What Happened To Spider-Man's Parents? Peter Parker's Big Mystery Explained
Long before Peter Parker became Spider-Man and built his terrifying roster of rogues, the eventual hero lived a fairly normal childhood raised by his parents. However, after tragedy struck and Richard and Mary Parker died, the trajectory of Peter's life changed forever.
While his family plays a key role in shaping the young hero, in most iterations of Spider-Man's origins, his biological parents are nowhere to be seen. Instead, Peter is raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben before the latter's tragic death leads him down a valiant path as a vigilante. Richard and Mary are mentioned sporadically in the web-slinger's stories, but rarely do they factor into the core story, with Peter largely not even remembering them.
In true comic book fashion, Richard and Mary Parker have storied Marvel histories, which include being scientists, getting wrongly labeled as traitors to their own country, and eventually working alongside Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. Though the current Marvel Cinematic Universe versions of them have yet to be introduced, Richard and Mary's history has been remixed in various adaptations over the years, from an alternate comic origin making Richard responsible for the creation of one of Spider-Man's greatest villains to live-action versions of Peter's parents having secret pasts.
Spider-Man's parents were originally spies
In "The Amazing Spider-Man Annual" #5 (by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Mike Esposito, and Artie Simek), Peter Parker first learns the truth of his parents past.
In the issue, Peter helps his Aunt May move a trunk filled with important documents. However, the container slips out of his hands and Peter accidentally breaks it open with his super strength. As he collects the items that fell out, he picks up a newspaper clipping and is shocked to see his parents labeled as traitors to the United States, as they were suspected to be spies by the public at the time. He confronts Aunt May about the article, demanding the truth. She explains that Richard Parker was a decorated war hero, and that he and Mary left the United States before their deaths.
Dismayed over the possibility that his biological parents could have been traitors, Spider-Man learns that they died at the hands of the Red Skull. However, Richard and Mary didn't work in tandem with the Nazi supervillain and betray their country; instead, they served as double agents who were murdered after their real allegiances were discovered. The issue ends with Peter clearing his parents' names and solidifying his decision to be a hero with a secret identity. Spider-Man's parents might have been painted as evildoers, but the story shows that like him, they were heroes, too.
In the Ultimate Universe, Peter's father created Venom
The most prominent alternate universe version of Richard and Mary Parker came in the Ultimate Universe. There, Peter's father is responsible for the creation of what would become one of Spider-Man's greatest villains: Venom.
In "Ultimate Spider-Man" #33 (by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, Art Thibert, Rodney Ramos, Transparency Digital, and Chris Eliopoulos), Peter discovers a video showing a conversation between Richard and Eddie Brock Sr. The pair were working on a project together, later revealed to be the Venom Project. It was an effort to change the face of modern medicine by developing a symbiote designed to bond with a person and amplify their ability to heal or fight off disease. As he learns about the history of his parents, Peter also discovers Eddie Brock Sr. died in the same plane crash as Richard and Mary, and that Eddie Brock Jr. believes the symbiote is an inheritance from their fallen families.
Similar to his Earth-616 counterpart, Peter bonds with the symbiote suit, eventually taking it off after it nearly makes him completely lose control. Unfortunately, Eddie then bonds with the symbiote while Peter attempts to destroy it, realizing its true danger. The creation of Ultimate Venom, much like in the original Marvel Universe timeline, causes serious death and destruction. Spider-Man and Venom battled throughout "Ultimate Spider-Man," with the symbiote eventually bonding with former Oscorp scientist Dr. Marcus Conrad, causing the tragic death of Miles Morales' mother, Rio. Peter's father's experiment eventually ends up with the Ultimate Universe's Reed Richards, helping power him in his supervillain persona of the Maker as he uses it in his attempts to take over different realities.
The strange comic book return of Richard and Mary Parker
In "The Amazing Spider-Man" #366 (by David Michelinie, Jerry Bingham, Randy Emberlin, Bob Sharen, and Joe Rosen), Richard and Mary Parker show up on Aunt May and Peter's doorstep, much to their shock and surprise. The pair detail how the Russian government kidnapped them, believing they were working with the Red Skull, only release the pair once the truth about them being double agents finally came to light. Peter, despite having understandable reservations regarding his parents mysterious return, eventually begins to accept that they're back. However, it's later revealed they're actually Life-Model Decoys, android body doubles used by S.H.I.E.L.D. This pair was created by the villainous Chameleon in order to unmask Spider-Man and discover his secret identity.
In a bizarre turn of events, the LMD version of Richard attacks Spider-Man, leading to Mary intervening and taking out her robot husband. Spider-Man watches as both of his fake parents "die," with Mary stopping Richard before she's "murdered" at the hands of the Vulture. While the LMD's ended up not being Peter's actual parents, the trauma of having to watch them be killed after believing they had somehow come back to life remains one of the most disturbing and emotional things Peter has ever been put through.
The Amazing Spider-Man connected them to the hero's origin
Mary (Embeth Davidtz) and Richard Parker (Campbell Scott) play small but important roles in "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "The Amazing Spider-Man 2." Their first — and to this day only — live-action appearance is something of a combined origin of the Earth-616 and Ultimate Universe versions of the characters.
In the films, Richard works alongside Dr. Curtis Connors (Rhys Ifans) as an Oscorp Industries scientist developing projects that dive deep into cross-species genetics. Richard heads the team creating genetically altered super-spiders and using his own DNA in the experiments. The promising work is intended to help increase the healing and restorative abilities of sick and injured people. When he learns that Oscorp plans to sell the research to the highest bidder as a weapon and not medicine, Richard destroys almost all evidence of it before fleeing the country with Mary. The pair leaves Peter (Andrew Garfield) with Aunt May (Sally Field) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen), as they believe taking the young boy with them would be too dangerous. Ultimately, like in the comics, Richard and Mary die in a plane crash — but not before Peter's father sends a video message to his son about his discoveries and his genetic connection to the super-spiders.
In a deleted alternate ending for "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," Richard is revealed to be alive, having gone into hiding after surviving the plane crash. As Peter mourns Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) at her gravesite, Richard arrives and gets the chance to tell his son how much he and his late mother love him. He also shares a modified version of the "Spider-Man" franchise's most iconic line, "With great power, there must also come — great responsibility!"
What about Peter's parents in the MCU?
Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire's "Spider-Man" trilogy opted not to touch on Peter's parents or their history, but "The Amazing Spider-Man" made their deaths a central mystery in its storytelling. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, however, Peter Parker/Spider-Man's (Tom Holland) story appears to be intentionally avoiding any discussion of what happened to his parents. Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) is still his closest family, but Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) take on mentor/father figure roles in Peter's life. It's probably not a surprise that the current Spider-Man films have scaled back and focused on the present rather than dive into things viewers have already seen ad nauseam, including Uncle Ben and Peter's parents' tragic deaths.
With that said, the potential for Peter to learn more about his parents and what happened to them on the big screen remains possible. Since Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) cast a spell that causes the world to forget Spider-Man and his secret identity, a back-to-basics version of the web-slinger may find himself exploring his family's past, especially since Aunt May's death may have reopened old wounds. With a fourth Tom Holland-starring "Spider-Man" film likely happening (despite Sony and Marvel's rumored fight over its direction), time will tell if Peter's parents become relevant again in live-action.