Peter Parker was the son of scientist Richard Parker and his wife Mary. While Richard worked alongside Ed Brock on medical research, their two families grew close; though several years older, Eddie Brock Jr. was close friends with Peter. Tragedy struck when both sets of parents were killed in a plane crash; Peter was taken in by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May, and lost touch with Eddie. Inheriting his father’s intellect, Peter grew to be a quiet, bookish, boy. His best friends at Midtown High, his school in Queens, were Harry Osborn, son of industrialist Norman Osborn; and Mary Jane Watson, a fellow brain who lived across the street.
Peter’s relatively normal life changed abruptly during a school trip to Osborn Industries, Inc. The company had been working on a super soldier serum, the Oz Compound; a spider exposed to it escaped and bit Peter before it was destroyed. Peter soon discovered that he had been mutated, gaining superhuman strength and agility and various spider-like powers. After Peter accidentally broke jock Flash Thompson’s hand in a fight, the Parkers were hit with expensive medical bills; to help pay them, Peter secretly took up a wrestling challenge, wearing a mask to hide his youth and identity. The fight promoter gave him a more colorful costume and dubbed him Spider-Man, but his new career was cut short when he was accused of stealing money. Peter allowed a robber he encountered on the way home to escape because of his bad mood, an action that would later haunt him. He subsequently argued with his uncle over his slipping grades and recent poor attitude, and ran off to cool down; but when he returned home, he learned that a burglar had slain Uncle Ben in his absence. Overhearing some cops mention a cornered criminal who might be the burglar, Peter donned his costume and raced to capture him, only to find it was the same criminal he had allowed to escape earlier. Guilt ridden, Peter finally accepted the great responsibility which came with his powers, becoming a crime fighter as Spider-Man.
Norman Osborn transformed into a monstrous, Green Goblin-like menace after mainlining the Oz Compound and attacked Peter’s school, battling Spider-Man until he was shot down by police marksmen and presumed dead; Harry vanished into police custody for protection and questioning. Spider-Man encountered the criminal Shocker, the mutant Wolverine (on the run from Weapon X) and the rampaging Hulk. To help his aunt pay the bills, Peter tried to sell photos of Spider-Man to the Daily Bugle, and ended up hired to maintain the newspaper’s website. Learning that Uncle Ben’s killer worked for Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime, Peter set out to bring him down. After trying to get information from the Enforcers, he learned the Kingpin’s whereabouts from ambitious underboss Mr. Big. Breaking into the Kingpin’s office while Fisk hosted a party elsewhere in Fisk Tower, Spider-Man was spotted on the security cameras, defeated by Fisk’s superpowered henchman Electro, unmasked, and thrown out a window. Kingpin figured out who had provided his intruder’s information, and personally murdered Mr. Big before having the body dumped in the river wearing Spider-Man’s mask. Peter inquired about the security cameras in the Internet and sent them a letter going by the name Arthur Simek. He then learned that the security cameras record everything on CDs and that they were stored in an armored cabinet. Peter returned to Fisk’s building, and after defeating Electro, the Enforcers and Fisk in the building's basement, sent the Daily Bugle security footage he had stolen showing the murder of Mr. Big; Fisk swiftly went into hiding.
Peter soon revealed his dual identity to Mary Jane, and they began dating. He fought alongside Iron Man at the U.N.; ran into Daredevil in Hell’s Kitchen and helped apprehend the Punisher, a killer vigilante; encountered a lizard creature and a monster composed of swamp vegetation (both transformed scientists) in the sewers; and was mesmerized by Xandu into attacking the sorcerer Dr. Strange. He encountered the former Russian spy, the Black Widow, who stole his webshooters; met the martial artist Shang-Chi; ran into a vampire and unidentified vampire slayer; and prevented a murder by the assassin Elektra. A new girl, Gwen Stacy, whose policeman father had investigated Uncle Ben’s killing, joined Peter’s school; soon after, Peter went to the mall with his friends, where they bumped into the off-duty X-Men after Wolverine recognized Peter. Parker next faced the twin threats of Otto Octavius, alias Doctor Octopus (A.K.A Doc Ock), an Osborn scientist who had gained powers at the same time as Osborn himself; and Kraven, a reality TV show hunter who announced his intention to hunt and kill Spider-Man. After losing his first fight with Octopus, Spider-Man soundly defeated both him and Kraven outside an illegal genetic research lab, in front of a horde of assembled press. The televised fight and a quick interview afterwards helped turn around negative public opinion about Spider-Man; minutes later, he fought one of the lab’s rogue creations, the Sandman.
