Spider-Man Still in High School is a Good Thing.

Matt Key

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~Matt Key

Marvel wants a young Spider-Man. A Spider-Man still in high school who’s already been bit by the radioactive spider and has started his career as a vigilante superhero. Supposedly, we’re not getting another origin story but are just jumping straight in to his Spider-Man being Spider-Man, though it’s still very early on for the hero.

This is a very good thing.

I’m not saying I wouldn’t love to see a college-aged Spider-Man or a Spider-Man in his late 20’s. That’d still be awesome and a lot of fun. I’m also not saying that changing things up from what Sony has already done wouldn’t be appreciated, but do we really need to see another adult dealing with adult things?

The thing is, if Marvel wants a high school-aged Spider-Man, then it’s time for us to start looking for the positive and figuring out just how Marvel is going to use an adolescent webslinger. And, honestly, has Marvel really let us down yet? Sure the Iron Man sequels could have been better, but let’s face it, Marvel has a very good batting average with their films. If there’s one thing we know for certain, it’s that Marvel is playing the long game, they have a plan, and for whatever reason, that plan includes a Peter Parker that’s still in High School.

I believe that the biggest reason for this is because the character and experience of an older, more mature Spider-Man would, more or less, get lost in the already-established avenging crowd. Sure, he’d still be witty, but we already have Tony Stark for that. And yeah, watching him ninja kick some bad guy butt would be really fast and intense and fun, but we already have Black Widow and Captain America for that.

And the Winter Soldier.

And Hawkeye.

And, presumably, Black Panther.

In some way or another, we already have Spider-Man like traits on the team.

He needs to be something different. So let’s take a look at what we know we already have.

  • We’ve got a genius/playboy/philanthropist in his late 30’s/early 40’s who uses his brilliance to create the greatest weapon ever conceived.
  • We’ve got a ninety-year old man, out of time, in peak physical condition, who fought in the Great War with the Greatest Generation.
  • We’ve got a Jekyll/Hyde scientist who’s as brilliant as Tony Stark, but always on the verge of an Omega Level Threat temper tantrum.
  • We’ve got two highly-trained super spy/soldiers/assassins who’ve seen some bananas action.
  • We’ve got an ageless god from a whole other plane of existence who’s more practiced at the Art of War and fighting than anyone could possibly imagine.

That’s not even counting the relatively minor characters like War Marchine, Falcon or Winter Soldier.

AND, that’s not counting the characters we haven’t met yet.

  • Still to come is a middle-aged surgeon who learns to control unimaginable mystic power through disciplining his mind, body and spirit.
  • Still to come is a young Prince in his late 20’s, trained for the monarchy his entire life, who rules over an entire secret nation of the world’s most advanced technologies.
  • Still to come is an Air Force Pilot whose genetics get tangled with an advanced alien species to become one of the most powerful heroes in the universe.

If Peter Parker, or even Miles Morales, were to be aged up, even to their mid-20’s, they’d kind of blend in more. If we started him that much further into his career as a vigilante, allowed him to have that much more practice and experience, he’d be what’s expected, his character would get lost. He’d be a great crime fighter, already have his confidence in place and already be an effective hero … just like everyone else.

Why add one more warrior to your party when what you need is a rogue?

Spider-Man deserves a bigger story than that, a bigger spotlight.

What Marvel wants, what they’re looking for Peter Parker to add to these stories is youth. A youth still learning, still figuring things out, still stumbling across the frozen pond, trying to find his footing without falling flat on his face. That’s not to say he’s incompetent, ineffective, or bad at being a hero — he’s just inexperienced and not as practiced because of how young he is, how new to being a hero he is.  He’s probably already great at being a hero; The Avengers just want to make him the best possible hero he can be.

This level of inexperience and immaturity suddenly being invited into the midst of the Avengers is a completely new, completely different dynamic that’s never existed in the MCU. He’ll either have that adolescent, rebellious chip on his shoulder that he knows what’s best or he’ll be so intimidated by the heroes around him that he’s afraid to move. Or both.

The only hero that comes close to Spider-Man’s level of inexperience at first is Tony Stark, who was just a genius billionaire arms dealer when he created Iron Man, but by the time Spider-Man joins the team, Stark will have built 50+ versions of Iron Man armor and fought in countless battles. 

