Everyone loves Miles. The web-slinging teen is back in our lives with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and will return once again next year in Beyond the Spider-Verse. We absolutely adore Miles Morales in his animated form, but many fans have been wondering if the character will make a live-action debut in the near future. Well, according to Variety, producer Amy Pascal says that a live-action Miles Morales movie, a Spider-Woman animated film, and Spider-Man 4 are in the works. Tom Holland also chimed in on what upcoming movies might hold.

Fellow producer Avi Arad hinted that the Spider-Woman film will actually come sooner than most fans are expecting. That makes a lot of sense considering things are going well with the current animated franchise. Pascal also said that a fourth Spider-Man movie with Tom Holland and Zendaya is in the works, noting “Are we going to make another movie? Of course, we are.” Tom Holland also echoed the sentiment, noting, “It’s (Spider-Man 4) is a collaborative process. The first few meetings were about, ‘Why would we do this again?’ And I think we found the reason why. I’m really, really happy with where we’re at in terms of the creative.” But Holland also noted, “But I’m also a little apprehensive about it. There’s a bit of a stigma about the fourth one in all franchises. I feel like we hit a home run with our first franchise and there’s a part of me that wants to walk away with my head held high and pass the baton to the next lucky kid that gets to bring this character to life.”

Either way, things are currently slow due to the WGA strike. That is, of course, going to affect pretty much any plans they have for the foreseeable future. It could be a couple of years or five years before any of this stuff happens… if it happens at all. Corporations do change their minds, whether we like it or not. But hopefully, we’ll see traction for all our Spider-People.

And even more hopefully, Sony will give Miles what he deserves, which is to exist in every form with lots of adventures for fans to enjoy. For now, let the speculation on who would absolutely crush a live-action Miles Morales movie begin.

Originally published on May 31, 2023.

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Despite what many believe, Miles Morales was not the first non-Peter Parker Spider-Man to star in his ongoing series. Nor was he the first non-white hero to use the name. The first was Miguel O’Hara, famously known as Spider-Man 2099. Created by writer Peter David and artist Rick Leonardi, this Spidey was part of a publishing initiative by Marvel known as the 2099 universe. In the early ’90s, Marvel Comics gave many of their most popular titles futuristic updates, often with new characters wearing the famous mantles of past heroes. There was X-Men 2099, Punisher 2099, and of course, Spider-Man 2099. And thanks to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse film, Miguel O’Hara’s Spidey is a household name. Here’s the backstory of this once-forgotten ’90s hero.

Miguel O’Hara: The Most ’90s Spider-Man

In the early ’90s, the comics industry was booming. DC sold millions of comics with stunts like Superman’s death. And Marvel crushed it by selling 10 million copies collectively of Spider-Man #1 and X-Men #1. This resulted in a brief comic boom, which also coincided with the rise of Image Comics. Marvel launched a whole new line of books, conceived by Stan Lee and superstar creator John Byrne. This new line of comics would take place a century in the future from the regular Marvel series, “The Marvel World of Tomorrow.”

That title became a bit of a mouthful, so it became Marvel 2093, then finally, Marvel 2099. Spider-Man 2009 first appeared in a preview in 1992’s Amazing Spider-Man #365, before launching in his own ongoing title a few months later. Writer Peter David named him Miguel after his friend actor Miguel Ferrer, best known for his roles in Twin Peaks and Robocop. He was given mixed ethnicity, with an Irish father and a Mexican mother. This was something that was a pretty big deal at the time when most superheroes were of caucasian and North American descent only.

The Comics Origins of Spider-Man 2099

Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 was from what appeared to be the future of the mainstream 616 Marvel Universe. However, it was later revealed as Earth-928. Miguel was the head of the genetics department at the mega-corporation called Alchemax. He spent much of his time trying to replicate the powers of the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Miguel’s manipulative boss Tyler Stone got him addicted to a drug called Rapture, an addiction that Miguel tried to purge from himself by making himself the guinea pig in his experiments to replicate spider powers. But a co-worker named Aaron Delgado, who was always jealous of his success at Alchemax, sabotaged the machine that would give Miguel spider abilities. He now had a staggering 50% arachnid DNA. The machine exploded, and Tyler Stone began the hunt for his former employee to unlock the secrets of his powers.

Using an old Dia de Los Muertos costume, which was made from unstable molecules (an invention of the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards), Miguel donned the suit and became the year 2099’s new Spider-Man. Miguel embraced this new Spider-Man 2099 identity, and became an enemy to not only his former employer Alchemax, but also all the corrupt megacorporations which run the world in the future. He also fought many futuristic versions of classic Peter Parker foes, like the Vulture and the Green Goblin. Always with the help of his holographic assistant, Lyla. Eventually, thanks to some time travel shenanigans, Spider-Man 2099 even met his predecessor Peter Parker in the past. The solo Spider-Man 2099 Marvel Comics series ran for four years and had a respectable 46 issues. But in the late ‘90s, Marvel Comics hit serious financial troubles and shuttered the whole line. Miguel’s Spider-Man 2099 would be more or less absent from the Marvel Universe for a decade.

The Powers of Spider-Man 2099

Miguel O’Hara has powers similar to Peter Parker, but they are not exactly the same. Like Peter, Spide-Man 2099 has the proportionate strength, agility, and speed of a spider. But he can only climb on walls thanks to the talons he grew on his appendages. He also has a pair of fangs that deliver poisonous venom. Some have joked that, in some ways, Spider-Man 2099 is a “vampire Spider-Man.” Unlike Peter, Miguel O’Hara’s webbing comes out of his wrists naturally, a power Spider-Man 2099 had whole decade before Tobey Maguire had organic webs. He tends to prefer gliding to swinging on webs, though. Unlike Peter, Spider-Man 2099 has no traditional Spider-Man “Spidey Sense.” However, he makes up for this fact with telescopic vision, not to mention his super hearing.   

Spider-Man 2099 in Modern Marvel Comics

In the 2000s, Miguel found himself stranded in the past. Spider-Man 2099 finally showed up again in mainstream monthly titles like Amazing Spider-Man. Miguel even worked for Peter in his Parker Industries empire before Peter lost it all and went back to being an ordinary middle-class guy. He appeared a few more times, particularly in the crossover comics events like Spider-Verse or Spider-Geddon. Spider-Man 2099 even got a new white costume while stuck almost a century in the past. But without a doubt, his upcoming appearance in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is his biggest mainstream appearance—at least outside of comics.

Who Is the Animated Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 in Across the Spider-Verse?

We saw Spider-Man 2099 and his assistant Lyla in the post-credits scene for Into the Spider-Verse. Then Spider-Man 2099 played a key role in its sequel, with Oscar Isaac reprising his role. In Across the Spider-Verse, we learned that Miguel runs the Spider-Society of multiversal spider-heroes in Nueva York, on Earth-928B. Unlike his Marvel Comics counterpart, this Spider-Man 2099’s home city looks utopian—not like a dystopian hellscape.

Miguel built the device that allowed him to hop dimensions within the multiverse, something we saw at the end of Into the Spider-Verse. Eventually, he discovered a universe where he had a family and a daughter. When his alternate self there died, Miguel decided to replace him on that Earth and raise his daughter as his own. But that one anomaly seemingly caused that particular Earth to unmake itself, apparently killing everyone on it.

Now despondent over his unintended actions, Miguel created the Spider-Society, multi-dimensional Spider-People dedicated to returning any wayward Spider-People back to their proper dimension after the Super Collider event at the end of the previous film. Most importantly, his trauma caused him to enforce a strict mandate: every spider hero had to follow their intended destiny and “canon event,” usually a personal tragedy, otherwise it could lead to anomalies like the one that destroyed the alternate Miguel’s world.

Miguel sees Miles Morales as the “original anomaly.” He says Miles’ unintended existence as Spider-Man is the entire reason he had to create a Spider-Society in the first place. When Miles lets it be known that he won’t allow his personal “canon event” to take place—the death of his father—Miguel sends the entire Spider-Society out to stop him. Although he thinks he’s doing the right thing, Miguel O’Hara is the real antagonist of Across the Spider-Verse. Here’s hoping he sees the error of his ways by the third film. We’d hate to see Spider-Man 2099 only as a misguided villain; he deserves a heroic turn.

Originally published on May 31, 2023.

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Five years later and I’m still in awe of how good and complete a Spider-Man story the PlayStation Spider-Man game is. A thorough experience all around, but add the three-part DLC and the spinoff game Miles Morales and you’ve got one of the best Spidey stories in any non-comic medium. Because of that, the hype for the sequel has been off the charts. Happily, we now know the Spider-Man 2 game will officially release on October 20. And with the news comes the reveal that Venom is not Eddie Brock in this universe. Venom’s origins in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be an original tale we haven’t yet seen before. Of course, interestingly enough, there was no denial of Harry Osborn becoming the villain.

As to what else the game will entail. Well, we’ve known for a while the Spider-Man 2 PlayStation 5 game will feature both Peter Parker and Miles as playable Spider-Mans. A new, lengthy gameplay video for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 from the latest PlayStation Showcase also gives us a lot more to chew on. Pun intended.

The first video begins with an introduction to Kraven the Hunter, the formidable new foe for the wall-crawlers. He’s bored hunting people in the literal jungle. Now he wants to hunt people in the concrete jungle, with his army of guys with massive weapons. Hardly sporting, but I digress.

The Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 gameplay footage (below) begins with Peter—now sporting a brand new black-goo suit. Hmm, wonder what that can be all about. He tries to stop the Kraven cronies from hunting Dr. Curt Conners, who has become fully, monstrously Lizardish.

We get to see some of Spider-Man’s new Venom skills before we swap to Miles. He now has a very good sense of his own powers. Stealth will still play a part in the new game, and one can hope they’ve upgraded the AI of the thugs to make it a bit more sporting. Not long after, Miles, Peter, and Miles’ friend-and-guy-in-the-chair Ganke control a drone as they chase down Conners and try to keep him (and everyone else in NYC) out of Kraven’s crosshairs.

As with the first Spider-Man game, a large amount of plot and character comes during dialogue during gameplay. Here we learn that Conners’ research is integral to helping with Harry Osborn’s condition. If you’ll remember, the end of the first game showed Harry deep in the throes of a debilitating disease. No way that will turn him into Green Goblin. Can’t imagine it will.

Those of us who know the Spider-Man mythos know the black suit and Peter’s gruffer attitude will lead to some problems for his loved ones. However, he’s not likely to remain John Goo for very long. And while Sony has confirmed the game will not be two-player co-op, we have full faith that Miles Morales will provide the player with plenty of opportunities to save Petey Pie.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be out on October 20, 2023.

Originally published on May 24, 2023.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

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One of the scene-stealing Spider-people in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was Spider-Punk, voiced by Daniel Kaluuya (in his second Marvel role after Black Panther). While characters like Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, and Spider-Man 2099 are Spider-People who have had many series of their own to their name, Spider-Punk is a more recent Spider-Man creation with a much shorter comic book resume. But he has had quite the journey so far, even before ever hitting it on the big screen. Here’s the Marvel Comics history of Hobart “Hobie” Brown, also known as the Spider-Punk.

In terms of the many spider folk we saw in Across the Spider-Verse, Spider-Punk is among the newer Spider-Man variants we meet. He first appeared in 2015—in the Marvel Comics event Spider-Verse. This, of course, inspired the first Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse film. Created by longtime Amazing Spider-Man writer Dan Slott, he was originally designed by artist Olivier Coipel to be the Spider-Man of the UK. But Slott changed his mind, as he felt the UK deserved a Spider-Man that was more than just a tribute to ’70s punk rock icons the Sex Pistols. But he loved the design, so the character was reimagined, and thus was born Marvel Comics’ Spider-Punk. 

The Origin of Spider-Punk, the Spider-Man of Earth-138

Unlike Peter Parker, Hobart Brown was living on the street as an unhoused youth on Earth-138. But as was often the case for his multiversal spider brethren, a spider bit him. This one mutated as part of President Norman Osborn’s toxic waste dumping. He gained powers that were identical to the 616 universe’s Peter Parker. A punk kid or not, Hobart was still a gifted scientist and invented his web shooters. But none of this stopped him from playing the guitar and being in a punk band. Thereby making him officially cooler than 616 teenage Peter Parker.

Becoming a punk rock-inspired Spider-Man, Spider-Punk led the subjugated citizens of New York against Osborn’s V.E.N.O.M. troops. While Peter Parker and Miles Morales had a strict anti-killing code, Spider-Punk was understandably a bit harder-edged. Although he, too, had a soft spot for his universe’s Gwen Stacy, “until she croaked,” he often said. Spider-Punk killed the Norman Osborn of his Earth during a riot by repeatedly bashing him with his guitar. (Dang, Spidey). Once Osborn died, this world’s Spider-Man unmasked himself to the rioting crowd, who now viewed Spider-Punk as a revolutionary icon.

