Spider-Man

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Redirect-multi Template:Redirect-multi Template:Pp-semi-indef Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox comics character

Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) in the Silver Age of Comic Books. Considered one of the most popular and commercially successful superheroes, he has been featured in comic books, television shows, films, video games, novels, and plays.

Spider-Man is the secret identity of Peter Benjamin Parker, who was raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in Queens, New York City, after the death of his parents. Lee, Ditko, and later writers had the character deal with the struggles of adolescence and young adulthood. Readers identified with his self-doubt and loneliness. Unlike previous teen heroes, Spider-Man was not a sidekick nor did he have a mentor. He would be given many supporting characters, such as his Daily Bugle boss J. Jonah Jameson; friends like Harry Osborn and Flash Thompson; romantic interests like Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, and the Black Cat; and enemies such as Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, and Venom. In his origin story, Peter gets his superhuman spider-powers and abilities after he was bitten by a radioactive spider. These powers include superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes and durability; clinging to surfaces and ceilings; and detecting danger with his precognitive "spider-sense". He sews a spider-web patterned spandex costume that fully covers his body and builds wrist-mounted "web-shooter" devices that shoot artificial spider-webs of his own design, which he uses for both fighting and "web swinging" across the city. Peter initially used his powers for personal gain, but after his Uncle Ben was killed by a burglar that he could have stopped but did not, he learned that "with great power comes great responsibility", and began to use his powers to fight crime as Spider-Man.

Marvel has featured Spider-Man in several comic book series, the first and longest-lasting of which is The Amazing Spider-Man. Since his introduction, the main-continuity version of Peter has gone from a high school student to attending college to currently being somewhere in his late 20s. Peter has been a member of numerous superhero teams, most notably the Avengers and Fantastic Four. Doctor Octopus also took on the identity for a story arc spanning 2012–2014 following the "Dying Wish" storyline, where Peter appears to die after Doctor Octopus orchestrates a body swap with him and becomes the Superior Spider-Man. Marvel has also published comic books featuring alternate versions of Spider-Man, including Spider-Man 2099, which features the adventures of Miguel O'Hara, the Spider-Man of the future; Ultimate Spider-Man, which features the adventures of a teenage Peter Parker in the alternate universe; and Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, which depicts a teenager named Miles Morales who takes up the mantle of Spider-Man after Ultimate Peter Parker's apparent death. Miles later became a superhero in his own right and was brought into mainstream continuity during the Secret Wars event, where he sometimes works alongside the mainline version of Peter.

Spider-Man has appeared in countless forms of media, including several animated TV series, a live-action television series, syndicated newspaper comic strips, and multiple series of films. In live-action films, Spider-Man has been portrayed by Tobey Maguire in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man duology directed by Marc Webb, and Tom Holland in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Peter Parker version of Spider-Man was also voiced by Jake Johnson and Chris Pine in the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, with the former reprising his role in the sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Publication history

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Creation and development

In 1962, with the success of the Fantastic Four, Marvel Comics editor and head writer Stan Lee was looking for a new superhero idea. He said the teenage demand for comic books and a character with whom they could identify led to the creation of Spider-Man.Template:Sfn As with Fantastic Four, Lee saw Spider-Man as an opportunity to "get out of his system" what he felt was missing in comic books.Template:Sfn

There are many conflicting stories about the inspiration and precise authorship of the various aspects of Spider-Man's appearance and character.Template:Sfn In his autobiography, Lee cites the non-superhuman pulp magazine crime fighter the Spider as a great influence.Template:Sfn Besides the name, the Spider was wanted by both the law and the criminal underworld (a defining theme of Spider-Man's early years) and had through years of ceaseless struggle developed a "sixth sense", which warns him of danger, the inspiration for Spider-Man's "spider-sense".Template:Sfn In a multitude of print and video interviews, Lee also says he was inspired by seeing a spider climb up a wall—adding in his autobiography that he has told that story so often he has become unsure of whether or not this is true.Template:Sfn

Although at the time teenage superheroes were usually given names ending with "boy", Lee says he chose "Spider-Man" because he wanted the character to age as the series progressed, and felt the name "Spider-Boy" would have made the character sound inferior to other superheroes.Template:Sfn Comics scholar Ben Saunders points out that this emphasis on adolescence was an important innovation for superhero comics.Template:Sfn

Lee required Marvel publisher Martin Goodman's approval for the character. In a 1986 interview, Lee gives his arguments against Goodman's objections.<ref group="note">Detroit Free Press interview with Stan Lee, quoted in Theakston 2002, p. 12 (unnumbered). "He gave me 1,000 reasons why Spider-Man would never work. Nobody likes spiders; it sounds too much like Superman, and how could a teenager be a superhero? Then I told him I wanted the character to be a very human guy, someone who makes mistakes, who worries, who gets acne, has trouble with his girlfriend, and things like that. [Goodman replied,] 'He's a hero! He's not an average man!' I said, 'No, we make him an average man who happens to have superpowers, that's what will make him good.' He told me I was crazy".</ref> Goodman eventually agreed to a Spider-Man tryout in what Lee, in numerous interviews, recalled as what would be the final issue of the science-fiction and supernatural anthology series Amazing Adult Fantasy, which was renamed Amazing Fantasy for issue #15 (cover-dated August 1962, on sale June 5, 1962).Template:Sfn In particular, Lee states that the decision that Amazing Fantasy would be canceled after issue #15 was the only reason Goodman allowed him to present Spider-Man.Template:Sfn While this was the final issue, its editorial page anticipated the continuing appearances of Spider-Man in future issues.Template:Sfn

Lee received Goodman's approval for the name Spider-Man and the "ordinary teen" concept and approached artist Jack Kirby. As comics historian Greg Theakston recounts, Kirby told Lee about an unpublished character on which he had collaborated with Joe Simon in the 1950s, in which an orphaned boy living with an old couple finds a magic ring that granted him superhuman powers. Lee and Kirby "immediately sat down for a story conference", Theakston writes, and Lee afterward directed Kirby to flesh out the character and draw some pages.Template:Sfn Steve Ditko would be the inker.<ref group="note">Ditko 2000: "'Stan said a new Marvel hero would be introduced in #15 [of what became titled Amazing Fantasy]. He would be called Spider-Man. Jack would do the penciling, and I was to ink the character.' At this point still, Stan said Spider-Man would be a teenager with a magic ring that could transform him into an adult hero—Spider-Man. I said it sounded like the Fly, which Joe Simon had done for Archie Comics. Stan called Jack about it, but I don't know what was discussed. I never talked to Jack about Spider-Man... Later, at some point, I was given the job of drawing Spider-Man'".</ref> When Kirby showed Lee the first six pages, Lee recalled, "I hated the way he was doing it! Not that he did it badly—it just wasn't the character I wanted; it was too heroic".Template:Sfn Lee turned to Ditko, who developed an art style Lee found satisfactory. Ditko recalled: Template:Blockquote

Although the interior artwork was by Ditko alone, Lee rejected Ditko's cover art and commissioned Kirby to pencil a cover that Ditko inked. As Lee explained in 2010, "I think I had Jack sketch out a cover for it because I always had a lot of confidence in Jack's covers."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Cover art of Spider-Man, with big yellow letters "Amazing Fantasy".

Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962) first introduced the character. It was a gateway to commercial success for the superhero and inspired the launch of The Amazing Spider-Man comic book. – Cover art by penciller Jack Kirby and inker Steve Ditko

Kirby disputed Lee's version of the story and claimed Lee had minimal involvement in the character's creation. According to Kirby, the idea for Spider-Man had originated with Kirby and Joe Simon, who in the 1950s had developed a character called the Silver Spider for the Crestwood Publications comic Black Magic, but the character was left unused.<ref group="note">Jack Kirby in "Shop Talk: Jack Kirby", Will Eisner's Spirit Magazine #39 (February 1982): "Spider-Man was discussed between Joe Simon and myself. It was the last thing Joe, and I had discussed. We had a strip called 'The Silver Spider.' The Silver Spider was going into a magazine called Black Magic. Black Magic folded with Crestwood (Simon & Kirby's 1950s comics company) and we were left with the script. I believe I said this could become a thing called Spider-Man, see, a superhero character. I had a lot of faith in the superhero character that they could be brought back... and I said Spider-Man would be a fine character to start with. But Joe had already moved on. So the idea was already there when I talked to Stan".</ref> Simon, in his 1990 autobiography, disputed Kirby's account, asserting that Black Magic was not a factor and that Simon devised the name "Spider-Man" (later changed to "The Silver Spider"), while Kirby outlined the character's story and powers. Simon later elaborated that his and Kirby's character conception became the basis for Simon's Archie Comics superhero, the Fly.Template:Sfn Artist Steve Ditko stated that Lee liked the name Hawkman from DC Comics, and that "Spider-Man" was an outgrowth of that interest.Template:Sfn

Simon concurred that Kirby had shown the original Spider-Man version to Lee, who liked the idea and assigned Kirby to draw sample pages of the new character, but disliked the results—in Simon's description, "Captain America with cobwebs".<ref group="note">Simon, Joe, with Jim Simon. The Comic Book Makers (Crestwood/II, 1990) Template:ISBN. "There were a few holes in Jack's never-dependable memory. For instance, there was no Black Magic involved at all. ... Jack brought in the Spider-Man logo that I had loaned to him before we changed the name to The Silver Spider. Kirby laid out the story to Lee about the kid who finds a ring in a spiderweb, gets his powers from the ring, and goes forth to fight crime armed with The Silver Spider's old web-spinning pistol. Stan Lee said, 'Perfect, just what I want.' After obtaining permission from publisher Martin Goodman, Lee told Kirby to pencil-up an origin story. Kirby... using parts of an old rejected superhero named Night Fighter... revamped the old Silver Spider script, including revisions suggested by Lee. But when Kirby showed Lee the sample pages, it was Lee's turn to gripe. He had been expecting a skinny young kid who is transformed into a skinny young kid with spider powers. Kirby had him turn into... Captain America with cobwebs. He turned Spider-Man over to Steve Ditko, who... ignored Kirby's pages, tossed the character's magic ring, web pistol and goggles... and completely redesigned Spider-Man's costume and equipment. In this life, he became high-school student Peter Parker, who gets his spider powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider. ... Lastly, the Spider-Man logo was redone and a dashing hyphen added".</ref> Writer Mark Evanier notes that Lee's reasoning that Kirby's character was too heroic seems unlikely—Kirby still drew the covers for Amazing Fantasy #15 and the first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. Evanier also disputes Kirby's given reason that he was "too busy" to draw Spider-Man in addition to his other duties, since Kirby was, said Evanier, "always busy".Template:Sfn Neither Lee's nor Kirby's explanation explains why key story elements like the magic ring were dropped; Evanier states that the most plausible explanation for the sudden change was that Goodman, or one of his assistants, decided that Spider-Man, as drawn and envisioned by Kirby, was too similar to the Fly.Template:Sfn

Author and Ditko scholar Blake Bell writes that it was Ditko who noted the similarities to the Fly. Ditko recalled that "Stan called Jack about the Fly", adding that "[d]ays later, Stan told me I would be penciling the story panel breakdowns from Stan's synopsis." It was at this point that the entire concept of the strip went through a major overhaul. "Out went the magic ring, adult Spider-Man and whatever legend ideas that Spider-Man story would have contained." Lee gave Ditko the premise of a teenager bitten by a spider and developing powers, where Ditko would expand upon to the point he became what Bell describes as "the first work for hire artist of his generation to create and control the narrative arc of his series". On the issue of the initial creation, Ditko stated, "I still don't know whose idea was Spider-Man".Template:Sfn Ditko did, however, view the published version of Spider-Man as a separate creation to the one he saw in the five pencilled pages that Kirby had completed. To support this, Ditko used the analogy of the Kirby/Marvel Thor, which was based on a name or idea of a character in Norse mythology: "If Marvel's Thor is a valid created work by Jack, his creation, then why isn't Spider-Man by Stan and me valid created work, our creation?"Template:Sfn

At the time of Spider-Man's creation, Ditko shared a Manhattan studio with noted fetish artist Eric Stanton, an art-school classmate who, in a 1988 interview with Theakston, recalled that although his contribution to Spider-Man was "almost nil", he and Ditko had "worked on storyboards together and I added a few ideas. But the whole thing was created by Steve on his own ... I think I added the business about the webs coming out of his hands."Template:Sfn

Kirby noted in a 1971 interview that it was Ditko who "got Spider-Man to roll, and the thing caught on because of what he did".<ref>Skelly, Tim. "Interview II: 'I created an army of characters, and now my connection to them is lost.'" (Initially broadcast over WNUR-FM on "The Great Electric Bird", May 14, 1971. Transcribed and published in The Nostalgia Journal #27.) Reprinted in The Comics Journal Library Volume One: Jack Kirby, George, Milo ed. May 2002, Fantagraphics Books. p. 16</ref> Lee, while claiming credit for the initial idea, had acknowledged Ditko's role, stating, "If Steve wants to be called co-creator, I think he deserves [it]".<ref>Ross, Jonathan. In Search of Steve Ditko, BBC Four, September 16, 2007.</ref> He has further commented that Ditko's costume design was key to the character's success; since the costume completely covers Spider-Man's body, people of all races could visualize themselves inside the costume and thus easily identify with the character.Template:Sfn

As depicted in Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962), Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider (erroneously classified as an insect in the panel) at a science exhibit and "acquires the agility and proportionate strength of an arachnid".Template:Sfn When "[h]e blithely ignores the chance to stop a fleeing thief, [and] his indifference ironically catches up with him when the same criminal later robs and kills his Uncle Ben." Spider-Man tracks and subdues the killer and learns, in the story's next-to-last caption, "With great power there must also come—great responsibility!"Template:Sfn Ben Saunders points out that this conclusion makes problematic the usual conceptions of heroism in the genre; Ben's death does not fully validate Peter Parker's new mission, and the protagonist is continually portrayed as a conflicted, imperfect person, in uncertain circumstances.Template:Sfn

1960s

A few months after Spider-Man's introduction, publisher Goodman reviewed the sales figures for that issue and was shocked to find it was one of the nascent Marvel's highest-selling comics.Template:Sfn A solo ongoing series followed, beginning with The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (cover-dated March 1963).Template:Sfn The title eventually became Marvel's top-selling seriesTemplate:Sfn with the character swiftly becoming a cultural icon; a 1965 Esquire poll of college campuses found that college students ranked Spider-Man and fellow Marvel hero the Hulk alongside Bob Dylan and Che Guevara as their favorite revolutionary icons. One interviewee selected Spider-Man because he was "beset by woes, money problems, and the question of existence. In short, he is one of us."Template:Sfn Ditko introduced Peter Parker's boss, J. Jonah Jameson, newspaper publisher of the Daily Bugle, who despises Spider-Man and slanders him despite his heroism.Template:Sfn Parker experiences frequent high-school drama involving his love interest, Betty Brant, and a classroom bully, Flash Thompson.Template:Sfn

In the first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man (March 1963), despite his superpowers, Peter struggles to help his widowed Aunt May pay the rent, is taunted by Flash, and continues fighting crime and saving the city as Spider-Man. Peter gets hired as a freelance photographer Jameson to take pictures of Spider-Man, with Jameson unaware that Spider-Man is Peter Parker.Template:Sfn Ben Saunders identifies nineteen different supervillains who appear in the early Spider-Man stories of Lee and Ditko, sixteen of which become recurring figures in the Marvel Universe.Template:Sfn These enemies include Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Chameleon, Lizard, Vulture, Kraven the Hunter, Electro, and Mysterio.Template:Sfn Peter finds juggling his personal and superhero life difficult. Ditko's quirky art provided a stark contrast to the more cleanly dynamic stylings of Marvel's most prominent artist, Jack Kirby.<ref name="DeFalco87">Template:Cite book</ref>

