Spider-Man has always tried to protect his secret identity, although he has not always been the best about keeping it private. In recent comic books, those in his life have noticed that Spider-Man is not acting normally, and Peter Parker appears to be behaving strangely as well. While this is troubling for people who are familiar with each of his personas, it is raising major red flags for those who truly know that they are the same person. There are plenty of heroes who know his identity, from Captain America and Iron Man to the Fantastic Four. Still, there are some people who know his secret identity who may seem strange to fans who don’t read Marvel Comics.
From two of his past enemies to some close allies, here is a look at seven Marvel characters who know Peter Parker is Spider-Man in the comics.
For years, J. Jonah Jameson hated Spider-Man more than anyone else did. Ever since Spider-Man debuted, JJJ did everything he could with his newspaper to make people hate and fear Spider-Man, painting him as a villain. He even went as far as to create the Scorpion and the Spider-Slayers to try to take out Spider-Man on his own. In the meantime, he also grew very close to Peter Parker, employing him for the paper and eventually coming to look at him as a father-like figure.
However, JJJ knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man now, and it all happened in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #6. In this issue, Spider-Man agreed to do a podcast with JJJ, and in the middle, JJJ broke down and talked about everything he had lost in his life, and the only thing he had left was hate. Spider-Man unmasked and revealed himself, telling JJJ that he had always had him. Since that time, JJJ has become one of Spider-Man’s allies, was his Man-in-the-Chair for a time, and is one of the few people who know that Spider-Man in Marvel Comics today can’t be Peter Parker.
Norman Osborn was always one of Spider-Man’s most dangerous enemies. As the Green Goblin, he murdered Gwen Stacy to hurt Spider-Man, but he ultimately lost his memory. When he returned after being presumed dead, he no longer knew the truth. However, in Amazing Spider-Man #797, Norman finally learned the truth again when J. Jonah Jameson slipped up and mentioned that Norman threw “his girl” off the bridge. Norman connected Gwen Stacy to Peter Parker, and he remembered his identity.
However, things have changed a lot since that moment. Norman had his “sins” cleansed by Sin-Eater and was no longer the villain he had always been before. Norman Osborn then tried to aid Spider-Man as best he could, improving his costume and doing everything he could to help Peter be the best hero he could be. Since Spider-Man was abducted from Earth, Norman Osborn has taken on the role of Spider-Man in an attempt to keep the legacy of Spider-Man alive.
Spider-Man has revealed his identity to a few of his girlfriends, including Mary Jane Watson. However, in an interesting twist of events, Ben Reilly has been pretending to be Peter Parker and Norman Osborn as Green Goblin, and Mary Jane had no idea they were not the real person. However, there was one person who knew that neither was the real Spider-Man or Peter Parker. That was Black Cat.
Black Cat approached Ben Reilly and informed him that she knew he wasn’t Peter Parker, and she also revealed that she knew it was an imposter wearing the Spider-Man costume. The entire situation between the two was initially awkward when Spider-Man unmasked, and Black Cat was repulsed because she preferred not to know the truth. However, since that time, Black Cat has been one of Spider-Man’s most loyal allies and will do anything in her power to help him.
The fact that Venom knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man makes things difficult for the Web-Crawler. When Peter rejected the symbiote, it sought revenge. It merged with Eddie Brock, who already harbored a grudge against Peter, creating one of his most formidable enemies for a short time. This also became dangerous when Venom bonded with Scorpion (whom Osborn already told who Spider-Man was). However, other Venom hosts didn’t learn for various reasons, including those who refused to communicate with Venom.
It does seem interesting that Venom is now in Mary Jane Watson, and even though both of them know Spider-Man is Peter Parker, neither of them connected the fact that Peter was not real, but was actually Ben Reilly pretending to be him when they approached him. It shows that Black Cat was always the better girlfriend for Spider-Man, and Venom no longer knows him as well as he once did.
Doctor Strange is one hero who has become very important in Spider-Man’s life in Marvel Comics. He knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange likely knows every hero’s secret identity thanks to his mystical powers. This came in handy when Spider-Man needed help dealing with the spider totem, and Strange also knows something no one else knows in Marvel Comics.
Stephen Strange knows why Mephisto hates Spider-Man so much. One of Spider-Man’s most hated comics was the One More Day/Brand New Day storylines, which saw Spider-Man make a deal with Mephisto to erase his marriage to Mary Jane Watson to save Aunt May’s life. Strange learned that Mephisto saw his own future where Mayday Parker was the hero who beat him, and he wanted to stop her birth.
This one might be a surprise. In the new Spider-Man comics, while Ben Reilly and Norman Osborn are impersonating Spider-Man/Peter Parker on Earth, the real Spider-Man is in the far reaches of space. He was stranded on a foreign planet and was about to die when the alien scientist villain Xanto Starblood saved him, only to reveal later that Xanto had captured several species from other planets to experiment on.
When Spider-Man saved the prisoners, one of them turned out to be Rocket Raccoon. When Spider-Man saved them, and Rocket walked to the lead, he commented that he was being saved by another Earth idiot named Peter, proving that he knew Peter Parker and Spider-Man were the same. However, he probably has no idea who Peter really was on Earth, or likely even cares.
Miles Morales originally came from Earth-1610, where he took over the role of Spider-Man after Peter Parker while battling Ultimate Goblin. Miles wanted to represent what Peter had done and was doing great before something happened, and he learned that Peter was still alive, but he didn’t want anyone to know. Miles then met the Earth-616 Peter Parker when Spider-Man traveled through the multiverse.
After Secret Wars ended, Molocule Man offered Miles Morales a gift in exchange for the kindness the young man showed him. He resurrected Miles’ family on Earth-616, and Miles became part of the world alongside Spider-Man, who became a mentor to the teenager. Miles knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man, and this is important for him because it allows him to have someone to turn to when he needs help.
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