Burleson's Friendly-Neighborhood Spider-Man
Burleson's Friendly-Neighborhood Spider-Man
The story of an ordinary Burleson resident who roams the streets dressed as his favorite superhero making people's days
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Peter Parker was an ordinary teenager until he was bitten by a radioactive spider and gained the proportional strength, speed and agility of a spider and adhesive fingertips that allowed him to stick to walls. When his uncle Ben died tragically, Peter chose to use these abilities to help people–for with great power there must also come great responsibility.
The guy who walks around Burleson dressed as Spider-Man wasn’t bitten by a radioactive spider. He doesn’t have any of the comic-book character’s super powers. He does feel a sense of responsibility when he wears the costume though.
The responsibility Burleson’s Spider-Man feels is to spread positivity–cheering people up and giving them something to talk about.
“It’s really fun interacting with all the different people, seeing people from all different walks of life just kind of talk to me and everything, and kind of helping make their day a little more interesting,” Burleson’s Spider-Man said in an interview.
Burleson’s Spider-Man–a 25-year-old retail employee who chooses to keep his true identity a secret–has been roaming the streets of Burleson dressed as his favorite superhero, Marvel Comics’ friendly-neighborhood wall-crawler since 2020. Since then he–like the actual Spider-Man–has become a staple in his community.
“Of course he’s an icon around Burleson,” said photographer Ashley Lee who’s lived in Burleson for 14 years. “Everybody knows him and everybody sees him.”
Lee’s first interaction with Spider-Man was on her 12-year-old son’s birthday party when she happened to see Spider-Man walking down her street. She said she flagged him down and that he “could not have been nicer” when she asked him to join the party and take pictures with the kids.
“We had a bunch of 12-year-olds here who lost all their minds,” Lee said of the reaction to Spider-Man joining the party.
Birthday parties are a regular part of Burleson’s Spider-Man’s life now along with events for the city, schools and other organizations.
Those who haven’t seen him at a party or event have probably seen him taking the walk he takes at least weekly. That walk usually comes after hanging out in Old Town at Daydream Coffee Co. or on the bench in front of Pandan. From there, he heads down Ellison Street to First Baptist Church Burleson before turning on Johnson Avenue, walking past Warren Park and Burleson Collegiate High School to Walgreens and turning on Hidden Creek to head to Bailey Lake.
When he first started doing this, he didn’t imagine he’d become as known as he is in Burleson.
“I never thought I’d be kind of renowned around here,” he said.
When he first started dressing up as Spider-Man in public, he was worried people would think he was trying to bother them or get attention. However, he said the initial reactions were “surprisingly positive.” “A lot of people got a kick out of it,” he said.
“I definitely got stares,” he said. “People were definitely like ‘Okay that guy looks a little weird.’”
He said he “completely understands” people who think what he does is weird.
“A guy in his mid-twenties dressing up as Spider-Man in public is definitely a little weird.”
Despite it being weird, he dresses up as Spider-Man in public because of the effect he sees it has on people and the effect that has on him.
He needed that effect in 2020 after a “bad breakup” left him feeling “the saddest” he’d ever been.
“Everyone gets sad, but at the time it was on a whole other level,” he said. “I just couldn’t fathom that that type of feeling was possible.”
He decided to do what he could to help other people not feel as bad as he did.
“I was like, ‘If I’m feeling that, surely other people are able to feel that as well.’” he said. “So I basically just wanted to go around [and] just kind of cheer people up essentially–kind of like use the energy I was feeling in there and just put it out for other people in a positive way.”
Walking around dressed as Spider-Man and interacting with people “felt like therapy” to him and helped him move on from one of the lowest points of his life.
Before he became Burleson’s Spider-Man, his cosplaying was limited to conventions, where he’d be one of many Spider-Men among other fictional characters. He’s always had an affinity for cosplaying, party because it empowers him to better engage with people. He described himself as reserved and quiet without the costume.
“If I didn’t have this [costume] on, there’s no way I could look you in the eye and just have a completely normal conversation,” he said.
He cosplays as Spider-Man because he’s his favorite character. Spider-man is his favorite because “he’s everybody,” he said.
“[Spider-Man] has always got his own troubles, and everybody can relate to that in their own way,” he said.
He specifically relates to the man behind the mask, Peter Parker, describing himself as “very nerdy” and smart but “not quite on [Peter Parker’s] level.” He also said he’s been told he looks like Tom Holland, who plays Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Nathaniel Vining, a fellow Spider-Man cosplayer who used to walk around Cleburne but spends most of his time in Hulen today, agrees that Burleson’s Spider-Man is similar to Peter Parker, but he thinks he’s similar to Peter Parker’s super-powered alter-ego as well. “[Burleson’s Spider-Man] is literally Spider-Man,” Vining said.
“Personality-wise, [Spider-Man’s] best traits, that’s him,” Vining said of Burleson’s Spider-Man. “He’s the greatest person you’ll ever meet. It’s his spirit. That’s something to be admired at.”
Vining connected with Burleson’s Spider-Man after Vining’s mom told him she saw someone dressed as Spider-Man in Burleson. They’re not the only people doing this either. Burleson’s Spider-Man has another friend who cosplays as the character of Peter Parker’s clone Kaine Parker. He thought it was funny to hear about other people doing what he does.
Vining cosplays as Spider-Man in public for the same reason Burleson’s does, to make people’s day, he said.
“Every interaction with people is great,” Vining said. “It’s what keeps me going.”
As for how long Burleson’s Spider-Man will keep going, he said he doesn’t have an end in sight.
“I’ll keep it up until I’m like Uncle Ben’s age,” he said.
With great power, comes great responsibility, my friend. The citizens love you!