Following Ditko's departure after issue #38 (July 1966), John Romita Sr. replaced him as penciller and would draw the series for the next several years. In 1968, Romita also drew the character's extra-length stories in the comics magazine The Spectacular Spider-Man, a proto-graphic novel designed to appeal to older readers. It lasted for two issues and represented the first Spider-Man spin-off publication, aside from the original series' summer Annuals that began in 1964.Template:Sfn Romita's illustrations of the character were substantially more glamorous and influenced by romance comics of the time; Parker's social status markedly improved.Template:Sfn Romita introduced a new prominent enemy for Spider-Man, the gangster Wilson Fisk, also known as Kingpin.Template:Sfn In this period, Peter graduates from high school,Template:Sfn and enrolls at Empire State University (a fictional institution evoking the real-life Columbia University and New York University),Template:Sfn where he meets roommate and best friend Harry Osborn and girlfriend Gwen Stacy.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn As Peter deals with Harry's drug problems, and Harry's father, Norman Osborn, is revealed to be the Green Goblin, Peter attempts to give up his costumed identity for a while.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Gwen Stacy's father, New York City Police detective Captain George Stacy, is accidentally killed during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus (issue #90, November 1970).Template:Sfn

Romita also created a new love interest for Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson. Romita's storylines emphasize a long triangle between Parker, Watson, and Gwen Stacy.Template:Sfn This period included one of the first Black supporting characters in superhero comic books, Robbie Robertson, a reporter at the Daily Bugle.Template:Sfn By 1968, the series began to address political controversies and student activism.Template:Sfn

1970s

An early 1970s Spider-Man story ultimately led to the revision of the Comics Code Authority. Previously, the Code forbade the depiction of the use of illegal drugs, even negatively. However, in 1970, the Nixon administration's Department of Health, Education, and Welfare asked Stan Lee to publish an anti-drug message in one of Marvel's top-selling titles.Template:Sfn Lee chose the top-selling The Amazing Spider-Man; issues #96–98 (May–July 1971) feature a story arc depicting the negative effects of drug use. In the story, Peter Parker's friend Harry Osborn becomes addicted to pills. When Spider-Man fights the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn, Harry's father), Spider-Man defeats him by revealing Harry's drug addiction. While the story had a clear anti-drug message, the Comics Code Authority refused to issue its seal of approval. Marvel nevertheless published the three issues without the Comics Code Authority's approval or seal. The issues sold so well that the industry's self-censorship was undercut, and the Code was subsequently revised.Template:Sfn

By 1972, with Spider-Man as its flagship character, Marvel had begun to outsell its primary competitor, DC.Template:Sfn In that year, a second monthly ongoing series starring Spider-Man began: Marvel Team-Up, in which Spider-Man was paired with other superheroes and supervillains.Template:Sfn From that point on, there have generally been at least two ongoing Spider-Man series at any time. Gerry Conway became the primary writer of the series from 1972 to 1975,Template:Sfn and Ross Andru was the penciller from October 1973 to July 1978.Template:Sfn In 1973, Gwen Stacy was tragically killed during her rescue from the Green Goblin, a turning point for Spider-Man.Template:Sfn In issue #121 (June 1973),Template:Sfn the Green Goblin throws Gwen Stacy from a tower of either the Brooklyn Bridge (as depicted in the art) or the George Washington Bridge (as given in the text).<ref>"To address the contradiction in future reprints of the tale, though, Spider-Man's dialogue was altered so that he's referring to the Brooklyn Bridge. But the original snafu remains as one of the more visible errors in the history of comics." Saffel 2007, p. 65</ref><ref>Sanderson notes, "[W]hile the script described the site of Gwen's demise as the George Washington Bridge, the art depicted the Brooklyn Bridge, and there is still no agreement as to where it actually took place." Sanderson 1998, p. 84.</ref> She dies during Spider-Man's rescue attempt, and Spider-Man swears revenge against his nemesis; a note on the letters page of issue #125 states: "It saddens us to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her."Template:Sfn The following issue, Spider-Man vengefully attacks and overpowers the Green Goblin, who kills himself accidentally in the ensuing battle with Spider-Man.Template:Sfn

In 1974, the Punisher, a murderous vigilante who later became particularly popular, first appeared in the series.Template:Sfn Len Wein became the new writer in December 1975.Template:Sfn He was replaced in June 1978, initially by Bill Mantlo and later by Marv Wolfman.Template:Sfn Sal Buscema, Jim Starlin, Keith Pollard, and John Byrne were all featured artists in the late 1970s.Template:Sfn

In December 1976, a second solo series, Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, began running parallel to the main series.Template:Sfn

Working through his grief for Gwen Stacy, Peter eventually develops tentative feelings toward Mary Jane, and the two "become confidants rather than lovers".Template:Sfn A romantic relationship eventually develops, with Parker proposing to her in issue #182 (July 1978), and being turned down an issue later.Template:Sfn Felicia Hardy, also known as the Black Cat, first appeared in the series in 1979; she becomes a new femme fatale love interest for Peter.Template:Sfn

1980s

In the early 1980s, Roger Stern and John Romita Jr. (the son of the primary artist in the late 1960s) became the primary creative team of The Amazing Spider-Man.Template:Sfn

The black costume of Spider-Man.

The Amazing Spider-Man #252 (May 1984): The black costume was later revealed as an alien symbiote and was used in the creation of the villain Venom. – Cover art by Ron Frenz and Klaus Janson

A third series featuring Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man, launched in 1985 to replace Marvel Team-Up.Template:Sfn In the mid-1980s, Spider-Man was also a significant character in the Secret Wars miniseries, which led to his adoption of a new black costume. At the end of the decade, this costume was revealed to be an enemy symbiote which became a prominent new enemy, Venom.Template:Sfn From 1984 to 1988, Spider-Man wore a black costume with a white spider design on his chest. The new costume originated in the Secret Wars miniseries on an alien planet where Spider-Man participates in a battle between Earth's major superheroes and supervillains.Template:Sfn He continues wearing the costume when he returns, starting in The Amazing Spider-Man #252. The creators then revealed the costume was an alien symbiote, which Spider-Man rejects after a difficult struggle, though the symbiote returns several times as Venom for revenge.Template:Sfn

In 1987, Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson were married; the creative team in this period was Jim Shooter as plot writer and Paul Ryan as penciller.Template:Sfn Peter proposes to Mary Jane in The Amazing Spider-Man #290 (July 1987), and she accepts two issues later, with the wedding taking place in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (1987)—promoted with a real-life mock wedding using actors at Shea Stadium, with Stan Lee officiating, on June 5, 1987.Template:Sfn David Michelinie, who scripted based on a plot by editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, said in 2007, "I didn't think they actually should [have gotten] married. ... I had actually planned another version, one that wasn't used."Template:Sfn

October 1985 to 1986 in The Spectacular Spider-Man featured a storyline inspired by film noir, "The Death of Jean DeWolff".Template:Sfn October to November 1987 were devoted to an equally dark story that crossed over among the three Spider-Man titles, "Kraven's Last Hunt".Template:Sfn Todd McFarlane became the new artist of The Amazing Spider-Man in March 1988; his rendition of Spider-Man distinguished itself by "'impossible' anatomy, huge eyes, poses that were more spiderlike than human, skewed frames, and brand-new spaghetti webbing."Template:Sfn

