Spider-Man/Heartwarming

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Comics

• After going through trial separation due to everything she put up with, Mary Jane finally agrees to get back together with Spidey, with both of them promising to do better this time around... then One More Day happened...
  • It should be noted that Stan Lee has never put the characters through any of that angsty garbage, and they remain Happily Married in the newspaper strip continuity, as well as in the MC2 continuity.
• The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man was an short back-up story in an otherwise forgettable issue. Spidey reads a newspaper article about a kid who idolizes him and wants to meet him. Spidey goes to visit the kid. They talk, the kid shows him his (very impressive) Spider-Man memorabilia collection. The kid also asks him "how does Peter Parker get all those great pictures of you?" which Spidey kind of dodges (since he is Peter Parker), and pesters him to tell him his secret identity, which he refuses to reveal. Spidey then starts to leave... turns back... and explains that Peter Parker gets those great photos of him because... he is Peter Parker. And then takes off his mask. Spidey then leaves, and we see him standing on a wall in front of the building the kid was in, and a sign reveals it's a hospital. Spidey is unmasked, and the "camera" pulls in, and he's crying. And we see the rest of the newspaper article. The reporter writes that he really hopes Spider-Man sees the article, because the kid has leukemia, and his doctors say he has only a few weeks to live.
• After the whole fiasco with the clones, and the return of the Green Goblin, and the loss of his unborn child, Spidey is finally getting back to his roots. As he patrols the city, he stops to harass J. Jonah Jameson one more time. But when he sees Jameson alone at his desk, hours after his employees have gone, still working late into the night, Spidey decides not to play his usual pranks. Instead, he taps on the window, eliciting an angry tirade from Jonah. Spidey then calmly says, "Jonah, it's late. Go home."
• The Watcher is usually The Stoic, but this Christmas issue of Spider-Man... it's just so sweet, it made me cry! Here's the link: Small Miracles.
• Issue #591 had the Fantastic Four regain their memories of Spider-Man's identity from before the One More Day Reset Button caused everyone to forget who Spider-Man is under the mask. You can see it here, complete with a nice bit of foreshadowing towards Spidey joining the FF after Johnny's death.
• The final scene of Spider Island. After working together to save the world, Peter and Mary Jane take a moment to watch over the city.

[[spoiler:Peter: Look at 'em, MJ. A whole city. And they all walked a mile in my shoes. MJ: No. Just the wall-crawling parts. Everything that really matters is still right here, tiger.]]

• From the Spider-Man: Fever miniseries, there's a sweet moment at the end where Spidey notices that he and Doctor Strange make similar hand gestures. Heartwarming in a corny way.
• Nice small one. In Venom #18 (2012), Flash-Venom has to rescue Betty from falling to her doom, in a situation more than a little similiar to the famous Gwem Stacy one. They instantly do so, instinctively telling her to go limp and everything. It's obvious this is because the symbiote picked up on Peter's constant replaying of that moment while he wore it.

Films

• Spider-Man: On the bridge, during the Goblin fight. The Goblin is gloating at the Sadistic Choice, when he's suddenly pelted with debris. Then, a Crowning Moment of Awesome for a crowd of extras.

The Crowd: "Hey! Pickin' on a guy tryin' ta save some kids!" "This is New York!" "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!"

• • This line is even more Crowning Moment of Heartwarming when you realize it was put in as a tribute to the togetherness and toughness of New York after 9/11.
  • J. Jonah Jameson is Stan Lee's Self-Deprecation showing - a "cantankerous, money-hungry old man". He also has standards. Case in point. Costumed psycho blows right through the wall of his office, grabs him by the throat with obviously superhuman strength...

Green Goblin: [grabbing Jameson by the throat] Jameson you slime! Who's the photographer who takes pictures of Spider-Man? J. Jonah Jameson: I don't know who he is! His stuff comes in the mail! Green Goblin: YOU'RE LYING! J. Jonah Jameson: I swear! Green Goblin: He's the one who can take me to him! J. Jonah Jameson: I don't know who he is!

• • • Please note that Peter Parker is staring right through the window on 3-J's office door at that very moment, yet Jameson doesn't even catch his eye. Jerkass he may be, but the man's got a set of balls on him that a krogan would envy. It's probably why Parker never gives Jameson's defamation of Spider-Man another thought (Apart from that webbing that Jerkass' mouth shut when he instantly accuses Spidey of colluding with Green Goblin the moment the superhero gets him free).
• Spider-Man 2: After a fight where he's forced to remove his mask, Peter uses every ounce of his strength to stop a runaway train. He passes out immediately afterwards, and the passengers catch him and set him down on the floor, whereupon they're shocked to see that Spider-Man is "just a kid." Peter then wakes up and a couple kids give him his mask back, as everyone promises they won't tell anyone who he is.
  • This is capped off by their You Shall Not Pass / Go Through Me reaction to Doc Ock's arrival. It didn't do any good, but the intent was worthy of admiration.
  • Doc Ock's last words: "I will not die a monster!"
  • Aunt May's words of encouragement to Peter:

Too few characters out there, flying around like that, saving old girls like me. And Lord knows, kids like Henry need a hero. Courageous, self-sacrificing people. Setting examples for all of us. Everybody loves a hero. People line up for them, cheer them, scream their names. And years later, they'll tell how they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who taught them how to hold on a second longer. I believe there's a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady, and give up the thing we want the most, even our dreams.

• Spider-Man 3: when Harry, in his hospital bed, is told he has good friends, and he answers, "My best friends." He says it with all the earnestness of a contented 8-year-old, and it's just so cute.
  • No mention of Harry's arrival just in time to help Peter take on the Sandman and Venom? And then afterwards, his and Peter's conversation just before his death, which also counts as a Tear Jerker.

Peter: I should never have hurt you... said those things... Harry: (gentle and earnest) None of that matters, Peter. You're my friend. Peter: (smiling tearfully) Best friend.

• Spider-Man 3 may be a fairly polarizing film but damn if everyone didn't well up a bit at the "Birth Of Sandman" scene. Watching Sandman at one moment barely able to stand up to forming a full body with steely determination after just one look at his daughter gets this troper everytime. The beautiful Musical score and Jaw-dropping visuals (When You can get a pile of sand to be on both the verge of tears and have a look of absolute determination, You're doing something right) only adds to it.