More Spider-Man (Patreon)

I have no idea where the idea that Peter Parker and Tony Stark are bestest friends, much less that they're surrogate father and son, has sprung up from. It seems like one of those 'brain bugs' that sci-fi fandom is especially vulnerable to.

As near as I can tell, in the lead-in to Civil War, Peter, Tony, and Steve Rogers were portrayed as what was twisted by the fandom into a 'Superfamily.' Despite the fact that Peter was (surely by now) almost the same age as Steve (and not all that younger than Tony) and also a married man and at one point an expectant father, fandom seemed to fall in love with the idea of him being adopted by Tony and Steve, two other grown men.

Of course, all this was just to make it more impactful when, in the pages of CW, Peter turned on Tony having realized what a villain he was.

Naturally, the movie Civil War decided to skip over that little tidbit and entirely had Tony as a mentor and surrogate father, something Homecoming elaborated on even more--while further infantilizing Peter by 'revealing' that Steve Rogers could've taken him out at any time. The self-sufficient and independent Peter (who actually would've been of use in a big fight) is gone, replaced with Iron Man's Pal, Peter Parker. Quite a quandary for a character whose initial popularity could be traced to him not being a sidekick.

The really odd part is I see little to no reason why Peter should have such tender, loving feelings towards Tony. Yes, Tony is a brilliant scientist. He's also a rake, a scoundrel, an irresponsible jackass, a womanizer, and so on and so forth. All traits you'd think Peter would find unappealing. 

If anything, you'd think Peter would be more of a fanboy of Reed Richards, or even Hank Pym or Bruce Banner. They're men of science, but infinitely more responsible and more inclined to settle down and live peaceably with a good woman, which is Peter's intention too (has he ever really played the field, save for when particularly poorly written?). It seems to me that Peter should valorize Reed Richards... a respected and famed scientific figure with a beautiful, loving wife, adoring children, lifelong friends at his side, and an endless series of scientific adventures--rather than the guy who continuously proves to be his own worst enemy.