He's A Spider-Man!?

[Jetfire]

I am not familiar with the comics, just tv and movies about Spider-Man...all have him as a teenager or slightly older...are there good stories to tell about Spider-Man at lets say...30ish??? We all know Superman is much older for the most part when he takes on his role as The Man Of Steel...is there anything interesting for Spider-Man as a 30 something fully intune with his abilities???

Would love to hear some insight on this.

Thank you.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

how old wad Spider-Man 2099?

 

[tharpdevenport]

how old wad Spider-Man 2099?

"old wad"'s -- the great new nickname for people over 30.

 

[TemporalFlux]

are there good stories to tell about Spider-Man at lets say...30ish???

I thought that was his current age in the mainstream Marvel comics (or 616 reality as its known by). The marriage years definitely felt like late 20's / early 30's to me (especially the Stracynski run).

Of course, then you have stuff like Spider-man: Reign which features Pete in his 50's; it's essentially The Dark Knight Returns for Spider-man.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I feel Spider-man works best as guy in his late teens and early twenties. If fact, I think most super-heroes should be under thirty.

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

Spider-Man would work well in his early twenties just graduating from college as you have three story lines to go from there; Daily Bugle, research assistant and teacher. I found I liked him as a teacher personally. It's a little absurd but core to Peter.

 

[Jetfire]

I was thinking something would translate to film...guess not.

 

[Red Ranger]

I suppose the O.P. is asking this because the word is the next Spider-Man film is going will make Pete a teenager again. Personally, at this point I'd prefer a more adult Spider-Man as a 30-something guy. Hell, even as a 40-something, divorced guy!

To digress briefly, I do kind of enjoy how the new Iron Man cartoon made Tony Stark and his friends teenagers, to appeal to a younger demographic, of course. However, we've already seen the teen-age Spider-Man in the movies. What is it with all this reboot fever out there?

 

[A beaker full of death]

Spidey was a full grown man in his late 20s-early 30s back in the 80s. I think he still is in most of the comics.

 

[SiorX]

I feel Spider-man works best as guy in his late teens and early twenties. If fact, I think most super-heroes should be under thirty.

Bats as an exception to that rule?

Actually, although the ages flail around wildly in DC, I like it when they're written with a (relatively) broad age range - so Bruce, Ollie , and Hal read as older men, people like Dick, Babs and Dinah feel like young professionals, then various younger turks from Jason, Mia, to Cass and Steph.

Wrt Spidey, I think at the moment Didio et al are sort of obsessed with returning him to his youth. I vaguely remember liking Straczynsk's run on Amazing Spiderman where I seem to recall Pete felt that bit older. Can anyone back me up on that, or am I talking rubbish?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Bats? No, he should be around thirty. My exceptions would be heroes like Reed Richards, Dr. Strange and Iron Man. They would be between thirty and forty. The JSAers would also get a pass.

The original Teen Titans would never be over 18. (If fact I prefer they were under 16). As for the "fourth" generation. No real need for them, Except for maybe Kon-el.

 

[SiorX]

^I guess I love Cass, Steph, and Jaime too much for that.

Most of the characters with long histories read much older to me than canon would have them. Babs, for instance, could easily be headed for thirty.

Trying to pin an age on superheroes requires advanced bistromatics though.

 

[Nerys Myk]

^I guess I love Cass, Steph, and Jaime too much for that.

Most of the characters with long histories read much older to me than canon would have them. Babs, for instance, could easily be headed for thirty.

Trying to pin an age on superheroes requires advanced bistromatics though.

Depends on how they are written. Batman has has five Robins stuffed into his "lifetime" in the last twenty years. Three or four of which are now adults! Each Robin that hits 18 make poor Bats that much older. How long till Damian is voting in National elections?

Steph and Jaimie are okay. Jamie is only the third BB and doesnt fall into the same catagory as Tim, Cassie and Kon-el. Same for Steph. Both could easily be of the same generation as the original TT.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Bats? No, he should be around thirty.

nah, 35. Peak of physical ability and fully formed. 30-year-olds aren't fully cooked yet.
Superman, of course, has been 29 for about 40 years (I think he was a little older before that).