Joining His Fellow Web Warriors

During the Marvel Spider-Verse comic book event, Spider-Punk was recruited by Superior Spider-Man, who was Doc Ock in Peter Parker’s body, to join an army of arachnid heroes. Hobie became a part of the so-called Web Warriors in big spider-hero-centric events like Spider-Verse and, later, in Spider-Geddon. And he quickly rose to the pack of most prominent Spider-Man variants among the group. Not an easy task, when we’re talking about dozens, if not hundreds, of webslingers. Spider-Punk even fought notorious Marvel villains like Red Skull and even Kang and lived to tell the tale.

Spider-Punk in His Own Series at Last

Finally, in 2022, Spider-Punk got his own mini-series, Spider-Punk: Battled of the Banned, from writer Cody Ziglar and artist Justin Mason. In the recent Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon series, Spider-Punk made his first non-comic book Marvel appearance. They gave him a cockney accent, despite the fact that the comic character was from New York City. That new character detail stuck, and the Daniel Kaluuya version of Spider-Punk we meet in Across the Spider-Verse is a Brit as well. Despite the odds, the original conception of the character as a citizen of the U.K. won out in the end.

Spider-Punk in Across the Spider-Verse

In Across the Spider-Verse, Hobie was one of the spider heroes that befriends Gwen Stacy, and forms a bond with her. She even stays with him sometimes on Earth-138B. Although technically a part of the Spider-Society, Hobie, being a bit of an anarchist, plays by his own rules. So when Miguel O’Hara declares that Miles Morales must be contained before saving his father, possibly disrupting reality, Hobie eventually sides with Miles. At the end of the film, we see him as part of the team recruited to help Miles escape from Earth-42. With Hobie no doubt getting even more exposure in Beyond the Spider-Verse, we expect Spider-Punk to become as prominent as the other Marvel Spider-People in the mainstream very soon.

Originally published June 1, 2023

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Spider-Man has one of the best rogues’ galleries in comics—formidable and iconic villains like Green Goblin, Venom, and Doctor Octopus. Heck, only Batman has a better set of bad guys. But Spider-Man has got some real D-list baddies too. (The Hypno-Hustler, anyone?) But one of those second-string bad guys, known as the Spot, has a pretty big role in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. And he’s actually quite powerful. Whether he realizes it or not. But who is this forgotten Spider-Man villain, now movie star? And is the Spot secretly…kind of cool? Here’s the Marvel Comics history of the Spot, one of the most unlikely Spider-Man villains ever to get the cinematic treatment.

The Origin of the Spot, Spider-Man’s Goofiest-Looking Villain

The villain known as the Spot first appeared in Marvel Comics as an unnamed scientist at MIT; he arrived in 1984’s Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #97. Writer Al Milgrom and artist Herb Trimpe created him. In the very next issue, they revealed the Spot as Jonathan Ohnn, who worked for Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. the villainous Kingpin. Working for Fisk, they tasked the soon-to-be Spot with trying to replicate the powers of the Marvel hero called Cloak, of the duo Cloak and Dagger. Cloak could create portals out of his own being, and the Kingpin wanted that power for himself. Working late one evening, he thought he cracked the code to Cloak’s dimension. But Ohnn actually wound up in a different dimension, one-half dark and one-half light.

This dimension was filled with various small black portals that opened up into other realities. Ohnn found a way back to Earth eventually by going through one, but many of the small black portals had already attached themselves to his body. He discovered he could use these black holes by throwing them and opening portals. Once returning to Earth, he confronted the Kingpin’s nemesis Spider-Man, declaring himself “the Spot.” Spider-Man laughed right in his face at the dumb name that made him sound like a pet. Spidey soundly defeated the Spot, leaving him humiliated. After all, being able to throw interdimensional portals? WAY cooler than having octopus tentacles or rhino skin. Having Spider-Man beat you, regardless of how powerful you were, must have been downright embarrassing for the Spot.

The Spot’s Marvel Comics Fate

After a few defeats at the hands of Spider-Man, Marvel relegated the Spot to permanent loser status. The character was conceived of as a joke villain, but the fact that they gave him such incredible powers makes it a kind of depressing joke. Since his first Marvel Comics appearance, the Spot continually popped up here and there, usually fighting Spider-Man, sometimes in battle with another hero like Daredevil. Often, the Spot was part of a larger Marvel criminal team, like the Sinister Sixteen, MODOK’s 11, or the Legion of Losers. The fact that he was part of a team with a name like that shows you everything you need to know about how the Spot saw himself.

The Spot’s Powers in the Spider-Man Comics

Despite the dumb name, Marvel’s the Spot was pretty formidable power-wise. With his trademark space warp spots, the Spot could transport himself or any part of his body from one area to another, all over what seemed like an unlimited distance. The Spot is able to do all these things thanks to the dimension that gave him these powers. A dimension he unimaginatively named “Spotworld.” These spots could be small, large, and even suspended in the air. The Spider-Man villain could also change their size at will.

The Spot could even control which portal could lead to Spotworld, and which could open up somewhere else in this dimension. Because of his connection to Spotworld, the Spot learned that he was effectively immortal. This power set technically made him one of Spider-Man’s most formidable Marvel Comics foes. Or at least, it should have. But he’s inflicted less damage on Spider-Man than some weak villains with names like the Looter and The Answer.

The Spot’s Role in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Until now, the Spot’s most prominent role outside the pages of Marvel Comics had been in the 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series. He appeared in that show in season three’s “The Spot,” and then again in the recent 2017 Spider-Man cartoon. Now, Jason Schwartzman portrayed this loser villain in Across the Spider-Verse. And he’s even Across the Spider-Verse‘s “Big Bad.” The Spot was always the Spider-Man villain with the most potential when it comes to his powers and abilities, and yet he was barely ever used as anything but a punchline.

In Across the Spider-Verse, we learned that this Jonathan Ohnn was a scientist working at Earth-1610’s Alchemax. He transported the radioactive spider from Earth-42 to his dimension, causing the chain of events leading Miles Morales to become Spider-Man. When Kingpin’s Super-Collider was destroyed, Johnathan became corrupted by dark matter, transforming him into the Spot, a villain who can create dimensional portals across space and parallel worlds.

Blaming his current situation on Miles Morales, and fighting him in a rather hilarious sequence early in the film, the Spot became hellbent on revenge for Miles making him something both more (and also less) than human. We’ll find out in Beyond the Spider-Verse if he can succeed when it comes to exacting vengeance on poor Miles, or if he’s truly a joke “villain of the week” or not. Who ever thought that this reject of a bad guy could potentially destroy all reality? The Spot proves even the goofiest bad guy has potential.

Originally published June 1, 2023.

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As Miles and Gwen swing back into theaters with Across the Spider-Verse, fans are already looking ahead at what’s to come in next year’s Beyond the Spider-Verse. With so many unanswered questions after the film’s cliffhanger ending, theories are running wild across the Spider-Verse, including one that could see Miles face off against the ultimate team of Spidey villains, the Sinister Six. Dan breaks it all day on today’s episode of Nerdist News!

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Across the Spider-Verse revealed just how wild and diverse its multiverse really is. Its countless parallel worlds are populated by both humans and animated figures. It also consists of little plastic toy people. LEGO Spider-Man got in on the fun during one of the movie’s most memorable sequences. How did the creative team behind the film bring that tiny block world to life? We would have guessed producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller turned to the team they used for The LEGO Movie franchise. Instead they hired a 14-year-old who impressed them with his LEGO versions of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailers.

Collider recently hosted a screening of the Across the Spider-Verse with the film’s co-director Joaquim Dos Santos. During a Q&A session after the movie an audience member asked about the challenges of creating the film’s LEGO dimension, which we saw when The Spot popped into it during an early part of the film.

Turns out it was simple: they simply hired a teenager named Preston Mutanga. Lord and Miller got YouTuber LegoMe_TheOG to make their LEGO Spider-Man universe.

They asked the youngster—who worked on the sequence with his dad—about contributing to the film after seeing his recreations of the film’s trailers. When you watch this 14-year-old’s work, you can see why they trusted him to get the job done for Across the Spider-Verse.

Obviously everything about this story is incredible. But somehow it’s even more impressive than it sounds. While the movie took years to make, Dos Santos said they only approached the young filmmaker a few months before the movie premiered. That’s a quick turnaround for a blockbuster movie that could take home a very big Oscar next year.

Whether or not it takes home any golden statues, though, we have a feeling this won’t be the last time this kid has a chance to win one.

Originally published on June 5, 2023.

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Have you seen Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse yet? Judging from its incredible box office take over opening weekend, it seems many of you have. Those of you who haven’t? Really, you need to get on that, because it’s freakin’ amazing. But whether you’re seeing it for the first time or the fifth, one complaint keeps popping up from moviegoers. And that’s the Across the Spider-Verse sound mix. Many moviegoers have reported the volume is too muted at the start of the film and that the opening narration from Gwen Stacy is hard to hear. While we love the film, we agree.

Well, Across the Spider-Verse writer/producer Phil Lord has a suggestion for everyone. He took to Twitter and reminded the audience that all they had to do was politely make an inquiry to a movie theater employee. Simply ask someone who works at the theater to turn up the volume to a reference 7, or even a slightly louder 7.5. Lord even made some stickers for the projectionists who make the movie look and sound its best.

As you can tell from the replies to Lord’s post, a lot of people are having issues with the Across the Spider-Verse sound mix. Given that the movie is one of the most stunning animated films ever, muddled sound shouldn’t detract from it. Regardless, we actually would like one of those little custom Miles Morales stickers. It’s a cooler Spider-Verse memento than one of those popcorn buckets you never know where to display.

Hopefully, when Beyond the Spider-Verse hit theaters next year, we won’t have the same audio issues. As of right now, Beyond the Spider-Verse is of the most anticipated cinematic “third chapters in the trilogy” since Avengers: Endgame. Dare we suggest it’s maybe even on the same level as Return of the Jedi? It would be a shame if we got anything less than a perfect theatrical experience. Miles and the Spider-Society deserve the best.

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The long-awaited return to the Spider-Verse is finally here, and Dan Casey is diving head first into the theory-verse with a potential dark twist for one of the film’s main antagonists, Miguel O’Hara. Could Spider-Man 2099 secretly be a supervillain? Find out on today’s episode of Nerdist News!

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It’s a big week for Spider-Fans! Not only is Miles Morales swinging back into theaters with Across the Spider-Verse, but it looks like we will finally get to see him in his own live action movie soon as well. Dan breaks down all the latest Spider-News on today’s episode of Nerdist News!

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There’s a new threat to the Spider-Verse, and before you swing back into action with Miles, Gwen, and the rest of the Spider-variants, Kyle Anderson has you covered with everything you need to know about the villainous history of, The Spot!

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Unlike many of her heroic Marvel counterparts, Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman, doesn’t have the kind of origin story one can summarize in just a few sentences. Her backstory is, to put it mildly, somewhat complicated. She plays a big part in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, so as we celebrate Jessica Drew’s animated cinematic debut, and wait for her to make her grand cinematic live-action entrance, let’s take a deep dive into her bizarre backstory. For Jessica, it began with 1977’s Marvel Spotlight #32, which gave us Spider-Woman’s complicated origin story. Or, at least, the first version of her origin story.

Contradicting Marvel Comics Origin Stories for Spider-Woman

Jessica Drew is actually way older than any Marvel hero not named Steve Rogers. She was born in 1924 to scientist Jonathan Drew and his wife Miriam. As a very young child, Jessica Drew traveled with her parents to Mount Wundagore, in the small Balkan nation of Transia. This locale was also central to the comic book origins of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Her father conducted genetics research at Mount Wundagore with Dr. Herbert Wyndham, who would later become the villainous High Evolutionary.

Marvel Comics

At the age of seven, Jessica contracted a deadly case of uranium poisoning after exposure to her father’s experiments. In an effort to save her life, her father and Dr. Wyndham injected her with an experimental spider-derived serum, one which would only work with years of hibernation in a genetic accelerator. After spending decades in a slow-growing form of hibernation, the soon-to-be Spider-Woman received subliminal education through specially designed recordings. She finally woke up decades later, fully cured, but now physically a teenager. She also had superpowers, thanks to the spider-serum and the effects of her stasis.

However, that might not be the origin of Spider-Woman’s powers. Later Marvel comics from the 2000s, like Brian Michael Bendis’ Spider-Woman: Origin reveal that Jessica received her powers differently. In the Bendis retcon, Jessica gained her powers when a laser beam hits her pregnant mother Miriam in the torso. This beam contained the DNA traits of several different species of spiders, thus altering the fetus’ DNA. It’s unclear which version of the origin of Spider-Woman’s powers is officially the current Marvel canon.

