Peter B. Parker Has Become A Dad In Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, And That Sounds About Right
The 2018 animated film "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, was slick and stylish in ways that few big-budget animated films are. Affecting a dazzling color palate and an exaggerated comic book panel aesthetic, "Into the Spider-Verse" took what could have been an ordinary superhero story and infused it with new life. The story follows awkward teenager Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) as he's bitten by a radioactive spider, giving him superpowers. Naturally, he ends up on an adventure with multiple Spider-folks from different dimensions, and a large portion of "Spider-Verse" is devoted to Miles being mentored by a middle-aged, burned-out Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson).
"Into the Spider-Verse" won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, swept the Annies, and garnered endless accolades besides. It remains one of the better superhero films of the last 20 years.
A sequel has now been made called "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," due in June of 2023 and directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thomson. A trailer for the film was released this morning, officially kicking off a six-month period of enthused speculation by fans of the original film. As seen in a post-credits cameo after "Into," "Across" will star a character named Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac), aka Spider-Man 2099, a hook-fingered superhero from the distant future.
YouTube Premium hosted an exclusive after-preview interview with screenwriters and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who revealed that the same middle-aged Peter B. Parker will return, more tired than ever, to show off his new daughter, the one-year-old May "Mayday" Parker. People reading Marvel Comics in the late 1990s will definitely recognize that name. Mayday Parker will grow up to be Spider-Girl.
Marvel Comics 2
In 1998, Marvel Comics launched an ambitious and short-lived "alternate timeline" line of comics they called simply Marvel Comics 2. Set about 20 years in the future of then-current Marvel events, MC2 caught up with the kids of notable superheroes. There was Wild Thing, the daughter of Wolverine and Elektra. There was J2, the son of the Juggernaut. There was a re-worked Fantastic Four, which included Mr. Fantastic's brain transplanted into a robot body. There was A-Next, a new Avengers team of all-new characters (including J2). Most popular of the characters was Spider-Girl, the 17-year-old Mayday Parker, who inherited spider powers from her father. Of all the MC2 characters, Spider-Girl has had the greatest longevity.
Frustratingly, a new version of Spider-Woman was also introduced in 1998, but she was only 15 years old. It seems that the world of superheroes interchanged "woman" and "girl" however they saw fit.
The above picture shows the middle-aged Peter Parker from "Across the Spider-Verse" wearing a baby caddy on his chest, and sporting a comfy-looking robe over his Spider-Man outfit. This is a visual parallel to the grey sweatpants that he wore in "Into the Spider-Verse," but also a visual indicator that he is now a dad. His parent status described thus by Christopher Miller:
"Peter B. Parker is in a family way. Peter got back with Mary Jane and they had a baby named May Day. She has half spider-blood. Parenting is hard enough when they don't have the ability to stick to walls."
Although MC2 Spider-Girl's superpowers didn't manifest until she was a teenager, this slight alteration is an amusing image that evokes the Pixar short "Jack-Jack Attack," a film about a babysitter dealing with a superpowered infant.
Fitting for Peter
The above sketch was a piece of concept art that Lord and Miller shared with viewers.
The version of Peter Parker in "Into the Spider-Verse" was, by his design, a sad sack. He was kind of at the end of his career, had fallen out of shape, and was living alone in a tiny apartment. This is totally fitting for Peter, as being run ragged is a regular part of his story. Spider-Man was motivated to fight crime out of a sense of guilt. He let a criminal get away early in his career, and that criminal immediately murders his uncle. Letting any sort of evil persist, he finds, is tantamount to endorsing it.
Spider-Man, for his flip comments and sarcastic attitude, is perpetually at the edge of his means, both physically and financially. Spider-Man is not rich, his boss hates him, and he struggles to keep his wife content. He is often injured. He doesn't seem to take much satisfaction from being a hero, going to work every day out of a sense of weary obligation.
Anyone who has lived with an infant can relate to that feeling. It's rewarding and sweet and really, really, really, really exhausting. If Peter Parker was meant to be always at the edge of his means, giving him a baby to take care of would certainly do it. Whether or not an alternate future version of baby Mayday will appear in "Across the Spider-Verse" remains to be seen. Although, from the looks of the trailer, just about every single alternate universe version of Spider-Man will make a cameo. Spider-Fans will likely be in the audience with notepads, citing every single one by name.
One can only hope he foils the bad guys with Hostess Fruit Pies.