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Utilizes wrist-mounted web-shooters. Spider-Man is a superhero appearing 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.
- Overview
- Origins and development in the comics
- Spider-Man in the modern era
- Spider-Man in film and onstage
Spider-Man, a comic-book character who was the original everyman superhero, was created by writer Stan Lee and illustrator Steve Ditko.
How does Spider-Man get his powers?
American teenager Peter Parker, a poor sickly orphan, is bitten by a radioactive spider. As a result of the bite, he gains superhuman strength, speed, and agility, along with the ability to cling to walls, turning him into Spider-Man. Parker also acquired a precognitive “spidey-sense” that alerted him to approaching dangers.
When was the Spider-Man "Ultimate" comic line launched?
The Spider-Man “Ultimate” comic line was launched in 2000 with the debut of Ultimate Spider-Man. The “Ultimate” series allowed writers and artists to reinterpret classic stories. The Ultimate Spider-Man ran until 2009 and concluded with Peter Parker's apparent death.
In what Marvel movie did Tom Holland first appear as Spider-Man?
Spider-Man was a radical departure from the established conventions of the comic-book superhero: he was a teenage character who was not relegated to sidekick status beside an older, more-experienced hero. In addition to enhanced speed and strength, Parker also possessed a precognitive “spider sense” that alerted him to approaching dangers. Using his inborn scientific talents, Parker synthesized a unique adhesive “web fluid” and built a pair of wrist-mounted web-shooters that enabled him to shape the webbing into various useful forms. He also designed and sewed the web-festooned red-and-blue costume that quickly became Spider-Man’s most visible trademark.
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However, Marvel publisher Martin Goodman was not initially receptive to the idea of a teen hero taking centre stage, nor did he want to accept Spider-Man’s neuroses, romantic deficiencies, and chronic concerns about money. Goodman also thought that the audience would be repelled by the character’s spider motif. Fortunately, Lee’s instincts prevailed. Spider-Man’s debut in Amazing Fantasy was an immediate and resounding success.
From the beginning, Spider-Man’s behaviour deviated significantly from the prevailing superheroic norms. Instead of selflessly dedicating his superhuman gifts to crime fighting or the general betterment of humankind, the newly empowered Spider-Man cashes in on his talents by becoming a television celebrity. After his first performance before the cameras, he refuses to stop a robber from stealing the television station’s studio box-office receipts. Spider-Man’s world abruptly collapses a few days later when a burglar murders his uncle, Ben Parker, leaving Peter’s Aunt May—now his only surviving guardian—a widow. The grief-stricken Spider-Man tracks down Uncle Ben’s killer, only to make the horrible discovery that the murderer is the very same robber he had allowed to escape from the television studio. Spider-Man’s origin story closes with a sombre narration that permanently sets the series’ moral tone:
And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last that in this world, with great power there must also come—great responsibility!
As the 1970s continued, Spider-Man’s adventures expanded into a fourth ongoing comic series (a monthly intended for the mainstream Spidey audience) titled Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man (later shortened to The Spectacular Spider-Man), which debuted in December 1976 and ran for 263 issues. This title, along with ASM, would carry the Spider-Man franchise through the next two decades. One of the notable events of this era took place in ASM Annual no. 21 (1987), when Parker and Mary Jane Watson were married.
Spider-Man, launched in August 1990, showcased the writing and illustrations of Todd McFarlane, whose eye-grabbing, rococo style drew unprecedented fan attention to the character. Particularly noteworthy were the detailed renderings of “Ditko-esque” poses and the ornately braided “spaghetti webbing” that flowed from Spidey’s web shooters. The first issue of Spider-Man also inaugurated Marvel’s soon-to-be-ubiquitous practice of releasing a single comic book with multiple covers, a marketing maneuver that arguably appealed more to collectors than to readers. Nevertheless, that issue set a benchmark for sales, pumping more than three million copies into direct-market comics shops and newsstand venues around the world.
