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Spoilers below forSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Peter Parker is tired.
As he approaches his 40s, things havent worked out quite the way he planned.
Hes lost his beloved Aunt May.
Hes split with Mary Jane.
Sure, he did all that superheroing and everyone loved him for a while.
Hes younger, blonder, and, by all appearances, having a great time.
All are tremendously fun characters who are, for the most part, upbeat about their roles.
(Well, Spider-Man Noir is as upbeat as a Bogart-inspired gumshoe character can be.)
Its notthatsort of movie.
Few superhero movies are.
Yet, the specter of the older Peter Parker hangs over the Spider-Man analogues of every universe.
Voiced by Jake Johnson, he becomes a kind of mentor for Miles, but only reluctantly.
And its not hard to see why: Is Miles heading toward the same dead end as he reached?
Are all of them?
Sure, the older Peter Parker is just the inhabitant of one ofInto the Spider-Verses universe.
But well never know.
Its possible that the Peter of Miless world just hadnt lived long enough to start going downhill.
Its possible that its the fate awaiting all superheroes.
Will even Spider-Ham someday find himself reflecting on where it all went wrong?
There have been older versions of Peter Parker.
A much older Parker appears in Kaare Andrewss 20062007 mini-seriesSpider-Man: Reign.
The universe ofThe Amazing Spider-Girlfeatures a retired, middle-aged Peter.
And there have been downward-spiraling superheroes.
The protagonist of the Will SmithstarringHancockcomes to mind, but his problems go beyond disappointment and disillusionment.
Usually, however, superhero stories are tales of endless short-term setbacks, not of soul-shaking ennui.
Even our most tortured heroes dont drift away from their essential identities.
Since his 1962 debut, Peter Parker has been pretty consistent too.
All that youthful promise and early joy has given way to grown-up realities.
Age has made him hit his limits, and hes hit them hard.
Its possible to read his fate as inevitable.
Its easy to readInto the Spider-Verses slumping Peter Parker as just what happens to superheroes after a while.
A few wrong moves and the world rolls on without them.
In some ways, it already has.
But what if they didnt?
But it might just be too much effort.
