4+Spider-man+Characters

Peter Parker** (Figure 11. Peter Parker, n.d.)
 * [[image:peter-parker2.jpg width="125" height="165" align="left"]]

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Peter Parker is the protagonist of the story and is a very studious teenager who excels in science at his public high school. He exemplifies the nerd or geek and wears the cliché eyeglasses of being an intellectual in all sources except SC. He is admired by his teachers and loved by his aunt and uncle who are raising him. Peter lost his parents in his early childhood in a plane crash. After being bitten by a radioactive spider, Peter develops super human powers that he uses selfishly at first, but later uses them for good as he becomes a crime fighter.======


 * Mary Jane Watson** (Figure 12. Kirsten Dunst, n.d.)

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Mary Jane does not appear in AF, AS or SC. She is an important part of USPR and the film as someone who is part of the ‘in’ crowd, but seems to have a soft spot in her heart for Peter. In the film, Mary Jane and Peter have grown up next door to each other and Peter has secretly loved Mary Jane all those years. The love interest in the film has likely been addressed to draw in the female audience, whereas the original print issues were directed mainly to teenage boys, where action was more important than romance.======

Harry Osborn** (Figure 13. James Franco, n.d.)
 * [[image:james_franco_3.jpg width="139" height="182" align="left"]]

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Harry Osborn does not have a role in the initial stories from AF, AS or SC. Only in USPR and the Spider-man film do we see Harry’s involvement in the story. In USPR Harry is the son of millionaire scientist Norman Osborn and is part of the group that torments and bullies Peter, but because Peter helps him with his science homework, he makes attempts to curtail the bullying by the others. It is not known why Harry is attending a public high school. In the film, Harry has the same role as the millionaire’s son, but his attendance at Peter’s school is provided: Harry has not been able to achieve the standards of the private schools he has attended and has been expelled from them. Harry is not particularly liked at school and is an outcast, like Peter. This makes their friendship more believable, rather than the one established through pity or manipulation in the USPR.======



Norman Osborn is Harry's millionaire father who is involved in scientific experiments at his company Osborn Industries (USPR) or OSCORP (SM). He has had little time for his son, Harry, and they have a distanced relationship. In a desperate need for human test results, Norman self-administers a drug that turns him into a raging monster in USPR and into a schizophrenic psychopath known as the Green Goblin in SM.
 * Norman Osborn** (Figure 14. Norman Osborn, n.d.)

(Figure 15. Wheatcakes, n.d.) (Figure 16. Aunt May and Uncle Ben, n.d.)
 * [[image:aunt-may-uncle-ben-200.jpg align="right"]]Aunt May and Uncle Ben Parker**

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Aunt May and Uncle Ben are Peter’s loving guardians. They are portrayed as being quite elderly, perhaps in their late 70’s or early 80’s in AF, AS, and SC, but are somewhat younger, in their 60’s, in USPR and SM. In USPR Uncle Ben even sports a ponytail, indicating a closer connection to youth as possibly being a leftover aspect of his days as a hippie.======

J. Jonah Jameson** (Figure 17. Jameson, n.d.) J. Jonah Jameson, editor of the Daily Bugle newspaper, is convinced that Spider-man is some kind of phony and is more of a menace than a hero. Jameson is obsessed with trying to prove that Spider-man is a villain. He's a tough, narrow-minded character whose bark may be worse than his bite. He hires Peter Parker as a photographer, particularly to get shots of Spider-man.
 * [[image:cartoon-jameson-200.jpg align="left"]]

Although this character has a variety of identities and a short-lived role, he is pivotal in the story, as Peter lets him escape, then later hunts him down. He is the essential element for the tragedy that transforms Peter from a boy into a responsible young man.
 * The thief/killer**

Introduction Story Summaries Adaptation to Film Critical Story Components What makes a Spider-man? Additional Spider-man Information Bibliography

Source codes: AF (Amazing Fantasy #15, 1962 debut); AS (Amazing Spider-man, vol. 1 1963); USPR (Ultimate Spider-man, vol. 1 2009, Power and Responsibility); SM (Spider-man movie, 2002); SC (Spider-man cartoon, episode 21, 1967)