A Different Set of Powers than Peter Parker

Regardless of how she got her powers, Spider-Woman’s power set has remained consistent over the years. Jessica has super strength, superhuman speed, stamina, agility, and reflexes. She doesn’t have a healing factor like her good friend Wolverine per se, but she does heal more rapidly than a normal human. Spider-Woman also emits bio-electrical “venom blasts” and releases pheromones that can both attract and repel people. Like her male counterpart, Spider-Man, she can attach herself to surfaces and climb on walls. So they have that in common, at least.

Spider-Woman’s Life as a Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. Double Agent

With no family and now living in a strange time, Jessica Drew left Wundagore and tried to have a normal life. But after accidentally killing her boyfriend with her new powers, she fell under the sway of Count Otto Vermis, a high-ranking member of Hydra. Vermis brainwashed Jessica into believing she wasn’t human, but a spider evolved into a human form. He trained her to be Hydra’s most skilled assassin and gave her the name Arachne. Spider-Woman trained in hand-to-hand combat by none other than the Taskmaster.

One of her first missions was to kill S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury. While attempting to kill him, the super-spy informed Jessica Drew of the truth: Hydra was a terrorist organization, and they had brainwashed her in a vulnerable state to become their tool of destruction. They even lied to her about accidentally killing a man. Devastated upon learning the truth, Jessica Drew abandoned Hydra and joined Fury as an agent of S.H.I.E.LD. Eventually, Spider-Woman decided to leave the life of being a secret agent behind to become a full-time superhero.

Spider-Woman, Marvel’s Globetrotting Heroine 

Spider-Woman then moved around the globe for years. First, she worked out of London, where she partnered with a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Scotland Yard detective named Jerry Hunt. When that romantic and working partnership dissolved, she moved to Los Angeles. There, Spider-Woman became a super-powered bounty hunter in the Marvel universe. Later, she moved to San Francisco, where she worked as a private investigator. After a battle with the ancient witch Morgan le Fay, Jessica Drew lost her Spider-Woman powers. She continued to lead the life of a P.I., only this time in the dangerous island nation of Madripoor.

Things start to somehow get more complicated for Jessica Drew at this point. She is approached by Hydra agents who offer her a chance to restore her powers. But only if she rejoins them and infiltrates S.H.I.E.L.D. as a double agent. She goes to Nick Fury, informing him that she is taking the offer but will secretly be loyal to him. Unbeknownst to either of them, these Hydra agents are actually Skrulls. The alien shapeshifters then place Spider-Woman in stasis, and the Skrull Queen Veranke replaces Jessica Drew to the world at large. She joins the Avengers and infiltrates the superhero community from within.

Juggling Avengering and Motherhood

After the events of Secret Invasion, the Skrulls are defeated, and the real Jessica Drew returns. Feeling she has nowhere left to go, Spider-Woman joins the Avengers for real. She has adventures with several different iterations of the Avengers, establishing herself as a stalwart member of the team. Spider-Woman also gets pulled into several Marvel adventures with Spider-Man and other arachnid-powered heroes, forging a bond with them as well. More recently, Jessica Drew became a single mom, giving birth to a son named Gerry. Little Gerry Drew inherited all of his mother’s powers, and now Spider-Woman has to contend with a toddler who can crawl on walls and has super strength.

Spider-Woman in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

In Across the Spider-Verse, Jessica Drew (Issa Rae) goes by “Jess Drew.” She’s one of the many Spider-People who work out of the interdimensional hub known as the Spider-Society. Like her later incarnations in the comics, Spider-Woman still fights the good fight while pregnant in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. She mentions a dad, but we never learn who her partner is. Maybe in Beyond the Spider-Verse, we’ll find out more about Spider-Woman and her family.

Spider-Woman also rides a cool motorcycle to boot. Her costume is all-new for the Spider-Verse movie, but it has some recognizable elements to it from Marvel’s comics. Her powers seem more in line with Spider-Man’s than 616 Jessica Drew. But it’s possible Sony is waiting for the third film to unleash her venom blasts. In Across the Spider-Verse, Spider-Woman is one of the Spider-folk who Miguel O’Hara sends after Miles Morales.

Meanwhile, if the Olivia Wilde-directed Spider-Woman film is set in the MCU, as rumors suggest, then maybe we will see the ties between Hydra and Nick Fury explored more. When it comes to Spider-Woman, her different connections to the Marvel Universe are all primed to provide cinematic fodder for years. And her animated incarnation hopefully has a bright future as well.

Originally published on June 9, 2021

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We knew Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was going to have a lot of Spider-people. That much we saw in the trailers. What we didn’t know is exactly how many were going to be there. Nor did we know in what dimension they’d exist. Not alternate dimensions; physical ones. While the movie as a whole is gorgeously animated, utilizing a number of different styles and types as Into the Spider-Verse did, some Spider-Man cameos are even not animated. Have I been vague enough yet?

Okay, so there are real human people in this movie. Like live-action, real people. One of the pre-release marketing bits revealed the Spot (Jason Schwartzman) popping up in the convenience store from Venom. That’s pretty fun, but without Tom Hardy in it, it’s little more than that. Later, when Miguel O’Hara is trying to convince Miles about the tragedy necessary for timelines to exist properly, we see flashes of various Spider-peoples crying over Uncle Bens or Captain Stacys. This allows the movie to show both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield clips in Across the Spider-Verse. No new footage appears, though, just clips from their respective movies.

But, the biggest, most fun, and potentially universe-collapsing human cameo comes when Miles sees the tubes of villains who’ve hopped dimensions. In one of them, we see a version of the Prowler, aka Miles’ uncle Aaron. Except this one is Donald Glover, the Childish Gambino himself. Yes, Donald Glover appears as a live-action Prowler in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Let’s unpack.

This is fun for myriad reasons. First, it hearkens back to the initial groundswell of internet support for Glover to play a live-action Miles Morales several years ago. He’s obviously a bit too old now, but during the Community heyday, he was a favorite. That didn’t come to pass, obviously, but it did eventually lead to Donald Glover’s appearance in a Spider-Man movie. He played an unwilling informant in Spider-Man: Homecoming, named Aaron Davis. Yeah, the Prowler!

So when it comes to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, you may have noticed, while a lot of different depictions of Spider-Man appear, we only ever get a passing mention of the Tom Holland one and what he did with Doctor Strange. This is, of course, a reference to Spider-Man: No Way Home. This is due to the very weird Marvel Studios/Sony deal. Sony owns Spider-Man film rights, but had to strike a specific deal to have Spider-Man in the MCU. Even the Sony-co-produced movies within the MCU have special dispensation to use the villains. Because Sony owns the rights to the villains and ancillary characters.

The Vulture, as seen in Homecoming, had to hop universes to appear in Morbius. This effectively cuts him off from appearing in further MCU movies. Or at least until it doesn’t anymore. So is the Donald Glover Prowler actually the same Aaron Davis from the MCU’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, or is it just a fun nod to that? The truth is, it doesn’t entirely matter. Donald Glover represents the MCU and the actor’s history with Miles Morales. We know Sony wants to make a Miles Morales live-action Spider-Man movie, so could Glover appear there? Only time and Amy Pascal can say for sure.

In any case, seeing Glover as the Prowler was one of the most enjoyable surprises in Across the Spider-Verse. It was right up there with seeing animated Spectacular Spider-Man and the one from the Insomniac video game universe. One can only imagine what kind of surprises we’ll get in the next movie next year.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

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“Bad things are gonna happen. It makes us who we are.”

Peter B. Parker’s words of comfort to Miles Morales in Across the Spider-Verse turned out to be true in ways no one expected. The movie ended with a shocking revelation that showed how bad things led another Miles down a dark path. In the dimension where a radioactive spider never bit him, Miles became the Prowler. Now that alternate version wants to destroy the hero he never became.

What does that cliffhanger mean for both the film and its sequel, Beyond the Spider-Verse? The existence of Prowler Miles gets to the core of the franchise’s most important and meaningful idea about what really defines us.

Why Is Spider-Man Miles “The Anomaly?”

A radioactive spider bit (the film’s primary) Miles’ in his home dimension of Earth-1610. But that DNA-altering arachnid came from Earth-42 via Kingpin’s Super Collider. That spider—seen glitching prior to biting Miles in Into the Spider-Verse—wasn’t from his world.

That’s why Miguel O’Hara calls Miles “the” anomaly. Miles was never supposed to become Spider-Man. His world already had one, and suddenly getting a second instantly led to tragedy. His dimension’s original Spider-Man (Peter A. Parker) died saving Miles, who only needed rescuing because he’d been turned into a Spider-Man.

That bite had huge ramifications for another universe, too.

Why Did Earth-42’s Miles Morales Become the Prowler Instead of His Uncle?

Because Earth-42’s radioactive spider never bit anyone from its own dimension, that world didn’t get its very own web-slinging superhero. But it still got all of Spider-Man’s villains. A news report revealed the Sinister Six operate with near impunity in a burning city overrun with crime. There is simply no one to stand against them.

While that universe’s Miles didn’t became Spider-Man, he still suffered the way all Spider-Mans do. His dad, a police captain, died rather than his uncle Aaron. (Which indicates Miles-42 was supposed to become Spider-Man.) And without the great responsibility of becoming a superhero, Miles instead followed his uncle into a life of crime. Without his father as a guiding light Miles became the Prowler rather than Aaron.

The two Miles unknown connection ultimately led them to meet face-to-face.

How Did Spider-Man Miles End Up in the Wrong Dimension?

Spider-Man Miles desperately wanted to go back to his home world. Miguel told Miles his father needs to die to ensure the safety of hthat entire universe. Without that “cannon event” reality itself could fall apart, killing everyone. And since Miles is “the anomaly,” Miguel also fears interfering with fate could impact every world.

Miles refused to accept that his father must die. He believes he can “save everyone,” his dad included. (Gwen’s own final encounter with her father indicated he might be right.) To get home Miles jumped inside Miguel’s arachnid transport machine. It sends people back to their own dimension by reading their DNA. Except, Miles’ DNA no longer identifies him as being from Earth-1610. The spider that bit him rewrote his genetic code with its own. That caused the machine to think Miles comes from Earth-42, the spider’s dimension.

That’s how he ended up encountering his still-alive uncle and his evil alternate Prowler self who was never pushed towards greatness. And that difference gets to the most important theme of the film and the franchise, just not in the way it might seem.

What Does Prowler Miles Mean for Across the Spider-Verse?

Like Into the Spider-Verse before it Across the Spider-Verse is about what it means to be Spider-Man. As Peter B. Parker said, “Being Spider-Man is a sacrifice. That’s the job.” Part of that sacrifice, in every universe, involves dealing with the death of someone very close to them. No one becomes Spider-Man without Uncle Ben. Sometimes that role is filled by a different uncle, a best friend, a significant other, or a police captain. In Miles’ world that sacrifice appeared to be his Uncle Aaron, a cautionary tale about how easy it is for a good person to end up being bad. Aaron’s death was clearly important in Miles becoming Spider-Man. It helped unlock something inside of him. Without that loss he might never have taken his “leap of faith.”

A different bad thing that happened to Prowler Miles. Instead of his uncle he lost his dad, and without the great responsibility of being Spider-Man to anchor him, his grief consumed him. Because as much as Spider-Mans are defined by bad things, Peter B. Parker also pointed out they are also shaped by the good things that happen to them. That includes the best thing that happens to them: being burdened with responsibility. Without the good, Miles turned bad.

That’s the main idea of Across the Spider-Verse. The things that happen to us, no matter how painful they might be or how much we wish they didn’t happen, shape who we are. But whether good or bad, the events of our lives don’t define us, it’s how we respond to them. Our choices define who we are. We’re not passive actors in our own lives. We pick the path we’ll walk down. Miles recognized that before he met his evil self. He told Miguel, “Everyone keeps telling me how my story is supposed to go. Nah. I’m gonna do my own thing.”

He’s right. And that’s exactly why Prowler Miles isn’t a hopeless cause, either.

What Will Happen With the Two Mileses in Beyond the Spider-Verse?

Gwen Stacy is putting together a team of Spider-Mans to save Miles. She gathered together their old friends from Into the Spider-Verse along with their new friends. They don’t know they’ll be potentially rescuing Miles from his alternate self. But we don’t know if they’ll even need to.

Prowler Miles can do his own thing, same as Spider-Man Miles. Neither of them have to follow a story others or even fate itself have seemingly written for them. They can tell their own tales with their actions. And maybe getting a chance to see who he could have been will be good enough for Prowler Miles to realize he can be a better version of himself. Just because you’re not a superhero doesn’t mean you have to be a super villain. Like every Spider-Man who has something bad happen to them, he can still choose to be a better person.

