Spiderman 1 - Peter Parker

What about Peter? What kind of character is he? He's likeable, he has a sense of humor, showing he, unlike Osborne, does not take himself too seriously. And he's humble and meek, for instead of using his power for evil or to show off or get back at enemies, he follows the advice of his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) and uses his power responsibly. "With great power comes great responsibility gets repeated several times in this movie and the first sequel. He's poor in spirit, like the persecuted, for he's made fun of by others in his school. But he does not retaliate, except in self defense.

Even as he realizes more and more the power he has, he keeps his sense of humor and humility. Unlike Superman, we can relate to this person better, but he is seemingly perfect in his execution of heroics. He saves his girl, the city, and he takes care of his aunt, all seemingly selflessly. He just wants to do the right thing, and in that sense he's a Christ-figure. But we will meet his weaknesses, those of every man, in the sequels, and we relate to him even better. At the end of the movie, he has so combined his intelligence and his spider-gifting that he can seemingly do the impossible. He's practically omnipotent, as the Goblin, clearly a devil-figure, demands that he make a choice - save the love of his life or save a gondola full of innocent people whom spiderman doesn't know. Instead of choosing, spiderman saves both and like Christ, but not quite, almost dying in the process.

While the devil, the Goblin, believes the key is to attack spiderman's heart, this strategy backfires, for spiderman's heart of love for Mary Jane seems to be from whence he gets the strength to vault from near-death to superhuman feats of strength. The Goblin ends up begging Peter for mercy, yet uses the expression of mercy to try to kill him. How much more devilish could he have become. Yet, Peter the human remains magnanimous even as Osborne dies in his arms. Peter, as spiderman, gently returns the body of Osborne to his home and keeps the secret of who he really was, lest Osborne's son learn of it and be ashamed of his own father, a father, by the way, who never truly accepted Harry (James Franco) for who he was.

Again, like Christ, Peter loves his enemy. In his normal human life, he keeps his spiderman identity incognito, even to the point of being considered cowardly. Christ, though having the power to get off the cross and show his enemies who He really was, resisted such temptation for the greater cause. Hebrews says, "He [Christ the new final High Priest] can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himselfis also subject to weakness."