Spider-Man has dated many extraordinary women over his career. Aside from his most popular girlfriend (and sometimes wife) Mary Jane Watson, Spidey’s had relationships with femme fatale Black Cat, the X-Men’s Kitty Pryde, and the Greek goddess of youth (and wife of Hercules) Hebe. One comic storyline, however, showed Peter Parker dating a girl who had all the tropes of a classic Disney princess!
This relationship took place in the all-ages comic book Marvel Adventures Spider-Man which followed the adventures of a teenage Peter Parker in a separate continuity. In this alternate universe, Spidey dated a mutant girl named Sophia “Chat” Sanduval. An original character developed to differentiate the book from other Spider-Man titles, “Chat” was soon recognizable as the closest thing Marvel could get to Disney Princess qualities.
While some might scoff at the idea of Peter Parker dating a character like Cinderella or Aurora, Chat’s relationship with Spider-Man proved to be one of Peter’s more successful ones.
Who is Sophia “Chat” Sanduval?
Created by writer Paul Tobin and artist Matteo Lolli, Sophia “Chat” Sanduval was introduced in Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #53, which marked a “soft reboot” for the title. Originally portrayed as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, Chat was a teenage runaway who was friends with this universe’s version of Emma Frost. Although usually portrayed as the cold-hearted White Queen in X-Men comics, this Emma was a selfish teenager who used her telepathic powers to manipulate people’s minds and make them give her whatever she wanted. Chat disapproved of Emma’s actions, but was too weak-willed to stand up to her. This made her similar to Disney Princesses Rapunzel or Cinderella who were also under the thumb of a dominating “queen” figure.
Chat’s insecurity stemmed from her mutant ability – she could talk to animals. Animals sensed this, causing birds to perch on her shoulders and cats and dogs to follow her everywhere. This behavior would be considered normal for animal loving Disney characters like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or Giselle from Enchanted, but only embarrassed Chat. Nevertheless, Chat displayed a sweet and gentle nature – regularly feeding birds and cats and using her animal affinity to run a traveling zoo that visited New York’s orphanages.
Things began changing from Chat when she and Emma were saved from a falling sign by Peter Parker. Emma read Peter’s mind and discovered he was Spider-Man. Through a mental link, Emma showed Chat Spider-Man’s origin, which only made Chat become attracted to Peter’s sense of responsibility. After convincing Emma to help her enroll in Peter’s school, Chat began dating Peter. This offered a major twist on Peter’s usual relationships since Chat knew Peter’s secrets but Peter didn’t know any of hers – or that she knew he was Spider-Man. At this point, Chat began showing more in common with the Disney Princess Megara of Hercules, as she was basically a good-hearted con artist falling for the hero.
Over time, however, Chat’s relationship with Peter increased her confidence. She came clean with Peter about her mutant powers and admitted she knew he was Spider-Man. She also finally stood up to Emma, who had become a costumed super villain, and helped Spider-Man convince her to give herself up – and eventually even reform. Just as virtually all Disney Princesses stand up to the oppressive figures in their lives, Chat established herself as her own person by shaking off Emma’s influence. Ashamed of her own deception and not wanting to complicate Peter’s life, Chat tried to break up with him – but Peter decided Chat was too special to give up and offered to re-start their relationship.
Dating Both Spider-Man AND Peter Parker
Chat’s story continued in Spider-Man Marvel Adventures, which saw her become the girlfriend of both Spider-Man and Peter Parker. This marked another big change in Spidey’s usual relationships, as his other girlfriends could usually only relate to him as Spider-Man or Peter Parker. Chat, however, made no attempt to get Peter to stop being Spider-Man and managed to help him in both his superhero and civilian lives.
By this point, Chat’s Disney Princess persona was firmly in place. She established her own identity, showing a keen interest in cooking and having regular picnic lunches with Peter while joking that she was the “Queen of Picnics.” And while she may have not been real royalty, she was surprisingly well off. After ending her criminal ways, she moved into her wealthy sister’s spacious penthouse apartment, complete with a rooftop garden for her animals. (Readers never learned who Chat’s sister was - although many fans believed she was this universe’s version of Squirrel Girl)
Even so, Chat was never a pushover – nor did she define herself as “just a girlfriend.” She joined the Blonde Phantom Detective Agency and received martial arts training from the Blonde Phantom, a Golden Age heroine. She stopped being ashamed of her mutant abilities and used them to help on cases – sending birds out to track suspects or using squirrels to deliver notes to crime bosses. Not wanting to take advantage of her animal friends, she often insisted on being paid in birdseed.
Chat also began using her mutant powers offensively, convincing animals to look out for Peter –leading to some dramatic scenes where stray dogs, cats, and even birds put themselves in danger to protect Spider-Man. Even Captain America was impressed with Chat’s animal protectors (who had considerably more combined power than Disney Princess Jasmine’s pet tiger Rajah). Indeed, more often than not, Spidey found himself leaning on Chat as she would track him down with her animals after he was injured in some serious fights and tend to his wounds (not unlike Belle in Beauty and the Beast).
So, whatever became of Chat and Peter? As it turned out, the two continued to have a happy relationship up to the point where Spider-Man Marvel Adventures was cancelled. Neither of them showed up again, not even during the two Spider-Verse events that united Spider-Men from across the multiverse. This may have been a blessing in disguise, however, considering how many Spider-Men were killed off in those storylines. Given how poorly Peter Parker has fared in most of his relationships, there should be at least one universe where he got to live happily ever after with his Disney princess.