Across the Spider-Verse‘s two very different Miles make clear how easy it is for us to go astray. But it also makes clear we decide who we are. Miguel, Jessica Drew, Gwen Stacy, and both Miles each decided who they wanted to be. Same as we all do in our lives, whether we’re a Spider-Man or not.

And that will be true no matter how Beyond the Spider-Verse resolves that cliffhanger.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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Few Marvel characters exemplify the ‘90s more than Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider. He was, in many ways, the epitome of comic book trends of the era. First, the Scarlet Spider was popularized in a major “status quo-shaking” Marvel Comics event. Second, he was an edgier version of an iconic hero. These were key ’90s comics ingredients. Now, Scarlet Spider has made his big screen debut in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, voiced by Andy Samberg. But who is Ben Reilly, the infamous alternate Spidey? And why were folks so excited to see him return? Here’s the lowdown on Peter Parker’s broody clone, the Scarlet Spider.

The Scarlet Spider’s Groovy ’70s Marvel Comics Origins

The roots of the Scarlet Spider didn’t actually begin in the ‘90s. They went back even further, to 1975. In that year’s Amazing Spider-Man #149, Peter Parker’s college professor Dr. Miles Warren, also known as the Jackal, created a fully grown version of Parker to destroy Spider-Man. Why did he hate Spidey so much? Well, it turned out Dr. Warren was a super creep. He was obsessed with his much younger student Gwen Stacy, whose death he blamed solely on Spider-Man. And he was a brilliant scientist who studied under none other than the High Evolutionary. That association always leads to trouble.

When Gwen died at the hands of the Green Goblin, a death Spider-Man could not prevent, Warren snapped. He developed an alternate persona to deal with his feelings of guilt—the Jackal. As the furry costumed Jackal, he cloned Gwen and Spider-Man, thus learning that the wallcrawler was his other student, Peter Parker. This clone had all of Peter’s memories and was designed to fight and kill his doppelgänger. However, he seemingly died in the very issue they introduced him in. And that would be the last we’d hear of this Spider-Man clone for nearly two decades. It was all meant by writer Gerry Conway as a one-off story, but it ended up creating Marvel Comics’ Scarlet Spider.

Scarlet Spider Returns in the ’90s, Following Comics Trends of Darker Doppelgängers

In the early ‘90s, one of the biggest comic trends was replacing iconic heroes with darker, edgier versions of themselves. In 1992 Superman died, and one of his replacements was the evil Cyborg Superman. Batman’s back was broken, and then the ultra-violent Azrael wore the batsuit. At Marvel, someone remembered the clone from 1975 and had an idea. What if maybe the Spider-Clone didn’t die and had been living in secret for years? Even more tantalizing for Marvel, they teased readers with the notion that this character was actually the Peter Parker we’d been reading about for years, while the newly emerged “clone” was the real thing.

When Marvel brought back the Spider-Clone, they revealed that after his apparent death, he realized he was a mere copy of Peter Parker and not the original. He decided to leave New York and became a drifter wandering America. He bleached his hair blonde and took the name Ben Reilly. Ben after his deceased uncle Ben, and Reilly since it was his Aunt May’s maiden name. He continued his scientific studies, this time under Dr. Seward Trainer (yet another acolyte of the High Evolutionary). He suffered many tragedies during his exile, making him a darker and more bitter version of his (now happily married) genetic twin. But when he learned that his Aunt May was near death, he went back to New York, and revealed his existence to Peter.

Ben Reilly and Peter Parker first resented each other and had an uneasy relationship. There was a good deal of spider-on-spider violence. Eventually, Dr. Trainer performed blood tests on both heroes, only to determine that the Peter Parker fans had been reading about for 20 years at Marvel was the clone, and Ben Reilly was actually the first Peter Parker. Ben then decided to stay in New York City and fight crime under a new name—the Scarlet Spider. Sales soared for the Spider-Man titles during this time, and it seemingly encouraged Marvel editorial to keep the newly coined Clone Saga and Scarlet Spider going for as long as possible. And they did.

Scarlet Spider Becomes Spider-Man and Ben’s Untimely Demise

In late 1995, Marvel decided that Peter Parker and MJ would retire to married life and start a family, and Scarlet Spider would take over as Spider-Man. He was “the real deal” after all. Scarlet Spider became the new friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, taking over all five Spider-Man ongoing books and getting a new costume. Although some fans felt betrayed that the Spidey they’d been following for years was a copy, Ben Reilly persisted. In fact, in the epic Marvel vs. DC crossover event that year, it was actually the Ben Reilly Spidey that fought DC’s heroes, not Peter.

Eventually, after more than two years, sales of the Spider-Man books (and comics overall) began to plummet. Marvel decided it was time to end The Clone Saga and get back to basics. It was revealed that a returned Norman Osborn/Green Goblin—who had at that point been dead for almost 25 years—had been behind everything. He planted fake evidence that Scarlet Spider was the real Peter Parker, as a way of tormenting Peter Parker himself. Ben Reilly died in battle with the Goblin and literally liquified. Thus proving he was the actual clone all along. At the time, people were mostly glad the story was finally over. It seemed no one would miss old Ben.

The Scarlet Spider’s Modern-Day Resurrection

But as we know, nostalgia makes even the worst stories look better. Kids who grew up with The Clone Saga and the Scarlet Spider actually loved that event looking back. By the 2010s, these kids were now adults, and begged Marvel to bring back the Scarlet Spider. In 2015, Marvel finally did. In The Clone Conspiracy, Marvel revealed that the Jackal had collected the DNA of Ben Reilly from his death site and attempted to bring him back, memories and all, 26 times.

The 27th clone was stable and lived, but held traumatic memories of each painful death. Ben freed himself from the Jackal, and resumed a heroic career. At first, he took the name Anubis, after the Egyptian God of Death. Eventually, he took on the name and mantle of the Scarlet Spider once more. And thus, the Scarlet Spider returned to Marvel Comics. ‘90s nostalgia was in full swing. He was the hero of Las Vegas for a time before returning to New York City. Scarlet Spider’s last major storyline was Marvel Comics’ Dark Web, where he became entangled with Marvel’s other most famous clone, Madelyne Pryor, herself a disregarded genetic copy of the X-Man Jean Grey.

The Scarlet Spider Becomes a Movie Star in Across the Spider-Verse

With his appearance in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Ben Reilly’s Scarlet Spider finally made it to the big screen. He appeared in the ‘90s Spider-Man: The Animated Series a couple of times, right around the time of his comics heyday. But aside from showing up in the recent Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon series, there were not many appearances by Scarlet Spider outside the comics. With Across the Spider-Verse, that’s finally changed.

In Across the Spider-Verse, Ben Reilly is used as a kind of comedic meta-commentary on the overly angsty Marvel comics of the ’90s. Ben is part of Spider-Man 2099’s squad sent to go after “fugitive spider” Miles Morales. He spends most of his screen time brooding and constantly commenting on his situation, giving voice to an old-school comics thought balloon. His look was very much like the art style of his co-creator, the late Tom Lyle. Will Scarlet-Spider switch sides in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, and choose to help Miles instead of hunting him? We’ll find out when the third chapter hits theaters in 2024.

The post Who Is the Scarlet Spider? The SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE Hero, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.

Spider-Man fans are finally swinging back into the multiverse with Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy and even more Spider-Heroes. Across the Spider-Verse is already being heralded as a masterpiece by fans and critics, but could it also take home the Oscar gold as the best movie of 2023? Dan Casey swings into the Spider-Verse to break down why it deserves to on today’s episode of Nerdist News!

Check out our full review of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Nerdist! https://nerdist.com/article/spiderman-across-the-spider-verse-review-visually-stunning-epic-adventure-miles-morales/“

Across the Spider-Verse Directors Interview: https://youtu.be/hmTfAyBtZT8
Across the Spider-Verse Cast Interview: https://youtu.be/2hhX3FUz-Sg

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Just how many Spider-Mans and Spider-People (and Spider-animals!) can we expect to see in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse? Well, the trailers and teasers for the movie gave us some idea that it would be quite a few. And in a recent interview, co-director Justin Thompson gave a more specific number for us to look out for. He said that, at last count, about 280 Spider-People were running around in Across the Spider-Verse. Of course, not all of them have leading roles.

More specifically, Thompson shared:

The exact number? Oh boy, we kept adding, like all the way up until the very end. Honestly, I’m gonna be level with you, we just finished the film, like in the last like two weeks, and I don’t think I’ve had time to pause and actually take a final count. But I think it was about 280 the last time I looked in. Just to be clear, that doesn’t mean specific, unique characters that you might recognize, it might mean variations as well. But if you’re just talking about named characters, then I think there’s probably about 95.

95 is a whole lot of characters to name. But the Spider-Man fun won’t stop there. Across the Spider-Verse is only part one of the Spidey mayhem we have coming our way. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will release in 2024. And co-writers and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller want us to know, they’ve saved some Spider-People to add into the next movie.

Lord notes, “Believe it or not. You thought that you’ve seen every Spider-Person that you could imagine, but not every Spider-Person we can imagine.” Meanwhile, Miller adds, “We saved several!”

Our heads are spinning just thinking about it. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will feature Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Cop, Spider-Cat, Spider-Jock, Spider-Girl, Spider-Byte, Superior Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, The Bombastic Bagman, Spider-Rex, and many, many more. But we guess they’d all better make some space at the table for new Beyond the Spider-Verse friends.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and its many Spider-People and Spider-Mans hit theaters on June 2.

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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse blew everyone away in 2018, introducing mainstream audiences to Spider-Man Miles Morales, as well as a host of multiversal variants of everyone’s favorite wall-crawler. The film was a hit at the box office, and won Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. Now, after several delays, the first of two sequels is finally hitting theaters next year, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. A third film, Beyond the Spider-Verse, arrives in 2024.

Here is everything we know about the first, long-awaited continuation of Miles Morales’ adventures across the multiverse.

Title

The title for the first sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s Plot

In this movie, Miles Morales will reunite with his friends Spider-Gwen and Peter B. Parker, and also team up with Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Punk, and the original Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew. Whatever multi-dimensional shenanigans the story entails will see multiple animation styles at play. The villain is an often mocked villain from the comics, called the Spot. But for the film, they have given the Spot a power upgrade. Now he has abilities that allow for him to create portals to other realms of the multiverse. Early toy reveals for also show that Ben Reilly, the so-called “Spider-Clone” from the ’90s, as well as a Cyborg Spider-Woman also feature in the plot.

Of course, we will also see many new Spider-Man variants in Across the Spider-Verse and per a recent article on Empire, five new worlds in total. According to the article, there’s Spider-Gwen’s Earth-65, which is done in watercolors. Additionally, we’ll visit Mumbattan, an India-inspired world, Nueva York where Spider-Man 2099 lives, and New London, the world of Spider-Punk. There’s one more universe besides all of those, but that’s a secret for now. Or is it the mysterious LEGO world?

Jake Johnson, who voices Peter B. Parker, added one more to the pile. He teased a LEGO universe would be a part of the movie. Johnson offered, “Everything in this movie, the animation is so wild. It’s pushing so many boundaries that at times I’m like, ‘what are they doing now?’ Like the Lego world was really neat, remember where it jumps into a LEGO universe for a little bit? And I’m like, ‘man, what is happening?'” Will this LEGO Spider-Verse location be central to the movie or just a passing place we’ll visit? Only time will tell.

At CinemaCon 2023, we learned that Across the Spider-Verse begins more than a year after Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It seems like Gwen and Miles have been apart for that time. And, according to Slash Film, Gwen has been involved in some multiversal adventures, having joined a society comprised of Spider-People. Reports indicate that the society works to prevent universes from collapsing.

Additionally, the main theme of the movie appears to be: “It’s how you wear the mask that really makes you a hero.”

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s Cast

Across the Spider-Verse will see many returning cast members from the first film, like Shameik Moore (Miles Morales), Hailee Steinfeld (Gwen Stacy), Jake Johnson (Peter B. Parker), Oscar Isaac (Spider-Man 2099), Brian Tyree Henry (Jefferson Davis), Luna Lauren Vélez (Rio Morales), Issa Rae (Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman), Jason Schwartzman (the Spot), and Daniel Kaluuya (Spider-Punk). Shea Whigham is also part of the cast, as police captain George Stacy, Gwen’s father. Jorma Taccone plays the Vulture, as a secondary villain. Additionally, according to the co-director of the movie, Joaquim Dos Santos, Scarlet Spider will appear and be voiced by a mysterious and notable celebrity. And it turns out, that celebrity is none other than Andy Samberg—an exciting reveal.

pic.twitter.com/qY51GisX1f

— Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (@SpiderVerse) May 29, 2023

Recently, we learned that Deadpool franchise actor Karan Soni would join Across the Spider-Verse as Pavitr Prabhakar or Spider-Man India. This is an exciting addition to an already incredible cast.

