Peter Parker versus Peter Petrelli - the hero who owns my heart

I should warn that this article contains information about the season ending of Heroes and the ending of Spiderman 3. If you haven’t seen them yet, you may want to read this later.

This was one of the more exciting weeks in entertainment for me. On Sunday afternoon I took the boys to see Spiderman 3.  When I announced our excursion I was met with “It’s about time mom.” So we went to see the show. I wasn’t all that impressed. On the other hand, I’ve become a regular fan of Heroes. I love the show. In fact, throughout the whole movie I kept thinking about how much better Heroes is. I was anticipating that final episode for Monday night. When I left the theater, I just knew that what I was going to see Monday night would be so much better, and it was.

I was struck with how Peter Petrelli was willing to die to save New York. In fact, as far as far as we know Peter and Nathan are dead. Spiderman didn’t die to save New York, instead his friend did. I have to be honest. I liked the friend character better than the Spiderman character. He was far more complex than Peter Parker. He seemed to face a real emotional struggle, imagine thinking your best friend killed your father, not to mention his love for Mary Jane and the fact she is with that best friend. Peter Parker just isn't a character I connected with.

There is just something about Peter Petrelli that draws you in. You want Peter Petrelli to live. I felt like he could have killed Sylar and lived and I would have been much happier with it. Spiderman 3 might have been better if they’d killed Peter Parker at the end. I hope Heroes does the right thing and brings back Peter Petrelli. He added something to the show that I don’t think the other characters can replace. I  love the other characters too, but Peter Petrelli is a hero because of love. Peter Parker, well, that remains to be seen. It isn’t always clear if he’s doing it for love or for ego.

There is just no real emotional connection with Peter Parker. The formula seemed old. I found myself predicting what would happen next, and feeling disappointed when it did.  We have no idea what will happen next on Heroes. With Peter Petrelli we feel his pain, his complexities. Peter Parker just doesn’t seem to cut it. How long can we keep feeling sorry for the guy.  He doesn’t have half the problems Peter Petrelli has. Sure Peter Parker’s uncle was killed, lots of people are killed everyday. Peter Petrelli’s own mother thinks he is weak and has chosen Nathan over him. Try getting over that sometime.

Heroes isn’t nearly as predictable as Spiderman. In fact, I think it is better written. There have been so many twists and turns in Heroes. Most of those twists and turns are not formulatic in the way that Spiderman was. I was shocked that Heroes ended with it looking like Peter and Nathan were dead. I hope that they weren’t.

In the end, both characters needed their friends. Only one died for them. Peter Petrelli is the real hero. Peter Parker is just another action guy.