Highlights
- Peter Parker's early life experiences with loss and tragedy shaped him to become a great hero in the Marvel universe.
- Peter was a science prodigy with a love for science, spurring his future as Spider-Man, despite facing bullies in school.
- Even before becoming Spider-Man, Peter demonstrated courage and selflessness by protecting his classmates and taking the blame.
There are few people who don't know the origin story of Peter Parker, a teenager from Queens who is bitten by a radioactive spider and becomes Spider-Man, a superhero with the power to climb walls and shoot webs, among other things. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962, and has become one of Marvel's most iconic figures in both film and comic book history.
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However, there's plenty that even die-hard fans of Spider-Man don't know about the life of Peter Parker. Specifically, there are details about his life predating the infamous spider-bite that show that, despite the randomness of acquiring his superhero powers, Peter was always meant to be one of the greatest heroes in Marvel's multiverse of super humans.
6 Peter Understood Loss Early On
He Was Dealt A Bad Hand
A central part of Peter Parker's adolescent life is the absence of his parents, Richard and Mary, who died in a plane crash when Peter was a baby. In their place, Peter was primarily raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May, who treated Peter as their own child. However, it wasn't long before a young Peter began to process the grief of suddenly losing his parents.
In a 2006 issue of The Sensational Spider-Man centered around a flashback from the POV of Aunt May, she walks in on Peter crying over his parents and promises to always be there for him. Loss is a difficult thing for any human being, let alone a child, so the early experience of grappling with and overcoming it certainly helped shape the person Peter would soon become.
5 Peter Was A Science Prodigy
He's Something Of A Scientist Himself
As depicted in early comics, Peter Parker didn't have much of a social life prior to becoming Spider-Man. However, he was a brilliant student of science, which was a quality he developed at a very young age. This was showcased in a 1997 issue of Spider-Man, in which Uncle Ben and Aunt May took a young Peter on a tour of Oscorp's science facilities.
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It was there that Peter's future nemesis, Norman Osborn, encouraged a young Parker to pursue a career in science. Peter would spend the next few years reading about science and studying it at the cost of not being very popular at school. Peter also developed an affection for his science teachers at school, including Daphne Smith and Raymond Warren.
4 Peter Confronted Bullies
He Just Wasn't Strong Enough To Be The Hero
Peter Parker's struggle with bullies started early and followed him throughout high school, and in some ways even continued into his career as Spider-Man. Though Peter made a few friends in school, and even had an early romantic interest in Gwen Stacy due to their mutual love for science, Peter also faced bullies like Carl King and Flash Thompson.
Peter was very weak compared to other students, but that didn't stop him from sticking up for himself from time to time. At one point, when Peter attempted to get back at a group of bullies for ruining Aunt May's groceries (and was beaten up for it), he was still commended by Uncle Ben for being courageous and protecting Aunt May, even if he didn't have the powers to do so effectively...yet.
3 Peter Survived A Baseball Injury
Peter's Greatest Tragedy Is Being A Mets Fan
One interest from Peter Parker's youth was baseball, which was something he shared with his Uncle Ben from a young age. The duo went to many Mets games during Peter's childhood, but not every game went so smoothly. In 2001, a Peter Parker: Spider-Man comic showed how one trip to a Mets game ended with Peter getting knocked unconscious by a home run ball.
Surprisingly, Peter was revived by Mr. Met, of all people, who he was startled by upon waking back up. Nevertheless, it's pretty impressive that Peter survived the incident, considering how fast and hard he might've been hit by that baseball. If that had happened to Peter when he was Spider-Man, it'd likely just bounce off him without doing much, if any, damage. That's if he didn't catch it bare-handed first.
2 He Saved His Friend From Trouble
He Bit The Bullet For A Guilty Classmate
When Peter first entered high school, his time as a victim of bullying took a turn when Charlie Weiderman joined his class and began taking on the brunt of the bullies' attention. Peter ended up befriending Charlie, though this kid had a bit of an edge to him compared to Peter, pulling a knife on students who tried to mess with him, though Peter bravely took the blame for it.
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While Uncle Ben also helped the story to get the school off Charlie's back, when Peter told his uncle the truth, he was forbidden from hanging out with Charlie any longer. Eventually, Charlie left Peter's school, and Peter went back to becoming the bullies' main target. Later, as an adult, Peter encounters Charlie again after his former friend began wearing a skinsuit of liquid Vibranium.
1 He Won A Science Fair
Peter Doesn't Just Win Superhero Fights
As Peter got further into high school, his love for science began to pay off in big ways. The best example of this was in a 2005 issue of Marvel Knights: Spider-Man where Peter wins a 10th grade science fair competition against Laurie Lynton, an equally-science obsessed girl who used to have a crush on him. Still, the two of them were subject to bullying by Flash Thompson.
While Peter's love for science was winning him trophies at his school, which is impressive enough on its own, it would soon lead him down the path where he gets bitten by a radioactive spider. Though some may view that life-changing event as the result of bad luck, Peter's intellect is likely what makes him the perfect candidate to be Spider-Man.
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