1990s

The launch of a fourth monthly title in 1990, the "adjectiveless" Spider-Man (with the storyline "Torment"), written and drawn by popular artist Todd McFarlane, debuted with several different covers, all with the same interior content. All four versions combined sold over three million copies, an industry record at the time. Several miniseries, one-shot issues, and loosely related comics were also published in this decade, and Spider-Man made frequent cameos and guest appearances in other comic book series.Template:Sfn In 1996, The Sensational Spider-Man was created to replace Web of Spider-Man.Template:Sfn

In the mid-1990s, there was a very long storyline in which a clone of Spider-Man first created in an earlier storyline of the 1970s returned, and it was unclear which of the two versions of Peter Parker was the original.Template:Sfn This lasted for three years.Template:Sfn In the controversial 1990s storyline the "Clone Saga", a clone of Parker, created in a storyline of the 1970s, re-appears after living incognito as Ben Reilly and allies with Parker.Template:Sfn To the surprise of both, new tests indicate Ben is the original and Peter is the clone.Template:Sfn Complicating matters, Mary Jane announces in The Spectacular Spider-Man #220 (Jan. 1995) that she is pregnant with Peter's baby.Template:Sfn Later, however, a resurrected Norman Osborn has Mary Jane poisoned, causing premature labor and the death of her and Peter's unborn daughter.Template:Sfn It is later revealed that The Green Goblin switched the results of the clone test in an attempt to destroy Peter's life by making him believe himself to be the clone. Ben is killed while saving Peter, in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75 (Dec. 1996), and his body immediately crumbles into dust, confirming Ben was the clone.Template:Sfn

In 1998, writer-artist John Byrne revamped the origin of Spider-Man in the 13-issue limited series Spider-Man: Chapter One (Dec. 1998–Oct. 1999), similar to Byrne's adding details and some revisions to Superman's origin in DC Comics' The Man of Steel.Template:Sfn During that time, the original The Amazing Spider-Man ended, and The Amazing Spider-Man started with volume 2, #1 (Jan. 1999).Template:Sfn

In issue #97 (Nov. 1998) of the second series titled Peter Parker: Spider-Man, Parker learns Norman Osborn kidnapped Aunt May and her apparent death in The Amazing Spider-Man #400 (April 1995) had been a hoax.Template:Sfn Shortly afterward, Mary Jane appears to be killed in an airplane explosion. She is subsequently revealed to be alive, but she and Peter are then completely separated.Template:Sfn

2000s

In October 2000, an alternative interpretation and updated re-imagining of the character appeared in Ultimate Spider-Man, written by Brian Michael Bendis.Template:Sfn

Beginning in June 2001, J. Michael Straczynski, who had created the science fiction TV show Babylon Five, became the primary writer of The Amazing Spider-Man.Template:Sfn In this period, Peter, now employed as a teacher at his old high school, meets the enigmatic Ezekiel Sims, who possesses similar spider powers and suggests that Peter, having gained such abilities, might not have been a fluke—that Parker has a connection to a totemic spider spirit.Template:Sfn In vol. 2, #37 (#478, Jan. 2002), Aunt May discovers her nephew is Spider-Man.Template:Sfn

Beginning in 2005, Spider-Man joined the Avengers and appeared in the New Avengers series written by Bendis.Template:Sfn After a deranged, superpowered former high-school classmate destroys their respective homes, Peter, Mary Jane, and May move into Stark Tower,Template:Sfn and Peter begins working as Tony Stark's assistant while freelancing for The Daily Bugle and continuing his teacher career. In the 12-part 2005 story arc "The Other", Peter undergoes a transformation that evolves his powers. In the comic Civil War #2 (June 2006), part of the company-wide crossover arc of that title, the U.S. government's Superhuman Registration Act leads Spider-Man to reveal his true identity publicly. A growing unease about the Registration Act prompts him to escape with May and Mary Jane and joins the anti-registration underground.

In 2007, the "One More Day" storyline un-did Peter Parker's marriage to Mary Jane Watson; the demon Mephisto magically erased the event from the memory of everyone in the world.Template:Sfn In issue #537 (Dec. 2006), Aunt May is critically wounded from Wilson Fisk's sniper, and enters into a coma. Peter, desperate to save her, exhausts all possibilities and makes a pact with the demon-lord Mephisto, who saves May's life in exchange for Peter and Mary Jane agreeing to have their marriage and all memory of it disappear. In this changed reality, Spider-Man's identity is secret once again, and in #545 (Jan. 2008), Mary Jane returns and is cold toward him. The controversial<ref name="OMDPart1p1">Weiland, Jonah. storyline "The 'One More Day' Interviews with Joe Quesada, Pt. 1 of 5" Template:Webarchive, Newsarama, December 28, 2007. WebCitation archive.</ref> storyline "One More Day" rolled back much of the fictional continuity at the behest of editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, who said, "Peter being single is an intrinsic part of the very foundation of the world of Spider-Man".<ref name="OMDPart1p1" /> It caused unusual public friction between Quesada and writer Straczynski, who "told Joe that I was going to take my name off the last two issues of the [story] arc", but was talked out of doing so.<ref name="OMDPart2p1">Weiland, Jonah. "The 'One More Day' Interviews with Joe Quesada, Pt. 2 of 5" Template:Webarchive, Newsarama, December 31, 2007. WebCitation archive.</ref> At issue with Straczynski's climax to the arc, Quesada said, wasTemplate:Blockquote

In this new continuity, designed to have very limited repercussions throughout the remainder of the Marvel Universe, Parker begins working for the alternative press paper The Front Line.<ref>Amazing Spider-Man #568</ref> J. Jonah Jameson becomes the Mayor of New York City in issue #591 (June 2008).Template:Sfn

When the main series The Amazing Spider-Man reached issue #545 (Dec. 2007), Marvel dropped its spin-off ongoing series and instead began publishing The Amazing Spider-Man three times monthly, beginning with #546–548 (all January 2008).<ref name="Avenging">Template:Cite web</ref> The scheduling of The Amazing Spider-Man lasted until November 2010, when the comic book expanded from 22 pages to 30 pages for each issue. Later on, The Amazing Spider-Man was published twice a month, beginning with #648–649 (both November 2010).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2010s

In Ultimate Spider-Man, a storyline that began in 2011 narrated the death of the alternative version of Peter Parker, who was replaced by a younger character with similar powers, Miles Morales.Template:Sfn

In 2012, Marvel launched Avenging Spider-Man as the first spin-off ongoing series in addition to The Amazing Spider-Man, since the previous ones were canceled at the end of 2007.Template:Sfn Dan Slott became the primary writer of The Amazing Spider-Man in January 2011.Template:Sfn The Amazing series temporarily ended with issue #700 in December 2012 and was replaced by The Superior Spider-Man, which had Doctor Octopus serve as the new Spider-Man by taking over Peter Parker's body.Template:Sfn One of Doctor Octopus' Octobots swaps his and Spider-Man's personality, causing Peter to become trapped in the Doctor's dying body, while he in turn claimed Peter's life for himself. Though Peter failed to reverse the change, he manages to establish a weak link with the Doctor's mind, forcing him to relive all of his memories; Otto understands Peter's ideals of power and responsibility and swears to carry on with Peter's life with dignity as a "Superior" Spider-Man.Template:Sfn Superior was an enormous commercial success for Marvel,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and ran for 31 issues before the real Peter Parker returned in a newly relaunched The Amazing Spider-Man #1 in April 2014.<ref name="CNN1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Later, realizing that he failed in his role as the "Superior" Spider-Man, Otto willingly allows Peter to reclaim his body in order to defeat Osborn and save a woman Otto loves. In the aftermath of these events, Peter began to amend the relationships damaged by Otto's arrogance and negligence, both as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. He additionally took up the reins of Parker Industries, a small company founded by Otto.Template:Sfn

