Spider-Man’s Nickname Doesn’t Make Sense Anymore

Since his debut in the Silver Age of Comics, Spider-Man has represented something different from most Marvel heroes. Even compared to the other major characters who debuted in the “Marvel age,” he was far more relatable and down to Earth. This earned him a nickname that’s stuck with him since then, but in recent years, this moniker has become a lot less appropriate.

For most of his existence, Spidey’s nickname of the “friendly neighborhood” Spider-Man reflected his more grounded nature. Sadly, this has increasingly been removed due to countless multiversal shenanigans, constant team-ups and a swarm of other Spider-people. These issues are now crescendoing into an upcoming crossover, and it’s perhaps representative of how far Spider-Man has gotten away from his roots.

Spider-Man Started as an Everyman Superhero

Spidey Has Always Been Marvel’s Most Relatable Hero

Everything about Spider-Man’s core and existence made him stand out from the crowd compared to Marvel’s other characters, especially the stuffy, stoic, and bland heroes of DC Comics’ Silver Age stable. Unlike them, Spider-Man and his alter ego Peter Parker had relatable, understandable and human issues.

Beyond fighting supervillains and ensuring he had enough web fluid to galavant as a doer of good, Peter Parker’s biggest priorities were his various relationship problems with girls, having enough money to pay his bills, and dealing with the many health scares of his elderly aunt. Sure, the Fantastic Four argued with each other. Still, they were usually involved in cosmic adventures related to other dimensions, space aliens and galactic conquerors looking to turn Earth into the latest fast food sensation. The same was true for many of the Avengers, especially when they teamed up in the World’s Mightiest Heroes’ monthly comic book.

Spider-Man had real problems that made him particularly relatable to young adult readers. It helped that his villains were the same way and not too far removed from reality, even when they were fairly colorful and outlandish. Most of Spidey’s classic enemies were mad scientists, animal and gimmick-themed goons or normal crooks looking to make a name for themselves in organized crime. This was a far cry from alien invaders, Atlantean princes with a lust for surface women, or some of the more grandiose enemies that other Marvel heroes fought. The scope of his own life and those of his villains meant that Spider-Man was a far less “cartoonish” character to follow, especially given his morals of power and responsibility.

Thus, it’s no surprise that he had the “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man” moniker, as it was something that both readers and the civilians that Spidey protected felt was true. He was more along the lines of street-level crimefighters such as Luke Cage than Iron Man or Thor, making him far more likely to encounter them while keeping them from being mugged. Unfortunately, these relatable elements have eroded over time, especially as Spider-Man has increasingly hung out with the “big dogs.”

Spider-Man Has Been Associated With the Avengers Too Much Recently

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are Far More Grandiose Than “Friendly Neighborhood”

For most of his history, Spider-Man had little to do with the Avengers. Part of this was because, despite their being “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,” the team and the individual characters who were a part of it were drastically less popular than the Web-Slinger.

Even in the Heroes Return run on The Avengers, which featured every former Avenger at the series’ beginning, Spidey was only briefly there and soon ditched the team. Only in Brian Michael Bendis’ New Avengers run did the hero become more intrinsically tied to them, a trait that’s been reflected since then in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. By being such an integral part of the Avengers in recent years, Spider-Man has lost some of his more relatable nature.

For so much of its history, the Avengers team has been made up of Marvel’s larger-than-life heroes, many of whom have little in the way of relatable day jobs. Captain America, Thor, and even Iron Man haven’t had secret identities in ages, and even in the case of the latter’s longrunning ruse of Iron Man being his “bodyguard,” his alter ego was a rich billionaire industrialist and far from the average Joe. He once had a ritzy living space afforded him by Tony Stark/Iron Man due to being an Avenger.

It wasn’t like when he had a nice house due to Mary Jane’s success in modeling, as this simply came off as them both having succeeded as professional adults. In terms of contacts, other, more grounded heroes such as Daredevil are more fittingfor Spidey. Even when he goes to Reed Richards for help, it’s a sign that he’s reaching out to a higher scientific authority than himself, making him still feel relatable. Overall, his friendly neighborhood nature isn’t as strong as it once was, mainly due to his constantly rubbing shoulders with heroes whose scope goes far beyond the neighborhood.

Spider-Verse Crossovers and Derivative Characters Have Destroyed Spider-Man’s Relatable Aspects

Spider-Man Loses a Lot When He’s Surrounded by Expies

For over a decade, Spider-Man has frequently been involved in “Spider-Verse” crossovers that team up the various Spider-people of the mainstream Marvel Universe with those of other worlds, timelines and dimensions. The prevalence of these events has only increased due to the popularity of the Spider-Verse animated movies, but it’s become a big problem. Fans have noted how tired they are of this once novel concept, as it’s simply been run into the ground beyond its selling date.

A new “Spider-Verse vs. Venom-Verse” event is planned for 2025, showcasing how much the idea has been overused. Constant adventures in the multiverse fit the Fantastic Four, but they’re painfully removed from what made Spidey such a hit decades ago. This speaks to another major issue Marvel has gotten too happyperpetuating. In the mainstream Earth-616 universe alone, there are countless other Spider-people besides Peter Parker. These include Miles Morales (who was once in his own universe), Spider-Gwen (who has the same issue), Spider-Woman and more.

That’s without even getting into the many symbiotes, who are all still tied to Spidey by way of Venom and Carnage. Likewise, various Spider-Men and Spider-Women frequently appear from other universes due to the Spider-Verse crossovers, further diluting the friendly neighborhood status of the hero due to them usually being on some multiversal mission. Not only do the other Spider-people take away from Peter Parker’s Spider-Man, but they also make the happenstance nature of Peter being bitten by a radioactive spider a common occurrence. Now, instead of being someone who just happened to be accidentally bitten by a spider, he’s one of thousands of ultimately interchangeable heroes.

It doesn’t help that so many other Spider-people conceptually and narratively steal from Peter Parker. Miles Morales frequently fights villains associated with the older Spider-Man, while Spider-Gwen is just a musical-themed, genderswapped version of Peter Parker. There’s very little that’s unique about them, which, in essence, makes Peter feel less unique. Ironically, this makes Peter less of a relatable everyman, as so many of his traits can be swapped out and applied to the latest flavor of the month, Spider-person. Worst of all, a legion of other Spider-allies who are always a stone’s throw away makes it to where villains are a veritable joke.

As a result, multiversal foes such as Morlun are some of the only threats that logically endanger the many Spider-people at this stage in the game. It’s a big reason why the new Ultimate Spider-Man book is such a hit, as it focuses on a married, adult Peter Parker, who’s the only Spider-Man or Spider-person in his world. Despite not being a down-on-his-luck teen, this Peter embodies a “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man,” more so than the mainstream version has been in the past several years. Hopefully, the moniker will make sense for 616 Spider-Man again, but he’s a mere spider-drop in an endless spider-sea.