Ben 10 and Spider-Man main character comparisons analysis
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Finally decided to put in some time into working on this page. Been really busy with work lately. I've been also debating as to whether or not I would include this in the "Bwen" page or make a separate page because some of this could reflect more evidence towards my theory on Man of Action wanting to do the Bwen concept in the Ben 10 series. Ultimately I decided to just make this a separate discussion page and then leave a link to that page on the "Bwen" page while discussing this topic's connection to Bwen on that very page.
Anyways, let's get started. A while back I came across an image made by Deviant-art user, MiroirTwin. It's a Bwen image and it was nicely drawn (MiroirTwin later made a remake version of this same image looks even better drawn). What really caught my attention though was the last two paragraphs in the description box of the image page describing some minor comparisons between Ben and Gwen Tennyson and Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, and Mary Jane Watson from Spider-Man in regards to their names, appearances, and the basic concept of both Ben and Peter receiving their special abilities. After seeing Captain America: Civil War over a week ago (and seeing the great performance that Tom Holland gave as Spider-Man), I thought more about these characters and that's when I really started to notice the major similarities between the main characters from Ben 10 and Spider-Man. So yeah, Ben and Gwen Tennyson are actually very similar to Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, and Mary Jane Watson. It's likely that Ben and Gwen were based and/or inspired by Peter, Gwen, and Mary Jane. Man of Action were even former Marvel comic book writers before they went off and formed Man of Action. What further confirms this was how "shadows59" from FanFiction.net mentioned how he/she thinks they remembered Joe Kelly admitting in an interview that the names of Ben and Gwen were a homage to the main characters of Spider-Man back during the Original Series although I don't know where I could find that very interview. I'll go ahead and link the Deviant-art image by MiroirTwin on here as well as quote the section of the description box mentioning the comparisons between the Ben 10 and Spider-Man main characters as a reference showing where the inspiration for making this page came from and then follow that up with a further analysis on comparing these characters to each other even more.
http://miroirtwin.deviantart.com/art/Hold-Me-369002505
Quote by MiroirTwin:
Ben's name is Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, and Gwen's name is Gwendolyn Tennyson (middle name unknown currently, if they plan to give her one at all). The basic concept of Ben 10, is a young brunet dude that is average and kind of a dork, gets into a freak accident and obtains superpowers to fight evil and become a hero. Sound familiar? It should, seeing that it's the premise of Spiderman.Yes, Spiderman, aka Peter Parker, aka Peter Benjamin Parker, who's first love was Gwen Stacy, and his true love was Mary Jane Watson, a green-eyed redhead. Coincidence? I think not.
Alright, let's start with Ben Tennyson and Peter Parker. now the most minor similarity between these two characters are the names. Wait a minute, what is it about the names that are similar to each other? Ben's full name is Benjamin Kirby Tennyson. Peter's full name is Peter Benjamin Parker. That is where the similarities between Ben and Peter's name pretty much begins and ends. That's just really it. More importantly are their appearance, personality, and characteristics. As for their appearance, Ben and Peter actually look quite similar to each other. At times, Peter looks a lot like a teenage/older Ben. I mean like really the biggest difference between their appearances is that Ben has green-colored eyes and Peter has brown-colored eyes. It's likely that Man of Action decided to have the final version of Ben's design be based off of Peter Parker's design. As for their characteristics and personality, Ben is quite impulsive and egocentric and the same could go for Peter as well. This is mostly and especially considering that both characters do openly mock their enemies quite often and show plenty of energy and cockiness when in battle. There's also their heroic status that adds to the egocentric aspect of Ben and Peter. Finally is the premise for which Ben and Peter gain their enhanced abilities in which as MiroirTwin states, their powers/abilities were acquired through freak accidents. Peter Parker was bit by a radioactive spider that escaped lab containment and Ben received the Omnitrix after finding the pod containing it by accident. Heck, Ben has the Omnitrix on his left hand and often times through reboots and alternate universes, Peter got bit by the radioactive spider on his left hand (although I believe most of the time Peter gets bit on his right hand). The most major difference, however, between Ben Tennyson and Peter Parker is that Peter is a lot more intelligent than Ben, a characteristic about Peter that is more fitting towards Gwen. Overall, yeah, Ben Tennyson and Peter Parker are quite similar characters to each other in regards to appearance, personality, characteristics, and in regards to the basic premise of them getting their powers/abilities by accident and, as stated before, it's likely that Ben was very much based off of Peter.
Next up is Gwen Tennyson and her similarities to Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson. Starting with Gwen Stacy, the first, most obvious, and most minor is just right there. Both characters have the same first name. More importantly, however, is that Gwen Stacy is like the colder, harsher side of Gwen Tennyson and both character are also labeled as Tsundere characters. Tsundere is a character trope that revolves around a female character usually and initially displaying harsh and cold behavior towards the main character but progressively develops to having a more soft and kind behavior. Most of the time this trope is used for romance as the female Tsundere character would usually end up developing feelings for the main character. Gwen Stacy also reflects that more Damsel in Distress side of Gwen as well given that there are moments in the Ben 10 Original Series where Gwen does need to be saved by Ben. Overall, Gwen Stacy reflects the colder, harsher, Tsundere, Damsel in Distress side of Gwen Tennyson. This is most especially seen in the earlier half of the Original Series before Gwen got her magic abilities.