The next day at school, Harry returned—but Peter’s joy evaporated when Norman resurfaced, too. The senior Osborn offered Peter a stark choice: work for him or see his loved ones killed by the goblin. The following day, Peter learned from General Nick Fury that S.H.I.E.L.D. was monitoring him, and was aware of the Osborn situation, but could not intervene unless the goblin made a public move. Spider-Man confronted Osborn to say he would not be intimidated, unaware that Harry had invited Mary Jane over; the goblin seized her and carried her to the Queensboro Bridge, then dropped her off it, and Spider-Man only narrowly managed to catch her. Facing both Spidey and S.H.I.E.L.D. attack helicopters, Osborn fled back home and overdosed on the serum, mutating further. Peter pursued but was nearly killed before Harry walked in on the fight and saved him by driving a spike into the goblin’s back. The pursuing helicopters shot the goblin, who turned back to Osborn and was taken into custody. In the aftermath, Nick Fury told Peter that when he turned 18 and was an adult, he would be forced to work for S.H.I.E.L.D..
Peter’s friendship with Gwen Stacy grew as she began to confide in him regarding family troubles, though this meant he arrived minutes too late to assist Iron Man in capturing the rampaging Rhino. When an imposter dressed as Spider-Man committed a string of robberies, the real Spider-Man was shot in the shoulder by police trying to apprehend him, and Fury sent the Wasp over to Peter’s school to patch him up. While this was happening, the fake Spider-Man killed Captain John Stacy, Gwen’s father. Enraged, Spider-Man foiled the imposter’s latest bank robbery, beat him to a pulp but stopped when he realized he almost killed the guy and left him for the police, clearing his name. As her mother had run off with another man, Gwen moved in with the Parkers; Mary Jane, meanwhile, broke up with Peter, fearful he would one day be killed.
Finding boxes full of mementos of his parents in the basement prompted Peter to track down Eddie Brock. Now a university student, Eddie was trying to complete their parents’ Venom Project, a protoplasmic medical dip nicknamed “the Suit” which could enhance its wearer’s abilities while healing illness and injury – even curing cancer; however some of Eddie’s comments led Peter to wonder if their parents had been murdered by their corporate employers. As Spider-Man, he broke into Eddie’s lab to examine the dip, but it enveloped his body, creating a new black costume. He briefly enjoyed this new look, easily stopping a kidnapping and beating an upgraded Shocker; however, after the Suit took control of Peter and nearly killed a mugger, Peter had to electrocute himself to remove it. Seeing the danger of the dip, Peter went back to the lab to destroy the rest of it, confiding in Eddie that he was Spider-Man and apparently convincing Eddie to let him destroy the dip, unaware Eddie had more hidden away. Exposing himself to the Suit, Eddie became an insane, monstrous menace and attacked Peter. In the end, an accidental electrocution seemingly killed Eddie, though the subsequent disappearance of his belongings suggested Brock may have survived. After confronting Nick Fury to ask if his parents had been murdered, Peter returned to the lab, where he found the rest of the dip gone and encountered Eddie’s professor, Curt Conners, the former lizard-man, who deduced Peter was Spider-Man.
Shortly thereafter, Peter got back together with Mary Jane; offered guidance to unstable Latverian mutant teen Geldoff alongside the X-Men; and stopped martial artist Danny Rand from using his “Iron Fist” on an aggressive man during a street fight. Wounded X-Man Wolverine later sought refuge in Peter’s home while fleeing remnants of Weapon X. They were also joined by Daredevil who helped them only because innocent people are getting hurt. Also a brief appearance by Black Widow. The Enforcers returned, as did their boss, the Kingpin, who had gone free after the murder evidence against him was ruled inadmissible. Sam Bullit ran for D.A. on an anti-Spider-Man platform, supported by Jameson and the Bugle, and when Peter spoke out against the Bugle’s anti-Spidey stance, he was fired; however, reporter Ben Urich learned that Bullit was tied to the Kingpin, and the Bugle withdrew its support. The Enforcers tried to intimidate Jameson into reversing this, but Spider-Man intervened. Soon after, Jameson admitted his mistake to Peter and reinstated him. Spider-Man next encountered the burglar known as the Black Cat, who became attracted to him. She had stolen a stone tablet sought by the Kingpin, and Elektra was hired to retrieve it. After a fruitless three-way skirmish between Black Cat, Elektra and Spider-Man, Peter and the Kingpin both figured out the Black Cat was secretly Felica Hardy, who was soon trapped by Kingpin and Elektra. Spider-Man’s arrival allowed her to get free, and she threw the tablet into the river, only to be seemingly slain by Elektra.
