Why Does Everyone Love Spider-Man?
Spider-Man 2 creative director Bryan Intihar unpacks why the superhero appeals to both kids and adults.
Spider-Man is a rare superhero with all-ages appeal.
When I was playing Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2, a game aimed at older fans with its themes about accepting death and the complexities of adulthood, my three-year-old would often be watching Spidey and His Amazing Friends, a (good!) Disney show where the biggest stress is whether Peter Parker gets to a movie on time with Aunt May.
As a character, Spider-Man is often telling stories about fighting bad guys and growing up. But uniquely, you can grow up alongside the character, too. Spider-Man can mean different things to different people at different eras in their lives, a point only underscored by Spider-Man’s expanded popularity, thanks to Miles Morales.
All the while, there is one commonality: dang, it’d be cool to swing around like that! This helps explain why my three-year-old would dress up in a Spider-Man costume at random parts of the day and ask for my help “climbing” our walls, while I’m trying to hold back tears thinking about that scene with Aunt May from the first game.
On March 7, Spider-Man 2 will receive a long-anticipated update, with features like New Game+, additional suits, and more details we should learn about this week.
The creative director on the Spider-Man games is Bryan Intihar, a former games writer who I go way back with, from the earliest days of my career. Bryan worked at EGM while I worked at the (now very dead) 1UP.com, and like Spidey, he’s always been so kind. When I lost my job last year, one of the first people to reach out was Bryan, offering to coach me into a job in game development. His argument? If he could convince the world to let him make Spider-Man games, why couldn’t I make work?
Fortunately, for the moment, you’re spared me trying to make a video game.
But it’s also fortunate the Spider-Man games are excellent, because I couldn’t be objective about them; it’s been made me proud to watch Bryan reach such heights.
I’ve been looking for a way to chat with Bryan about Spider-Man, and this patch gave me the opportunity to ask a few questions about his relationship to the character. We chat about his universality, what it means to grow up alongside Spider-Man, and more.
Take me back to your first encounter with Spider-Man. What's your first memory of the character, and why did he lodge in your brain at the time? What made him—Peter, Spider-Man—important to you?
Bryan Intihar: As a kid, I was obsessed with superheroes and, more specifically, superhero action figures. From Superman to Iron Man, my mom and grandma would go to great lengths to make sure I had the action figure of whichever hero I wanted that week/month.
But whenever I left the house, it was always my Spider-Man action figure that came with me. I would routinely create all-these crazy scenarios/storylines in my head and had him traversing the clothing racks as my mom shopped in the local department store. Even though it was over 40 years ago, I can still remember gripping my Spider-Man action figure so tight that the Spider symbol’s black paint on his back completely wore off.
At that young age, I think I was just drawn to his costume (it just looked so cool), his abilities (who wouldn’t want to be able to crawl on ceilings/walls or swing through the world), and since he wore a mask, it was such an easy transition to imagine me being Spider-Man.
“In my opinion, it’s the elements of his character that aren’t traditionally considered ‘heroic’ are what make him so popular. When you mention things feeling lonely or suffering great loss, those are all things we deal with and experience in our own lives.”
There is a sadness to Spider-Man, as a character. He's inherently lonely. He's experienced great loss. Do you think, despite having the ability to swing through the world with superpowers, is part of his appeal to people?
Intihar: In my opinion, it’s the elements of his character that aren’t traditionally considered “heroic” are what make him so popular. When you mention things feeling lonely or suffering great loss, those are all things we deal with and experience in our own lives. We may not be able to completely relate to what it’s like to manufacture web fluid, we all can connect to the concepts of loneliness, grieving, failing, etc.
Your Spider-Man games are aimed at an older crowd, but what's interesting about Spider-Man, specifically, is his all-ages appeal. My three-year-old, for example, is obsessed with Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, which is squarely for very young children. Why do you think Spider-Man is a character that sticks with people as they age?
Intihar: It goes back to relatability and how, at different points in your life, you connect to different elements of the character. For example, as a kid it’s about letting your imagination run wild and picturing yourself in this amazing suit and having these incredible powers—dream big with little-to-no care about what’s really possible.
But as you get older, you start to identify and relate to Pete and Miles’ lives outside the suit like paying rent, falling in love/getting dumped, juggling things like school/bills because that’s what you’re dealing with in your own life. While I love characters like Tony Stark and Thor, it’s just much more of a challenge to connect and relate to a multi-billionaire or a god. Pete and Miles…they are just like us!
Did you stick with Spider-Man as you were growing up? Take some time off? How did your own relationship with the character change, as you became older? I'm curious how you look back on that relationship over time.
Intihar: I would say I didn’t read as many comics during high school because I got busy with my studies/sports. But that changed during the end of college/post-graduation where I got sucked back into the comics and, like many, started seeing high-quality superhero movies like first Spider-Man films from director Sam Raimi.
Okay, sorry, gotta know: did you ever dress up as Spider-Man for Halloween?
Intihar: I’ll do you one better than that; as a kid growing up in the “Underoos” era, my mom likes to remind me there were days where I would wear up to like eight Underoos t-shirts at once because I didn’t know which superhero I wanted to be that day and wanted the ability to change personas very quickly. So, I wasn’t just Spider-Man on Halloween, I was Spider-Man every day…along with Batman, Superman, and many many others.
Also:
My youngest fell for Spider-Man so fast last year that we had to last-minute pivot the entire theming of her third birthday from Paw Patrol to Spider-Man.
She fell asleep while coming with me to pick up her Spider-Man balloons, which was fortunate, because it was windy and one of the balloons escaped!
I genuinely adore these games, and they’re the rare games I actually 100%.
I think another thing that has kept Spider-Man relevant is Marvel's flexibility on his age. Depending on what you're watching/reading, he can be a younger kid, a teen, a recent college grad, or a tired dad. There's a Spidey for all ages. Even in the shows targeting young kids, most other popular comic heroes are consistently portrayed as adults, save some of the X-Men.
Thanks for the great interview, Patrick. I'm curious, have you checked out the new Ultimate Spider-Man? It's Peter Parker as a mid-30s dad just learning to be a superhero. Great so far and only two issues in, so there isn't the weight of decades of stories behind it.