Peter Parker's Theme



Peter Parker’s Theme (also commonly known as the Responsibility Theme) is theme music written by Danny Elfman to represent Peter Parker, the character behind the mask of Spider-Man, in the 2002 film Spider-Man. While Elfman has referred to it as ‘Peter Parker’s Theme,’ the leitmotif is also closely associated with responsibility and Peter’s uncle, Ben Parker. The music was also utilized in Spider-Man’s two sequels, Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3.

The theme is an outpouring of eight somber, mostly descending notes, the last of which rises for a redeeming final note. This motif is often preceded by a five-note variation of itself, as it is in the Main Title.

Significance

Composer Danny Elfman gave Spider-Man and Peter Parker each a separate theme, the latter being the result of a tweaked variation on the former. While he was pleased with his music for the character of Spider-Man, Elfman said that it “didn’t seem to play the heart of the kind-of lost Peter Parker character, looking to please Ben. That was the struggle, it’s like – this theme is working for Spider-Man, but it’s not playing that heart of the character.” Elfman was eventually pleased to have created two separate themes to speak to the duality of the film’s main character, as was director Sam Raimi.

While known informally as Peter Parker’s Theme, the theme also plays while Peter is dressed as Spider-Man, and represents not only the character and life of Peter, but also the personal morals and heart of what Peter and Spider-Man stand for; this idea leads to the theme sometimes being referred to as the Responsibility Theme. This music is also often played in Spider-Man with association to Uncle Ben Parker, who is the source of Peter’s morals and responsible convictions.

Use in the Films

Peter Parker’s Theme makes its first appearance in the Spider-Man film and on the album following several other leitmotifs for Spider-Man (including Spider-Man’s Theme and the web-swinging motif) at the end of the opening credits music, called Main Title on the score album. The motif plays often throughout the score, and during several key moments where Peter’s morality and responsibility are at the forefront, such as at the death of Uncle Ben (Revenge), when Spider-Man is faced with the choice of saving either the woman he loves or a group of children (Final Confrontation), and when Peter rejects the villainous Green Goblin’s offer of surrogate fatherhood and instead professes Uncle Ben as his father (Final Confrontation).

Peter Parker’s Theme culminates in a bittersweet rendition at the end of the movie, the music from which is listed on the album as Farewell. As Peter walks away from Mary Jane at the cemetery, knowing that his responsibilities must keep him away from her, Peter Parker’s Theme plays, then escalates and transitions into the Spider-Man Theme as the film closes. Spider-Man director Sam Raimi said that “When Peter Parker finally becomes Spider-Man by the end of the picture, and accepts his responsibilities, the responsibilities that come with great power, I hear the music finally soar in a complete theme, and when the chorus kicks in, it’s just very moving to me, and I feel that he has fulfilled his destiny.”

Peter Parker’s Theme plays during key moments of Spider-Man 2 as well, including when after previously abandoning it, Peter again takes up the Spider-Man mantle to rescue Mary Jane from Doctor Octopus (He’s Back!), as an exhausted Spider-Man is surrounded by the grateful people he had just rescued from a train crash (Train/Appreciation), while Spider-Man reveals his true identity to Doctor Octopus to appeal to his better self, and then as Doctor Octopus resolves to sacrifice himself for the good of others (Armageddon/A Really Big Web!). It is used one last time when Mary Jane decides she wants to be with Peter, in spite of the potential risks, having discovered his true identity as Spider-Man and urges him to go after a criminal gang when they hear police sirens in the distance (Declared Love/At Long Last Love). Christopher Young chose to use Peter Parker’s Theme very sparingly in his score to Spider-Man 3, only referencing it about twice in the score. Instead, Young often played the Black Suit Theme to represent Peter while he was under the influence of the alien symbiote suit, which influenced Peter to harbor ill morals and a decreased sense of personal responsibility and self-sacrifice. Young does utilize Peter Parker’s Theme at notable points toward the end of the film, as when a remorseful Peter with a renewed sense of responsibility pulls out his original red and blue Spider-Man suit to charge into battle after discarding the evil alien symbiote suit, then finally at his friend Harry’s funeral, when Peter monologues about how Harry’s sacrifice taught him that everyone has a choice.