Spider-Man: More than a comic book superhero

Like many others, I woke up on the morning of March 18 to watch the full trailer of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” when it dropped.

This will be the fourth solo movie with Tom Holland playing the titular superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Fans have waited four years to see the web slinger back on the big screen.

The trailer shows a college-aged Peter Parker dealing with the aftermath of the climactic “No Way Home.” Peter handles college life, bills and watching his friends live their lives without him while grappling with his alter-ego duties. After three solo movies and multiple collaborations that pitted him against intergalactic foes, it looks like we will finally have a movie with a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man managing somewhat normal conflicts.

Before the MCU took off, the Sam Raimi “Spider-Man” trilogy was the peak of superhero movies. Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker was the first live-action version of the superhero and the introduction to Spider-Man and Marvel in general for kids growing up in the 2000s.

Those movies kick-started my obsession that still lingers today.

After watching “Spider-Man 2” at 4 years old and seeing Peter manage an existential crisis while fighting Doc Ock, I became interested in anything and everything related to Spider-Man: cartoons like “The Spectacular Spider-Man,” video games like “Web of Shadows” and “Shattered Dimensions,” action figures, posters, you name it. When I wasn’t consuming whatever Spider-Man content I could, I was coming up with my own storylines, even drawing my own comic, Tarantula Man (please don’t sue me, Marvel).

That obsession continued into high school with a slew of Tom Holland movies and the three Insomniac video games for the PlayStation. I read the original comics online, watched countless lore videos on YouTube and became the de facto “Spider-Man nerd” in my family by the time “No Way Home” came out.

Spider-Man is easily my favorite superhero and one of my favorite characters in fiction behind Joel Miller from “The Last of Us” and Adonis Creed from the “Creed” movies.

Growing up, it was because Spider-Man is usually portrayed as a teenager. Every other popular superhero is an adult or an alien of some kind. In fact, Spider-Man was the first ever teenage superhero to not be relegated to another character’s sidekick. It was cool for me to see a character who wasn’t that much older than me doing what he does.

Even when my teenage years came and went, however, Spider-Man always held a special place in my mind: I’m 22 now, but I still find myself obsessed with the character more than Batman, Superman, Captain America or any other hero.

On a late-night rewatch of “Spider-Man 2” recently, it finally hit me. I’m Peter Parker.

Well, I’m not exactly a nerdy white teenager from Queens; I am a nerdy half-white, half-Indian teenager from the suburbs of Detroit. And I certainly wasn’t swinging around the city saving people from burning buildings or fighting supervillains. Even certain parts of Peter’s background didn’t relate to me: I’ve long decided that I want absolutely nothing to do with science.

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“Spider-Man 2” is one of those movies where I learn something new on every rewatch. It’s only three months younger than I am, and I’ve definitely seen it more times than I can count, but no matter what, I’ll always walk away with something new the next time I put it on.

I watched it once again over J-Term with my brothers. I already knew which parts to look out for: The first time Peter loses his powers, the fight with Doc Ock in the bank, the “Raindrops are Falling on my Head” scene and the fight on the train.

One scene I hadn’t been looking out for was when Peter talks with Aunt May as she’s moving out of her house. Peter had taken a hiatus from being Spider-Man, but he starts questioning whether that was the right decision. May tells him that everyone loves a hero, someone that they can look up to and that can keep them honest, give them strength and keep them noble.

Spider-Man represents getting up and moving forward despite what has happened. No matter what pain Peter endures, no matter how bad his life gets, he knows that people are relying on him to keep going, which gives him the strength to don the mask.

I’m no superhero, but I think that mindset is important to have. Admittedly, this year hasn’t been stellar for me mentally. I’ve spent more mornings than I’d like to admit wishing to sink into my mattress rather than get up and start my day.

It’d be easy to do that. Hell, that’s exactly what I’ve done some days, staying inside with my thoughts and allowing myself to spiral instead of going to class.

Whenever I want to give up, throw in the towel or all in all disappear, I tell myself that Peter wouldn’t do that. He’d pick himself up, dust himself off and keep going because he knows that people are relying on and looking up to him.

You don’t need superpowers to do that. Anyone can do it. Anyone can be Spider-Man.

@kethanbabu_04

babukc2@miamioh.edu