Spider-Man fandom is in Tyler Scott Hoover鈥檚 blood 鈥� but not because he was bitten by an irradiated arachnid. His father had collected Marvel comic books featuring the character since the 1970s.
鈥淗e passed down a ton of comics to me,鈥� says Hoover, 32, of Glen Burnie, Maryland. 鈥淚t kind of makes it almost like a religion. It would have been hard for me not to become a fan of Spider-Man.鈥�
There are legions of fans of Spider-Man, who this month marks 60 years in the vast, imaginative world of comic books, movies and merch. Among those fans are devotees like Hoover, a professional Spider-Man cosplayer and model who doesn鈥檛 resemble the longtime 鈥渃anon鈥� presentation of the character. However, in the cinematic and comics universes, is now reality.
Hoover is biracial 鈥� of Black and white ancestry 鈥� and stands at 6 feet 2 inches. And the story of his fandom illustrates an important point about New York City鈥檚 favorite super-powered wall-crawler: The appeal of the character long ago transcended its original iteration as a white, unimposing, orphaned teenager.
READ MORE:
The Spider-Man character鈥檚 classic costume, complete with wide-eyed and web-patterned mask, is a key ingredient to the character鈥檚 appeal across race, gender and nationality. Almost anyone can imagine themselves behind it as this everyman 鈥� an underestimated smartypants who, after a quick change into head-to-toe spandex, becomes a force for good.
鈥淭he older I got, slowly but surely, I saw how relatable the character was,鈥� Hoover says. 鈥淗e had to work through his struggles while still maintaining a secret identity and doing good for the people. That kind of moral compass is powerful, especially for an impressionable mind.鈥�
More importantly, Hoover says, it鈥檚 Spider-Man鈥檚 struggle to protect his hometown that makes the character more believable than superheroes whose origin stories include wealth and influence. No coincidence, surely, that he refers to himself as 鈥測our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.鈥�
Created by the late Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Spider-Man appeared in comics as early as June 1962, although the canon date of his debut is Aug. 10, 1962, in Marvel鈥檚 Amazing Fantasy #15. Peter Parker, a high schooler bitten by a spider from a science experiment, developed superhuman strength, the ability to cling to solid surfaces and fast reflexes aided by the ability to sense and anticipate danger.
But on his journey to becoming a superhero, Parker fails to stop a burglar who kills his Uncle Ben, leaving his adoptive aunt widowed. The character then strives to honor the words etched at the end of that debut issue, later attributed to his uncle: 鈥淲ith great power, there must also come great responsibility.鈥�
Racially and culturally diverse superheroes, generally absent from the mainstream comics scene during its first decades, began to emerge in the years after Spider-Man鈥檚 debut, particularly at Marvel.
In 1966, Black Panther, also known as Prince T鈥機halla of the fictional and reclusive African nation of Wakanda, became the first Black Marvel comic superhero. Debuting in the 1970s were characters such as Storm, the mutant goddess most known as a member of Marvel鈥檚 X-Men; Luke Cage, Marvel鈥檚 formerly imprisoned Black Harlemite with superhuman strength and nearly impenetrable skin; Shang-Chi, the master martial artist who is among the first Asian Marvel superheroes; and Red Wolf, the expert archer and first Native American Marvel superhero.
鈥淪ometimes when we think of superheroes, we think of billionaires in suits, brilliant scientists or Norse gods,鈥� says Ang茅lique Roch茅, host of the podcast 鈥淢arvel鈥檚 Voices鈥� and co-author of the upcoming book
Spider-Man turned the idea of mostly privileged humans using their wealth and power to become heroes on its head, she says. Spider-Man iterations, in the comics and in film, have appeared across multiple universes, or the so-called 鈥渟piderverse.鈥� Miles Morales, a teenage, Afro Latino Spider-Man, has become wildly popular and starred in his own animated feature film. Cindy Moon, a Korean-American known as Silk, was bitten by the same spider as Peter Parker.
鈥淏ecause Spider Man means so much to us, we should always be open to the possibilities,鈥� Roch茅 says. 鈥淲e should always hope and believe that there鈥檚 never going to be a dearth of people who want to fight for what鈥檚 right.鈥�
In July, Spider-Man was inducted into the Comic-Con Hall of Fame during the annual convention in San Diego. Fans flooded the convention hall in costumes that spanned various iterations of the character.
Because of the mask, Spider-Man has been a safer choice for cosplayers hoping to avoid the staunch purists, or those who criticize others for deviating from canonized representations of superheroes. But cosplay doesn鈥檛 have to be canon, says Andrew Liptak, a historian and author of the book
鈥淯ltimately, it鈥檚 about your relationship to the character,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e literally wearing your fandom on your sleeves.鈥�
Liptak also says it鈥檚 unfair to expect fans of color to dress up only as superheroes whose appearance or skin color matches their own.
In the recent film 鈥淪pider-Man: No Way Home,鈥� Electro, the villain played by Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx, joked to Andrew Garfield鈥檚 Spider-Man that he was surprised Spider-Man wasn鈥檛 Black. Whether or not that opens the door to a live-action Black Spider-Man in future films, Hoover says Spider-Man should never be boxed into just one look.
鈥淵ou will get those who argue, if you turn Spider-Man Black then you can turn T鈥機halla white,鈥� Hoover says. 鈥淪pider-Man was never really defined by his ethnicity, but more so his social status and the struggles he went through. That鈥檚 even more relatable for people of color and different ethnicities, because there鈥檚 a lot of struggle involved in life that you have to persevere through.鈥�
Aaron Morrison, The Associated Press
Like us on and follow us on
