It’s been over 60 years since Spider-Man first swung onto the pages of The Amazing Fantasy, before launching into his own solo series. From there, the hero – created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko – became a global phenomenon and, as Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s arrival on the 2026 movie schedule proves, that hype is alive and well. That film is set to thrust Peter Parker into a fresh – and somewhat dour – chapter and, given that, I can’t help but think about Lee’s reasoning as to why fans can “relate” to Parker.
Following the events of 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker has been forgotten by his friends and loved ones, which was a choice he made to save the multiverse from destruction. Brand New Day sees the character diving head first into his responsibilities as the friendly neighborhood hero, and that isolation seems to be taking a toll on him. It goes without saying that historically, Parker’s life has rarely (if ever) been perfect. The late Lee believed audiences connected with those hardships:
Spider-Man is easy for fans to relate to because he’s really an everyman who has the same problems and hang-ups as they do. He has trouble earning a living, is always facing some sort of romantic dilemma.
Let’s face it, Parker is far from a billionaire industrialist like Tony Stark or a powerful Norse god who dwells in Asgard like Thor. Peter is indeed the “everyman” as Lee previously shared with SFX Magazine on CinemaBlend as part of a 60th anniversary piece. While it’s definitely tough to see the Queens native deal with issues like unemployment and heartbreak, it’s also endearing and can even make readers look at their own circumstances through a different lens. Veteran comic book writer Danny Fingeroth also added more great points:
He’s really the regular person superhero. He’s always trying to do the right thing, but is often prevented by circumstances from doing everything right, all the time. That’s an attitude most people can relate to. Peter is also consistently inconsistent. At various times, he says he’s Spider-Man for different reasons: to atone for his belief that it’s his fault that Uncle Ben was murdered, although a strong case could be made that it wasn’t his fault at all; to make money taking photos of Spider-Man, although there are a million other ways someone with his powers and abilities could make money; because it’s fun to be Spider-Man – which is, in many ways, key to the character’s popularity.
Based on the Brand New Day trailers, Peter declares himself Spider-Man out of sheer nobility but at the expense of his personal life. The early clips suggest that he’s pretty much the wall-crawler most of the time. The actor who plays the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of the character, Tom Holland, even admitted to Peter “actively ignoring” advice from Andrew Garfield’s Parker about asking for help when it’s needed. It’s sad to think of Peter being that way but, again, it all wraps back around to what makes him relatable.
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It would seem that director Destin Daniel Cretton and Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers succeeded with that approach, based on the positive Brand New Day reviews. Personally, I’d like to think that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko would be proud that their character is still thriving and that the creatives handling Spidey in the various mediums are still maintaining the core aspects that make him lovable. That continued dedication to the source material is, in my humble opinion, truly spectacular, sensational and amazing. Nuff said.
Check out Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which opens in theaters on July 31. To prepare for it, check out the first three installments in the franchise by streaming them with a Disney+ subscription.
