Oh, Marvel. How far you’ve come.

To hear TV shows like The Big Bang Theory tell it, comic book fandom is a small, niche area, inhabited by people who just fulfil the usual cheap nerdy clichés. In the actual real world, of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

In recent years, superheroes have experienced a real surge in popularity. Over in the DC world, The Dark Knight movie trilogy and the Arkham video games did a lot to cement the fact that there’s no niche here. They weren’t just good superhero movies/games, they were good action movies and titles period. That’s important, as anyone who’s played the awful Superman 64 will tell you.

Ten years ago, the first installment of the MCU, Iron Man, was released. Since then, the movies have become bigger and bigger, with each new feature film becoming a darn event. These are more than movies for comic book fans. People from all walks of life just can’t get enough.

As such, it’s a real renaissance for superheroes. People like myself, who haven’t been into these characters since they played with the action figures as children, are being drawn in all over again.

What does this mean? It means a fresh bounty of memes to get us all hyped up for the latest smash, Avengers: Infinity Wars. Today, we’re taking a hilarious look at my two favourite Marvel heroes: Iron Man and Spider-Man. Strap yourselves in, it’s going to be a snarky ride.

25 When Peter Parker's Just Doing His Rebellious Peter Parker Thing

You know what, Tony? I’ve got to say, this was all a little hypocritical of you. I know, you’re trying to be the super-wise mentor that somebody like Peter needed at this point (lest he go way off the rails like a child star here in the real world), but come on, guy. You were a complete zero cares given renegade yourself when you were starting out.

Empathise with the guy, come on. Empathy is the key to Spider-Man’s character, after all.

The whole reason he’s my favourite Marvel character is that I can relate to him. He has a very human, isolated teenage nerd side that totally speaks to who I was at school.

Just let him have his moments of rebellion. Who could it hurt? Well, freaking everybody in this case.

24 When You Have The Greatest Superpower Of All

Hopping briefly back over into DCville, it’s important that I reiterate that I have nothing against Batman. The Arkham games, the Dark Knight movies… as I’ve already said, this is some great stuff right here. I’ve always been a fan of the guy, but let’s be real here: he doesn’t actually have any superpowers.

What does he have? A whole heckola of a lot of money, that’s what. In much the same way as our buddy money Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne is largely reliant on technology to be powerful, funded by all of that Scrooge McDuck-esque cash he’s got squirreled away.

A fight between the pair would largely boil down to who could throw that coin the hardest. Or maybe a lucky papercut from a dollar bill. As for Spider-Man? He’s nothing if not opportunistic.

23 When Boring Old Real Life Responsibilities Just Keep Getting In Your Way

As a wise man once said (well, it was Sirius Black; your definition of ‘wise’ may differ), what’s life without a little risk? It’s often tempting to play it safe and just roll with what you know, but when you tiptoe out of your comfort zone and dare to try something new, great, life-changing things can happen.

Take Peter Parker’s situation when he was approached by Tony Stark. The little guy knew exactly what it meant to be an Avenger. The danger, the drama, the cheesy one-liners… still, look how it paid off.

If nothing else, that spangly new suit is a major upgrade.

As with most careers, the right contacts will pay dividends. It’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know.

22 When The World Needs Saving, But Pokémon Go Is Life

Pokémon GO had a real rollercoaster ride of a life to date. Back when it was first released in July 2016, it was a real phenomenon. That depends where you live, granted, but in my town, strangers were stopping to chat in the street, engaging in friendly gym battles and all sorts of things. It was a magical time.

That early fervor has mostly disappeared now, and it’s fairly rare to find somebody who still plays the app. There are dedicated communities around the world, of course, but a lot of us would be lucky to even get close to finishing a raid battle anymore.

I still persevere with the app, though, in pursuit of a full Pokémon collection (for the Kanto region, at the very least). If only I had Spider-Man’s powers to keep me ahead of the game.

21 When You're Much More Mature Than They Give You Credit For

So, yes. You hit the big time there, Peter. You’re playing with the big boys now. When the great Tony Stark asks for you by name (comes to your darn house, no less) and tells you that he needs your help, you know that you’re doing something right.

There’s more to the whole thing than just accidentally getting superpowers one day. Peter Parker had zero clue that he’d be bitten by that spider. He didn’t plan for it, he just let life mess with him (as life will) and then made the best of it he could.

With great power comes great responsibility, as Uncle Ben said.

He took that responsibility on at a darn young age, and tries super hard to help. You’ve got to appreciate that.

20 When Your Son Thinks Spider-Man Is Cooler Than You

Now, I’ve got to admit, Spider-Man is definitely my favourite of these two. I’m totally on board with Iron Man too, and I think that Robert Downey Jr. just completely knocks the role out of the park, but still. Spider-Man is my superhero. I have a history with the guy, dating way back to my first pair of pyjamas (which were emblazoned with his logo).