Several of Spider-Man’s foes, led by Norman Osborn, escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. captivity. Fearing for Peter, Fury brought him to the Triskelion base used by the Ultimates, and placed his loved ones under observation. The escapees attacked the Triskelion and captured Peter, blackmailing him into joining Osborn’s “Six”. This group attacked the White House but was opposed by the Ultimates, who informed Peter that Aunt May was safely in protective custody, prompting Spider-Man to turn on Osborn and help the Ultimates recapture the criminals. While Aunt May visited Florida, Peter heard a Spider-Man movie was being filmed and angrily confronted its film crew, but learned he had no legal recourse to stop the film. Equally put out by the news, Doctor Octopus attacked the movie set; when Spider-Man stepped in, Octopus defeated him and abducted him to Brazil, where Spider-Man bested Octopus in a rematch and hitched a ride back to the States in the cargo hold of a passenger jet. He narrowly beat his aunt home, only to be confronted by an angry Gwen, who had figured out his double identity and blamed him for her father’s death. Peter managed to convince her otherwise, and she forgave him, joining his trusted circle of confidants. A short while later, the movie opened to huge box office.
Spider-Man stopped the maniac Gladiator, who had taken hostages in a museum, and met Captain Jeanne De Wolfe of the NYPD. Injured by Gladiator’s blades, he sought medical assistance from Dr. Conners, who later experimented with Peter’s blood in search of cures for disease, having obtained Peter’s reluctant permission to do so. A few months later, a creature Conners had created by mixing Peter’s DNA with his own reptile-infected DNA escaped, killing a number of people, including Gwen Stacy, as it followed echoes of Peter’s memories back to his home. Peter accused Conners of being behind Gwen’s death, and Conners revealed what he had done, just as the creature came out of hiding. Peter attacked it, eventually tricking it into leaping into a fiery factory smokestack. Later, an angry Peter convinced Conners to turn himself in. Deciding that Spider-Man had caused enough death, Peter told Mary Jane he was dropping his dual identity; but he could not avoid his sense of responsibility, stopping a mugging while wearing a makeshift mask, and soon realized he could not quit.
When the X-Men’s Jean Grey used her telepathy to punish Wolverine for an indiscretion, she unwittingly swapped the minds of Spider-Man and Wolverine, trapping each in the other’s body. After a series of misadventures, the duo foiled another robbery attempt by the Shocker before Grey restored them to their rightful bodies. Later, Peter enjoyed a trip to the beach with Mary Jane, Kong, Liz and a new kid in school that Liz liked, Johnny Storm. After the secretly superhuman Storm was unexpectedly ignited by their campfire and flew off, he came back the next day to apologize to Liz; as Spider-Man, Peter offered Storm advice and they formed what might prove to be an enduring friendship. Together, they rescued people from a tenement fire.
After helping the Ultimates capture a rogue cyborg, Peter accompanied Ben Urich to interview the now-celebrity sorcerer Dr. Strange. Turned away by the Doctor’s manservant Wong, Peter sensed something was wrong and returned as Spider-Man to investigate. Witnessing what he thought was Wong attacking the unconscious Doctor, he broke in through the window, unwittingly shattering the mansion’s mystic defenses. The nightmare being who had been attacking Strange pulled Peter into a horrifying dream world until Strange managed to wake him, and Peter fled in terror. When Harry Osborn returned, Peter learned that he had dated Mary Jane prior to Peter, and that he too had been mutated in the same explosion that empowered Doctor Octopus and his father. Now mentally unstable and hallucinating, Harry transformed into a monstrous Hobgoblin. He went on a rampage, trying to get Peter to kill him, but Peter refused; when Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived, they took Harry down hard, and an enraged Peter struck the government man. Peter then left and Fury told his men to crack the code of the Oz drug by his birthday then take away Spider-Man's powers. Afterwards, Peter broke up with Mary Jane, fearful for her safety and feeling he could no longer trust her.
Later, Spidey got caught up in a gang war between Kingpin and his rival Hammerhead, and has encountered the mysterious vigilante Moonknight, as well as fighting Hammerhead and the Enforcers alongside Shang-Chi, Iron Fist,Elektra and Black Cat. He has also started dating Kitty Pryde of the X-Men.
Recently, Spider-Man was kidnapped along with the X-Men by Deadpool and his Reavers. They were taken to the island of Krakoa to star in a show where mutants were hunted down for crimes they had committed or been accused of. They managed to escape with Peter after the whole ordeal finally feeling ready to reveal his secret to his Aunt May. Upon his return home however, Peter found a message on his answering machine left by his dear Aunt stating she would be staying the night with Miles Warren. So with no need to explain why he was missing for the entire night into the morning he decided to put off telling her for another time.
Peter was at a mall with Mary Jane, when a mysterious man wearing a scorpion costume attacked them. When Peter tore the mask off of the mystery man, he saw his own face staring back at him. Confused, he brought him to the Fantastic Four for a DNA test. When the results came back as Peter Parker, Spidey took off his own mask to prove that the man couldn't be him, but, in fact, a clone.
