10 Most Tragic Deaths In The History Of Spider-Man

7. Richard And Mary Parker

So back to what we were saying about Peter Parker being defined by death (and we're not talking about "Emo Parker" from Spider-Man 3, because we never speak of that, we all agreed, remember, not even the funny bit about the pie tasting so good). In Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider-Man's origin story, it's the murder of Uncle Ben that's the emotional crux of the comic; but as a character, we think Peter is even more defined by being an orphan. He barely has any memory of what his parents were like - who they were, what they looked like, whether they loved him or thought he was a MASKED MENACE even as a sprog. In one of the early Amazing Spider-Man annuals Peter decides to go digging into the lives of Richard and Mary Parker and boy, did he regret doing that. He confirmed that they died in a fatal plane accident but also had his whole world shaken at the revelation they were traitors to their country! Which serves to make Spider-Man more of a tragic figure, certainly - one of those archetypal orphaned heroes, like Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker, with added shame - but makes their deaths seem...okay? Quite the opposite. The world knew Richard and Mary Parker as a couple of skeevy, double-crossing so-and-sos who sold out their government to the Red Skull. In fact they were totally spies, CIA agents working undercover to destroy the Skull's operation from the inside. Not only did they die in vain, unable to stop his plan, but they also orphaned their child, and both he and everyone else assumed they were actually jerks. That's a sucky legacy to leave behind. Especially when you were friends with Wolverine. Why does nobody pick up on that?