Everyone knows the tragic tale of young Peter Parker. He was a brainy high school student that lost his parents at a young age and was bullied at school. Gaining amazing abilities through a freak accident, he found himself with the power to do things he never dreamed of. Starting a life as a performer and looking out for only himself, he failed to do the heroic thing and stop a thief. This thief would later kill his Uncle Ben and Peter would live by Ben's words or wisdom, "With great power comes great responsibility."
Since then, as Spider-Man, Peter has pretty much sacrificed his entire life in order to be a superhero. He has superhuman abilities and feels it's his duty to do whatever he can to defeat the evil forces in the world and save the lives of innocents. Is this an obligation he absolutely must follow?
The same can be said for other heroes. Most superheroes give up their personal lives in order to put on flashy costumes and fight supervillains wearing gaudy outfits. Would it be bad if a hero decided to hang up their spandex and try to live a normal life? Could they accomplish other great things if they gave up being a superhero?
== TEASER ==There's no denying that there has been some big catastrophic events that have occurred in comic book universes that definitely required the aid of the superhero community. It is possible that many could use their abilities, those they had before and after gaining superpowers, for other uses that could help people out.
Peter Parker has a job at Horizon Labs and with his intelligence, he could make huge advancements that could help out mankind. Even during his short time there, he has come up with some incredible devices that have aided him in Spider-Man career and some have been allowed to be used by the lab for the public. If Peter could devote more time to actually using his gifted mind, who knows what other wonders he could come up with. Fighting as Spider-Man, he does save lives but he could easily invent something that could save millions of lives.
Sue Richards never had a chance to really live up to her potential. She became a superhero at a young age and never had the chance to pursue any dreams she might have had. In an alternate universe, we did see Sue as a physician. Using her abilities she could easily see inside a person to discover what injuries or ailments they might have and even used her invisible force fields to set a child's broken bones. She wouldn't be saving the lives of an entire city at one time but she could be doing something she really loved. Would it be selfish for Sue to give up being a hero and pursue a career she's actually interested in?
During Civil War we saw others make a choice. Heroes were required to register their identity and abilities with the government. Some heroes, such as Firestar, decided they would rather give up being a hero instead of being forced to do what the government required. These heroes were able to walk away from their profession (for a little while at least). Jessica Jones gave up being a hero and was a private investigator for a bit. Wolverine gave up being an X-Man to be a pig farmer (sort of).
There is a need for superheroes in comics. There's always a crazy supervillain or intergalactic threat ready to threaten the world. If superheroes weren't around, it could be disastrous for innocent civilians. But there are some heroes that choose to do what they do. They want to be heroes. Others don't seem to have much of a choice. The feeling of obligation can be a strong one.
In the real world, if a person has the ability to be a great athlete but doesn't pursue a career in professional sports, are they doing the wrong thing? If someone has the skills to be a great writer but decides they don't want their work to be published, are they doing the world a disservice?
The world needs heroes but it's not fair to have them live with guilt if they wanted to actually have a life of their own. There are also many different heroes running around. Maybe the solution could be to have stricter measures against supervillains so the war between good and evil can finally be put to rest.