Ch-ch-ch-changes Part 2

2a. Ethics In Journalism

I suppose you could do a 'real news vs. fake news' story with Superman and the Daily Planet, but I find the problem with that is that it's really easy for it to become 'good journalism is supporting Superman, bad journalism is criticizing him'? That's one of the problems I have with Supergirl, where we're supposed to sympathize with Kara when people say mean things about her even though she has White Oprah's whole media empire valorizing her.

3. Peter Parker has a brother

Looking at the circumstances of the lore, one thing sticks out to me. We all know Aunt May and Uncle Ben love each other. They've been together at least since Peter was born. They're either in their fifties or sixties when Peter first becomes Spider-Man.

So: why don't they have a kid of their own?

Sure, after Peter came to live with them, they could've decided they couldn't handle another kid. But before? They would've been in their thirties or forties when Peter was orphaned. That is about when the baby-making gets done.

We could always say they were infertile (and didn't want to adopt, for whatever reason, though obviously that objection disappeared when Richard and Mary Parker died), but that's famously why Ma and Pa Kent didn't have a biological child. Why do the same thing?

Here's my take: when they were teenagers, Ben and May got pregnant. They couldn't raise the kid, so they gave him up for adoption, and the whole experience put them off having another child until Peter came into their lives.

So now it's present day. Peter's in his early twenties when suddenly this thirty-something guy shows up, saying that he's Aunt May's long-lost kid. 

Now, if this were a mainline continuity comic, status quo would demand that he either be some kind of fake, a supervillain in the offing, or at least a tragic death waiting to happen. But I feel if there's one thing Spider-Man doesn't need, it's another villain.

So, to go the least contrived (but still dramatic route), this big brother is a major scientist, and when he hears that Peter's lost his job at the Bugle, he offers him a lab assistant position. There's plenty of plots to be had there, and plenty of tension in Peter having to duck out of his nine-to-five to fight supervillains while he's trying not to let down his 'brother' (and also feeling possessive over this stranger coming in and gobbling up Aunt May's attention).

And, just to give the Tumblr crowd something, we could make this character gay. If nothing else, that would hopefully kill any complaints of him being a pet character or Marty Stu. Besides, who wants to read about some new guy coming in and competing with Peter for chicks, or romancing Betty Brant, or anything like that? I think it's soap opera enough for Peter to have a long-lost cousin without bringing in any love affairs.

4. Mary Jane the actress

I'm sure Peter Parker as a scientist would be good for quite a few stories--even without anyone turning into a supervillain, he can always come across something he shouldn't have seen, or be grabbed by SHIELD to analyze something, et al et al. But there's another good replacement for all the soap opera shenanigans once we're out of high school/college, Peter and MJ have finally married, and the Daily Bugle has left Peter's life (seriously, people, it's an entry-level position he got when he was 17. How long do you want him to work there?)

(Maybe I'll steal an idea from, ugh, BND and have Jameson become Mayor, just to keep him and some of the Bugle staff in the picture.)

The Spider-Man comics have never seemed to do much with MJ being an actress and model, besides complain about how unrelateable it makes Peter (because him breaking up with MJ and then dating multiple women who are just as attractive, but also super-smart, secret agents, superheroes, et al... basically, Google Christina Hendricks' husband. Then imagine he breaks up with her and fucks his way through the Victoria's Secret models.).

Oh, sure, they've had MJ deal with stalkers like, once every five years (I think the last one had her go "this again?" and beat him with a pool cue). But it seems to me the easiest way to involve Peter in a bunch of intrigue and backroom dealings is to get him inside Hollywood.

And by that, I don't mean making MJ a huge star. There are a lot of actresses in Hollywood, and almost none of them are Angelina Jolie. Jewel Staite, for instance, I'm sure does well for herself, but it's not like she owns a private island or anything. In fact, MJ being a 'nerd icon' who acts in low-budget horror movies and cult favorite TV shows would make her even more of a match for Peter--constantly dealing with setbacks and indignities, but struggling through to earn a living and get ahead in life. From there, you just throw in crazed fans, sci-fi conventions, social media drama, tabloid drama, charity efforts, location shooting, even fake relationships (would anyone put it past a talent agent to fake that Mary Jane is having an affair with a co-star to build interest in a movie?), and you've got years of stories to tell.

After all, Jewel Staite is married. Anyone think her husband is a billionaire tech genius or something?