Richard and Mary Parker
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Richard and Mary Parker are fictional characters of Marvel Comics. They were the parents of Peter Parker, the boy who one day would become Spider-Man.
Character histories
Captain Richard Parker, a decorated operative of the United States Army Special Forces, was recruited by Nick Fury to the C.I.A.. His brother, many years older than he was, was Ben Parker, who was married to May Reilly Parker.Mary Fitzpatrick was the daughter of O.S.S. agent "Wild Will" Fitzpatrick. She attended the best schools and eventually followed in her father's footsteps, becoming a C.I.A. translator and data analyst.
Richard and Mary met on the job, fell in love, and married. Mary became a field agent like Richard, giving them both an easy cover as a married couple. They were assigned to investigate Baroness Adelicia Von Krupp, who had captured an agent of a "friendly power" (who turned out to be Logan, aka Wolverine, then a Canadian operative called Agent Ten). They rescued Logan from the Baroness and Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. After that mission, they discovered that Mary was pregnant.
Their son Peter Benjamin Parker was born some months later. However, Richard and Mary were frequently away from him on missions. While they were away, he was left in the care of Richard's older brother Ben and his wife May.
Richard and Mary became agents for S.H.I.E.L.D. when it broke off from the C.I.A. While on a mission to investigate Albert Malik, the third Red Skull, they posed as traitors and double agents to infiltrate his criminal organization in Algeria. Unfortunately they were discovered, and Malik framed them and had them killed by the an assassin called the Finisher in a plane crash.
After Death
Richard and Mary's son Peter grows up to become the superhero Spider-Man. Although he has no memory of his parents, his aunt and uncle share photographs and happy memories with him... but not their belief that they had been traitors to their country. When Peter discovers this, he travels to Algeria. He finds Malik, who sends the Finisher to kill Spider-Man. Spider-Man turns the Finisher's missile against him, and the Finisher dies, but not before revealing that Richard and Mary were in fact innocent. Spider-Man returns to America with evidence and clears his parents' names.Life Model Decoys
Years later, the Chameleon, working for the late Harry Osborn, created Life Model Decoys of Richard and Mary. These LMDs were near-perfect robotic replicas of Peter's dead parents, and convinced him that they had in fact been held captive overseas for most of his life. When he discovered that they were fake, he suffered a nervous breakdown.Alternate Realities
- In the alternate reality of MC2, Peter names his son Benjamin Richard Parker, with his second name being in honor of his father.
- In the alternate reality created by the Scarlet Witch during the House of M storyline, Peter and Gwen Stacy name their son Richard.
- In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Richard "Ray" Parker was a biologist instead of a spy. He and Mary died in an airplane accident when Peter was six, and Peter still has vague memories of his parents. Before he died, Richard was working on a cure for cancer, in the form of a biological suit that could repair its host body. He recorded a series of tapes addressed to Peter, in which he revealed that he was worried that the suit would be used as a weapon instead of a cure. A tape recorded just before his death revealed that his project had been taken away from him. His project became the basis of Ultimate Venom. His name and work were known by scientists (including Wasp and Giant Man of the Ultimates) involved in re-creating the super-soldier formula that created Captain America.
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