Peter soon learns a second person had been bitten by the radioactive spider, Cindy Moon. Spider-Man tracks her down and frees her from a bunker owned by the late Ezekiel Simms. Cindy goes on to adopt her own heroine identity as Silk.Template:Sfn The Spider-Verse storyline began in November 2014, introducing new variants of Spider-Man, such as Spider-Man Noir and Spider-Gwen.Template:Sfn Spider-Man encounters a contingent of spider-people from all over the Multiverse that banded together to fight the Inheritors, a group of psychic vampires who had begun to hunt down the spider-totems of other realities. During a mission to gather more recruits in 2099, the Spider-Army stumbled upon another party of spider-people led by an alternate version of Otto Octavius. Together, they neutralize the Inheritors.Template:Sfn

Following the 2015 Secret Wars crossover event, a number of Spider-Man-related titles were begun or relaunced. Among them, The Amazing Spider-Man was relaunched and primarily focuses on Peter Parker continuing to run Parker Industries and becomes a successful global businessman.Template:Sfn

Fictional character biography

Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City,Template:Sfn Peter Benjamin Parker's parents died in a plane crash when he was a child. He is raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. While a student at Midtown High School, student Peter Benjamin Parker is an excellent student and scientific prodigy, but he is not popular with his peers.Template:Sfn He is bitten by a radioactive spider at a science exhibit and subsequently develops superhuman strength, speed, and agility, as well as the ability to adhere to walls and ceilings.Template:Sfn Through his knack for science, he develops a gadget that lets him fire adhesive webbing of his own design through small, wrist-mounted barrels. Initially seeking to capitalize on his new abilities, Parker dons a costume and, as "Spider-Man", becomes a novelty television star. However, he refuses to prevent the escape of a thief, who subsequently murders his beloved Uncle Ben.Template:Sfn He tracks down the killer, and, overcome by guilt, devotes himself to applying his powers in the service of justice.Template:Sfn

Peter struggles to help his widowed Aunt May pay the rent, has social problems as a student, and continues fighting crime and saving the city as Spider-Man. His heroic deeds engender the editorial wrath of newspaper publisher of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson, who holds a grudge against Spider-Man.Template:Sfn Peter gets hired as a freelance photographer by Jameson to take pictures of Spider-Man, with him being unaware that Spider-Man is Peter Parker.Template:Sfn Spider-Man fights various enemies, including archenemy and nemesis Green Goblin and then Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Chameleon, Lizard, Vulture, Kraven the Hunter, Electro, and Mysterio, defeating them one by one.Template:Sfn Peter finds juggling his personal and superhero life difficult.

Peter graduates from high school and enrolls at Empire State University,Template:Sfn where he meets roommate and best friend Harry Osborn and girlfriend Gwen Stacy,Template:Sfn and Aunt May introduces him to Mary Jane Watson.Template:Sfn As Peter deals with Harry's drug problems, and Harry's father, Norman Osborn, is revealed to be the Green Goblin, Peter attempts to give up his costumed identity for a while.Template:Sfn Gwen Stacy's father, New York City Police detective Captain George Stacy, is accidentally killed during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus.Template:Sfn Later, the Green Goblin throws Gwen Stacy from a tower of a major bridge. She dies during Spider-Man's rescue attempt, and Spider-Man swears revenge against his nemesis the Green Goblin, who kills himself accidentally in an ensuing battle with Spider-Man.Template:Sfn

Working through his grief, Peter eventually develops tentative feelings toward Mary Jane, and the two become close.Template:Sfn A romantic relationship eventually develops, with Parker eventually proposing and being turned down.Template:Sfn Peter graduates from college,Template:Sfn and becomes involved with the flirtatious costumed thief Felicia Hardy, Template:A.k.a. the Black Cat.Template:Sfn

Spider-Man visits an alien planet, where he participates in a battle between Earth's major superheroes and supervillains. On this planet, he discovers a mysterious black alien suit that initially obeys his mental control. The costume eventually reveals itself as an alien symbiote, which Spider-Man rejects after a difficult struggle, though the symbiote returns several times as Venom for revenge.Template:Sfn Peter again proposes to Mary Jane and this time she accepts.Template:Sfn

A clone of Parker created in his college years by insane scientist Miles Warren, a.k.a. the Jackal, returns to New York City upon hearing of Aunt May's health worsening. The clone had lived incognito as Ben Reilly, but now assumes the superhero guise the Scarlet Spider and allies with Parker. To the surprise of both, new tests indicate Ben is the original and Peter is the clone.Template:Sfn Complicating matters, Mary Jane announces that she is pregnant with Peter's baby. Later, however, a resurrected Norman Osborn has Mary Jane poisoned, causing premature labor and the death of her and Peter's unborn daughter.<ref name="chronicle281">Saunders, et al., Chronicle, p. 281</ref> It is later revealed that The Green Goblin switched the results of the clone test in an attempt to destroy Peter's life by making him believe himself to be the clone. Ben is killed while saving Peter, and it is confirmed that Ben was the clone.Template:Sfn

Aunt May appears to die, but this is revealed as a hoax.<ref>Saunders, et al. Chronicle, p. 273</ref><ref name="gcd2">Amazing Spider-Man, The, Marvel, 1999 Series Template:Webarchive (The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2) at the Grand Comics Database</ref> Shortly afterward, Mary Jane also has an apparent death that is later discovered to be a mistaken impression.<ref name="ruby">Ruby, Sam. "Mary Jane Watson", SamRuby.com (fan site). WebCitation archive.</ref> Mary Jane and Peter become estranged.<ref>Blumberg, Arnold T. "Face it Tiger – A Brief Look at the Life of Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Part 2", Mania.com, July 17, 2002. WebCitation archive.</ref>

Peter becomes a teacher at his old high school.Template:Sfn He meets the enigmatic Ezekiel Sims, and comes to believe that he has a connection to a totemic spider spirit. Parker comes to believe that his late girlfriend Gwen Stacy had had two children with Norman Osborn, although this is later revealed as a hoax.Template:Sfn

He joins the superhero team the New Avengers.Template:Sfn After a deranged, superpowered former high-school classmate destroys their respective homes, Peter, Mary Jane, and May move into Stark Tower, and Peter begins working as Tony Stark's assistant while freelancing for The Daily Bugle and continuing his teaching career. Peter undergoes a transformation that evolves his powers. The U.S. government's Superhuman Registration Act leads Spider-Man to reveal his true identity publicly. A growing unease about the Registration Act prompts him to escape with May and Mary Jane and joins the anti-registration underground.Template:Sfn

Aunt May is critically wounded by Wilson Fisk's sniper, and enters into a coma. Peter, desperate to save her, exhausts all possibilities and makes a pact with the demon-lord Mephisto, who saves May's life in exchange for Peter and Mary Jane agreeing to have their marriage and all memory of it disappear. In this changed reality, Spider-Man's identity is secret once again.Template:Sfn Parker returns to work at the Daily Bugle, which has been renamed The DB under a new publisher.<ref>Amazing Spider-Man #549</ref> He soon switches to the alternative press paper The Front Line.Template:Sfn J. Jonah Jameson becomes the Mayor of New York City.Template:Sfn

A conflict between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus over Osborn's son ends when it is revealed the child's father is Harry, who leaves town to raise him. One of Doctor Octopus' Octobots swaps his and Spider-Man's personality, causing Peter to become trapped in the Doctor's dying body, while he in turn claimed Peter's life for himself. Though Peter failed to reverse the change, he manages to establish a weak link with the Doctor's mind, forcing him to relive all of his memories. Otto understands Peter's ideals of power and responsibility and swears to carry on with Peter's life with dignity as a "Superior" Spider-Man. A portion of Peter survived in his original body in the form of a subconsciousness. Later, realizing that he failed in his role as the "Superior" Spider-Man, Otto willingly allows Peter to reclaim his body in order to defeat Osborn and save Anna Maria Marconi, Otto's love. In the aftermath of these events, Peter began to amend the relationships damaged by Otto's arrogance and negligence, both as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. He additionally took up the reins of Parker Industries, a small company founded by Otto after leaving Horizon Labs.Template:Sfn