Naturally, neither Robert Downey Jr. nor Tom Holland give a single care about my preferences. What’s it to them? I’m just one mere mortal in a great tide of rabid fans.

This, on the other hand, has to bother Downey Jr. just a little bit. After all, if there’s one person you really are going to want on your side, it’s your own son.

19 When You Learned (To Lie) From The Best

Come on, Tony. What are you thinking with this?

As I said earlier in this rundown, there’s no doubt that this guy made an error of judgment himself on his way to becoming full-blown Iron Man. And several after, of course. There’s something about being a super-rich guy that really doesn’t lend itself to calm, calculated and logical decision making.

So, yes. Cut your little Spider-padawan a little slack, why don’t you?

Having said all of that, Stark does have a huge responsibility to keep Parker on course here. Being a teenager is darn tough enough, without inexplicable superpowers being thrown into the mix. I guess bringing up a liar like yourself isn’t the best thing, and you’re going to want to curb some of that a little.

18 When You're Easily Lured To The Stark Side

At the time Tony Stark first meets Parker, he’s incredibly young and impressionable. He’s just starting to come to terms with his remarkable powers. He’s confused, conflicted; both incredibly powerful and vulnerable. Who does he have to turn to for help? Not Aunt Mae, that’s for certain. Her only superpower seems to be gradually Benjamin Button-ing her way through these movies somehow. How has she de-aged from Aunt Mae to Aunt Bae? The world may never know.

Anyway, yes. As such, Parker was easily influenced by the opportunity that Stark offered him, in terms of technology and employment opportunities.

Talk about your opportunities for social advancement. Right at a tyime when you’re coming to terms with who you are and considering your future, along comes this guy.

17 When You're Just Too Darn Chatty

Now, as any fan of the Marvel movies will know, it’s not just about the super flashy, fanservice-amundo action. Oh no. There’s much more to the MCU than that. My favourite aspect of this entire franchise is the way that they successfully temper the drama, battles and explosions with humour. Visual gags and one-liners are everywhere in these movies.

This is just the perfect environment for Spider-Man to thrive in.

He’s a deeply sarcastic and snarky teenager at heart, and always has been.

In the comics, TV shows, movies and video games, that’s always been at the forefront. Nevertheless, there’s a time and a place.

As a Civil War amateur, we can excuse the guy for getting a little enthusiastic. Getting utterly fangirly, on the other hand, we probably can’t excuse.

16 When You Give That Super Wise, TOTALLY Logical Advice

Darn it, Tony. We’ve spoken about this a couple of times already. That’s really not the way to help anybody who’s relying on you. As the internet likes to say, oh, baby, what is you doing?

Having said that, I think this is actually a popular techniques. Like a lot of parents, my dad is a true do as I say, not as I do sort, which I think is quite an important concept to grasp. You want timely guidance, after all, not constant handholding.

On the other hand, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist or a math whizz to work out that, when you can’t do anything somebody would do or anything that somebody wouldn’t do, you don’t have a whole lot of options left.

15 When You're Not So Sure About This Whole Avengers Thing After All

So, yes. There was Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, in his spangly new suit. Right in the mix of the climactic airport battle. Sure, he had his fangirlish squeee moments of wanting Captain America and the crew’s autographs, but after that?

He was good. Web swinging and holding his own with the other heavyweights.

It’s darn impressive, when you think about it. After all, we all have difficulties at our jobs. Too much being dumped on us (delegated, I should say) by the higher-ups, deadlines, irritating new co-workers, all of those sorts of things. In this job, you’ve got alien whale-demons the size of several city blocks rampaging around, and you’re expected to deal with them.

It’s not the easiest new gig to take on, all in all, and you can’t blame Peter for being a little dubious.

14 When It's Your Movie, But Darn Iron Man Wants To Steal The Whole Show

Now, all Marvel fans know how Tony Stark works. He’s tried to rein himself in of late, but he’s still hugely egotistical, confident and such at heart. He wants to own every scene he appears in, always wants to be the star. Carrying that big old bomb into space by yourself like that? Come on, that was just the heroic, world-saving equivalent of posting a selfie online with a desperate attention-seeking caption.

It’s no surprise, then, that Iron Man just can’t resist popping up in other peoples’ movies. Look at him in Captain America: Civil War, trying to get top billing despite the whole Captain America being written across the title in big old letters thing.

In Spider-Man: Homecoming, who else was coming home? Iron freaking Man, that’s who.

13 When We've Been Down This Spider-Road Before

When Spider-Man made his big appearance in Captain America: Civil War, fans around the world just couldn’t contain themselves. It was a huge moment.

Peter Parker has appeared in a whole string of movies before that, of course, but this was his much-anticipated debut in the MCU. It was Tom Holland’s time to show what he could do with the role. Interestingly, though, Holland himself has semi-confirmed something that a lot of Marvel fans may not have known:

Spider-Man previously made a cameo in Iron Man 2.

