How did Spider-Man's parents die in the comics? Explained

Fans know Spider-Man as an orphan lovingly brought up by Aunt May and Uncle Ben. They have played the accurate role of a guardian in giving love and teaching values. However, the absence of Peter Parker’s parents in his life stands out.

Comics say that Peter lost his parents in his childhood and stayed with Aunt May and Uncle Ben. There have been many versions of how he lost his parents. One version states that they died in a sabotaged plane crash. However, there is another version where an Avenger kills them.

With Marvel’s history of parallel storylines in alternate realities and retconning characters, there is no single theory about the demise of Peter Parker’s parents, Richard and Mary Parker.

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Exploring the death of Spider-Man’s parents in different Marvel versions

The older Marvel version

Spider-Man's parents were tricked by Red skull (Image via Marvel Comics)

According to Marvel Comics, Ben Parker’s younger brother Richard Parker met Mary Fitzpatrick while working for the CIA. They got married, and Peter was born. In the Untold Tales of Spider-Man: #-1, Mary’s pregnancy was revealed by Wolverine when the couple saved him.

As the couple continued their secret missions against villainous agents, the Red Skull – Albert Malik – damaged their plane, causing them to die in a crash. As Peter was already in his uncle’s home, it is assumed that he continued living there.

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The Ultimate Marvel version

In one version, the Hulk killed the Parker couple (Images via Marvel)

According to Ultimate Spider-Man #33, Richard Parker was not a CIA agent but a biologist. He and his colleague Eddie Brock Sr. were working on a biological suit with immense potential to be misused.

While traveling on the plane, Richard and Brock, along with their wives, perished as the plane crashed. Brock’s son, Eddie Brock Jr., and Peter Parker ended up creating the Venom Symbiote.

In another plot in the Ultimate Marvel universe, the Hulk is responsible for the untimely death of Peter’s parents. Ultimate Origins showcases the events of infant Peter losing his parents. Some of the Avengers are connected to it.

Richard Parker has been shown to be working on Project Rebirth along with Dr. Pym, Dr. Bruce Banner, and Franklin Storm. When Dr. Pym and Dr. Banner created a serum from Nick Fury’s blood samples, Bruce Banner decided to test it on himself.

The experiment went wrong, and Bruce transformed into the Hulk. Mary Parker was visiting Richard Parker with her son at the time. The Hulk kills both the Parkers, accidentally leaving the infant Parker orphan.

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References to Peter meeting his parents

Peter's long-dead parents claimed to have come back (Image via Marvel Comics)

According to the comics, Harry Osborn, as Green Goblin, sent life-model decoys of Peter’s parents to find out the identity of Spider-Man and kill him. But they were identified and eliminated before they could cause any harm.

In the Ultimate series by Brian Bendis, the clone-saga storyline shows an aging Richard returning and claiming that he was the lone survivor of the plane crash. He also claims to be working secretly for the government. It was later revealed that Doctor Octavius had created a clone of Peter Parker and made it look like Richard.

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In conclusion

Ultimate Marvel has a reputation for veering off the continuity of events. As such, the stories put forth by different issues of the Ultimate series contradict each other. However, the original Marvel comics have kept the events leading to the death of Spider-Man’s parents simple.

On the other hand, Marvel Cinematic Universe has not dealt with this topic, though references to Richard have come up in the Amazing Spider-Man movies.