As for Mary Jane Watson, first is her appearance. Much like Ben and Peter's strong similarity in their physical appearances, the same could go for Gwen and Mary Jane. Both characters do look quite similar to each other; especially when it comes to both of them having red-colored hair and green-colored eyes. Mary Jane does have a strong resemblance to a more teenage version of Gwen. It's not as significant as Ben and Peter's similar appearances but it is there. More importantly though is that Mary Jane reflects that more softer, tougher, and more badass side of Gwen as well. Contrary to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films where Mary Jane finds herself as the useless Damsel in Distress quite often, the comics are actually quite the opposite. Mary Jane doesn't often get kidnapped and if she does, she would usually try to find her own way out if those very situations. At times, she even manages to save Spider-Man from danger. Mary Jane is a fighter and the type of person that you don't want to mess with. The same goes with Gwen Tennyson as well; most especially in the later half of the Original Series after Gwen gains her magic abilities and even then this was seen often enough in the earlier half of the Original Series. Gwen is quite a tough character that tries to get herself out of dangerous situations if she finds herself in one and Gwen does often enough save Ben from trouble and danger as well. As the Original Series went on, Gwen also develops a more softer outlook towards Ben as well to the point where she genuinely does care a lot about him. Overall, Mary Jane Watson does reflect that more softer and tougher side of Gwen Tennyson.
So, that's that. If anyone has any thoughts and opinions about this topic, feel free to leave a comment on this page. If anyone finds any more similarities, and maybe even some differences, between these characters, feel free to share them on this page as well.
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@Tactical-Ochoa Glad I'm not the only one who noticed this, I can see it a lot in the UAF series, Teen Ben is very similar too Peter Parker (both mock their villains and look alike) and Teen Gwen looks a lot like Mary Jane Watson. Even Julie has a similarity to Gwen Stacy in a way honestly.
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@Rexfan1333 In regards to Julie, not really. Gwen Stacy is more similar to Gwen Tennyson than to Julie. The comparisons that I made also reflects the Original Series Ben and Gwen than the sequel shows' version of Ben and Gwen. That's just me though.
Edit: Well, you are right about the UAF Ben though.
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@Tactical-Ochoa I meant Julie's first appearance in the series was similar to Gwen Stacy actually. She and Ben's relationship did remind me of Peter and Gwen's.
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@Rexfan1333 Yeah I just don't see it. If there is any similarities between Julie Yamamoto and Gwen Stacy, they're very little. There's very little about Gwen Stacy that reflects and connects to Julie. I just don't see it.
Edit: If anything, Julie has a little more similarity to Mary Jane Watson instead of Gwen Stacy and even then it's not significant enough. As I explained, Ben Tennyson is very much similar to Peter Parker and Gwen Tennyson is very much similar to Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson and, at least for the most part, that's really all there is with these characters and their comparisons to each other.
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Ah guys who would bens green goblin villain be and if he has one would the Ben 10 show do like how you find out Gwen Stacy had Osborne kids before she died
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@KorseBLI-ND Vilgax seems similar to Goblin in design, but with a mix of Cuthulu as well and Kevin is similar to Eddie Brock/Venom.
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@KorseBLI-ND First thing that came to mind with the Green Goblin was Dr. Animo as Ben 10's version of him.
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@Tactical-Ochoa I always thought of Dr. Animo being Ben's version of Doctor Octopus. But I do kinda of see a bit or Green Goblin in him.
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Ah yeah I do see some green goblin in animo
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@Rexfan1333 @KorseBLI-ND It's mostly because of the many various experiments that both of these villains commit. Norman Osborn (aka the Green Goblin) and Dr. Animo are both notable mad scientists-type villains and they both definitely hold a strong interest towards Ben and Peter's powers/abilities. Dr. Animo wants to use the Omnitrix to create a mutant army and the Green Goblin wants to acquire Spider-Man's powers to make him even more powerful than he already is. Plus, both villains hold a strong grudge towards the main hero characters.
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That's actually quite clever. While I think the reboot is going to be like Gravity Falls and Steven Universe in terms of comedy, it's quite likely that the part with action is going to be like Ultimate Spider Man (is it the animated series Man Of Action is working on/worked, right?) or something like that.
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Hey everyone look I think yuri lowenthal is the voice actor for spiderman in the new spiderman game for the ps4 .
Link of the game trailer :https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aDPWDkdNLEc -
@james It looks amazing and Yuri makes a great Spidey as well as Ben 10.
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I would add that Gwen also share similarities with another Peter Parker love interest: Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. the Black Cat. Both are "cat-themed", (Gwen wears a shirt with a cat logo in Original Series) and the first time Lucky Girl appears she has luck-based powers, just like Black Cat, and their costumes are very similar (black, cat mask).
So, Gwen Tennyson is like a mix of Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson and Felicia Hardy.