As superhero stories have become one of the dominant forms of entertainment it’s little shock that Spider-Man has been a major part of that. He’s arguably Marvel’s most popular character, which means we’ve seen his story told in a multitude of ways. We've seen numerous live-action Spider-Man takes as well as animated offerings. But many of them share similar details, leading to an interesting question. Why does Peter Parker wear glasses?
Peter Parker was created as the standard nerd stereotype, so of course he wears glasses before he becomes a superhero, but being bitten by a radioactive spider traditionally improves all parts of him physically, including his eyesight. A viewer of the newest Spidey story, the animated Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man available with a Disney+ subscription, asked exactly this question on Reddit recently…
In most continuities, whether it be comics, cartoons, movies, or video games, Peter gains perfect vision after that spider bite. In this cartoon, how come Peter still wears glasses after the spider bite?
It’s an interesting question that is just one of those things that you might not even think about most of the time, though once you do, you can’t unsee it. It’s most notable in Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man movie, which is also one of the few versions of the story where Peter does stop wearing the glasses.
There are many comments in response to the post, that largely seem to believe that the reason Peter Parker continues to wear glasses is to reinforce his “nerd” stereotype as a way to deflect any attention away from himself when it comes to people suspecting that he’s actually Spider-Man. Responses include…
- It's not like they've explained it, but it always seemed weird to me that no one ever was remotely suspicious of how Pete's vision suddenly became perfect. Sure he could explain it away as getting contacts, but keeping the glasses reinforces his identity as a nerd and a weakling - to put it crassly. BatmanForever23
- I wear glasses. If I suddenly just stopped wearing them one day people would ask questions. Primus7112765
- He actually proceeded to wear them after he got his powers in the comics as he wanted people to continue to believe he's a wimpy nerd, it isn't until Flash breaks them that he stops wearing them. SoggyMaintenance1014
- Spiders have terrible eyesight. His vision improving is the most ridiculous thing about those movies. BZenMojo
This explanation certainly makes some sense, but I’m still not sure I buy it. It’s one thing if you’re Clark Kent trying to prevent people from believing you’re Superman. The glasses may not do much, but they do change the way your face looks. But Spider-Man wears a mask, so it’s not like the glasses really do that much.
Sure, maybe that nerd Peter Parker is the last person you would suspect to be Spider-Man, but I can’t imagine that anybody who might suspect him would consider whether or not he still wore glasses as evidence one way or the other.
Tom Holland never wears glasses as Peter Parker, but he's already Spider-Man when we meet him in the MCU. It's possible his version never had them. Still, now I'm curious if, when we see him in the upcoming Spider-Man 4, he might have decided to put them on as a way to try and hide himself away even more.
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