Peter Parker is Barry, not Hal.

[starwolf_oakley]

Information from the San Diego Comic Con and some thoughts about the Green Lantern movie gave me an epiphany about Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man.

We want Peter Parker to be Barry Allen, not Hal Jordan.



It started with J. Michael Straczynski and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (Vol 2) #30, and the idea that the radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker *chose* him to be a Spider-Totem. The radiation killed the spider and affected Peter's blood, but that was an unwanted side-effect.



The problem with the Spider-Totem idea? Getting chosen as a Spider-Totem turns Peter Parker into Hal Jordan (chosen because he's special) instead of Barry Allen (victim of random chance who becomes a good guy).

We don't want Peter Parker to be Hal Jordan. A lot of the complaints about Peter in the post-OMD era is that he has characteristics in common with Hal.

Peter Parker should be Barry Allen. A science-minded guy who gets super powers totally by accident. Stan Lee added dead relatives and a massive guilt complex into Peter's background, but the similarity is there and should stay there. Alternate future stories (Spider-Girl, Earth X) even have Peter becoming a police scientist, which is Barry's profession.

There's something familiar about this picture of Barry Allen and his mom...

Comments

[shanejayell]

Uhm, I don't want Peter to be like Barry Boring or Horndog Hal.

I want Peter Parker. Which sadly we haven't seen since OMD.

[detective_deathman08]

Yes I have not heard about the spider totem thing in a while, but I like to thing it was random. It keeps with the whole evryman vibe of the charachter. Also I like both Hal and Barry equally, but I really like the heros who got powers and took it among themselves to use them for good. That is why I hate after rebirth Barry has this great tragedy in his past. I like to think especially since he is a cop, he would not need a dead mom or uncle to teach him "with great power, comes great responsibility". I do wonder though why Hal Jordan gets such a bad rap, Vol 3 Gl up until he became parralax, was the best I have seen him written imo(honestly those parts were good too).

[nickfury90]

I like the Spider-Totem stuff(well, until that "The Other" crossover, but in my head!canon, that part doesn't exist, and it pretty much doesn't in the regular canon either!), I thought it was an interesting idea and breathed some fresh blood into the series after many misguided and mediocre years of stories. Even if he was chosen, all his actions, decisions, and consequences(for good or for ill) were still his. I don't think it made him any less of a hero or any less of an "everyman hero" because he's this Chosen One to bring balance to the Force or whatever.

[thehefner]

Yeah, and I want Hal to be James T. Kirk, not William Riker. I also want Barry Allen to be not-angst-bucket!Barry Allen. But apparently no one at DC sees things my way.

As for Peter, I second the echo that I just want Peter back period. Which is to say, mainly the Peter from runs of both J.M.'s: DeMatteis and Straczynski.

[kenwyn89]

You have "chosen ones" and the "special ones" (Jose Marinio style, heh). Peter Parker is a special one- an accident gave him powers and he becomes one of the greats by working his way up and beating anything in his way. He is special because he has the character to achieve this.

If you're a chosen one (Buffy or Anakin Skywalker style), you are one of the greats, still near enough by accident of birth, but you earn your right to being great after you've already been named it.

For me, when he's "chosen" it crosses the realm into fantasy, which doesn't belong in the superhero world, really (Thor notwithstanding).

[hyperactivator]

I prefer to believe that Peter is an Unchosen onehttp://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheUnchosenOne

And the fact that he gained spider totem energy was because he took the spider as his totem. He was mutated by the radioactive spider but gained seperate myststical power by the very act of being spider-man. So the totem came after the bite and wasn't the cause of it.

[biod]

What I liked about JMS' approach to the whole thing was that he left it open. His powers may be magical in nature, they may be scientific (or what passes for science in the MU), or they may be both. What matters in the end is that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, and that is awesome.

[hyperactivator]

I prefer to believe that Peter is an Unchosen onehttp://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheUnchosenOne

And the fact that he gained spider totem energy was because he took the spider as his totem. He was mutated by the radioactive spider but gained seperate myststical power by the very act of being spider-man. So the totem came after the bite and wasn't the cause of it.

[silverzeo]

And yet Gwen still slept with Osborn...

[long_silence]

The Barry-Iris marriage is being undone too.

[his_spiffynesss]

Didn't all this Spider Totem bullshit first come up when Julie Tamor started working on the musical?

[big_daddy_d]

Considering how Barry Allen getting powers from a seemingly random force of nature and then turning out to have the Speed Force, I always figured that with the Spider-Totem, it made Peter more like Barry, at least origin wise of how it goes from scientific to something more supernatural. And plus I liked the Spider-Totem thing.

[silverzeo]

Wait, then how does this make you feel about Madam Web? That character from the show that had power over Spidey's life to a certain extent....