Nah, I was referring to the argument that Gwen's death was a soap opera trope. Admittedly, they were forced to bring her back in soap opera fashion, but even then they managed to do it without bringing her back to life. 

I’d agree…sometimes.

If I gained the power of flight tomorrow, I might work delivering blood products for a charity in the more congested areas of London, as that’d probably be a good use of powers. Me doing that would be more efficient than a driver doing it in increasingly congested boroughs.

But if I had mind-reading powers, I might work for a law enforcement agency, because it’d be useful reading the mind of a criminal who has kidnapped someone - and who has a bomb hidden somewhere. 

It’d all depend on altruism, of course.

If I had powers, I might not want to work in regular jobs where my powers could result in job losses. If I had the powers of the Flash, I might be Royal Mail’s best postman - but if I can deliver a dozen streets in a matter of minutes, Royal Mail would have no reason to employ other postmen, so they’d downsize. And that’d be unfair.

All of this is extremely hypothetical, of course.

That's a really interesting idea. I don't actually agree, mind you, but still, the idea of Peter taking, say, Robbie Robertson fully into his confidence and having him serve as an older, wiser partner, a la Alfred, is fascinating to entertain.

But I think it's precisely Peter's isolation in having to shoulder the burden of his secret identity and the terrible guilt he felt over Uncle Ben's death (and later Gwen's) on his own and on such young shoulders that makes him such a special character. Speaking for myself, it's one of the key aspects that endeared me to the character and made him resonate so much with me when I was an angsty teen and as I moved into my early 20s...and I strongly suspect I'm not alone in that respect among Spidey's fanbase.




Absolutely! And that's exactly why he's about a 50 times more interesting character than Superman. It's his flaws that make Spidey such an interesting and engaging character to follow.

It means Superman is more concerned with constantly chasing after a woman who refuses to stop placing herself in danger, and ignoring the fact she's taking his dedication to her / pulling him away from more serious problems for granted.

If he’d used transistors or radiation to catch her she’d have become Neck-Stretcher Girl.

I think Spider-Man is somewhat a more pronounced "what you bring to it personally" type of character. Some people really feel the tragedy side of Peter, that the world is hard and his many trials are what make him compelling. For others it may be more the wisecracking fun side, a hero you just love seeing in action and the banter with his adversaries. The death of Gwen for one person is a captivating depiction of loss and its aftermath, for another it's a lost opportunity for Pete to continue to develop a more mature romantic relationship. For one person Peter in high school might have been a bitter outcast, for another more a gentle intelligent soul who loves science and seems truly loved by his uncle and aunt and vice versa, and this offsets some of the social awkwardness he feels in school.

Some of us may have felt awkwardness in our younger years, and maybe still have some hard feelings about life and relationships. Others may have felt it but became more at ease later on, finding deeper contentment in love and relationships. Some of us love a happy ending, others might love a perpetual tear-jerker.

At the end of the day I think Peter and Spider-Man can be all these things.