The Amazing Spider-Man, vol. 2, no. 36 (December 2001), written by J. Michael Straczynski and drawn by John Romita, Jr., dealt with Spider-Man’s reactions to the September 11 attacks. The issue gained national media attention. Consistent with his “everyman” viewpoint, Spider-Man sees the non-superpowered police and fire personnel who risked—and lost—their lives during the catastrophe as the real heroes of the day. The carnage of 9/11 forces Spider-Man to confront the limits of his ability to thwart evil. Writer Dan Slott rehabilitated the wall-crawling hero after the disastrously received 2007 story line “One More Day,” which featured Spider-Man engaging in a deal with the devil that erased his marriage to Mary Jane from comics continuity. Slott would spend a decade writing Spider-Man titles, and during that period the undoing of “One More Day” was teased several times. This was done most overtly in the alternate-reality series Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows (2015), a story that imagined a world in which Peter and Mary Jane were married and had a young daughter. By the time Slott’s run ended in 2018, Mary Jane had returned as Peter’s romantic partner, a development that was met with widespread approval from both fans and critics.
Elsewhere in the Marvel Universe, the “Ultimate” comic line was launched in 2000 with the debut of Ultimate Spider-Man. Using existing Marvel characters but eschewing decades of continuity, the “Ultimate” series allowed writers and artists to reinterpret classic stories. In the “Ultimate” universe, Peter Parker was once again a high-school student navigating the perils of teenage life. Ultimate Spider-Man ran until 2009 and concluded with Peter’s apparent death. The mantle of Spider-Man was then claimed by Miles Morales, a Black and Hispanic teenager from Brooklyn. Miles would go on to become one of Marvel’s breakout characters of the 21st century. After the events of the massive Secret Wars (2015) crossover, Miles’s “Ultimate Spider-Man” was brought into the mainstream Marvel Universe.
The momentum that Spidey gained in the comics pages was also reflected in Hollywood. After resolving a host of legal issues that had previously prevented its production, Sony brought Spider-Man to the big screen in May 2002. Critics adored the film, and it eventually earned more than $800 million worldwide. Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007) proved equally successful. Director Sam Raimi, who helmed the trilogy, bowed out after the third film.
Spider-Man’s Broadway debut was somewhat less auspicious, as Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was plagued with problems. U2 members Bono and the Edge wrote the music and lyrics, and the original show was directed by Julie Taymor, who had overseen the spectacularly successful Broadway production of Disney’s The Lion King. Exasperated by the repeated postponements of the official opening, theatre critics reviewed the show anyway, and most panned it. Taymor was forced out, and playwright and Marvel comics writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa was brought in to collaborate on revisions to the script. The musical finally opened in June 2011; the critics’ reviews were still mostly negative, but the show, nevertheless, remained popular with audiences.
- The Future of Spider-Man. One name: Miles Morales. Miles is likely the future of the character. That being said, the casting of the young Tom Holland is strategic, as it provides the actor with the ability to portray this character for years to come-- allowing him to grow up as Spider-Man.
- Insomniac’s Spider-Man Game for the PS4. Currently in development by Insomniac Games, Spider-Man is a PlayStation 4 exclusive title slated for release sometime in 2018.
- Spider-Man in the MCU. After five solo adventures, Sony Pictures and Marvel arrived at an agreement that allowed for the characters from the two studios to appear in each others' movies.
- The Andrew Garfield Era. After a few years after Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, Sony decided to give the franchise another go with a new director, Marc Webb, and some new leads – The Social Network’s Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker and Easy A’s Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey, respectively.
Aug 10, 2022 · In the 1990s and 2000s, as Spider-Man comics titles multiplied like so many variations of the Green Goblin, Spider-Man was controversially cloned, lost then regained his Aunt May and M.J., found out Gwen Stacy was really alive and the mother of Norman Osborn’s children (a much-derided storyline), had his secret identity publicly revealed, lost his memory of being married, switched bodies ...
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Mar 10, 2013 · Steve Ditko / Marvel. Amazing Spider-Man #1 hit shelves 50 years ago, on March 10, 1963. Since then, Spider-Man has spawned four—soon to be five—big-budget movies, nine TV shows, a stage play ...
- David Brothers
Dec 26, 2021 · The film has made $1.05 billion worldwide so far. “No Way Home” — which stars Tom Holland and Zendaya as Peter Parker and MJ as they battle villains from across the Marvel multiverse — is ...
Oct 25, 2023 · Spider-Man’s success can’t just be chalked up to its Arkham-style gameplay though. In lesser hands, slapping Spider-Man on Arkham and calling it a day might suffice, but Insomniac has an ...
