Spider-Man 2, the latest PlayStation 5 title to feature the superhero, is being praised for its realistic graphics. But the game has another, slightly more uncomfortable element of realism: Spider-Man is trapped in a mortgage he can never hope to pay off. We know, because we asked a realtor.
What makes Peter Parker, and Spider-Man, a beloved superhero is his relatability. Sure he’s got spider powers, but his work life balance is terrible. Parker can’t hold down a job or maintain a relationship without his job protecting the city getting in the way. Spider-Man 2 ups the ante by saddling Parker with a house payment he can’t afford, revealed in a bank document the player can pick up and which has spurred conversation online about just how screwed, exactly, Parker is. (Spoilers for the end of the original Spider-Man game incoming).
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The home Peter owns once belonged to his Aunt May, who died at the end of the first game. Parker inherited it, and with it, her debts. May once owned the house, which is in the desirable Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, NY, but took out a mortgage to fund her charity work.
Near the beginning of Spider-Man 2, Parker is cleaning up the house when he comes across a late notice for the mortgage. He’s got a past due amount of $4,764. The regular monthly payment is $4,419.24 and there’s 277 months—roughly 23 years—left to go before the bank is paid back. The interest rate is 6.89 percent and the outstanding principal is $494,442.47. “May mortgaged the house to keep F.E.A.S.T afloat. And now I’m sinking,” Parker says.
Richard Carey, a realtor and investor in Alabama with a large following on TikTok, told Motherboard that Parker needs to sell while he still can.
“While it’s a little bit better than the current interest rate, which is already 8%, it’s still pretty high compared to the last 10 years,” Carey said. “He’s going to have trouble making these payments in the future.”
If Parker stays in the house, best case scenario, he’ll pay $1,224,129 over the course of the loan. Of course, housing payments don’t remain steady. Taxes change and any number of things can happen over the course of those two decades Parker would be paying. But, to make those payments, Parker needs a job. The game starts on Parker’s first day as a high school science teacher, not exactly the kind of employment that can float a $4,000 a month housing payment.
In classic Parker fashion, he’s fired immediately as his responsibilities as Spider-Man interfere. So what can Parker do here? Right now, the house is an asset, but pretty soon it’ll be a burden.
Carey said that housing costs only start with the mortgage. “You’ve also got taxes, insurance, and HOA to worry about, in addition to maintenance as well as large expenses like replacing roof, windows, AC, water heater, etc. A mortgage payment is the least amount of money you’ll pay each month,” he said.
“Without a steady income, you shouldn’t even try to own a property like this,” Carey said. “A widely accepted rule is that your housing should be 28% or less than your total income. Another simple rule is your income needs to be at least 3 times your housing payment.”
According to Carey, Parker would need to earn roughly $13,000 a month or $156,000 a year to stay in the house his dear Aunt May gave him, the home he was raised in. Those numbers are hard for most people to make work, let alone the Amazing Spider-Man. And so, the answer is to sell. But that’s something that’s easier said than done.
“What about selling the house?” Mary Jane, Parker’s girlfriend, asks him in the gameplay segment.
“I …can’t. I mean, I could, but I can’t,” he says. You can hear the struggle in his voice. This is the home he grew up in. He wants to stay, but he can’t afford the place. Worse, he doesn’t even have the mental capacity at the end of a long day fighting crime to think about the problem.
“If you need time, I could cover the mortgage,” Mary Jane says.
Parker refuses, saying that he knows Mary Jane’s job is in a perilous place too. Parker’s lucky to have the support system, something a lot of people don’t. She doesn’t even live there and says she won’t be moving in because she needs to be close to work. “I know how much this house means to you, we’ll figure it out,” Mary Jane says.
When Spider-Man stories work, it’s because of these human moments. He’s not a billionaire playboy going out at night to beat people up. He’s not a god. He’s not a rich tech guy with a fancy suit and a bum ticker. He’s just Peter Parker, doing the best he can with the cards he’s been dealt, just like the rest of us. Spider-Man 2 nails that aspect of Parker.
