The charm of Peter Parker to me is, he's not Clark Kent or Barry Allen and has predetermined romantic side character to serve as the damsel in distress or the wife role making him the typical hero. Peter at his core is a young geek, and geeks imo love to be isolated from norms because they pursue something in a fashion that peaks their curiosity and talent, plus they are too overly excentric. Peter does better IMO when he is just away from seriousness that involves women(marriage, dating and even one nighters) which distract him from being a better superhero, a much more efficient scientist, and possibly a much more dependable nephew and son to Aunt May.

I always saw Peter as one of those heroes who is just too immature to be a man who pursues women, he's like a shonen hero he's too innocent to have intrest in those things. Parker should be a celibate hero as the cartoon ultimate spidey(or at least marvel adventures spidey) has taught me, he gets more done, he's interacts better with his surroundings and he's not perpetually annoying and whiny and better upbeat.

@jimishim12: I think his romances have played a pretty significant part in shaping the character. His relationship with MJ, along with Clark and Lois, are among the few successful marriages in superhero comics. So I'd say they are reasonably important. Being whiny has nothing to do with romantic relationships. He can be upbeat even in relationships. It just depends how its written.

Aunt May was continuously trying to set Peter up with MJ so he would grow further and have a chance at his own happyness...she does'nt need Peter at all, and she hasn't been a factor in his life since getting hitched to Jay. Also Peter has'nt exactly been very efficient without MJ, whom he once said he was nothing without because she always reminded him of who he was and he gained his strength and sense of identity from her.

You sound like Joe Quesada.

Anyways, the whole point of Spider-man is that he's growing up. It's a story of progression and maturing. Taking away his desire for romance is really just a step backwards. Giving up on love all together because "responsibility and sh!t" is probably one of the most immature things he could do. Getting married and starting a family is a huge step in the right direction and I really hope Marvel figures this out eventually.

Back in the old day and age. Yes. Because tech was a lot more limited. In this new day and age? Yes but not a permanent one. In fact he should have a revolving relationship door say every 5 years or so?

@symbioticspider-man: preach

He can explore maturity in different ways than just romance, progressively he is better with out a preset destiny of a settling down. It's not a fundamental for him, he doesn't need to be into relationships he just can't maintain. It takes from his growth and places him as a tragic figure, he's supposed to be a figure of hope and potential not frustration.

Except MJ, when written well and in-character, is'nt a source of frustration in that regard. Look at how well she is with him in universes that actually bother showing how strong their bond is. Ultimate, MC2, Newspaper strip, all of them. Peter CAN maintain a relationship, he's sustained one for 28 years real time (counting the marriage from the newspaper comics). The source of frustration is not the fault of the character, but of the writer, and people not drinking their revisionist kool-aid can see that

Except for the fact that Spider-man can hold a relationship. He's been married for half a decade in the Marvel world. Two decades in the real world. They didn't even want to break up, they were practically forced to.

It's hard to say. Really I'm not saying Spider-Man shouldn't have a love interest, my problem is MARVEL has a habit of destroying it.

Think about it MARVEL has Spider-Man married Marry Jane, what they did like had them lose the baby, Mary Jane threatening to divorce Peter if he didn't quit being Spider-Man, selling their marriage to the devil, later we have this will they won't they get remarried only for Mary Jane marry some random guy she just met and had kids with him off panel, and caused everyone of Peter's friends to turn on him.

Let's not forget Marry Jane in comic admired she is just a rebound. Gwen was the same situation Peter tried to marry Gawn and MARVEL kill off George Stacy and Gwen blames Peter, Peter tries again and Marvel Killed off Gwen Stacy.

Maybe Peter's problem is line Mark Grayson I mean Atom-Eve has a point Superheroes have an better chance relationship wise with other superheroes. Think about Peter kinda found his family the fantastic four who see's him as an equal, or Miles Morales who became like a younger brother, heck his parents are secret agents and his but also might not be his sister Teresa works for S.H.I.E.L.D.

I think Peter has a better chance with a female Superhero over a civilian. The problem is MARVEL won't let it happen, cause MARVEL doesn't want Peter to be happy.