There’s no official word yet if we’ll see cameos from some characters from Into the Spider-Verse not officially listed in the cast for the sequel. As far as the official cast listing, there’s no indication that variants like Peter Porker will appear again. But it would not surprise us to see some of them. It would also not shock us to see and hear animated versions of the live-action Spider-Mans like Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire, although none of them are confirmed.

A Spider-Man we won’t see returning, though is Nicolas Cage’s Spider-Man Noir. Here’s what Cage had to say about Spider-Man Noir’s presence in Across the Spider-Verse.

You’d have to ask Sony. I don’t know what’s going on with that… No one’s spoken to me about that. Ask them. I don’t know. I really don’t. I wish they would. I love Spider-Man Noir, too. I think that’s a great character. Spider-Man’s the coolest superhero. And then you combine that with [James] Cagney and [Humphrey] Bogart and Edward G. Robinson, come on, it’s a great character.

That’s one Spider-Man variant we’re sad to see go.

Behind the Scenes

Across the Spider-Verse is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, in their feature directorial debuts. The script comes from the original film’s writing team of Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham. Like the first film, this one is a Sony Pictures Animation production, and Marvel Studios had no involvement.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s Release Date

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse hits theaters on June 2, 2023. 

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse directors Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, and Joaquim Dos Santos sit down with John Pirruccello (@Johnny2Cellos) to discuss their process for working on the massive two film project, the evolution of Miles and Gwen, and what they would do if they woke up with spider-powers on today’s episode of Nerdist Now!

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse reaffirms that animation is cinema. 

The sequel to the critically-acclaimed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse pushes the boundaries of animation and storytelling to create a movie that’s visually stunning as it is frenetic. In Across the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) has trouble balancing his super-powered duties with his school and personal life. Everyone feels like they know what’s best for him, but ultimately he has an idea of what he wants for himself. However, he doesn’t feel open sharing his identity with his parents Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry) and Rio (Luna Lauren Vélez). Miles is learning (the hard way) that life comes with sacrifices. 

While having to navigate this, Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) comes back into his universe and his life, bringing back nostalgia and connection. To make things more fun, she also comes with a new set of super-powered individuals. This crew includes Jessica Drew/ Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), Pavitr Prabhakar/Spider-Man India (Karan Soni), Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac), Margo Kess/Spider-Bite (Amandla Stenberg), Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider (Andy Samberg), and Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Jake Johnson). Of course, they all happen to be a Spider-Hero from their respective universe—or the Spider-Verse, if you will. But being involved with this new Spider-Crew gets Miles wrapped up in a mission to save not just New York City from supervillain the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), but the entire Spider-Verse from impending disaster.

When Into the Spider-Verse first came out, it not only shocked viewers with the quality of animation, but also its storytelling. Thankfully, both elements return in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Its predecessor operated as more of an introduction to Miles and an origin story for him. The sequel builds upon his story by highlighting his evolution as a hero, but also as a teenager.

As we all know, with growth comes growing pains. Ultimately, this film is about growing up, becoming your own person, and not letting anyone write your story but you. Across the Spider-Verse is equal parts coming-of-age tale as it is a superhero film. Many of those coming-of-age elements are highlighted through Miles and Gwen’s narratives.

Both characters are navigating challenges in their relationship with their parent(s) and maintaining their secret identities. Miles juggles his parents’ demands and Gwen is stuck balancing a life without community. There’s conflict with her, specifically when it comes to lying to her father, George Stacy (Shea Whigham), about her secret identity—a lie that could severely alter their relationship. Miles and Gwen’s concerns surrounding their identities are a powerful reflection of real-life hardships that teenagers navigate as they discover who they are. Sometimes, those identities come with the risk of rejection by their parents.

This narrative works as a metaphor for when LGBTQ+ kids “come out” to their parents. Miles shares a moment with his mom that’s similar to coming out as queer. Gwen has a similar scene with her father, but her character and the scene’s coloring is washed in pink, blue, and white, which just so happens to be the transgender flag colors. 

Speaking of identity, Across the Spider-Verse creates a world where everyone can exist, especially as a member of the Spider-Society. Each Spider-Hero comes in a diverse array of races, genders, sizes, and abilities with their own rich character development. Even with an immense character collective, Across the Spider-Verse’s writing and directing still allows for plenty of heartfelt storytelling and moments between these characters. 

The authenticity of New York City’s culture shines on the big screen. The hustle and bustle of the city is perfectly captured as well as the diversity of communities, specifically Black and Puerto Rican enclaves. Through Miles’ relationship with his parents, viewers see what life is like for folks who are Afro-Latino, biracial/multiracial, and/or multicultural. His family shows that there’s no one right way to express your identities. 

From the small bodegas selling beef patties to the massive buildings covered in graffiti spreading throughout the city, Across the Spider-Verse encapsulates the Big Apple’s architectural delights. This film beautifully pulls off the task of recreating dazzling New York City landscapes as well as Spider-Verse versions of the city.

In fact, there’s only one glaring problem with Across the Spider-Verse. It is a tad too long! There’s plenty of ground to cover with various plot points tossed into the air as freely as Spider-Man swings between New York City’s skyscrapers. But while the action and story is jam packed, it’s not overwhelming. 

Overall, Spider: Man Across the Spider-Verse‘s thrilling action sequences, beautiful animation, and robust stories will make MCU fans and general moviegoers get lost in a universe that they may not want to escape.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swings into theaters on June 2.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ⭐ (4 of 5)

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Miles Morales and many, many other Spiderfolks are hitting our screens soon in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. And, when fans think of the AfroLatino teenage hero, they instantly think of Miles Morales’ signature style, especially his shoes—Air Jordan 1 sneakers, to be exact. To celebrate more Miles Morales on the big screen, Nike has put the new Air Jordan 1 High Next Chapter shoe out in the world. This Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse pair puts a spin on the ones that Michael Jordan himself wore when he played with the Chicago Bulls, adding some leather and suede in the mix.

Check out the new Miles Morales Across the Spider-Verse sneakers below.

And, of course, there’s the clear nod to Spider-Man with graphics near the ankle that will make you want to soar above the city. These Jordans would look super awesome with Box Lunch’s Miles Morales baseball jersey or jacket. But if you’re trying to flex in these Miles Morales sneakers, then you’ll have to cough up some serious cash. This pair of Js is already sold out on Nike’s website but resell sites like StockX are there for you… at a cost, of course. Should you go for them? Well, it depends on how badly you want to have a pair of sneakers inspired by the adventures of Miles Morales. Either way, watching Miles swing through NYC and whichever other universes he ends up in will inspire the hero in all of us. So lace up your shoes and get ready, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse releases on June 2, 2023.

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse stars Shameik Moore (Miles Morales), Hailee Steinfeld (Gwen Stacy), and Daniel Kaluuya (Hobart ‘Hobie’ Brown) sit down with John Pirruccello ( @Johnny2Cellos ) to discuss the new film, preparing for their roles, and what they would do if they woke up with spider-powers on today’s episode of Nerdist Now!

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We’re about to head into the Spider-Verse like never before. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse promises a bigger Spidey adventure than we’ve ever seen on our screens. We’re talking about meeting hundreds of different Spider-People in many incredible worlds; all brought to life in varied and awe-inspiring animation styles. But, of course, at the heart of it are the characters we’ve grown to know and love and a very human set of fears and relationships. It’s Miles Morales that’s our true hero. And there’s nothing like a little closet cosplay to show your love for your favs. BoxLunch‘s latest Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse collection wants you to bring some of the movie’s magic into your universe as it celebrates our Brooklyn-friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

Click To View Gallery

Take a look at some pieces from the collection above, and, of course, keep your eyes peeled. You never know when an Easter egg may have snuck into a design. It’ll also be good practice because Across the Spider-Verse is sure to be chock full of references and subtle details at every turn.

You can check out the full Spider-Verse collection on BoxLunch. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse releases in theaters on June 2.

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The long awaited sequel to Insomniac Game’s Spider-Man series is almost here, and the Wednesday’s Playstation showcase gave fans their best look yet with massive, action packed trailer. Dan Casey swings into action to break down all the easter eggs, hidden details, and everything else you might have missed on today’s episode of Nerdist News!

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Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man Universe is ever-expanding. And coming up on us very soon is Kraven the Hunter. Sony’s Kraven the Hunter film has been in the works for some time now, but it has finally turned a corner. With Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Kraven, suiting up for his third different superhero project, we know we’re in for quite a treat.

Here’s everything we know about Sony’s Kraven the Hunter movie.

Title

The film is named Kraven the Hunter, after its central character.

Kraven the Hunter’s Plot

Sony hasn’t released too much about its upcoming Kraven movie. However, in the original Marvel Comics, Sergei Kravinoff is born into an aristocratic Russian family. He becomes a world-famous international big-game hunter, who tries to catch the ultimate and elusive prize: Spider-Man. The villain first shows up in The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (1964). The Stan Lee/Steve Ditko creation is a founding member of the Sinister Six. Later stories show witch doctor Calypso giving Kravinoff an herbal potion, granting him enhanced speed and senses that match those of a wild jungle cat.

Unlike Venom, the character of Kraven has never had a shelf life outside of being a Spider-Man villain. So it’s hard to see how they are going to create a narrative around the character that doesn’t involve the wall-crawler in some form. There is no news of Tom Holland appearing in the movie so far. One angle they could go with is Kraven coming to the big city, looking to hunt down Spidey as the ultimate prize. But seeing as this is all Kraven’s point of view, we’d never see Spider-Man without his mask on. This means anyone could play him.

At CinemaCon 2023, we learned that Kraven the Hunter will be Sony’s first R-rated Marvel movie. As Aaron Taylor-Johnson eloquently noted at Sony’s panel, “Will it be rated-R? Fuck yes, it will be rated R.”

Footage shown only at CinemaCon seems to back up this announcement, offering up a lot of primal violence and blood. Apparently, this includes Kraven biting off someone’s nose and spitting it directly at the camera. There also seems to be some impaling, decapitation by bear trap, a crossbow shooting involved. Additionally, the teaser reveals that Spider-Man’s famous foe, Rhino, played by Alessandro Nivola, will join Kraven in the movie. Russell Crowe also appears as Kraven’s dad, while Fred Hechinger steps into the role of his brother, Chameleon. CinemaCon footage also briefly teases Ariana DeBose as Calypso.

Behind the Scenes

A Most Violent Year’s J.C. Chandor is directing a script from Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk, with Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach producing.

Kraven the Hunter’s Cast

The upcoming film is anchored by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is playing Kraven the Hunter. Joining him are Russell Crowe, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, and Alessandro Nivola. According to reports from CinemaCon 2023, Crowe will play Kraven’s father. Meanwhile, Nivola will play classic Spider-Man villain Rhino, and Hechinger will act as Kraven’s brother, Chameleon. As previously reported, DeBose will play Calypso.

Additionally, Deadline reports that Christopher Abbott is set to join Kraven the Hunter. Although unconfirmed, the publication shares that Abbot would play the film’s main villain, the Foreigner. In the comics, Foreigner is a Spider-Man villain with the ability to induce hypnotic trances. Otherwise, it is his skills in martial arts and mastery of weaponry that makes him a threat. As we learn more about Kraven the Hunter‘s plot, we will see how this character gets adapted onto the screen.

Kraven the Hunter’s Release Date

Kraven the Hunter will release on October 6, 2023.

Originally published May 26, 2021.

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The Marvel options on Disney+ are about to expand. Several Spider-Man films and Venom will arrive on Disney+ this spring—most of them as early as April 21. This move, a result of a deal between Disney and Sony, makes it easier to catch up on the world of Marvel films in one place, though most of the Spider-Man movies aren’t part of the MCU. That said, Spider-Man: No Way Home did bring Tobey Maguire’s and Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parkers into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney+ released the below video to mark the occasion.

Here’s which Spider-Man movies will be available when on Disney+ in the US:

• Spider-Man (2002) – Available April 21, 2023
• Spider-Man 2 (2004) – Available April 21, 2023
• Spider-Man 3 (2007) – Available April 21, 2023
• The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) – Available April 21, 2023
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) – Available May 12, 2023
• Venom (2018) – Available May 12, 2023

Disney also said that, “Additional titles from Sony Pictures’ film and television library are expected to premiere on Disney+ in the US later this year.” We suspect that means Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius, and maybe the Spider-Verse films.

