Peter Parker (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Peter Parker is a fictional character portrayed by Tom Holland in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film franchise—based on the character of the same name by Marvel Comics—commonly known by his alter ego, Spider-Man. In the films, Parker is a high school student at Midtown School of Science and Technology who received spider-like abilities after being bitten by a radioactive spider and since then has secretly operated as a vigilante. He is also the protégé of Tony Stark.

, the character is one of the central figures of the MCU, having appeared prominently in five films from his introduction in Captain America: Civil War up to Spider-Man: Far From Home. In Iron Man 2, director Jon Favreau's son Max appears as a child wearing an Iron Man mask whom Iron Man saves from a drone. This was, retroactively, the introduction of a young Peter Parker to the MCU, as confirmed in June 2017 by Holland, producer Kevin Feige and Homecoming director Jon Watts.

Concept and creation
Peter Parker first premiered as a comic book character in the anthology comic book Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962). Following a surge in teenage demand for comic books, Marvel Comics editor and head writer Stan Lee wanted to create a character with whom teens could identify. Lee cited pulp magazine crime fighter the Spider as an influence, and stated that he was further inspired by seeing a spider climb up a wall—adding in his autobiography that he has told that story so often he has become unsure of whether or not this is true. Lee "wanted the character to be a very human guy, someone who makes mistakes, who worries, who gets acne, has trouble with his girlfriend, things like that". Jack Kirby, meanwhile, had an unpublished character on which he had collaborated with Joe Simon in the 1950s, in which an orphaned boy living with an old couple finds a magic ring that granted him superhuman powers. Lee and Kirby had a story conference, and Lee directed Kirby to flesh out the character and draw some pages. Unsatisfied with Kirby's story direction, Lee turned the project over to Steve Ditko, who designed the character with a costume with a face mask, a clinging power, and wrist-fired webs. Under Kirby's direction, the character "became high-school student Peter Parker, who gets his spider powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider".

A tokusatsu (live-action) series featuring an original character named Takuya Yamashiro assuming the mantle of Spider-Man, "Supaidā-Man" was produced by Toei and aired in Japan from 1978 to 1979. The character was featured in a trilogy of live-action films directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire as the titular superhero, with installments released from 2002 to 2007. A third sequel was originally scheduled to be released in 2011, but Sony later decided to reboot the franchise with a new director and cast. The reboot, titled The Amazing Spider-Man, was released in 2012; directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield as the new Spider-Man,  followed by a sequel in 2014.

Following the November 2014 hacking of Sony Pictures' computers, emails between Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal and president Doug Belgrad were released stating that Marvel wanted to include Spider-Man (whose film rights are licensed to Sony) in Captain America: Civil War, but talks between the studios concerning this were believed to have broken down. However, in February 2015, the studios reached a licensing deal for the use of Spider-Man in an MCU film, and reports indicated that the character would indeed appear in Civil War. According to the deal, Sony Pictures would continue to own, finance, distribute, and exercise final creative control over the Spider-Man films. The next month, Marvel Entertainment CCO Joe Quesada indicated that the Peter Parker version of the character would be used, which Feige confirmed in April. Feige also stated that Marvel had been working to add Spider-Man to the MCU since at least October 2014. The following June, Feige clarified that the initial Sony deal does not allow the character to appear in any of the MCU television series, as it was "very specific... with a certain amount of back and forth allowed." The same month, the companies announced that after many auditions, Tom Holland had been cast to play Spider-Man within the MCU. Tom Holland made his debut as Spider-Man in Civil War, before later starring in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017); directed by Jon Watts. Holland reprised his role as Spider-Man in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).

In August 2019, negotiations between Sony and Marvel broke down, leaving the character's future in the MCU uncertain. The following month, however, the companies agreed to a new deal to have Spider-Man return to the MCU, beginning with a sequel to Spider-Man: Far From Home, to be released on December 17, 2021. Disney will provide 25% of the film's budget and receive 25% of its profit.

