how to get back up
Spider-Man is possibly my favourite Marvel character. Because - this kid, he's just a kid. He falls backward into some power and he thinks he'll just skate by now, and then he realises that he has to help people, it would be irresponsible to just profit from his luck. I, I don't know, look up to the idea of Spider-Man, in the same way that I look up to the idea of Superman, they have powers, and they try to help. What Batman does is borne out of trauma; what Superman does is out of a sense of responsibility; what Spider-Man is...both. He's just a kid who wants to help.
Even knowing it's going to mean loss after loss. Spider-Ham - John Mulaney, of all people - in the scene where they all tell Miles about the things they lose and sacrifice as part of being Spider-People, says "the hardest part of this job is...you can't save everyone."
He's just a kid. He just wants to help, and he's continually...struggling to help better, to always make things better for everybody else, and when given the choice between helping himself and helping others he always sacrifices himself. Pete helps by applying all his powers: spider, science, human. And he's funny! I mean, yeah, it's basically PTSD, he's compensating for the terrifying situations he finds himself in by joking about it, I can understand that. Like Daredevil in the San Francisco run, after he gets back and he just curls up in bed with his not-rightness and...clenches.
I just saw Into the Spider-Verse. It's an amazing movie. Possibly even my favourite animated movie of all time now. There's a bit where Miles insists that he can be Spider-Man, he's got it in him. The others quiz him and test him, trying to get him to show them what he's got, can you do this, can you do that, can you do the other, can you do all of that, and above all, can you get back up, because being Spider-Man means getting beaten down and giving your all and feeling like you can't keep going and always getting back up.
That's hard to do. Always getting back up. God damn resilience is hard. Spider-Man always gets up.