A Spider-Man figure is displayed at a movie theater in Seoul on the morning of Aug. 23, when “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” (2026) surpassed 8 million admissions in Korea.NEWS1
Choi Hoon The author is a professor of psychology at Hallym University.
In the recently released film “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” Spider-Man is alone. In the previous installment, he erased himself from everyone’s memory to save the world. Even his girlfriend and friends no longer remember him. Thoroughly isolated, he continues protecting the world as the “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.”
But he begins to falter. Gradually, he loses control of himself. His spider genes run wild, his eyes turn black and he becomes increasingly aggressive. Is a lonely life really that painful even for a superhero?
Social support is one of the most important psychological resources that protect us from stress. Psychologist James Coan proposed social baseline theory, which holds that the human brain regards sharing risks and burdens with people close to us as its default state, rather than facing threats entirely on our own. The presence of trusted others, in this view, changes how the brain assesses the demands placed upon us.
In one study measuring brain activity under the threat of electric shock, activity in regions responding to danger declined when spouses held hands, compared with when participants were alone. The effect was especially pronounced among couples with stronger relationships. Simply having a close person beside us can therefore alter how intensely a threat is experienced.
People close to us also help sustain our sense of self. According to relational self theory in psychology, the self is not formed in isolation but is shaped and affirmed through relationships with others. With friends, we experience ourselves as friends. With a romantic partner, we experience ourselves as someone who loves and is loved. By talking together about the past, we also work out what those experiences meant to us and build the narrative of our lives.
Such relationships do more than provide comfort in difficult moments. They help define the roles through which we understand ourselves, connect present experiences with shared memories and remind us that burdens do not have to be carried alone.
What Spider-Man lost, then, was not simply his friends and girlfriend. He lost the people who remembered who he was, reached out when he was struggling and helped him carry the weight of the world. His superpowers remain intact, but the social foundation that supported him has collapsed.
No matter how strong someone is, no one can live entirely alone. Heroes are no exception. Spider-Man’s powers came from a spider, but the strength that allows him to get back on his feet ultimately comes from other people.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
