Richard and Mary Parker are fictional characters appearing in Marvel Comics, commonly in Spider-Man stories. They first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual # 5 in 1968 created by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber.
Overview
Richard Parker is the younger brother of Benjamin 'Uncle Ben' Parker, he is married to Mary Parker whose maiden name is Fitzpatrick and the father of Peter Parker / Spider-Man. Since the first issue Peter was raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben but it didn't explain where his parents were. In their first appearance in a flashback it is revealed that they were murdered by the supervillain Albert Malik also known as the Red Skull. In comics from the 1990's it is revealed that Richard Parker was recruited into the CIA by Nick Fury, that he was pretending to be a Russian double agent and that he and his wife were killed in a plane crash caused by sabotage. Harry Osborn later creates robots that look just like Richard and Mary to trick Peter Parker into thinking that his parents are still alive and then reveals that they are not to destroy him.
In the 2002 movie Spider-Man, Norman Osborn tells Peter Parker "your parents must be proud" and Peter tells him "I live with my aunt and uncle, they are proud." Uncle Ben later tells Peter "I know I'm not your father" and Peter tells him "then stop pretending to be". At the end of the movie the Green Goblin tells Spider-Man that Peter has been like a son to him and that he has been like a father and Peter tells him "I had a father, his name was Ben Parker."
In the 2012 movie The Amazing Spider-Man, Dr. Richard Parker is a scientist who disappeared after he and his wife left their son Peter Parker with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. He is also responsible for the creation of the genetically engineered superspider that bites Peter and gives him his powers.