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It’s almost time to head back into the Spider-Verse with Miles Morales, and a new trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse offered fans a closer look at what’s to come in this latest multiversal adventure. In addition to a whole pack of Peter Parker’s worth of Spider-Man variants, the trailer also dropped a major revelation that could impact not only the world of the Spider-Verse, but the whole Marvel multiverse as well. Dan Casey swings into action to break down all the latest on this new trailer and whether Miles Morales broke the multiverse on today’s episode of Nerdist News!

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How do you try and top one of cinema’s best superhero movies, an Oscar-winning film that changed animation forever? You don’t just go “into” the Spider-Verse. You go “across” it. That’s where you’ll find even more versions of everyone’s favorite friendly neighborhood arachnid. But while the latest trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has us ready to jump back into the multiverse, not every Spider-Man will be happy to see Miles Morales show up. Fortunately for him, he still has friends to help him face the inescapable responsibility of being Spider-Man.

We thought it was impossible for anything to get us more hyped for this movie. We were wrong. This trailer just did it. Not only does it have a chance to be more exciting than the original, but it also looks like it might be more emotional, too. What exactly is going on? And why is a big scary version of Spider-Man out to get Miles? Here’s the Across the Spider-Verse‘s official synopsis from Sony:

Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar-winning Spider-Verse saga, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.

That’s the nice thing about going across the Spider-Verse and not just into it. Sure, you might find even more enemies, including some just like you. But you’ll also find plenty of friends, both old and new, to help you.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse comes from directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson. It stars Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Rachel Dratch, Jason Schwartzman, Shea Whigham, Daniel Kaluuya, Jorma Taccone, and Karan Soni. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swings into theaters June 2, 2023.

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In a surprise report, it appears Sony is developing a Spider-Man: Noir live-action series for Prime Video. This would be the second Spider-Man-related live-action show for them, following their announcement of Silk. Given how popular this relatively obscure Spider-Man variant became after the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and one great Nicolas Cage voice performance, it makes sense.

However, the biggest change for this live-action Spider-Man iteration is that, unlike the comics, he won’t be Peter Parker under that mask. Or under that stylish hat. But we’re here to explain why that may not really matter in the long run. But first, a brief history of Spider-Man Noir in the comics.

The Marvel Comics History of Spider-Man Noir

Before 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man Noir only had a few appearances. He first popped up in a gimmicky publishing initiative by Marvel in 2009, titled as Marvel Noir. They took versions of some of their well-known heroes, like Iron Man and Luke Cage, and put them in a pulpy, 1930s hard-boiled setting. Each received a four-issue mini-series. Yet it was Spider-Man that stood out. David Hine and Fabrice Sapolsky, and artist Carmine Di Giandomenico, created that first series. Artist Marko Djurdjevic designed that distinctive costume. Of the six initial Marvel Noir titles, only Spidey and X-Men got a follow-up mini-series.

This version of Peter Parker leaned hard into all the pulp fiction detective story tropes of the era. Not just the detective stories, but also the high adventure stories from pulp magazines that heavily influenced Indiana Jones. In fact, this Peter Parker got his powers in 1932 when he ventured into a warehouse with stolen artifacts, and a mysterious ancient spider-idol cracked, unleashing mystical spiders on him. All that’s missing to go full Indy is a giant boulder. Becoming “the Spider-Man,” he looks out for the little guy in an era when the poor and downtrodden were more stomped on than ever. His Uncle Ben was murdered by criminals before he ever got powers, so he vowed to continue the fight in his name.

The Key Differences Between Classic Spider-Man and Spider-Man Noir

The origin story of Spider-Man Noir is certainly similar to classic Peter Parker in some respects. He’s from New York City, had an Aunt May and an Uncle Ben, and gained cool spider powers. But, the other differences are more than just cosmetic. And we don’t just mean the time period shift. This Peter Parker was a full-grown adult, eliminating a lot of the adolescent drama that makes classic Spider-Man Spider-Man. That’s a big one.

Most importantly, this Peter got his powers from an ancient spider-god, and not a science mishap. He was also an investigative reporter and not a photographer. And he definitely was not cracking-wise all the time like mainstream Peter. He’s much more Batman-esque in his approach to fighting crime. In fact, he even killed occasionally, a line “our” Peter never really crossed. There are enough changes to make him Peter Parker in all but name. So why not change the identity under the mask too?

Is the Peter Parker Name Even Important?

Peter Parker as a character remains a precious asset to Sony, not to mention Marvel Studios. The latter is not involved in this production, we should add. They probably wanted to limit the appearance of any character named Peter Parker in live-action. Especially since post-Spider-Man: No Way Home, they have three Peter Parkers swinging around, likely to return. But we feel a good workaround would be to make Spidey Noir a Parker, or Parker family adjacent, just not Peter Parker.

Spider-Man Noir: Peter’s Grandpa?

Given that the time period of the series will be the Great Depression, it could be fun to make this Spidey a young version of Peter’s grandfather. In 60 years of Spider-Man comics, we know next to nothing about Peter Parker’s grandparents, except for the name of his mother’s father, William Fitzpatrick. It would be a deep-cut reference to make Spider-Man Noir into William, a character who would have presumably been in his prime during that time. And it would still keep ties to the Parker family and legacy.

Of course, as Miles Morales and others have proven, one doesn’t need to be Peter Parker to be Spider-Man. As Stan Lee famously once said “anyone can wear the mask.” So if they choose to make him completely unrelated to Peter, that’s fine too. He’s already substantially different enough as a character that it wouldn’t really matter. In the end, it’s not the Parker legacy that makes Spider-Man Noir so memorable. It’s the look and the attitude. And one killer fedora.

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As we know, there are so, so many Spideys out in the world. It was a delight to see a few of them together in Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, including Spider-Man Noir. The older and frankly worn out monochromatic hero from the 1930s is certainly an interesting take on the character. Now, Spider-Man Noir is getting his own live-action series at Prime Video. It could be yet another win for Amazon’s streaming service.

According to Variety, the show will be set in its own universe and will not center around Peter Parker. The show will, however, take place in the 1930s and will presumably stick with the character’s black and white format. We can’t wait to see how a Spider-Man Noir series plays out. It will likely take a while before we learn anything else about this venture, but in the meantime fans can begin all the speculation. 

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The Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailer is chock-full of cameos from arachnid heroes from across the multiverse. Spider-Man 2099 joins Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy this time, as does Spider-Woman and Spider-Punk, who you can see in the production art below. But who else did we spot in the new trailer? Quite a few. Here are just some of the Spider-Man variants and variations that stuck out to us in the most recent Across the Spider-Verse trailer and marketing.

The PS4 Spider-Man Variant Joins the Spider-Verse

We saw the distinctive red, white, and blue Spider-Man costume from the Insomniac PS4 game in the trailer, making the game a canonical part of the Spider-Verse. It’s not just the MCU where “it’s all connected” these days. Our own spidey-sense told us this very popular variant of Peter Parker would show up, and it seems we were not wrong.

Spider-Cop, at your service

At first, we thought he was a gag made just for the movie; a “Spider-Cop” directing traffic in the multiversal hub. But no, there was a Spider-Cop in the comics once. Not that long ago, in fact. The NYPD’s Spider-Cop debuted in 2018’s Spider-Geddon #4 and 5.

The Amazing Spider-Clones

There have been several notable “Spider-Clones” over the years. The most famous of these was Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider. But there wasn’t just him. There was Kaine, Ultimate Spider-Woman, and the Spider-Girl who was April Parker, yet another Peter clone. The last two with their Y chromosome taken out, of course. We see what appears to be all of these genetic copies in the trailer.

Spider-Man Unlimited‘s Distinctive Spidey Costume Appears

Although not as beloved as the 1994-97 Spider-Man: The Animated Series, the follow-up cartoon, 1999’s Spider-Man: Unlimited, does have its fans. It’s a weird show, where Peter Parker wore a nanotech suit designed by Reed Richards, and had adventures on the High Evolutionary’s Counter-Earth, populated by human/animal hybrids (and which will appear in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3). The show was very short-lived, but we spotted the distinctive costume swinging around in the trailer. We can’t wait to see more of this new Spider-Man variant in Across the Spider-Verse.

Flash Thompson, Spider-Jock.

The beefy Spidey we saw walking around in the letterman’s jacket? We’re pretty sure he’s a nod to “Captain Spider,” a version of Spider-Man who was Peter’s high school tormentor, Flash Thompson. He first appeared in What if? #7, way back in 1977.

Spider-Girl (May “Mayday” Parker) Joins the Spider-Verse World

In the MC2 universe, Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson married and had a daughter. Young May “Mayday” Parker inherited her dad’s powers and embarked on a heroic career as the amazing Spider-Girl. We’re pretty sure we saw someone wearing her signature web shooters and costume in the trailer. We definitely saw Peter B. Parker with a baby (art below), which confirms the infant version of Mayday.

It seems we might eve get two versions of Peter’s ginger kiddo. But, hey, two Across the Spider-Verse baby Spider-Man variants? Sign us up.

Lady Spider Is One of the Spider-People in the Trailer

Hailing from Earth-803, Maybelle Reilly (a young version of Peter’s Aunt May) is a kind of steampunk arachnid hero Spider-Man variant. She doesn’t have spider-powers, but instead built web-shooters and mechanical spider arms in a perpetual Industrial Revolution-style world. She debuted in the first issue of the Spider-Verse comic series back in 2014 and became a member of the Web Warriors. Given the Spider-Man films’ tendencies to age Aunt May younger and younger, having Lady Spider pop up as a new variant in Across the Spider-Verse makes sense.

Superior Spider-Man a.k.a the Doc Ock Variant Joins Spider-Verse

Although we only see a glimpse of his costume, we spotted the unmistakable color scheme of the Superior Spider-Man. For a year or so, Peter Parker’s old foe, Doc Ock, took control of his body. But when Dr. Octopus had access to his mind, he gained access to his memories. Changed by the knowledge of Peter’s heroism, he became the Superior Spider-Man. He was still a total jerk, though.

Spinneret and Spiderling Are a Spider-Family in Spider-Verse

In yet another universe from the pages of Marvel Comics, Peter and MJ married and had a different child. But this version of Mary Jane had spider-powers, gained through a suit that siphoned some of her husband’s abilities, and she went by the name Spinneret. Her daughter, Anna May “Annie” Parker, inherited her parent’s powers and became Spiderling. You can clearly see these two Spider-Man variants walking together in the new Across the Spider-Verse trailer.

’90s Silver Armor Spider-Man Variant Briefly Appears

In the early ’90s, everyone in comics had a moment where they needed armor. Even Superman, for some reason. Keeping with the trends of the day, Spidey had a suit of silver and black armor, that although short-lived, lived on as many an action figure. We’re pretty sure we saw ’90s armored Spidey in the mix as one of the new Across the Spider-Verse Spider-People.

Mangaverse Spider-Man Joins the Spider-Verse Variants

In the early 2000s, Marvel created manga versions of their iconic heroes, Naturally, one was “manga Spider-Man.” This version of Peter Parker, hailing from Earth-2301, was a member of the ninja warriors known as the Spider Clan. His Sensei, Ben Parker, trained him in their ways. He became the last member of the Spider Clan after Venom kills Ben under orders from the Kingpin. We spotted the Mangaverse Spider-Man variant walking alone in the Spider-Verse trailer.

2003 Animated Series Spider-Man Gets New Life

Another often dismissed Spidey came from the 2003 MTV Spider-Man animated series. Many folks have probably forgotten about this Spider-Man cartoon. His costume is pretty classic, so it’s hard to tell him apart from the classic Spider-Man look. But the physicality of one of the Spider-People we saw in the Across the Spider-Verse trailer suggests to us it’s that very same Peter Parker variant.

Flipside Is Spider-Man 2099’s Foe

Flipside was an android who could mimic the powers of anyone it came in contact with (kind of like DC Comics’ Amazo). In the future, he copied Spider-Man 2099’s powers and became a thorn in his side. We’re pretty sure we saw him wandering around in the Across the Spider-Verse trailer. And with Spider-Man 2099 playing a big role in the movie, we’re even more convinced Flipside will appear.

The Spidey Who Howls at the Moon

Yes, Peter Parker has more than one animal inside him. That’s a werewolf version of Spider-Man we see among the others. This furry and fanged Spidey hails from the Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness comics. We don’t think Ash will fight him in the movie though. Just a guess.

Spider-Man MK II “Bulletproof” Armor Variant Exists in the Spider-Verse

Back in 2011, Peter Parker lost his spider-sense, which is what enabled him to dodge bullets the way he does. So he concocted a black and gold “bulletproof” armor, similar to Tony Stark’s. Although the technical name for it was the Spider-Armor MK II. We see a new Spider-Man variant wearing that very armor in the Spider-Verse trailer, sitting down and chillin’ with another Spidey.