Peter soon learns a second person had been bitten by the radioactive spider, Cindy Moon. Spider-Man tracks her down and frees her from a bunker owned by the late Ezekiel Simms. Not long after rescuing Cindy, who went on to adopt her own heroine identity as Silk, Spider-Man encounters a contingent of spider-people from all over the Multiverse that banded together to fight the Inheritors, a group of psychic vampires who had begun to hunt down the spider-totems of other realities. During a mission to gather more recruits in 2099, the Spider-Army stumbled upon another party of spider-people led by an alternate version of Otto Octavius. Together, they neutralize the Inheritors.Template:Sfn

Peter then stops a nefarious plan put forward by the Jackal.<ref name="DNM">Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy (vol. 1) #1–5.</ref> Peter's life is plagued with problems on both sides. As Spider-Man, Mayor Fisk publicly supports him, condemning all other vigilantes in order to isolate him from his superhero peers. As Peter Parker, his academic credentials are revoked after accusations of plagiarizing his doctoral dissertation from Octavius, resulting in Peter being fired from the Daily Bugle. Subsequently, Peter again became romantically involved with Mary Jane.<ref>Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #1</ref> Briefly, Peter Parker and Spider-Man split into separate beings due to an accident involving the reverse-engineered Isotope Genome Accelerator. Peter eventually manages to reverse the process, and merges his two halves back together before the side-effects worsen and result in their death.<ref>Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #2–5</ref>

Kindred uses the resurrected Sin-Eater's sins to possess Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Woman, Anya Corazon, and Julia Carpenter. Doctor Strange, who manages to restrain a possessed Silk, agrees to help Spider-Man. However, Peter dies when fighting Kindred, but Kindred is willing to resurrect Peter.<ref name="LastRemains">Template:Cite comic</ref>

Personality and themes

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Sally Kempton for the Village Voice opined in 1965 that "Spider-Man has a terrible identity problem, a marked inferiority complex, and a fear of women. He is antisocial, castration-ridden, racked with Oedipal guilt, and accident-prone ... [a] functioning neurotic".Template:Sfn Spider-Man's writers often describe him as an everyman who stands in from the average reader; however, he is also characterized it has also been argued that he is one of the first nerd heroes. Comics scholar Phillip Lamarr Cunningham says that "[Peter] Parker arguably epitomizes the conflation of everyman and nerd better than any popular culture figure."Template:Sfn Agonizing over his choices, always attempting to do right, he is nonetheless viewed with suspicion by the authorities, who seem unsure as to whether he is a helpful vigilante or a clever criminal.Template:Sfn

Cultural historian Bradford W. Wright notes:

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The mid-1960s stories reflect the political tensions of the time; early 1960s Marvel stories often deal with the Cold War and communism.Template:Sfn Wright writes:

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Comics scholar Peter Lee identifies a theme of generational consciousness for Baby Boomers in Spider-Man stories of the 1960s, and an emphasis on a generation gap with their elders.Template:Sfn Douglas Wolk emphasizes Parker's complex identity formation through conflict with paternal authority figures; many of his most prominent arch-enemies can be viewed as distorted father figures.Template:Sfn Wolk also points out a continual theme of a frustrated bildungsroman, the classic narrative of transition from childhood to adulthood: Parker is often about to achieve the resolution of maturity before this progress is unfairly interrupted.Template:Sfn

Mike Flanagan also points out Spider-Man's bond with New York City, and the complex metafictional relationship between the real, factual city and its representation in the fantastical world of superhero comics.Template:Sfn

Powers, skills, and equipment

Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and subsequently developed the ability to stick to walls and climb smooth surfaces, the proportionate strength, speed, agility, and reflexes of a spider, and a "spider-sense" that warns him of danger.Template:Sfn Commentators have speculated that a distance-dependent interaction between his body and surfaces, known as the van der Waals force, accounts for his sticking ability.<ref>Template:Cite comic</ref>

The character was originally conceived by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko as intellectually gifted, and later writers have depicted his intellect at genius level.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Academically brilliant, Peter has expertise in the fields of applied science, chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, mathematics, and mechanics.

Spider-Man designed his own web-shooters that depend on an organic fluid. He can swing from building to building on these webs, and use them as fighting weapons. He also invented spider-tracers that he is able to track with his spider-sense.Template:Sfn

Supporting cast

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Spider-Man in front of multiple characters' heads.

Spider-Man contains a wide number of enemies and side characters. A variant cover art of The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #1 depicts the heads of various Spider-Man enemies behind Spider-Man (as drawn by Kevin Maguire), shown in the center.

Spider-Man has had a large range of supporting characters introduced in the comics that are essential in the issues and storylines that star him. After his parents died, Peter Parker was raised by his loving aunt, May Parker, and his uncle and father figure, Ben Parker. After Uncle Ben is murdered by a burglar, Aunt May is virtually Peter's only family, and she and Peter are very close.Template:Sfn

J. Jonah Jameson is the publisher of the Daily Bugle and Peter Parker's boss. A harsh critic of Spider-Man, he constantly features negative articles about the superhero in his newspaper. Jameson can be interpreted as symbolic of demagogic, sensationalistic media.Template:Sfn In contrast, Robbie Robertson, Jameson's editor and confidant, is always depicted as a supporter of both Spider-Man and his alter ego Peter Parker.Template:Sfn

Eugene "Flash" Thompson is commonly depicted as Peter Parker's high school tormentor and bully, who idolizes Spider-Man, but is unaware that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. Later, he becomes a friend of Peter and adopts his own superhero identity, Agent Venom, after merging with the Venom symbiote.Template:Sfn Meanwhile, Harry Osborn, son of Norman Osborn, is Peter's best friend, and experiences problems with drug addiction.Template:Sfn

Enemies

Template:Main Writers and artists over the years have established a rogues gallery of supervillains to face Spider-Man, in comics and in other media. As with Spider-Man, the majority of the villains' powers originate with scientific accidents or the misuse of scientific technology, and many have animal-themed costumes or powers.Template:Sfn Comics scholar Rick Hudson argues that Spider-Man's enemies are in some sense "'ordinary guys' living in a fantastical world", in contrast to the operatic, gothic villains who Batman faces.Template:Sfn In the early period written by Steve Ditko, Spider-Man's enemies are usually older men whose power comes from scientific inventions.Template:Sfn

The Norman Osborn version of the Green Goblin is most commonly regarded as Spider-Man's arch-enemy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While Norman is usually portrayed as an amoral industrialist and the head of the Oscorp scientific corporation, the Goblin is a psychopathic alternate personality, born after Norman's exposore to some unstable chemicals that also increased his strength and agility. The Goblin is a Halloween-themed villain, dressing up like an actual goblin and utilizing a large arsenal of high tech weapons, including a glider and pumpkin-shaped explosives. Unlike most villains, who only aim to kill Spider-Man, the Goblin also targets his loved ones and shows no remorse in killing them as long as it caused pain to Spider-Man. His most infamous feat is killing Gwen Stacy in "The Night Gwen Stacy Died." While the Goblin was killed in the same story, he returned in the 1990s to plague Spider-Man once again. He also came into conflict with other heroes, such as the Avengers.<ref name="25.52">Template:Cite web</ref> Norman is sometimes depicted as an enemy of Spider-Man, even when not being the Green Goblin.<ref name="IGN #132">Template:Cite web</ref>

Doctor Octopus (a.k.a. Doc Ock) is a highly intelligent mad scientist who uses four mechanical appendages for both movement and combat. He has been described as Spider-Man's greatest enemy, and the man Peter Parker might have become if he had not been raised with a sense of responsibility.Template:Sfn<ref name="CNN">Template:Cite web</ref> Doc Ock is infamous for defeating him the first time in battle and for almost marrying Peter's Aunt May. He is also the core leader of the Sinister Six.Template:Sfn Later stories depicted his mind in Peter Parker's body, where he acted as the titular character.<ref name="CNN" />

