What if Spidey's parents weren't secret agents?

[Jake V]

What if Spidey's origin worked out differently? What if he lived with his parents instead of Aunt May and Uncle Ben? What if instead of Ben telling him about "power and responsibility" it was his father? And what if the burgler killed his father? Basically replace Aunt May and Uncle Ben with his real parents, and keep the rest of the story the same.

What I'm trying to get at is figuring out the importance of his parents dying to Peter's development into Spider-Man. Is Peter's parents secret agent life and death at all integral to Peter developing into the character he is today?

[crazybrd1]

I dont think it is intergral. The whole point of it however is discovering his parents. I lost my dad when I was six. I am 22 now. It was very important for me to know who my dad is though. Knowing how he escaped the nazi how he put himself through school etc.

[Grant]

Always wondered if Stan Lee ever brought up Peter's parents. It's not something I recall reading the old Spider-man stories.

[1HELLBOY]

yeah, I don't think that it would really matter, i'm sure that Ben was raised the same way Peter's dad was, seeing as how they're brothers, so I'm sure that the message would have gotten through somehow

[cable guy]

yeah, I don't think that it would really matter, i'm sure that Ben was raised the same way Peter's dad was, seeing as how they're brothers, so I'm sure that the message would have gotten through somehow

Agreed.

That would be a minor change to his history.

Or wouldn't change much of anything.

[Alan2099]

It would change things a bit. Peter may have been raised about the same way, but he'd have a slightly different atitude about certain things.
There's a bit of a difference between being raised by your parents and being raised by your elderly Aunt and Uncle.

[bitplayer]

His parents were secret agents? Well then he would be even more bad azz than he is and mebbe an agent of shield too.

:p

[DMike]

Always wondered if Stan Lee ever brought up Peter's parents. It's not something I recall reading the old Spider-man stories.

Actually, Stan was the one who brought it up back in the 60s. I think he was also the one who said they were killed fighting the Commie Red Skull.

[Patient Boy]

Actually, Stan was the one who brought it up back in the 60s. I think he was also the one who said they were killed fighting the Commie Red Skull.

:confused:

Did he acutually say the Red Skull was a Communist?

[DMike]

Considering it was the one that the Cap of the 50s was hunting before Rogers was revived, it pretty much had to be the second Skull. I don't think the Nazi one was awake at the time.

[Michael P]

The biggest change would have been that Peter and Mary (his mom) might not have had to worry so much about money. May and Ben were both a good two decades older than Peter's folks, and May had never been anything but a housewife. After Ben died, they were pretty much living on savings, Ben's life insurance, and Social Security. Mary, on the other hand, was a career woman, and while Peter probably would have had to do the latchkey thing, she could have supported them to some degree. So he might not have had to get the job at the Bugle.

[bloodyarts]

I never liked the idea of Peter's parents being secret agents.

The initial appeal to Peter Parker and Spider-Man was that he was just like everybody else, but the secret agent angle removed a little bit of that everyman appeal. He didn't seem as real to me anymore.

Of course, it doesn't matter, because Peter wasn't raised by them, and even if he was, it's not like there aren't secret agents with kids in real life.

Still, it just seemed to take a little bit away from him, to me, at least.

[Mister Mets]

The biggest change would be that the mother figure's a good 20-30 years younger, and would presumably have less health concerns.

A former secret agent might have been able to beat the holy hell out of the Burglar without getting shot, so Spider-Man might not have the guilt of a loved one's death. He may be more patriotic.

[Satans Rubber Duck]

If Peter had grown up with spy parents, then I imagine in his comics now he would have to have at least two new costumes in each (with matching hairstyles), and there'd be lots of crazy stuff about destinies and prophecies, not to mention a collection of wacky gadgets and confusing plots.