Characterization
Tom Holland first appears as Peter Parker in the MCU in Captain America: Civil War, where he is recruited by Tony Stark to help him arrest Captain America and his rogue Avengers. Producer Kevin Feige said that Parker would be torn between superhero ideologies, saying, "Does he want to be like these other characters? Does he want nothing to do with these other characters? How does that impact his experience, being this grounded but super powerful hero? Those are all the things that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko played with in the first 10 years of his comics, and that now we can play with for the first time in a movie." On aligning with Tony Stark, Anthony Russo said that, despite entering the conflict after the two factions have formed and not having much political investment, Parker's choice comes from "a very personal relationship" he develops with Stark. The Russos hoped "to take a very logical and realistic and naturalistic approach to the character" compared to the previous film portrayals. Anthony Russo added that the character's introduction had to fit "that specific tonal stylistic world" of the MCU, as well as the tone established by the directors in Winter Soldier, saying, "It's a little more grounded and a little more hard-core contemporary." That was "coloring our choices a lot" with Parker. On the Spider-Man suit, Joe Russo described it as "a slightly more traditional, Steve Ditko influenced suit," and that the film would explore the way the suit operates, particularly the mechanical eyes.

Differences from the comics
The MCU depiction of Peter Parker omits explicit reference to the death of Uncle Ben, whose death was a significant event both in the comic books and in previous film series. Parker's proper Spider-Man suits in the MCU are also designed by Stark, or built by Parker with Stark Industries technology, whereas in the comics Parker designed and constructed his suits entirely by himself.

Another change is Parker's close paternal relationship with Stark. This was partially adapted from J. Michael Straczynski's run on The Amazing Spider-Man (from #519 to #536), the first five issues of the limited series Civil War and the Ultimate Comics where Stark and Parker share a trainer-trainee relationship.

Peter Parker's relationship with Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is also omitted; instead, Parker falls in love with Michelle "MJ", a fellow high school student.

Appearances

 * A scene in Iron Man 2 (2010) depicts a young boy in a child's Iron Man mask standing bravely in front of one of Justin Hammer's robots, which takes aim at him. Just in time, the boy is rescued by Tony Stark / Iron Man. Tom Holland confirmed in a 2017 interview that it was retroactively decided that the boy was Peter Parker. Max Favreau, the son of director Jon Favreau, plays the young Peter Parker.
 * The first reference to Spider-Man within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, following the deal with Sony, is at the end of Ant-Man. According to director Peyton Reed, the reference is made by a reporter to Sam Wilson / Falcon, who is looking for Ant-Man. The reporter states, "Well, we got everything nowadays. We got a guy who jumps, we got a guy who swings, we got a guy who crawls up the walls, you gotta be more specific."
 * Peter Parker's first on-screen Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance is in Captain America: Civil War (2016), when Tony Stark recruits him to fight alongside his faction of the Avengers. Holland chose not to read the whole Civil War script in order to avoid potentially leaking plot information publicly.
 * In Spider-Man: Homecoming, directed by Jon Watts, Parker balances his high school life with his duties as Spider-Man, while being mentored by Tony Stark, as he battles an illegal weapons vendor known as the Vulture.
 * Holland reprises his role as Peter Parker / Spider-Man in Avengers: Infinity War. In the film, Parker joins Stark, Stephen Strange, Star-Lord, Drax and Mantis in combating Thanos on Titan and is one of the intergalactic despot's victims when he assembles the Infinity Gauntlet.
 * Spider-Man appears in Avengers: Endgame, in which Bruce Banner resurrects him after the Avengers collect the Infinity Stones from the past to undo Thanos's culling. Parker joins the other restored Avengers in a clash against a past version of Thanos who traveled to the present.
 * Spider-Man returns in Spider-Man: Far From Home. In the film, Peter Parker travels with his classmates to Europe on a summer trip, but returns to superheroics when Nick Fury recruits him to team up with Mysterio against the Elementals.
 * An untitled Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel is set to be released on December 17, 2021.

Fictional character biography
Peter Parker was introduced as a teenager living in Queens, New York with his Aunt May Parker. Little is known about Uncle Ben Parker in this universe despite that he has passed on. At a young age, Parker attends the Stark Expo where he is attacked by a drone sent by Ivan Vanko but is saved by billionaire Tony Stark as Iron Man.

