I’ve always been a sucker for super hero movies. I read comic books, books on comics and heroes, books on heroes and faith, and books on movies and faith. I’ve seen 98% of the movies based on comics, popular heroes and special-powered individuals since I was four years old, and I don’t think I’ll be stopping anytime soon. So it should come as no surprise that the release date for Spider-Man 3 has been written in my calendar since last fall.



While Superman screams “Christ figure” at me, and Batman is a gritty detective yarn, Spider-Man has a certain fascination for me that doesn’t make him my favorite, but makes him the most intriguing to me. I don’t find him likeable, and I find him less likeable when Tobey Maguire is playing him, but that’s sort of my point. Peter Parker is a whiny snot sometimes, a weak, sniveling teenager who makes selfish decisions and boneheaded mistakes. And he’s not always much better as Spider-Man. But if you look at those descriptions, you can see that they’re human faults and problems, which makes him just like you and me.



So, Spider-Man 3 is coming out in less than a month, and we’ve already seen the problems that Parker has had with his relationships with Mary Jane and with Harry Osborne. But Venom is a whole different problem—a problem of selfishness and desire, illustrated in a new, metaphorically unavoidable way. Venom is everything we don’t like about ourselves, about other people, about sniveling teenagers, but is inside of us. And Spider-Man/Peter Parker will have to face Venom (the danger from “within”) and other enemies on screen this May, which is a lot like life, too. We’re rarely faced with only one problem at a time—our lives are a complicated mess, and Spider-Man is a perfect vicarious example.



Those are my reasons for NOT liking Spider-Man—or rather, seeing the reflection of the things I don’t like about myself. That’s not why I read or watch Spider-Man though. I’m still plugged into Spider-Man twenty-six years later because he always comes through in the moment when he has to, a mini-resurrection of sorts from the little death of mistakes he’s made. See, Spider-Man/Parker gives me hope for myself, hope that in the moment of testing, when everything seems bleak, I will be able to find the strength and grace to rise above the dangers within and the dangers without.



We’ll see what happens this year with the third installment of the “modern” Spider-Man. I imagine as Peter Parker he’ll dig himself a hole that seems too deep to be escaped, alienate those he cares about, and bring the rage of villains down on his life. I imagine as Spider-Man he’ll find a way to rise up, probably with some good advice and our timely intervention by a “mere mortal” loved one. I imagine he’ll apologize to those he’s hurt and work to make things right in Parker’s life, while battling the evil threatening his world. And because he has the great power that accompanies great responsibility, he will prove once again why he’s a superhero and I’m his loyal fan.