Marvel Settles Fight Over Spider-Man, Doctor Strange Rights; The Hollywood Reporter, December 8, 2023

Ashley Cullins, The Hollywood Reporter; Marvel Settles Fight Over Spider-Man, Doctor Strange Rights

"It looks like Marvel won’t be bringing its battle over the rights to Spider-Man and Doctor Strange into the new year. Attorneys for the company and the estate of Steve Ditko on Wednesday notified the court that they’ve reached an amicable settlement and expect a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice to be filed in the coming weeks.

This all started back in 2021, when Marvel filed a series of lawsuits in response to copyright termination notices from Larry Lieber and the estates of Gene Colan, Steve Ditko, Don Heck and Don Rico. A very long list of characters were at issue, including Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hulk and Thor. In June, all but one of the matters settled."

No Way Home Foreshadows The Greatest Problem With The X-Men; ScreenRant, February 3, 2022

Thomas Bacon, ScreenRant; No Way Home Foreshadows The Greatest Problem With The X-Men

"Spider-Man is the only Avenger to date who has been a teenager in this shared universe. That's given his solo films a unique feel in the MCU, but it's also posed serious ethical questions about whether or not the Avengers should allow Spider-Man to join in with their superhero fights. It didn't take long for War Machine to pick up on this in Captain America: Civil War, with Tony Stark brushing the question of Spider-Man's age aside. "I don't know, I didn't carbon-date him," Iron Man defended himself. "He's on the young side." The question of Spider-Man's age surfaced again in Spider-Man: No Way Home, when Peter Parker's beloved Aunt May was accused of child endangerment because she had allowed him to act as a hero. "Child endangerment's a nasty rap," Agent Cleary accused her. "A boy was entrusted to you, and as his legal guardian - essentially his mother - you not only allowed him to endanger himself, but you actually encouraged it. Who does that?" It's true this was just a throwaway scene, and the ethical considerations weren't subsequently explored in greater depth - but the question is a chilling one nonetheless, and it has serious implications for the future of the MCU, particularly how it relates to the X-Men."

Spider-Verse Is The First Movie To Properly Understand The Meaning Of Spider-Man; ScreenRant, January 1, 2019

Max Farrow, ScreenRant; Spider-Verse Is The First Movie To Properly Understand The Meaning Of Spider-Man

"With his love for graffiti and music, Miles is not the same every-man that Peter is. Indeed, as an American teenager of color, he reflects the modern and diverse world that we live in. However, he also serves as a literal embodiment of how fans from every corner can see themselves within Spider-Man. Into the Spider-Verse depicts Miles being inspired and shaped by Spider-Man’s legend to become a hero in his own right. And this is key to the movie’s inclusive message...

Before Into the Spider-Verse's hilarious post credit scene, the film ends with another quote from Stan Lee:

“That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero.”

Superheroes can serve as comic or violent fantasies, but at their heart they are stories about people learning to be better themselves. Peter Parker and his comic books act as a springboard for Miles Morales to achieve greatness, as he recognizes how to use his abilities responsibly. But the lesson that we can all change for the better is not one that Peter or Miles must learn on their own – we too can be inspired by Miles' story in Spider-Verse. Indeed, it’s an empowering and universal message that anyone can live by. As Miles says in his voice-over at the end of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, anyone can wear the Spider-Man mask. Therefore, everyone has the potential to do good in this world, just like the every-man superhero, Spider-Man."

How Stan Lee Helped Bring Humanity to Superheroes; Comic Book Resources, November 13, 2018

Brian Cronin, Comic Book Resources; How Stan Lee Helped Bring Humanity to Superheroes

"Spider-Man's introduction in Amazing Fantasy #15 achieved two notable goals. One, it took the idea of Reed Richards' cosmic ray screw-up leading to the creation of the Fantastic Four to a whole other level, as now Peter Parker's selfishness almost directly led to the death of his beloved Uncle Ben, giving Spider-Man a painful reminder why he has to be a superhero and two, it took a teen hero and had him not as a sidekick or a younger version of an older hero, but as THE hero."