Although Peter Parker has a keen scientific mind, the main way he’s pulled an income over the decades has been working for The Daily Bugle, mainly by snapping photos of himself as Spider-Man. The Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies included this element of the Spidey mythology and even Andrew Garfield’s Peter had a side gig at the newspaper in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but so far, Tom Holland’s Peter is not affiliated with the Bugle in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
So what are the chances that the MCU’s Peter Parker could join The Daily Bugle and work with people like J. Jonah Jameson and Robbie Robertson in a future Spider-Man movie? While that option isn’t entirely off the table, executive producer Eric Carroll explained to CinemaBlend and other outlets last year on the Spider-Man: Far From Home London set that because life has changed with technology upgrades and the internet, it doesn’t make as much sense to have the high school-aged Peter working as a traditional newspaper photographer. In Carroll’s words:
We've absolutely talked and thought about those characters a lot. Even in specific reference to this film. And what we just want to make sure we're doing is presenting them in a way that doesn't make you feel instantly like you've seen it before. So, we have a couple of ideas -- some of which I can't really go into detail, because they're a spoiler. But it's absolutely something. Like, if we had an in for the Daily Bugle that wasn't just your traditional newspaper and Peter Parker... there's this cool-weird thing happening where being a photographer isn't necessarily a mark of distinction anymore. We all have better cameras in our pockets than most people owned 10 years ago.
He has a point. When the Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man trilogy was unfolding last decade, while the internet was obviously popular, smartphones weren’t a thing yet, so it was a lot harder for a non-professional to take a good photo. Nowadays it’s a lot easier for anyone with an iPhone, Android or whatever your smartphone of choice is to snap some incredible shots, meaning there’s not as much incentive for Peter to want to work for The Daily Bugle if he’s not primarily interested in a journalism career.
Plus, Peter Parker is a youth who’s grown up as social media has become increasingly popular, so if he is curious about the kind of media presence Spider-Man has, he’s more likely to look at what people are saying on Twitter and Instagram. In any case, Eric Carroll also mentioned that Spider-Man: Far From Home tries honor the source material as much as possible, and there are apparently a few nods to Peter’s connection to The Daily Bugle. Carroll said:
So, how do we get Peter or somebody into that world without... do people really aspire to be photographers for the New York Times anymore? Or do they aspire to have their Tweet reposted and so on? So, we're trying to pay as much homage to the source material as possible, and we do think there are a couple of fun ideas like that in here -- again, most of which I don't want to spell out for you, but we want to pull out as much of the mythology that people love in a way that's totally faithful and what people love about it, but in a way that doesn't remind me you he is Spider-Man.
Given that the main hook of Spider-Man: Far From Home is watching Peter Parker travel to Europe with his friends and being recruited by Nick Fury to fight the Elementals with Mysterio, one probably shouldn’t get their hopes up about seeing him get a job at The Daily Bugle, let alone interacting with an irate J. Jonah Jameson. That said, one fun nod to the newspaper I could envision is Peter looking at its website or one of its social media platforms while he’s across the pond.
Although Sony is moving full steam ahead on its live action and animated Spider-verse franchises, it’s a good bet we can expect at least one more MCU-set Spider-Man movie, if not more. So even if Spider-Man: Far From Home has other things to focus on, maybe there’s still potential down the line for Peter to get some work experience at The Daily Bugle should he want to explore the world of media, perhaps after he graduates high school.
As far as how Peter Parker’s life is currently going, well, it’s quite the whirlwind of change. Like the rest of those who were dusted by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, Peter was brought back in Avengers: Endgame thanks to Hulk channeling the power of the Infinity Stones. However, he and everyone else who disappeared are the same as they were when Thanos snapped them out of existence, as opposed to being five years older like those who survived.
So now Peter Parker has to go back to high school, and while it may feel to him like no time has passed since he was fighting Thanos on Titan, the world changed a lot in the last five years. Fortunately, there were others in his life, like Aunt May and Ned, who also turned to dust, so it’s not like Peter doesn’t have anyone to talk to who shared this experience.
But along with all this, Peter Parker is also coping with the death of Tony Stark, his mentor and father figure. So even though he’s going on vacation, Peter will have to balance battling threats to humanity and coping with personal pain. Such is the life of a superhero, particularly Spider-Man, who's dealt with a lot of trauma and loss over his decades of comic book and other media appearances.
Spider-Man: Far From Home will spin its web in theaters on July 2, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more coverage. Don’t forget to also look through our Marvel movies guide to see what else is coming up in the MCU.
