The Amazing Spider-Man: Opinion Essay

Welcome to the wonderful world of Spider-Man! An amazing epic that spans decades and transcends all types of entertainment, from comics to books, t.v., and even movies. The story of how an ordinary teenager, Peter Parker, becomes a superhero, fights crime and all the while balances a regular life that spans from teenager to adulthood.

The concept of Spiderman came from Stan Lee who got the idea after watching a fly crawl up a wall. Lee wanted to tell the story of a normal person going through life dealing with normal problems like having trouble paying the rent, getting bullied at school or having relationship problems. He also wanted to feature a superhero who can age and grow so Spiderman starts out as a teenager.

Originally Lee gave comic book artist Jack Kirby the task of drawing Spiderman but after some preliminary sketches turned out too heroic he turned it over to Steve Ditko. Steve Ditko’s imaging is the Spiderman that we know and love today.

Peter Parker is a ordinary teenage orphan who lives with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in New York. He is not only extremley intelligent but also shy which makes him a nerd in the social stratospheres of high school and leads to bullying by the local trouble maker Flash Thompson. One evening while attending a demonstration for the safe handleing of nuclear waste Peter is bitten by a massivley irradiated spider. On his way home he is assualted by a gang who he easily throws aside and jumps 30 feet in the air to avoid a car running him over. Putting two and two together, Peter figures out that it is from the spider bite that he derives his powers. Over the next few nights Peter develops his costume and the wrist mounted web shooters used for spider-webs. Peter eventually believes that he can make a career with his new abilities and becomes a wrestler/performer. Everything is going well until one night at the end of a show he lets a burglar being chased by cops run by. Even though Peter could have easily stopped the burglar he does nothing claiming that catching criminals is the guards job. A few nights later Peter finds out that the same burglar killed his uncle and if he would have stopped the burglar his uncle would be alive. Peter learns a lesson that sticks with him for the rest of his life: With great power comes great responsibility. And with that lesson Peter turns to a life of fighting crime.

Spiderman has taken many forms throughout the years. A children’s cartoon debuted in 1967 and has been on and off the air up until 2017. There is also a film version with Tobey McGuire that had three installments and a film version with James Garfield with two installments. The latest film version stars Tom Holland but that wont be for long as the new version of Spiderman will be Mile Morales from the Spiderverse.

Whether it is Peter Parker, Miles Morales, James Garfield, Tobey Macuire or any other of the numerous conceptions of Spider-man is your favorite, the ability for Spider-Man to continually change and grow will leave Spider-man viable and relatable for future generations to come.

Work Cited:

1. Anhalt, B. (2017/07/07) The Complete History of Spider-Man Retrieved from: https://screenrant.com/complete-history-spider-man-comics-movies/
2. Spider-Man n.d. Retrieved from http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/s/spiderman.htm