Why It Matters How Peter Parker Gets His Powers
What the evolution of the Web-Slinger tells us about America’s hopes and fears.
Superheros have been enshrined in our everyday media for so long that often times we can map out a cultural shift based on their different iterations. This is especially true for the famed web-slinger himself; Spiderman. With three big-budget live-action movies made in recent memory, the evolution of Spiderman acts as a mirror for what America’s changing idea on what the “Silver Bullet” of advancement is and what each generation fears.
Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman
- The Bite: In Sam Raimi’s 2002 film, Peter Parker is bitten by a genetically engineered radioactive spider. This coincides with the culture of the 2000s where everyone from major news outlets to even scientific papers were reporting on the miracles to come from gene mapping and radiation. In 1999 the first human genome was mapped and in 2001 the first Gene-Targeted drug therapy was approved by the FDA. At the time it was the popular belief that gene manipulation was the solution to humanities issues.
- The Fears: This iteration of Spiderman embodies the fears of older Millennials entering a job market in the 2000s. They often felt pressure to keep up with their Gen X parents, while having to take a job they were severely overqualified for. This Peter Parker, despite being incredibly intelligent, works as a pizza delivery man and later as an underpaid photographer. He often knows he’s being taken advantage of but feels powerless to stop it. This mirrors how a lot of older millennials felt before and after the 2008 crash.
Andrew Garfield’s Spiderman
- The Bite: In the 2012 film “The Amazing Spider-Man” Peter Parker also receives his powers through a genetically engineered Spider, however, what sets this iteration apart is the focus on Stem Cells. The early 2010s marked an increase in the interest of stem cells, particularly in how they could be reprogrammed. With the added discovery of CRISPR which many Americans saw as a fountain on endless potential. We were convinced that we had cracked the code to advancing medicine, agriculture, and biomaterials.
- The Fears: Andrew Garfield’s Spiderman represents the fears that a bulk of millennials for forced to face. As a generation that saw the rise of “flex culture” they were met with an onslaught of near-impossible standards to meet, and thus often lost their individuality in the struggle to meet those standards. This Peter Parker is constantly searching for himself, for more information on who he is. To this Peter Parker his school, his friends, and his loved ones are important and thus he spends the start of the movie trying to be what they expect, but struggling to succeed.
Tom Holland’s Spiderman
- The Bite: In our most latest live-action take on Spiderman, we don’t actually get to see how Peter Parker received his spider powers. We do however get to see how he utilizes them with an increase in focus on nanotechnology and AIs, our current “Silver Bullet,” and obsession. We even follow Peter as he begins growing more and more dependent on that technology.
- The Fears: Whereas the other iterations of Spiderman only elude to how the hero’s fears mimic the current generation’s, Tom Holland’s Spiderman doesn’t beat around the bush. It point-blank shows how this current generation feels as though all of their “Heros” are dying, and that they are being forced to take on more responsibility in an effort to make the planet a better place to live at a far younger age than their predecessors. Tom Holland’s most recent villain further illustrates the plight of Gen-Z. The appearance Mysterio encapsulates this generation’s constant worry that they’re being lied to or misled, that it’s near impossible to let your guard down.
The evolution of Spiderman shows how we’re always searching for that “Silver Bullet,” that one discovery that will solve all of our problems. However, given that we’ve had three “Silver Bullets” in the last 20 years it’s starting to look like we’re more often duped than triumphant. However in the immortal words of Uncle Ben:
“With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility”
And like Peter we owe it to the people around us to keep searching despite whatever fears we may have.
