For the last two years, 17-year-old Kolton Visser has chosen the way of the hero.
When duty calls, he readies for the task by pulling on his custom-made, red and blue outfit, complete with bug-eyed mask. Somewhere in that process, he becomes his favourite comic book and movie character, Spider-Man.
And just like the superhero’s not-so-secret identity, Peter Parker, Visser morphed into the role when he was 15. It was a way to bring together his artistic talents, creative expression, and love for comic book characters.
It’s also been an incredibly fun way to earn money.
While Spider-Man has been known to show up for community events just for fun, he spends most of his weekends entertaining kids at birthday parties. And the fact that he dresses as Spider-Man for birthday parties, really brings his fascination for the famous web-head full circle.
“Spider-Man has always been my absolute favourite fictional character,” Visser says.
He loved the film version with Tobey Maguire, along with the 1990s cartoon series, and when Spider-Man 3 hit the theatres, it was the first time he’d seen anything at all on the big screen.
“My five-year-old mind really thought he jumped out of the screen,” he says.
But it was his own birthday party that really sticks with him today. His mom, Debby Visser, had hired a Spider-Man to come along as entertainment. Visser still has a photo from that fateful day, and shares it on his popular Instagram account, ‘that_spidey_guy.’
The account plays out almost like a comic strip itself, with different photos of him in different costumes, poses, and mugging it up with birthday partiers.
As a teen today, he’s all over the social media game. But he’s also a natural at flowing between his real, high school persona and that of a superhero. His flexible frame and ingrained abilities to move like Spidey all lends to a great performance. But, sorry kids, there’s no wall climbing included in the show. This spider is more about connecting with young fans than leaping building to building.
“The biggest thing for me is the relationship with the kids,” he says. “You’ve got to be friends with them. I always want to be on their level.”
He even has a Spider-Man voice that he uses.
“My superhero voice is louder than I usually am, and more caring.”
And just like the fictional Parker, Visser’s learned an important life lesson.
“With great power, comes great responsibility,” the saying goes.
So when kids come at him looking for a fight, blasting toy guns and hoping for a pretend shootout, he lets them know that Spider-Man really doesn’t like guns. He also has quick responses to get out of climbing walls, and shooting his webs.
“I’ll tell them my web slinger was damaged in a fight and is getting fixed,” he says. “Or that their parents walls couldn’t handle me jumping on them. I just try to spark up conversations with them on the fly.”
And since Spider-Man would never travel by car, he keeps up the show by making a quick exit on foot. While he runs down the street, his getaway car is never far behind. But, the occasional birthday goer will take chase, making it harder to make a clean escape.
“I’ve had to run a long way a few times,” he says, before being able to duck behind a building. “Kids love to chase Spider-Man.”
Of course, being Spider-Man does come at a cost. His costumes are tailor made to his exact size, and he sends away for them to be made. He has had several over the years, including the black Symbiote suit. Every suit is based on a different version of Spider-Man, and there are plenty of variations to choose from, whether it’s the classic, brightly coloured suit, or the darker versions seen in some of the newer movies.
His first suit is too small and battle damaged, but he’s not sure he’ll ever get rid of it.
And then there’s that one suit nobody else has, and that’s where Visser’s artistics talents really shine. He drew a costume that was purely his own, and sent the design away to a pattern maker, to have it created just for him. When it arrived, he altered it even more to be just his own.
It’s been a labour of love, and one he doesn’t plan on quitting anytime soon.
You will see Spider-Man pop up at community events from time to time, or you can track him down on Facebook and Instagram as That_Spidey_Guy.