The Eddie Brock incarnation of Venom is often regarded as Spider-Man's deadliest foe, and has been described as an evil mirror version of Spider-Man in many ways. He is also among Spider-Man's most popular villains.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Originally a reporter who grew to despise Spider-Man, Eddie later came into contact with the Venom symbiote, which had been rejected by Spider-Man. The symbiote merges with Eddie and gives him the same powers as Spider-Man, in addition to making him immune to the web-slinger's "spider-sense". Venom's main goal is to ruin Peter Parker's life and mentally confuse him in any way he can. The character has a sense of honor and justice, and later starred in his own comic book stories, where he is depicted as an antihero and has a desire to protect innocent people from harm.Template:Sfn On several occasions, he and Spider-Man even put their differences aside and became allies.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Romantic interests

As a high-schooler, Peter Parker's romantic interests first included his first crush, fellow high-school student Liz Allan,Template:Sfn and his first date, with Betty Brant,<ref name="origins">Lee, Stan, Origins of Marvel Comics (Simon and Schuster/Fireside Books, 1974) p. 137</ref> who was secretary to the Daily Bugle newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson. Peter eventually falls in love with his college girlfriend Gwen Stacy,Template:Sfn daughter of New York City Police Department detective Captain George Stacy. Her father is killed by Doctor Octopus,Template:Sfn and Gwen blames Spider-Man for his death, not realizing Peter's secret identity.Template:Sfn Gwen Stacy later dies after being held hostage by the Green Goblin.Template:Sfn The Green Goblin throws her from a bridge and Spider-Man attempts to save her, but a "snap" sound effect suggests that Spider-Man's web broke her neck when it interrupted her fall. The event of her death and ramifications are revisited in many subsequent storylines.Template:Sfn

Mary Jane Watson is first introduced in 1965, but does not become fully visible until the following year. Peter's Aunt May constantly suggests her as a blind date, which Peter continually postpones. When he finally meets her, she declares "Face It Tiger.... You Just Hit the Jackpot!", which becomes a repeated catchphrase. They date off and on through storylines over subsequent decades.Template:Sfn She become Peter's best friend; in a storyline of 1987, they marry.Template:Sfn However, in a story written two decades later, their marriage is erased from the memory of the world by Mephisto, in exchange for saving Aunt May's life.Template:Sfn

Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, is a reformed cat burglar who was Spider-Man's only superhuman girlfriend and partner.Template:Sfn

Children

The main incarnation of Spider-Man has never become a father. However, over the course of the comics, alternate versions of Peter Parker had biological children, usually with Mary Jane Watson. These include Spider-Girl (Mayday Parker) and Benjy Parker from the MC2 universe, and Spiderling (Annie Parker) from Earth-18119.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Alternate versions of Spider-Man

Template:Main

Within the Marvel Universe, there exists a multiverse with many variations of Spider-Man.<ref name="i09">Template:Cite web</ref> An early character included in the 1980s is the fictional anthropomorphic animal parody of Spider-Man as a pig named Spider-Ham (Peter Porker).<ref name="Time">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Many imprints of Spider-Men were created, like the futuristic version of Spider-Man in Marvel 2099 named Miguel O'Hara. In the Marvel Comics 2 imprint, Peter marries Mary Jane and has a daughter named Mayday Parker, who carries on Spider-Man's legacy, while Marvel Noir has a 1930s version of Peter Parker.<ref name="i09" /><ref name="Spider-Men">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="FoxNews">Template:Cite news</ref> Other themed versions exist within the early 2000s, such as a Marvel Mangaverse version and an Indian version from Spider-Man: India, Pavitr Prabhakar.<ref name="i09" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Ultimate Spider-Man was a popular modern retelling of Spider-Man, Peter Parker. The version of Peter Parker would later be depicted as being killed off and replaced by a Black Hispanic Spider-Man named Miles Morales.<ref name="USAToday1">Template:Cite news</ref>

The storyline "Spider-Verse" brought back many alternate takes on Spider-Man and introduced many new ones, such as an alternate world where Gwen Stacy gets bitten by a radioactive spider instead, along with a British-themed version named Spider-UK, who is Billy Braddock from the Captain Britain Corps.<ref name="Spider-Men" /><ref name="design">Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception and legacy

In The Creation of Spider-Man, comic book writer-editor and historian Paul Kupperberg calls the character's superpowers "nothing too original"; what was original was that outside his secret identity, he was a "nerdy high school student".<ref name="Kupperberg" />Template:Rp Going against typical superhero fare, Spider-Man included "heavy doses of soap-opera and elements of melodrama". Kupperberg feels that Lee and Ditko had created something new in the world of comics: "the flawed superhero with everyday problems". This idea spawned a comics revolution.<ref name="Kupperberg">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The insecurity and anxieties in Marvel's early 1960s comic books, such as The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four, and The X-Men ushered in a new type of superhero, very different from the certain and all-powerful superheroes before them, and changed the public's perception of them.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Later stories also affected the entire genre of superhero comics. Historians of the genre have argued that the dark, pessimistic conclusion of the 1973 story "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" is partly responsible from the shift from the idealistic Silver Age of Comic Books to the more violent and troubled Bronze Age of Comic Books.Template:Sfn

Spider-Man has become one of the most recognizable fictional characters in the world, and has been used to sell toys, games, cereal, candy, soap, and many other products.<ref name="Knowles">Template:Cite book</ref> After the comics depicted a real address in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, as May Parker's residence, its residents received many letters from children to the superhero.<ref name="barron20230207">Template:Cite news</ref> He has been used as the company mascot. When Marvel became the first comic book company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1991, The Wall Street Journal announced "Spider-Man is coming to Wall Street"; the event was in turn promoted with an actor in a Spider-Man costume accompanying Stan Lee to the Stock Exchange.Template:Sfn Comics scholars Robert G. Weiner and Robert Moses Peaslee argue that Spider-Man is the clear flagship character of Marvel Comics and one of the best-known superheroes worldwide, only rivaled by Batman and Superman. They draw from research that indicates he is a globally recognizable character.Template:Sfn They cite statistics that from 1966 to 2012 The Amazing Spider-Man sold an estimated 145-150 million copies.Template:Sfn As of 2014, Spider-Man was the world's most profitable superhero.<ref name="Davis">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Update inline In 2014, global retail sales of licensed products related to Spider-Man reached approximately $1.3 billion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Comparatively, this amount exceeds the global licensing revenue of Batman, Superman, and the Avengers combined.<ref name="Davis" />

Spider-Man joined the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1987 to 1998 as one of the balloon floats,<ref name="APCBS">"Spider-Man Returning to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade", Associated Press via WCBS (AM), August 17, 2009, Template:Webarchive</ref> designed by John Romita Sr.,<ref name=sketch45>Spurlock, J. David, and John Romita. John Romita Sketchbook. (Vanguard Productions: Lebanon, N.J. 2002) Template:ISBN, p. 45: Romita: "I designed the Spider-Man balloon float. When we went to Macy's to talk about it, Manny Bass was there. He's the genius who creates all these balloon floats. I gave him the sketches and he turned them into reality".</ref> one of the character's signature artists. A new, different Spider-Man balloon float also appeared from 2009 to 2014.<ref name="APCBS" />

