Why are major supervillains so often older than their superhero counterparts?

anyway, Tombot is right, the "kill your parents/older generation" strain is super-common in mythological systems the world over

These sorts of things occur a lot, right? When I was a kid, I used to wonder why it was the small guy in the cartoon duo who was the brains of the operation while the big guy was slow and bungling, when in real life it was my (slightly older, taller) friend who had all the smarts.

(maybe also worth noting that Satan is not in the OT, where God is nominally the metaphysical protagonist. When Satan does finally show up in the NT, Jesus is the younger protagonist)

xxp

Peter Parker fought some hella old dudes at the beginning, when he was at his youngest -- the Vulture, The Tinkerer. Disparity in ages was pretty extreme. [I know the Tinkerer was really a Skrull or something.]

J.J.J. was also an old guy. The Lizard was a professor. And of course the Green Goblin wasn't just a metaphorical father figure, but literally the dad of Pete's buddy.

Of course, when you're in high school, most people are older than you. But Pete was surrounded by old/older folks... even on the good side (Aunt May).