected to what seemed a transformation indeed, but was built on the apparent evolution that Marvel was famous for, and a ton of gadgets, not actual processing of changes. After Straczynski’s departure, Spider’s adventures were almost always based on the same ill-conceived ideas, and the clumsy, but brilliant and sensitive trickster who sometimes fails, was replaced by an ordinary, boring asshole who always ignored other people's needs, hiding behind, of course, POWER AND RESPONSIBILITY .

Superior Spider-Man #1, dir. Dan Slott, draw. Ryan Stegman, Marvel 2013

It came to the point that his brutal clone Kaine turned out to be a more interesting, livelier and more human character with greater potential in the 2012 Scarlet Spider series. Now other writers are trying to fix it, they do better or worse, but all – whether it's the declining Slott, or Nick Spencer with a later series, or Zeb Wells, currently piloting the Amazing – they stop somewhere in the middle or just rely solely on their quirks. And these are just comics.

In movies, we're doomed to constantly return to Peter's juvenile period. A moment after Uncle Ben died. Lessons about power and responsibility strikes again. The same first loves, first enemies, first tragedies. The spider performed by Garfield was closest to breaking free from this circle. Partly because, despite the script's craziness, it hit similar dramatic-funny-reflective tones as Straczynski, and included a maturity crash course. And partly because of Garfield's charisma, who out of all the live-action and voice actors, fit this slightly more mature Peter the best. The Amazing Spider-Man, directed by Webb, also focused on Peter's greater interaction with the urban environment.

And what about Peter in the Spider-Verse movies, you ask? This is a brilliantly written character, but there are two problems with it. This character oscillates between the foreground and background, but essentially serves mainly as a support for Miles, even though he has his own path to follow. And so this Peter is closer to dusk, stepping into the role of a mentor or dad, going through a midlife crisis.

It's good that someone even dared to enter this shocking stage, because that's another thing that's largely missing, however, another one's overlooked, the one from J.M.S. comics. The one, in which Spider has already served his initiation lessons as a salad hero, has entered maturity, but still has all the doors open in life and we, as audience, want to see what he will do with this situation – as well as with the consequences of his choices. And with the things that, as a mature guy, he no longer can control.

In essence, I really miss the "early thirties" stage in recent stories about Peter Parker, especially those in the theaters. A stage where he already knows his game, has gained some resistance, soaked up a bit of cynicism, but still wants to go on. He's still fighting and has something to prove – and at the same time, he can consciously give more to his surroundings. Pop culture dreads this stage sometimes and quickly jumps from "we've overcome our first demons" to "we're diving in diapers" (preferably our children's, not our own) and that's it, we're immediately passing on everything we know to the next generation, if we manage to before our own funeral.

Perhaps the next movies with Tom Holland will resonate with this more. If they are ever created. Maybe there will be a place for a more mature Spider in some animated series. Maybe Marvel's results will drop again and the publisher will reach for a mature writer, maybe in a magical turn of events, they will come with a bag of money to Straczynski to ask him to fix what has been broken. Again. But these are the dreams of a severed head (although, JMS came back to write new Captain America run, so never say never…).

Spider-Man is my hobby, my pop culture, my halfway pain. You probably also have such a character yourself, if you are or were into superheroes. And you probably have similar experiences, because most of the Marvel and DC heroes are trapped in such a large circle of apparent changes. And until the market collapses, no one will know how the heroes can leave this spiral.

Hubert Sosnowski

Hubert Sosnowski

He joined GRYOnline.pl in 2017, as an author of texts about games and movies. Learned how to write articles while working for the Dzika Banda portal. His texts were published on kawerna.pl, film.onet.pl, zwierciadlo.pl, and in the Polish Playboy. Has published stories in the monthly Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror magazine, as well as in the first volume of the Antologii Wolsung. Lives for "middle cinema" and meaty entertainment, but he won't despise any experiment or Fast and Furious. In games, looks for a good story. Loves Baldur's Gate 2, but when he sees Unreal Tournament, Doom, or a good race game, the inner child wakes up. In love with sheds and thrash metal. Since 2012, has been playing and creating live action role-playing, both within the framework of the Bialystok Larp Club Zywia, and commercial ventures in the style of Witcher School.