In 2016, Parker is recruited by Stark to aid him in fighting against Steve Rogers, the latter whom refused to sign the Sokovia Accords which leads to Stark and Rogers’ rivalry. Following the events of Civil War, Parker resumes his life as a high school student while balancing his duties as the superhero Spider-Man. One night, Parker saves Aaron Davis during an alien weapons dealership, allowing the dealers to flee but Parker follows them before being caught by their boss Adrian Toomes. Toomes drops Parker into a lake and is saved by Stark, who is monitoring Parker through his suit. During a trip to Washington D.C., Parker and his best friend Ned Leeds, aware of Parker's identity as Spider-Man, disable the tracker within Parker’s suit. Later, he discovers that Toomes is the father of his high school crush Liz. During the ride to the school dance, Toomes deduces Parker is Spider-Man. After dropping Liz off to the dance, Toomes threatens Parker to not interfere with his plans. Despite Toomes’ warning, Parker abandons Liz to find Toomes, although he is ambushed by one of his associates Herman Schultz. With Ned’s assistance, Parker defeats Schultz and locates Toomes, who has planned to hijack D.O.D.C. plane transporting weapons to the Avengers' new headquarters. After the damaged Vulture suit explodes, Parker saves Toomes, who is left to be arrested. Parker later declines an invitation by Stark to join the Avengers. Parker is later caught by May in his suit returned by Stark.

In 2018, the Mad Titan Thanos sends his “children” to invade Earth prompting Dr. Stephen Strange to recruit Stark. Stark and Strange battle Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian. The four become separated with Strange going against Maw and Stark against Obsidian. The battle also grabs the attention of Parker who helps Stark rescue Strange, who is captured by Maw. With the help of Wong, Stark defeats Obsidian. Meanwhile, Parker follows Maw to his spaceship, prompting Stark to fly into space and rescue Parker. He and Stark eventually rescue Strange and kill Maw. They are confronted by the Guardians of the Galaxy who are convinced that they are all on the same side. The group later travel to Thanos’ home world of Titan where Strange gives Thanos the Time Stone after witnessing endless timelines where the heroes are victorious in only one of them. Eventually after gathering the required stones, Thanos uses them to erase half the universe which decimates several heroes, including Parker. Five years later, the Avengers are reunited and use time travel to gather the Infinity Stones from different timelines and use them to revive the fallen heroes, including Parker. He joins the Avengers in their final battle against 2014 Thanos, who has traveled to the present day. However, Stark uses the stones to sacrifice himself thus killing Thanos and his armies in the process. Parker later attends Stark’s funeral.

Eight months after what is now called by the students of Midtown School of Science and Technology, “The Blip”, Parker - who is still in mourning Stark’s death - attends a school trip abroad in which he plans to reveal his feelings to classmate MJ. During the trip, Parker and his classmates encounter a water monster in Venice, who is defeated by Quentin Beck. Parker is approached by Nick Fury, former director of S.H.I.E.L.D., to assist in the battle against the Elementals and appoints Beck as Parker’s teammate to defeat them. They defeat the remaining Elementals in Prague. However one night, Parker and MJ discover Beck's fraudulence in using hologram projectors to visually create the Elementals. Beck reveals that he was a former associate of Stark who was fired for being unstable. Parker travels to Berlin to warn Fury about Beck's fraudulence only to be tricked by him by using his illusion technology. Parker is almost left for dead by Beck and ends up in the Netherlands, where he contacts Happy Hogan. Beck uses E.D.I.T.H., an artificial intelligence created by Stark originally for his successor, to create a fusion of all the Elementals as a cover to kill Parker’s classmates in London. Eventually, Parker defeats Beck with the help of his “Peter-Tingle”. After returning to New York, Parker begins his relationship with MJ. After swinging with her through the city, the couple witness a broadcast from J. Jonah Jameson of TheDailyBugle.net showing a doctored footage of Parker and Beck’s battle with the latter framing Parker for the drone attack leading to Beck’s death. Beck exposes Parker’s identity as Spider-Man in the video, much to the couple's shock.

Accolades
Holland has received numerous nominations and awards for his portrayal of Peter Parker.