When Marvel wanted to issue a story dealing with the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the company chose the November 2001 issue of The Amazing Spider-Man.Template:Sfn In 2006, Spider-Man garnered major media coverage with the revelation of the character's secret identity,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> an event detailed in a full-page story in the New York Post before the issue containing the story was even released.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2008, Marvel announced plans to release a series of educational comics the following year in partnership with the United Nations, depicting Spider-Man alongside the UN Peacekeeping Forces to highlight UN peacekeeping missions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A BusinessWeek article listed Spider-Man as one of the top 10 most intelligent fictional characters in American comics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a case concerning royalties on a patent for an imitation web shooter. The opinion for the Court, by Justice Elena Kagan, included several Spider-Man references, concluding with the statement that "with great power, there must also come—great responsibility".<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Spider-Man has become a subject of scientific inquiry. In 1987, researchers at Loyola University conducted a study into the utility of Spider-Man comics for informing children and parents about issues relating to child abuse.<ref name="pmid27065510">Template:Cite journal</ref>

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In 2005, Bravo's Ultimate Super Heroes, Vixens, and Villains TV series declared that Spider-Man was the number 1 superhero.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Empire magazine ranked him the fifth-greatest comic book character of all time.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Wizard magazine placed Spider-Man as the third-greatest comic book character on their website.<ref name="Wizard">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2011, Spider-Man placed third on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time, behind DC Comics characters Superman and Batman,<ref name="heroes">Template:Cite web</ref> and sixth in their 2012 list of "The Top 50 Avengers".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2014, IGN identified Spider-Man the greatest Marvel Comics character of all time.<ref name="Marvel">Template:Cite web</ref> A 2015 poll at Comic Book Resources named Spider-Man the greatest Marvel character of all time.<ref name="CBR">Template:Cite web</ref> IGN described him as the common everyman that represents many normal people, but also noted his uniqueness compared to many superheroes with his depicted flaws as a superhero. IGN wrote that despite being one of the most tragic superheroes of all time, he is "one of the most fun and snarky superheroes in existence."<ref name="heroes" /> Empire praised Spider-Man's always-present sense of humor and wisecracks in the face of the many tragedies he faces. The magazine website appraised the depiction of his "iconic" superhero poses, describing it as "a top artist's dream".<ref name="Wizard" />

In 2022, Penguin Random House released a Penguin Classics edition of the first issues of Spider-Man as part of a line of Penguin Classics editions of other Marvel characters.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Real-life comparisons

Real-life people who have been compared to Spider-Man for their climbing feats include:

In 1981, skyscraper-safety activist Dan Goodwin, wearing a Spider-Man suit, scaled the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois, the Renaissance Tower in Dallas, Texas, and the John Hancock Center in Chicago.<ref name="Skyscraper Defense">Template:Cite web</ref>
Alain Robert, nicknamed "Spider-Man", is a rock and urban climber who has scaled more than 70 tall buildings using his hands and feet, without using additional devices. He sometimes wears a Spider-Man suit during his climbs. In May 2003, he was paid approximately $18,000 to climb the Template:Convert Lloyd's building to promote the premiere of the movie Spider-Man on the British television channel Sky Movies.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
"The Human Spider", alias Bill Strother, scaled the Lamar Building in Augusta, Georgia, in 1921.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In Argentina, criminals that climb buildings and trespass into private property through the open balconies are said to use the "Spider-Man method" (in Spanish, el Hombre Araña).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In other media

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Spider-Man has appeared in comics, cartoons, films, video games, coloring books, novels, records, children's books, and theme park rides.<ref name="Knowles" /> On television, he first starred in the ABC animated series Spider-Man (1967–1970),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Spidey Super Stories (1974–1977) on PBS, and the CBS live-action series The Amazing Spider-Man (1978–1979), starring Nicholas Hammond. Other animated series featuring the superhero include the syndicated Spider-Man (1981–1982), Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981–1983), Fox Kids' Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994–1998), Spider-Man Unlimited (1999–2000), Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003), The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–2009), Ultimate Spider-Man (2012–2017),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Disney XD's Spider-Man (2017–2020), and Spidey and His Amazing Friends (2021–present). Spider-Man was first portrayed in live-action in Spidey Super Stories, a recurring skit on The Electric Company from 1974 to 1977.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

A tokusatsu series featuring Spider-Man was produced by Toei and aired in Japan. It is commonly referred to by its Japanese pronunciation Supaidā-Man.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Spider-Man also appeared in other print forms besides the comics, including novels, children's books, and the daily newspaper comic strip The Amazing Spider-Man, which debuted in January 1977, with the earliest installments written by Stan Lee and drawn by John Romita Sr.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Spider-Man has been adapted to other media including games, toys, collectibles, and miscellaneous memorabilia, and has appeared as the main character in numerous computer and video games on over 15 gaming platforms.

Spider-Man was featured in a trilogy of live-action films directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire as the titular superhero. The first Spider-Man film of the trilogy was released on May 3, 2002, followed by Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). A third sequel was originally scheduled to be released in 2011; however, Sony later decided to reboot the franchise with a new director and cast. The reboot, titled The Amazing Spider-Man, was released on July 3, 2012, directed by Marc Webb, and starred Andrew Garfield as the new Spider-Man.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was followed by The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2015, Sony and Disney made a deal for Spider-Man to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Tom Holland made his debut as Spider-Man in the MCU film Captain America: Civil War (2016), before later starring in his standalone film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), directed by Jon Watts.<ref name="VarietyTitle">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="MarvelSonyJune23">Template:Cite press release</ref> Holland reprised his role as Spider-Man in Avengers: Infinity War (2018),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Avengers: Endgame (2019),<ref name="HollandAvengers4">Template:Cite web</ref> Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021); Maguire and Garfield reprise their roles in the latter film.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Jake Johnson voiced an alternate universe version of Spider-Man in the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and reprised the role in its sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023). Chris Pine also voiced another version of Peter Parker in Into the Spider-Verse.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2021, Hudson Thames was cast as the voice of Spider-Man in animated anthology series What If...?, replacing Tom Holland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He later reprised the role for animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Following a brief contract dispute over financial terms, in 2019, Sony and Disney reached a deal to allow Spider-Man to return to the MCU, with the two studios jointly producing Spider-Man films.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A Broadway musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, began previews on November 14, 2010, at the Foxwoods Theatre on Broadway, with the official opening night on June 14, 2011.<ref name="Lustig">Lustig, Jay. "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark" Template:Webarchive. New Jersey On-Line. January 18, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011.</ref><ref name="playaug">Gans, Andrew. "Reeve Carney, Jennifer Damiano, Patrick Page to Star in Spider-Man; Performances Begin in November" Template:Webarchive. Playbill.com, August 10, 2010</ref> Reeve Carney originally played the starring role.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The music and lyrics were written by Bono and The Edge of the rock group U2, with a book by Julie Taymor, Glen Berger, and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Turn Off the Dark is currently the most expensive musical in Broadway history, costing an estimated $70 million.<ref name="March">Hetrick, Adam. "Troubled Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark Delays Broadway Opening Again" Template:Webarchive. Playbill.com. January 13, 2011. Retrieved January 15, 2011.</ref> In addition, the show's unusually high running costs are reported to have been about $1.2 million per week.<ref>"Could Spider-Man the Musical be the 'biggest disaster in Broadway history'?" Template:Webarchive. The Week. August 13, 2010 (updated November 4, 2010).</ref>

In the fine arts, since the Pop Art period of the 1960s, the character of Spider-Man has been "appropriated" by multiple visual artists and incorporated into contemporary artwork, including Andy Warhol,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Roy Lichtenstein,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mel Ramos,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Vijay,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Dulce Pinzon,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mr. Brainwash,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and F. Lennox Campello.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2025, Chicago's Griffin Museum of Science and Industry opened Marvel's Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing – The Exhibition.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> It spans two galleries. The Chicago Tribune reports, "The first is dedicated to building the character; the other to its ripening and expansion," and the exhibit includes archival material not from Marvel or DC but from eight collectors, as well as film props and a final station with supplies that enable visitors to draw their own interpretation of Spider-Man.<ref name=":0" />

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References

Content in this article was copied from Spider-Man at the Fictional Characters wiki, which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC BY-SA 3.0) license.