Anya Corazón (Spider-Girl, Araña) Is One of Spider-Verse’s New Spider-People

Going by the names Araña (Spanish for spider) and Spider-Girl both, Anya Corazón was a Mexican Puerto Rican teen living in New York, who got spider powers when a group called the Spider Society performed a ritual on her. This happened when the Society gave Anya a mystical spider tattoo. She’s been a fairly regular part of the Spider-family ever since, and one can see her distinctive black and white costume in the trailer. We’re really excited to see this one of Spider-Man’s variants come to life in the Spider-Verse.

The Bombastic Bagman Is Our Favorite New Spider-Verse Variant

“The Bombastic Bagman” was the name Peter Parker jokingly took when his costume was damaged. So as to not swing around New York City naked, he borrowed a Fantastic Four costume from their HQ and put a brown paper bag over his head. Sadly, Sony does not have the rights to the Fantastic Four, so they obscured the FF logo on Bagman’s chest. But we love that this Spider-Man variant made the Spider-Verse cut anyway.

Earth X Spider-Man Creator Hints at Spider-Verse Variant

Earth-X was another multiversal comics story from the 2000s, that saw a version of Peter Parker that retired after a series of tragedies. Could the familiar-feeling Spider-Man variant we saw in the trailer be the one from Alex Ross’ series? Alex Ross seems to think so.

Spider-Man: India‘s Spidey Variant Arrives in Style

Another Spidey from the comics who got a total redesign for Across the Spider-Verse is the Spider-Man from India. Pavitr Prabhakar definitely got a costume upgrade, as seen in this production art. We dig it.

New Spider-Man Suits and People on Across the Spider-Verse‘s Poster

The newly released Across the Spider-Verse posters feature even more new spider-folk not seen in the trailer. And a few that are very exciting to longtime fans.

Spider-Woman II (Julia Carpenter) Appears as a Spider-Verse Variant

Yes, Jessica Drew is in this film. But she’s not the only Spider-Woman. The new poster clearly shows Spider-Woman II, Julia Carpenter, is also a part of the Spider-Verse. She is also sometimes known as Madame Web.

Spider-Cat (Earth-999) Is a Spider-Person in Spirit

First appearing in 2011’s Spider-Island crossover event, yes folks, that is your friendly neighborhood Spider-Cat from Earth-999. Who can say no to a cat who is also one of the Spider-People?

Web-Slinger (Cowboy Spider-Man) Rides into the Spider-Verse

Right below Spidey-Cat on the Across the Spider-Verse poster is Web-Slinger, the cowboy Spidey from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon series on Disney XD.

“Ends of the Earth” Armor Spider-Man Has Suited Up as a Spider-Verse Variant

In the 2012 comics storyline “Ends of the Earth,” Peter Parker used Horizon Labs’ vast resources to create a special armor to fight the Sinister Six. You can see the MKIII armor in the poster as well.

Spectacular Spider-Man Peter Parker Swoops Into Action

In the bottom right of the international Spider-Verse poster is the Peter Parker from the 2008-2009 Spectacular Spider-Man animated series. That show has quite a following, so many fans will be pleased.

Spider-Byte (Earth 22191) Has Been Downloaded into the Spider-Verse

The computerized, TRON-looking character to the left of Spider-Punk is Spider-Byte, who first appeared in 2018’s Vault of Spiders. This particular Spider-Person helps to fight cybercrime.

Sun-Spider (Earth 20023) Joins the Fun as a Spider-Verse Variant

The spider-person with the backward baseball cap on? That’s Sun-Spider, a hero whose real name is Charlotte Webber (yes, really). She’s a recent creation, appearing in the 2019 Spider-Verse comics

Spider-Carnage Bears His Teeth

This vampire-lookin’ Spidey in the Across the Spider-Verse poster is probably Spider-Carnage. Although we supposed there’s an outside chance that it’s vampire Spider-Man. Spider-Carnage is a meld of a Spider-Man and the symbiote Carnage. He seeks the destruction of reality.

Spyder-Knight

His outfit might be slightly different, but the medieval knight Spider-Man is called “Spyder-Knight,” and first popped in a 2015 episode of Ultimate Spider-Man. We’re guessing the “Y” in “Spyder” sounds more old-timey? This Peter Parker hails from Arthurian times, and the wizard Merlyn was his mentor. We see him clearly in the Spider-Verse international poster. He’s nestled right between PS4 Peter and Spinneret.

All the Spider-Man Variants in Across the Spider-Verse

Of course, we expect many more surprise Across the Spider-Verse Spider-people before it’s all said and done. Maybe we could even see Tom, Tobey, and Andrew variants appear in the Spider-Verse? As long as the ’70s Japanese Spider-Man shows up, we’ll be happy.

The movie has even challenged us to pair some mysterious symbols with their appropriate Spider-People variants.

Can you do that after reading this article?

Originally published December 13, 2022.

The post All the New Spider-Man Variants We Saw in the ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE Trailer and Poster appeared first on Nerdist.

You know you’ve got an effective trailer with instant pop culture impact when there is an immediate LEGO fan-made version right away. And that’s what’s happened with the first Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailer, which just got a LEGO-ized version by the folks at the YouTube channel LEGOMe_TheOG. They replicated the whole trailer’s original dialogue track in its entirety. And the visuals received the classic Minifigure treatment. Just how do Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, and all these spider-people climb walls and spin webs with LEGO hands and no digits?? Watch the full video below and find out.

There are so very many Spider characters in the original trailer. So this is one LEGO fan film that just had to be a hard one to figure out. There are a LOT of random Spider folks in this one. After all, even we had to go over the trailer with a fine toothcomb to figure out which wall-crawler was which. And we are some old-school Spider-Man fans here who know our Marvel lore. And we know there are some Spider heroes (and probably villains) still hidden in that trailer. Kind of like a superhero Where’s Waldo? book.

LEGOME_TheOG has a lot of other pop culture parody videos on their channel that are pretty delightful. They’ve recreated the iconic “high ground” battle moment between Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker from Revenge of the Sith. Also, the often-parodied “Martha moment” from Batman v Superman. And, of course, we see a few other Marvel-related ones. Including one showing Reed Richards getting a much better deal at the hands of Wanda in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. You can check out the rest of their LEGO videos by heading over to the LEGOME_TheOG channel.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swings its way into theaters on June 2.

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The Hypno-Hustler is one of the most obscure, not to mention ridiculous, Spider-Man villains out there. And he is often ranked as one of the worst too. Despite sharing a creator with the man who gave the world Rocket Raccoon, Bill Mantlo. And yet, this musical criminal is going to be the subject of a live-action movie, starring none other than Donald Glover. The news comes straight from The Hollywood Reporter. But just who the heck is this obscure Spider-Man villain? We’re here to explain it all to you.

Hypno-Hustler, the Disco Devil

The Hypno-Hustler was one of many attempts during the peak of the late ‘70s Disco music craze to try to cash in on the phenomenon. (the other, far more famous example, is the mutant Dazzler). After Saturday Night Fever, everyone from Mickey Mouse to Count Chocula was cutting a Disco album, so Marvel wanted in on some of that action. Hence, the Disco-themed villain Hypno-Hustler made his debut in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #24 way back in 1978.

The Hypno-Hustler’s real name was Antoine Desloin. He was the lead singer of a Disco musical group called the Mercy Killers. They were scheduled to headline at a popular nightclub called “Beyond Forever.” But the club’s manager caught the Hypno-Hustler robbing his safe, so Desloin used his high-tech hypnotic equipment on the manager. He had a guitar that could emit hypnotic soundwaves, and also had some boots that spewed out knockout gas. He even had retractable knives in the soles. Later up on stage, Hypno-Hustler and the Mercy Killers used their hypnotizing equipment on the audience in order to rob them all. And it would have all gone according to plan, if not for that meddling wallcrawler.

A Fateful Encounter on the Dance Floor

As luck would have it, Peter Parker was dancing away at the club on that fateful night. And so, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man was there to challenge the Hypno-Hustler. In the brawl, Spidey discovered that the Hypno-Hustler’s headphones protected him from his own hypnotic sounds, rendering him immune. Spidey then took his headphones off, therefore causing him to become a victim of his own hypnosis. In traditional Spidey fashion, Peter left Hypno-Hustler all webbed up for the police to take into custody. Interestingly enough, they introduced a Disco-themed villain who used music to hypnotize and steal on the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman TV series that same year.

Not Exactly an A-List Spider-Man Rogue

Hypno-Hustler did not exactly become one of Spidey’s recurring villains after this encounter. Within a year of his introduction, the Disco bubble burst. By the end of 1979, the terms “Disco Sucks” and “Dead as Disco” were on everyone’s lips. Everything pertaining to this genre instantly became tacky and passe. Thus, the Hypno-Hustler, with his all-silver costume and period-specific hairdo, seemed like an instant relic of a pop culture fad gone by. He has appeared a handful of times in the decades since. Usually as a background character cameo as the butt of a joke. He sadly did not survive the implosion of Disco like his fellow cash-in character Dazzler did. We last saw the Hypno-Hustler at a Vil-a-Non meeting for reformed villains.

We imagine Donald Glover will be able to have a ton of fun with a character like Hypno-Hustler. Especially if he makes the film an homage to the glorious excess of the Disco era. Maybe they make the movie a throwback period piece. Or maybe it takes place in the modern day, at a retro-themed nightclub. If we get a Spidey dancing cameo, that would make it all worth it. As long as Donald Glover wears a very close reproduction of the original Hypno-Hustler costume and embraces the absurdity, we’re here for it.

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It is truly the age of Spider-Man… Or is it the age of Venom? During its 2021 PlayStation Showcase, PlayStation showed fans a tantalizing first look at Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 game. The Spider-Man games have been a huge success to this point, allowing fans to embody both Peter Parker’s Spidey and Miles Morales. Now it looks like they’ll be teaming up against a familiar frenemy, Venom.

The trailer opens on a dark New York Street with our two Spideys taking care of business as usual. But not all is well in the world and something dark is lurking in the shadows. A creepy voice hovers over the trailer saying:

For as long as I can remember I have looked for an equal. One who could push me, one who could surprise me, one who could even beat me, yet all I found is disappointment. Will one of you finally give me what I desire?

And an equally creepy voice, one that no doubt belongs to Venom answers, “Yes. We will.”

Well, double the Spider-Men must surely mean double the foes to fight. It certainly sounds like there are two different baddies talking to one another in this first look. But who does the first voice belong to? We vote Kraven the Hunter. But anyone could be Venom’s better? (worse?) half at this point. We won’t know for sure until later. Other than the villain tease and the look at our two heroes teaming up, information is pretty scarce. But we’re very ready to learn about the gameplay, story, costumes, and more this game will surely offer.

For now, what we do know is that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will release in fall 2023. That might seem like a long way from now, but this first glimpse is so good, we’re getting excited anyway.

Originally published on September 9, 2021.

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It’s finally time to jump back into the Spider-Verse, and the all-new trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse offered the best look yet at all the multiversal mayhem in store for Miles Morales. Not only will Spider-Gwen and Peter B. Parker be making their return in this latest adventure, but the trailer also showcased a whole pack of Peter Parkers with tons of new variants from across the multiverse. Dan swings into action to break down every last spider-person he could find on today’s episode of Nerdist News!

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Engineer and YouTube star Jake Laser scaled a 400-foot-tall building in his homemade Spider-Man suit. On top of that, he also managed to beat a real Spider-Man to the top. David Elson, the stunt double for Tom Holland, also completed the feat of strength and engineering in the end, but was a few minutes behind Laser. A Marvel stunt team including Martin De Boer, Benedict Cumberbatch’s stunt double and the stunt coordinator for Avengers: Endgame, oversaw the race. It’s a real-life action sequence.

Laser’s video of the Spider-Man suit build includes more details about the suction cups and air pumps involved in his Spidey suit. He did scale a smaller building back then, but he wasn’t racing the clock or anyone else. This time around, the stunt left him exhausted and slightly burned. The suit needs some repairs before it can leap back into action.

The JLaservideo YouTube channel also shows off his other Spider-Man suit that shrinks to fit the user. He’s even constructed functional Doc Ock arms. There’s other wild builds inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well, like Shuri’s silent sneakers from Black Panther and a version of Thor’s hammer that shoots lightning. Most recently, he built an Iron Man suit that flies to him on command.

Laser doesn’t necessarily make the whole endeavor look easy, but the stunt was undoubtedly even more taxing than it looked. And based on the video above, it looks like he will have to do the climb at least one more time. MrBeast, one of the most popular YouTubers, originally challenged him to complete the race but then things fell through. Members of his team didn’t make it more than a few stories up the building before tapping out. Now it’s back on in a rematch.  

Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.

