Why I love Spiderman

Spiderman is without a doubt my favourite superhero.

He has cool powers, he swings from building to building, he likes helping normal folk. But these aren't the reasons why I love him as a character. All his superpowers, the cool gadgets and being one of the smartest people in the Marvel universe would mean nothing to me if he didn't have one vital thing, his empathy.

So lets start from the beginning, we all know the origin of Spiderman, the nerdy kid, the spider bite, Uncle Ben, great power comes great responsibility, etc. Peter Parker's life would be a whole lot easier if he didn't do the superhero thing, because being a normal person and a superhero sucks for the majority of time, relationships have been sacrificed, his own career too but he chooses to do it because it's his sense of responsibility that drives him. It all goes back to Uncle Ben's immortal line, "With great power comes great responsibility." Peter would feel responsible if he didn't stop a crime he could have prevented. If it is within his power to do so he will do so no matter what, when it comes to helping people he is selfless in every sense.

We all know he has great abilities, sticking to walls, super strength, his often regarded over powered spider sense. However people often forget that he is a very prodigious scientist, he invented spider web fluid, he invented the dispenser, he invented a ton of other cool gadgets too. It might seem all so far fetched but what's more unbelievable a guy who can swing from building to building in the middle of Manhattan catching bad guys or a genius kid who can invent stuff and make a cool costume?

Spiderman has always been alone, not because he wants to, nor because he needs to. If someone capable could help him he would gladly accept in a heartbeat, but a majority of the time he doesn't have that luxury and even if he does, he would still be conscious of their safety because he knows any person who would help him is automatically put in danger because of him, which is why the mask is so important to him. Bearing this part of his life alone is part of his responsibility, even when he does let his loved ones know the truth of his secret identity, he is always guarded about letting them know too much because protecting them is more important than anything.

Now back to the most important trait of Peter Parker, his empathy. It's the one stand out thing that I think sets him apart from most super heroes. I relate to his empathy the most and admire him the most because of it. Peter Parker grew up as an outsider, he's smart without being a socially inept, he can sense when something is going wrong with other people. If Peter Parker didn't have super powers, he would still be an outsider helping people or wanting to help people. As Spiderman this sentiment is carried out exponentially. He is a superhero that is publicly lambasted by the Daily Bugle on a if not daily, a weekly basis. He's not doing this out for fame though, he has to help where help is needed.

His greatest villains have all been people he knows, or has gotten to know and a lot of the times he is not trying to defeat them with just violence alone, he tries to understand why they do what they do and if it's more than just petty greed he will use his empathy to try and save them from themselves.Using his intelligence to out think his opponent and resolve things non fatally. It doesn't always end up that way but nonetheless Spiderman has never killed anyone and its not because he has a no kill code that batman has, it's because he cares and feels responsible about catching people and not be judging them, it's not what he is out to do.

Spiderman is my favourite hero because on the grand scheme of things he is always about helping the people on the streets, not just fighting crime, but actually engaging and helping people. He doesnt fight battles in space, he doesnt have villains who want to destroy the planet or literal gods trying to take over the world, he is all about stopping crime, stopping people getting hurt and saving people from danger or from themselves. His strong sense of responsibility is his engine and his empathy is his compass. This is why I love Spiderman.