Warning! Spoilers ahead for Amazing Spider-Man #1!The newestSpider-Manseries has included a sly reference to the iconic sitcomSeinfeld, but is it time for comics to stop referencing celebrities and larger pop culture? A surprising cameo raises the question abouthow much Marvel should be referencingreal-world figures.
For decades,Marvel and its fellow superhero publishershave a history of touching on pop culture, whether it uses official cameos, stealthy parodies, or outright unauthorized crossovers. But as time has gone on, the view on celebrities have changed and one must wonder if it’s time for superheroes to take a break from touching on celebrities from real life.
Amazing Spider-ManBrings Seinfeld’s Apartment to the Marvel Universe
The Classic Sitcom Location Serves as the Home for an Iconic Villain
InAmazing Spider-Man #1by Joe Kelly, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia, and Joe Caramagna, it’s a new day for Peter Parker, who is trying to get his life back together with a new job. He goes on the hunt and has over a dozen interviews, but none of them work out, either citing Peter’s questionable job history or his tendency to disappear on the job. But just as Peter’s at his lowest,he gets a follow-up from Rand Enterprises thanks to an old friend of Spider-Man’s from middle school.
Peter meets up with his old pal Brian Nehring at Rand Enterprises and it seems like things are actually working out for Parker. Unfortunately, just as Peter’s first day begins, the Rhino attacks nearby. Spider-Man swings into action to try and calm the rampaging beast, but Aleksei isn’t out to talk. Just as Peter recognizes that something is up with the Rhino, the villain has a sudden heart attack.Spider-Man begins performing CPR on the Rhino and manages to save his adversary’s life.
…the apartment Spider-Man checks out looks exactly like Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment…
Keeping abreast of the Rhino’s situation is Roderick Kingsley, whose assistant is monitoring the Rhino at Ravencroft and has intercepted his blood work, hiding whatever the Rhino took. Meanwhile, Peter spends the evening with his friends, but a suspicious comment about how people in East Harlem aren’t acting like themselves sends Peter into investigative mode. Spider-Man decides to follow-up on the Rhino’s unexpected attack by breaking into his apartment to look for anything suspicious. Interestingly enough,the apartment Spider-Man checks out looks exactly like Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment from theSeinfeldsitcom.
Pop Culture References Tend to Date Comics Pretty Quickly
It’s For the Best That Real-World Celebrities and Media Not Be Referenced
This isn’t anything new, of course as comic books have been making references to actors, musicians, athletes, movies, television shows, and more in their incredibly long history. Spider-Man is no stranger to having the occasional crossover with a real-world figures in variant covers or in the comics themselves and has met people such as Eminem, Stephen Colbert, and even President Barack Obama. Thanks to the sliding timescale of the Marvel Universe,Spider-Man can pretty much meet any culturally relevant figure (no matter how many decades may pass in the real world).
Yep, Peter met the 44th President inAmazing Spider-Man #583!
The problem is that these kinds of stunts tend to date comic books pretty badly. Granted,Seinfelddoes seem to be holding onto its popularity, but there’s no telling where it’ll stand in a few decades, especially as pop culture starts to move faster in recent years. One must also consider how people have begun to look at celebrities more critically. It’s all well and good when a celebrity makes a cameo in one issue, but it becomes a bit awkward if they turn out to be a bit problematic.
…Seinfeld’s apartment is a decent reference, but it doesn’t actually add much to the story…
That being said, there’s nothing that says these stories can’t make passing references to celebrities or media in dialogue. That really helps comics maintain their relatability to the readers. But actually including real-world people or elements from actual shows or movies is a bit much. Sure, Seinfeld’s apartment is a decent reference, but it doesn’t actually add much to the story (if anything, it actually distracts Spider-Man’s serious investigation). It’d simply be better ifMarvel Comics and other superhero publishers just left these kinds of cameos in the past.
Marvel Comics is Better Off with Less Cameos to Real World Figures
Just Quietly Retire This Trend and Forget About Celebrities
Yes, comic books tend to reflect the real world more often than not, but that doesn’t mean they actually need to showcase things from reality to do so. The fun of fiction is making things up and its more fulfilling to see a creative team make a sneakier reference to something real rather than making it incredibly obvious. While this trend isn’t likely to die out soon, the recentSeinfeldreferenceSpider-Manhas stumbled upon should at least make creators consider it.