As for Marvel, I still maintain that Reed and Ben served in WWII, and Iron Man was born in Viet Nam. But I'm ornery that way.
Speaking of which, though, as written in the 60s through the 80s, Reed and Ben certainly did serve in WWII, so that makes them 40ish right out of the gate.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Yeah, Reed and Ben's WWII service is why they should be in the 40-50 range. I think Prof. X showed up in a Sgt Fury book once so he's in that group too. He was in Korea too, IIRC.

 

[The Fatman]

Bats? No, he should be around thirty.

nah, 35. Peak of physical ability and fully formed. 30-year-olds aren't fully cooked yet.
Superman, of course, has been 29 for about 40 years (I think he was a little older before that).

As for Marvel, I still maintain that Reed and Ben served in WWII, and Iron Man was born in Viet Nam. But I'm ornery that way.
Speaking of which, though, as written in the 60s through the 80s, Reed and Ben certainly did serve in WWII, so that makes them 40ish right out of the gate.

I really don't mean to hijack the thread, but men hit their physical peak by age 25. With exercise and a healthy lifestyle, one can maintain that peak for 10 years... but if one is taking constant abuse, like say football players, professional wrestlers, or costumed heroes....the body would already have nagging injuries and noticeable decreases in performance by age 30.

Back on topic... I think of course there are goods stories to tell about a 30 year old Spider-Man. I just don't think there are as many interesting stories to tell. Spidey IS a teen aged superhero... that's his thing. If by age 30, Pete hasn't gotten his personal life in order it stops being compelling and becomes kind of sad.

 

[Hermiod]

I am not familiar with the comics, just tv and movies about Spider-Man...all have him as a teenager or slightly older...are there good stories to tell about Spider-Man at lets say...30ish??? We all know Superman is much older for the most part when he takes on his role as The Man Of Steel...is there anything interesting for Spider-Man as a 30 something fully intune with his abilities???

Would love to hear some insight on this.

Thank you.

I don't know what age they gave him, but during JMS' run on the book he grew up a lot.

He got a proper job teaching science at his old school instead of living photo sale to photo sale. Aunt May found out about Spider-Man and they had a proper conversation about it (after which May showed her pride in a small way by writing to Jameson to tell him what she thought about the way he portrays Spidey in his newspaper).

He became a fully fledged Avenger too. Unfortunately, Brand New Day has reduced him to being a loser again.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I am not familiar with the comics, just tv and movies about Spider-Man...all have him as a teenager or slightly older...are there good stories to tell about Spider-Man at lets say...30ish??? We all know Superman is much older for the most part when he takes on his role as The Man Of Steel...is there anything interesting for Spider-Man as a 30 something fully intune with his abilities???

Would love to hear some insight on this.

Thank you.

I don't know what age they gave him, but during JMS' run on the book he grew up a lot.

He got a proper job teaching science at his old school instead of living photo sale to photo sale. Aunt May found out about Spider-Man and they had a proper conversation about it (after which May showed her pride in a small way by writing to Jameson to tell him what she thought about the way he portrays Spidey in his newspaper).

He became a fully fledged Avenger too. Unfortunately, Brand New Day has reduced him to being a loser again.

The question is, should Peter Parker "grow up". Why is that needed or necessary? Spider-man's personna is the wise cracking, hard luck hero who some people don't trust. Peter is a guy who's life never quite comes together because he's Spider-man. It costs him jobs, friends and relationships. A Spider-man with a steady job, a steady girl and membership in the most prestigous Super-Team isn't really Spider-Man. It goes against the core of the character. He can have these things briefly, but in the end it has to fall apart.

 

[A beaker full of death]

men hit their physical peak by age 25.

I'm guessing you're... 24?
Me, in my 40s I can bench and deadlift twice as much as I could when I was 25.

Spidey IS a teen aged superhero... that's his thing.

That was his thing in the 60s. Ever since the 70s, he's been at least in his late 20s, movies notwithstanding.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Maybe you just didn't try hard enough when you were 25?

Cant say I recall anything in the 70s that shout "Peter Parker is in his late 20s". He pretty much stopped aging in real time by that point, no?