You said this "Peter who always wants to the fixer being forced to contend with someone who has the ability to fix things on different levels than him." abt spideytorch and I was wondering if you could talk more abt what you meant by it? It just sounds like a fun scenario for peter character exploration,
So I don't really remember the context I said that in, but in general, I think that represents a challenge for Peter. Peter is very action-oriented, and he also likes to be in control. You know, and you can argue that last bit is something of a trauma response -- the loss of control when Uncle Ben was murdered, or when he lost Gwen. I think you definitely see that in moments like in Marvel Knights Spider-Man where Norman tosses MJ off the bridge and Peter saves her by webbing every joint to reduce the impact of the stop on her. That's clearly something he thought about before that moment. And in his friend group, Peter is very much the fixer, the dependable one, the person people go to when they're worried about something. You see this with Flash reaching out to Peter when he's worried about Betty joining a cult (top ten storyline by the way more Spider-Man characters need to join cults) or looking for his abusive father, or in the way Harry wishes he could be more like Peter, or MJ calling him after his second proposal when she's been emotionally cornered by her father and her sister is in trouble.
He's the fixer. He's very, very comfortable in that position. He likes being the fixer.
But there are definitely situations where Peter's abilities aren't suited to that task. Outside of Parker Industries, for instance -- Peter cannot fix anything with money. Not without crossing certain lines. And I do think, if he had to, he would cross those lines. You see this in Back in Black, for example.
"If money's a problem, then I'll just get money." This is after he's committed nine felonies in like a ten minute span, by the way. (ASM #542) Or in Marvel Fanfare #42, a much more mundane take on this, where he blackmails a bank manager to discretely leave the woman who was fired for rejecting said manager's advances enough money for her rent.
Peter can get money, but he usually does not have it on hand, and he can't finance things long term. Johnny can. And Johnny is generous, and happy to do it -- despite what Peter thinks, Johnny actually does know what it's like to have no money, so he's not unsympathetic there. But Peter's also very proud. I've said it before, but I think a lot of the financial issues with Spideytorch depend on whether Peter's already had a relationship with MJ where she paid the majority of the bills. Because I think otherwise it's difficult for him in some regards.
Likewise, there's a difference in powers here, too, right? Peter is very physically strong and very physically capable. He's physically stronger than Johnny. But Johnny's abilities surpass that strength. Peter can wreck a city block, but it's going to take him some time and effort. Johnny, at his extreme upper limits, can function as a human sun. He can incinerate that city block with very little effort. So there is that difference in ability. Which is interesting, because I'm sure Peter and Johnny both don't think about it on that scale on a day-to-day basis, but the difference does exist.
You know, there's also things like Johnny being an experienced space explorer, having been to the Negative Zone several times, more familiarity with various alien worlds. Peter is an inventor on a personal level. Johnny helps design space ships. Again, I don't think they think about on that scale. But it is interesting and there are just things where Johnny is inherently going to be more suited to fixing a situation than Peter, and I think that would be difficult at least the first few times it happens, and especially when Peter is younger. I don't think it would be a dealbreaker -- he's very in awe of Johnny in his own way, and we see he can get over these kind of relationship difficulties -- but I think it would be difficult. Whether it's on the scale of their powers, or their experience, or even on a financial level, it's interesting to think about in terms of the ship, because I don't really think Johnny would even think about it. Peter, especially Peter who is still in his early twenties, having to learn how to relinquish that control is just going to be incredibly difficult. He's clinging on by his sticky fingertips. Johnny is like can you stop you have twenty dollars in your account.
