Outside the theater

MIKE: So my question is, how is Spider-Man different from Batman?

ANNA: Well, Batman has the secret Batcave...

BILL: For one thing, Spider-Man has legitimate super powers.

ME: I'm sorry, but I have to weigh in here. Batman was created in
the 1930s, when what people wanted was action. He was an archetype based on
the pulps -- he was The Shadow with a cape. That's why, as long as you
keep the same basic elements -- Bruce Wayne, the Batcave, the utility belt,
the Batmobile -- you can have the TV show Batman of the 1960s, and the
movie Batman of the 1980s, and the animated Batman of the 1990s, and they're
all different people, but they're all legitimate interpretations of the
character.

Spider-Man was created in the 1960s, when characterization was
what was important. He's a real person -- he's one of us. You can dress
him up however you want, put him in whatever outfit you like, he's still
Spider-Man -- as long as you don't change the character of Peter Parker,
the way he's always been written.

MIKE: I'm still not sure I understand the essential differences.
What makes Peter Parker different from Bruce Wayne?

ME: Bruce Wayne is a kid who never grew up. He lost his parents,
and he's still grieving for them, and everything he does is in order to
get them back. Peter Parker became a man the day he became Spider-Man.
Take the mask off Bruce Wayne, he's still Batman. Put the mask on
Spider-Man, and he's still Peter Parker.

CHRIS: So was that really the movie you'd waited your whole life to
see?

ANNA: Wait a minute. How can that be the movie you've waited your
whole life to see? I thought that was "Lord of the Rings."

ME: "Lord of the Rings" was a terrific movie, but Spider-Man was
my life.

ANNA: And which character did you identify with?

ME: Well, Peter Parker, of course. I was the dork who dreamed of
being able to beat down the bullies, to jump over rooftops...

ANNA: Then who is Mary Jane?

ME: That's a very good question.