Remember that climactic battle, between Iron Man and the numerous Iron Man wannabe bots? In the midst of all that, a young boy in An Iron Man mask appears, and tentatively fires at one of the robots. He’s rescued by a besuited Tony Stark, and fan theories circulated ever since that this was Spider-Man. According to Holland, it could well have been.

12 When You Get A Little Too Into That Lip Sync Battle

If you’ve ever seen Lip Sync Battle, you’ll know that it’s not a show to take too seriously. There’s a long and proud tradition of celebrities embarrassing themselves/each other for TV shows, and this could possibly be the very pinnacle of that.

The show began life as a segment on The Tonight Show, but the concept was clearly just too much to be contained there. Celebrities competing to see who can give the greatest and most humiliating lip sync performance? Heck yes.

We’ve seen all kinds of sights in the history of Lip Sync Battle, but Tom Holland dressed like this probably topped them all. He sure did himself proud (if this is the sort of thing you can be proud of), and nobody can ever take that away from him.

11 When You Just Can't Let Go Of The Iron Man/Batman Thing

Now, here it is. These are the kind of issues that the comic book faithful just cannot leave alone. I’ve touched on the fact that Batman doesn’t actually, technically have any superpowers per se, but some of us just can’t leave things at that. They’ll delve into back issues long into the night, and still be nitpicking this or that detail at 4 am online.

You don’t want to mess with the superfans. You really really don’t.

In a lot of ways, Iron Man is in a very similar position. Tony Stark himself is a regular human, albeit physically augmented after that chest business. It’s his power suit that truly makes him what he is, which he created by means of his scientific ingenuity and (of course) his vast riches.

10 When You Need Each Other More Than You Might Think

Following on from that last point, it’s a little alarming how reliant we’ve all become on technology these days. It’s one of those things that you don’t quite appreciate until you’re suddenly without it. Take Wi-Fi, for instance. If our internet goes down for more than fifteen minutes or so, we revert to a terrifying, feral state, foaming at the mouth, and grabbing strangers on the street by the lapels; demanding to know when we’ll be able to check our emails again.

That’s the price we all pay for our gadgetry. No technology is infallible. When it comes to the Iron Man suit, the dreaded blue screen error is disastrous in more ways than one. You’re not so super right now, are you, Tony? Ouch.

9 When You're Just Two Peas In A Ridiculous Super-Pod

So, yes. As we’ve already seen, Spider-Man’s early appearances in the MCU centered around his coming to terms with his powers. That, and his relationship with Tony Stark. The Spider-Man we see in Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming is no seasoned veteran.

He’s a noob player who needs to be tutored, molded.

As I say, Tony may not have been the best candidate for this, given his past record, but he was the man in the best position to give Peter Parker what he needed. That being the case, we just had to roll with the fact that Stark is all kinds of a loose cannon, and his influence can never be solely good.

Peer pressure is a dangerous thing, friends. When this sort of dude is your peer, that’s all the worse for you.

8 When You're New To This Parenting Thing

Now, you could judge Tony Stark for that. You could say things like, “Hold on a minute there, buddy boy. Remember all those shenanigans with Ultron? Whose fault was that? Huh? I’m looking at you and your perfectly-trimmed beard.” You could say those things. You definitely could.

The fact is, though, the guy has definitely mellowed since the early days of the MCU. The Tony we met in the first Iron Man movie, a decade ago, had a totally different outlook. I was surprised by his stance in Civil War, but it proved that he’d grown a whole lot.

Regardless of all of that, there are so many things that first-time parents just don’t see coming. Reams and reams of them. When you’re responsible for a superchild like Peter Parker, well… there’s no handy-dandy parenting manual for that.

7 When The Feels Hit You Out Of Nowhere

As any Doctor Who fan will tell you, the first actor that you see in an iconic role will tend to have a certain impact on you. They may not always be your favorite, but they’ll always have a certain place in your heart.

My vote goes to the brilliant Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, incidentally.

As far as Spider-Man is concerned, yes, that’d be Tobey Maguire. Now, sure, all fans feel some kind of way about those movies and his performances in them, but I have fond memories nonetheless.

This, however, I cannot condone. Is it too soon to start making snarky jokes about that moment? Yes, yes it is. It will always be too soon. Away with this sort of thing, my emotions cannot cope.

6 When Marvel Go All The Way Out With Their Darn Movie Posters

What is it about the Marvel movies that strikes such a chord with fans all over the world? Fans who, oftentimes, weren’t really on board with the whole Marvel thing beforehand? Now, I’m not qualified to answer a loaded question like that, but for me, it’s that blend of action, emotion, and humour.

With all these sorts of things being central to the experience, there’s a lot to convey. So much to say, so little space on the movie poster. As such, they tend to have quite a lot going on. Homecoming’s was one of the busiest in recent memory, there’s no denying, which his how this sort of thing comes about.

Leonardo DiCaprio was there on the original, right? Raising a glass like in the meme? Yep, he was, I’m sure of it.