Spider-man was my favorite superhero as a kid because he was smart, quirky, kinda nerdy and awkward but also really slick when in his groove and doing what he does best which is a nice hero vs secret identity difference to portray.
Superman kinda does it by making Supes a confidant badass and Clark Kent a nerdy klutz who is awkward around Lois, but that kinda doesn’t count cuz Superman is his real self and Kent is his attempt to act like a human, which he finds difficult and comes off as goofy.
Parker vs Spidey is a different spin on the same dynamic: In high school, Peter Parker is awkward and weird cuz that’s just how he actually is and interacts with social surroundings. He shines in the areas he’s good at, which up until he got chomped by a radioactive spider and got all them dope powers, was just nerd shit. i.e.: Parker comes off as goofy when trying to impress people but impressive when not trying and just executing on his skills. So after he got all the physical attributes of durability and strength and all the talents of having graduated from acrobat school – he had a whole new area where he could be confidant and impressive by just being himself, but he had to keep that part a secret. So the end result is that Peter Parker remains donky cuz he rarely has leverage in his situations that are mostly about social hierarchies and impressing others with status, ability, and charisma that he lacks – but when he’s Spider-man, it’s just the physical equivalent of doing a chemistry formula at a black board, so he’s in his element and is a wise crackin badass that is in control of the situation.
Those were the reasons on the surface that I liked the character, but I think I also admired how a skinny teenager was so powerful and strong. Cuz typically a super-strength hero has to show it with their giant muscles bubbling out of their body – but Spidy has super strength while maintaining the swimmers build I always wanted to keep myself at for some reason (I actively wanted to avoid an overly muscular build cuz I thought it looked like you were trying way too hard).
I never liked peacocking physical strength. I liked stealth strength, which I gained by accident from being such an avid swimmer as a kid, building a strong core, which meant I was able to lift other objects and my own body weight a lot easier than I looked like despite not having bulging biceps.
Swimming developed my back and shoulder muscles enough to where I became a lot more capable than I looked and when people would comment with surprise that I was stronger than they expected it always pleased me at levels reaching or surpassing that of what a more traditional (or actual) compliment might.
So there’s something deeper there that I haven’t fully unpacked I guess but whatever the psychological reason: The Spiderman look has been one that I’ve either consciously or subconsciously looked to maintain through adulthood and am happy with and appreciate.
*This concludes my book report on “super heroes I guess I desire to look like or whatever*
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