[quote=@Eddie Brock]
<Snipped quote by Master Bruce>

This is why I have a love/hate relationship with comic books as a storytelling medium. By their serialized nature, comics are so resistant to change. It's why Peter Parker feels like he's spinning his wheels; the character [i]has[/i] done everything he can do. All that's left now is to settle down, have a kid, be Spider-Dad for a few years, and then pass the reins to Mayday Parker. That's how you progress Peter Parker, not by making him Tony Stark Lite. But Marvel will never ever, ever do that. At least not outside a self-contained book.

DC's even more egregious in some ways. Legacy characters are written into their DNA, with many of the sidekicks originating from the earliest years of the shared DC Universe. And yet we're doomed to never see these characters inherit the mantles they're destined for. The best we can hope for is a transition to a successful adult alter ego a la Nightwing, but even then the mentor character is still hanging around, fighting crime like a helicopter parent who can't let go.

I understand the business side of it, but it's frustrating to stifle narrative potential for financial reasons. Particularly given that if you look at the reception for Grayson Batman and Bucky Cap, you see that there [i]is[/i] a market for people like me who want to see these universes evolve and change -- so long as the passing of the mantle feels earned and isn't itself a purely financial (*cough* "diversity" *cough*) decision.
[/quote]

You could do a number of things... responsibilities change with age.  I'd probably write it that due to the bite's effect on him he's unable to have kids, because the responsibility of parenthood kind of conflicts with going out and protecting the city when you realize the high likelihood of leaving orphaned kids from the high likelihood of capes dying.  Or I suppose you could roll with it and play it as Pete seeing it as no different than being a police officer (which could also have its own arcs of "am I holding back to make sure I go home at night, and if so can I still be effective?") regardless of the death rates of each.  There's still interesting takes as he ages.