And, of course, we’ve still got Ant-Man to look forward to. He’s not experienced at being a superhero, but he’s a thief, he’s been in prison, he’s got a family to watch over. Though he’s new to superheroing, he’s lived a longer life, discovered a lot more about himself. In other words, he’s matured. If we were to see a late 20’s Spider-Man, already in a stable relationship with Mary Jane Watson and ten years into his superhero career, there’d be too much similarity to Scott Lang. Different power sets, sure, but their characters would be very similar.

Catching Spider-Man in High School soon after he gets his powers, we’re seeing him raw and unformed, in an emotional time, excited and terrified, jumping into the world with mysterious new powers that he does not yet understand, eager to run out and play like he just got exactly what he wanted for Christmas. Played against the heroes we already have, this is a far more interesting conflict, completely different from them in every way.

In keeping him young, Marvel brings in a completely new energy. He becomes a new factor in the battles, someone that needs to be watched because he could be dangerous. His inexperience makes him a loose cannon of sorts, an unpracticed wrecking ball that needs to be contained and trained on the job. This youth and inexperience could end up playing into the Civil War story by seeing him accidentally cause a deadly accident, taking the place of Speedball Robbie Baldwin from the comics version of the story. He’s also more impressionable here, more of a blank slate to see bounce back and forth between Captain America and Iron Man.

Not to mention, having him him in High School means we get access to the setting of Mid-Town High, to the youth, innocence and energy of all those kids going to class and dealing with all the high school drama that comes with it: the fights, the crushes, the young love, the try-outs, the disappointments. Though we don’t actually get to Gwen Stacy or Harry Osborn until college in the 616 universe, in the Ultimates line, we get everyone in high school: Gwen Stacey, Flash Thompson, Mary Jane Watson, Harry Osborn, etc. Keeping Peter Parker in high school keeps all of them in high school as well and that’ll be a great story in and of itself.

Along with this story is the story of the Avengers adapting to his youth, inexperience and energy. How will the highly-trained, disciplined and mature Avengers adapt to this immature, uncertain, untrained youth? Everyone else has years (even eons) of experience fighting in wars, battles, knowing when to run and when to stand, dealing with the pain that comes from it, facing their greatest fears and constantly overcoming them. They’ve faced death and come out on the other side stronger.

All of this combined completely raises the stakes for Spider-Man and the team. He’s still young, impulsive, trying to prove himself without the experience or practice to help him. He’s more of a liability than anyone else as the older members of the team will want to protect him, sacrifice themselves to ensure his well-being. Again, not saying he’s a damsel in distress who keeps getting himself in trouble, but his inexperience plays against him. 

And sure, we saw Iron Man’s origin story, watched him learn how to use his new suit of armor. We’ve seen Bruce Banner beat back his inner rage demons, seen Captain Rogers come to terms with his new powers — but what we have NOT seen, in any of these, is the formation of a moral core that informs WHY they do these things. We haven’t seen them struggle with the why’s of what they do. Why do they fight? Why is what they do the right thing to do?

This is the true brilliance of what makes Spider-Man such an invaluable character and is no doubt at the heart of why Marvel wants to keep him in High School.

With Great Power comes Great Responsibility.

He will spend his entire life learning the subtleties of this lesson from his Uncle Ben, but he absolutely MUST be young when he first learns the true meaning of this maxim, it’s full repercussions, what sacrifices it demands of you.

It’s this moral core, that push and struggle to figure out the right thing to do and then do that, no matter how hard it is, no matter what sacrifices it demands, that informs the core of who Peter Parker’s Spider-Man is. If we start him out after college, when he’s already been fighting for some time, we miss out on the formation of that core. He’ll be a similar character to Steve Rogers in that way, who just always knew the right thing to do. Peter is a character that absolutely, positively must make mistakes because that is where his character is formed and forged. Where better to make mistakes than in your youth.

Not only that, but if we’re really meeting Peter Parker for the first time in Captain America: Civil War, then we’re getting to watch him struggle with the difference between doing the lawful thing and the right thing.

All in all, Spider-Man Peter Parker doesn’t fit in. Even in the comics, he seems out of place with the Avengers.  

But that’s  exactly where you want Spider-Man because that’s when he’s at his best.

 

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