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As superhero origin stories go, Josh Carter has a pretty good one. It started during the COVID-19 pandemic, with an idea to bring some joy to the community.
“I really wanted to do something nice for the community,” the 23-year-old from Beaumont, Alta., told CBC. “I put on the suit, walked around, did flips and people loved it.”
Soon, the athletic Carter was a Spidey staple on the streets of the Edmonton-area, showing off in public parks, taking bookings to entertain at birthday parties and earning community service awards.
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Carter describes the community’s support as “mindblowing.”
His mom, Patricia Carter, said she is proud of her son’s commitment to spreading happiness in his community, noting that he was diagnosed with global developmental delays and has ADHD.
“You know. it’s incredible,” she said. “You have a special needs child and you worry, but this community has rallied around him.”
Carter’s tattoo describes the guiding principle that he likes to live by. (Tristan Mottershead/CBC)
The community’s support encouraged Carter to take his skills to the next level, so he enrolled in taekwondo classes.
The headmaster at Prime Taekwondo School in Edmonton, Kang Song, remembers meeting Carter.
“I was curious. What kind of guy is that, wearing the costume,” said Kang.
Carter gets set to break a board at the Prime Taekwondo School in Edmonton. (Tristan Mottershead/CBC)
But over the past five years, Carter worked hard to earn his black belt.
“He sometimes struggles but he’s really good,” Kang said, adding that Carter is fearless when it comes to flips and popular with other kids at the school.
Soon, Carter will break out his best blue-and-red suit and join his family at the premiere of the fourth instalment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which opens in theatres this week.
The movie follows a forgotten Peter Parker, played by Tom Holland, fighting crime full-time as Spider-Man in a world that doesn’t remember him. The movie explores themes of identity, duty and loneliness.
Despite his own identity being often hidden under a mask, Carter always sets the record straight when people want to know who he is.
“They think I’m Tom Holland,” he said. “I’m not Tom, but I’m going to keep doing it, I’m going to keep entertaining people, and I’m going to really enjoy it.”