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It’s been over four years since Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) entered the mainstream consciousness as the 21st-century friendly neighborhood wall-crawler in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The 2018 animated film broke new ground in several ways. And it even won Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. Now, the long-awaited sequel is finally near, and at last, we have the first full trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in our hands. You can watch the trailer, which also showcases Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, and Oscar Isaac as Spider-Man 2099, right here:

As we can see from the trailer, Across the Spider-Verse is taking the innovative animation style from the first film and cranking up the dial several notches. Instead of just one style of animation, we see several, presumably one for every different world of the Spider-Verse.

In this first Across the Spider-Verse trailer, we don’t yet get a good look at the film’s bad guy, the Spot. But he’s voiced by none other than Jason Schwartzman. Co-director Kemp Powers has confirmed that the Spot is also the villain for film three, Beyond the Spider-Verse. The former “joke villain” from the comics isn’t going to be that much of a joke after these two movies. And we can’t wait to see him in action.

In addition to all the trippy visuals, the film is looking to maintain the emotional focus on Miles Morales. Judging from the recent trailer, it will especially put the spotlight on his relationship with his family, and, of course, with himself and the kind of person he wants to be in the world. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s synopsis shares more about what we can expect from the movie.

Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar®-winning Spider-Verse saga, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.

Across the Spider-Verse will see many returning cast members from the first film, aside from those previously mentioned. These include Jake Johnson (Peter B. Parker), Brian Tyree Henry (Jefferson Davis), Luna Lauren Vélez (Rio Morales), Issa Rae (Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman), and Daniel Kaluuya (Spider-Punk). Shea Whigham is also part of the cast as police captain George Stacy, Gwen’s father. And we’re sure we’re in for some other surprise multiversal cameos.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse hits theaters everywhere on June 2, 2023.

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These days every season is Spidey Season. Not only did we recently see Spider-Man: No Way Home launch into theaters with multiversal shenanigans … But now another Spider-Man gem is taking center stage. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse‘s sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and its second part Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse are heading our way. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse may feel like a bit of a mouthful to say at first. But it’s one long title we could not feel more excited to see. Into the Spider-Verse‘s sequel has so far released its first trailer and shared some aspects of its plot. Now, we even know who the villain will be in this upcoming movie.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s Villain

In a tweet thread from The Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Sony, we got to hear who the next Spider-Verse villain will be. In Across the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales will face down The Spot.

Meet The Spot, Miles Morales’s most formidable foe yet, as debuted at #AnnecyFestival. He is voiced by Jason Schwartzman. 🕳 See him in action in Spider-Man: Across the #SpiderVerse, in theaters June 2, 2023. pic.twitter.com/9V1fzvlR6A

— Sony Pictures Animation (@SonyAnimation) June 13, 2022

Jason Schwartzman will be voicing the spot in the upcoming Spider-Verse movie. And The Spot will be
“Miles Morales’s most formidable foe yet.” He certainly looks intimidating. And like he may be able to travel through multiverses, which is never a good thing.

Sony Pictures Animation revealed more about the Spot’s powers:

Spot’s whole body is covered in interdimensional portals (made to feel like “living ink”) that can send him anywhere he wants to go. He can also make these portals appear out of thin air to transport objects and people at will. This spells trouble for Miles.

We love this great use of animation and how The Spot’s design is fluid, much like his ability to dance between dimensions. We don’t see him in action yet in Across the Spider-Verse‘s first trailer. But we do see plenty to get us excited for the movie.

Sony Pictures Animation also shared that we’ll see “an anachronistic version of the Vulture voiced by Jorma Taccone.”

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s First Trailer

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s trailer doesn’t swing deep into the action right away. Instead, it kicks off by reminding us what we loved so much about Into the Spider-Verse. Namely, the incredible animation on our screens and our favorite, endearing protagonists. Spider-Gwen is back, voiced by Hailee Steinfeld. Gwen dons her undercut, green vans, and snarky affection. She’s come ready to give our hero, Miles Morales, a gentle, hard time. Miles, voiced by Shameik Moore, is, of course, nothing but smooth. It’s clear they’ve missed each other.

We find out that Miles is grounded, but happily, for us, Spider-Man is anything but. The second half of the trailer swings into high gear as Miles Morales’ Spider-Man makes his way through a couple of superbly animated worlds. The multiverse has not become any less beautiful since the first movie. He’s tussling with Spider-Man 2099 as he goes, but it’s unclear whether the latter comes as a friend or foe. We last saw Spider-Man 2099 in Into the Spider-Verse‘s after the credits scene.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s trailer description further shares:

Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar®-winning Spider-Verse saga, an epic adventure that will transport Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man across the Multiverse to join forces with Gwen Stacy and a new team of Spider-People to face off with a villain more powerful than anything they have ever encountered.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s Plot

At CinemaCon 2022, Phil Lord and Chris Miller unveiled the first 15 minutes from Across the Spider-Verse and shared some sweet tidbits about the upcoming film. (We saw this at Gizmodo.) Among the exciting bits is the fact that there are a whopping 240 characters in the film. And yep, it certainly sounds like a whole lot of our favorites from the first film are back—along with a few hundred more friends and foes this time around.

Miles Morales and Gwen Stacey will meet even more Spider-Pals, including Miguel O’Hara and Jessica Drew.

Additionally, according to Sony Pictures Animation, “our old friend Spider-Man 2099 (voiced by Oscar Isaac)” will return. As well as “the incomparable (and pregnant!) Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman (voiced by Issa Rae).”

So, grab your spidey suits; it’s going to be a wild ride when Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse releases on June 2, 2023. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, bows on March 29, 2024.

Originally published on December 6, 2021.

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Cartoon characters wearing the same clothes over and over is a classic animated TV series trope. It’s on full display in Spider-Man: The Animated Series from the ’90s. To be fair, our titular wallcrawler did have more than one outfit as Peter Parker. (Okay, it was maybe three at most). But the most iconic of those was the striped polo shirt he wore in the opening credits of the show. It’s the same one Peter wore when the radioactive spider bit him—and seemingly, every other day after that. And now shopDisney is selling a replica of that shirt for $49.99. You can check out images of the polo shirt in the gallery below, as well as read Disney’s official description.

Show your love for a timeless hero with this Spider-Man polo shirt. Inspired by the classic Spider-Man animated TV series of the ’90s, it looks like the iconic striped polo that Peter Parker wears when he’s not being your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. A great get for any fan and a guaranteed conversation starter, it features an embroidered Spider-Man patch on the chest.

Click To View Gallery

Anyone who grew up with the animated Spidey back in the day will instantly recognize this turquoise, blue, and white shirt. And if they don’t, the Spidey head will help them make the connection. The embroidered patch kind of reminds us of Izod shirts, only replace that Izod alligator mascot with a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. As we said, cartoon characters rarely ever had more than one signature piece of clothes. On Scooby-Doo, the gang seemed to have just one set of clothing. For 50 years. At least Peter Parker also had a t-shirt with a blazer he’d wear sometimes. Progress!

The Spider-Man polo shirts are currently sold out, but given their huge popularity, expect shopDisney to restock them at some point down the line.

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Long ago, in the faraway days of the early 2010s, the Spider-Man franchise was going to take a very different turn. After completing his wildly successful Spider-Man trilogy, Sony set director Sam Raimi to return for a fourth installment. His villains were going to include Mysterio (Bruce Campbell) and the Vulture, portrayed by John Malkovich. Work on the film got pretty far along in fact, right until Sony decided to pull the plug and start over with the Amazing Spider-Man reboot. Raimi and company did some serious preproduction work for the film, however, including what would have been the Spider-Man 4 Vulture costume.

We’ve seen almost none of what they were working on back in the day. Until now that is. Friends invited comic book creator Ken Penders to visit the production offices for what would have been Spider-Man 4. While there, he took several photos of an early version of the Vulture’s wings. As he said in his tweet, Penders sat on these photos for fifteen years. Now, he is finally letting fans see what might have been.

As you can see, these wings are far closer to the original Steve Ditko design for Adrian Toomes from the ‘60s era Marvel Comics. The version we eventually got of the character in the MCU, played by Michael Keaton, definitely took things in a different direction visually. But it’s still cool to see what could have been.

Although it seems we will never see the Raimi version of Vulture, these days, you really just never know. Raimi did direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for Marvel Studios after all. He may choose to tackle something else in the Multiverse Saga coming up. And then maybe an appearance from his version of the classic Spidey villain could appear. With multiple realities overlapping these days in the MCU, anything seems possible.

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The Sony Spider-Man universe is expanding, this time into streaming. Announced via Deadline, it appears that the character of Silk, long rumored for a series of her own, is finally coming to live-action. Silk: Spider-Society will focus on Cindy Moon, a.k.a. Silk, a young woman who was also bit by the same enhanced spider that Peter Parker was. The new series will air first on MGM+, the linear network formerly known as Epix. It will then stream on Prime Video.

The showrunner for Silk will be The Walking Dead’s Angela Kang. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller will executive produce, along with Spider-Man franchise producer Amy Pascal. In a statement, Sony Pictures Television president Katherine Pope said “We can’t wait to bring the adventures of Cindy Moon to life, thanks to the creative dream team of Chris and Phil, Angela and Amy, along with our partners at Marvel and Amazon.”

Created by Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos, Silk was first introduced relatively recently, in 2014’s Amazing Spider-Man #1. A Korean-America high school student, who attended the same school Peter Parker did, she was on the same field trip where Peter had his fateful encounter with the radioactive spider. But after it bit Peter, it then bit Cindy, giving her similar powers. However, she had organic webbing, which Peter did not. She kept her powers secret for years, finally emerging years after Peter became Spider-Man. She eventually becomes part of the larger Spider-family of heroes, along with other arachnid ladies like Jessica Drew and Julia Carpenter.

It’s unclear which universe the Silk series will take place in. Given that this is going to Amazon Prime and not Disney+, we think we can scratch the MCU off the list. But Silk could exist in the universe of Andrew Garfield’s Spidey. Or maybe even Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, given that Silk has organic web-shooters as his Peter Parker does. We’ll find out when Silk: Spider-Society makes its debut, probably sometime in 2024.

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the Into the Spider-Verse sequel, will hit theaters on June 2, 2023. And it will double down on the many multiversal variants of Spider-Man we already saw in Into the Spider-Verse. We already know some of the Spider-Man variants we’ll see in the upcoming animated movie. We have Spider-Woman, a.k.a. Jessica Drew, Spider-Man 2099, and even Spider-Punk, a.k.a. Hobart “Hobie” Brown. Then we have the rumors, like the ones that say the live-action movie Spideys like Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire could also appear. Even the PS4 Spider-Man is rumored to show up in Across the Spider-Verse. So which Spider-Man variants might we see in Across the Spider-Verse? Let’s break it down. 

The TV Animated Spider-Man Variants That Could Show Up

If the live-action Spider-Mans pop up in Across the Spider-Verse, then the animated forerunners of Peter B. Parker deserve a chance to appear. Here are the ones we think deserve to swing in for at least a cameo appearance.

1960s Saturday Morning Spider-Man

The original 1967-1970 animated Spider-Man series made Peter Parker a household name to non-comics fans. The show made his theme song an iconic tune that everyone still knows today. He deserves recognition in the Spider-Verse. His voice actor, Paul Soles, sadly died in 2021. But a sound-alike could do the honors. We can call this guy “Boomer Spidey” and he sure would be a fun Spider-Man variant to see in Across the Spider-Verse.

Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends

In the early ’80s, Spider-Man returned to Saturday morning cartoon dominance with a new show featuring the mutants Iceman and Firestar. Together with their Lhasa Apso dog, Ms. Lion (yes, really), they teamed up with other Marvel heroes and saved New York City from their high-tech HQ in Aunt May’s house. This is “Gen X Spidey,” and Peter and his pals need to represent in the Spider-Verse. This show’s Peter Parker, voice actor Dan Gilvezan, is still working, so he should definitely reprise the role.

Spider-Man: The Animated Series‘ Peter Parker

At the same time Batman: The Animated Series and X-Men: The Animated Series blew up on Fox Kids, Spider-Man became a weekday afternoon hit. More than any other cartoon before it, the ’90s Spidey was pretty faithful to the comics. Christopher Daniel Barnes was the Spider-Man for Millennial kids, and we feel he’s definitely going to have to show up. Maybe this Spider-Man variant could spin his webs on some obviously early-CGI skyscrapers in Across the Spider-Verse. 

The Spectacular Spider-Man

One of the more recent animated Spideys to win the hearts of kids (and more than a few adults) was The Spectacular Spider-Man. This wallcrawler for the Gen Z-ers aired from 2008-2009, only for a brief two seasons. But it still has quite a following to this day, and fans would lose it seeing this version of Peter meet his Spider-Man variants on screen. 

Japanese Spider-Man, Earth-51778 (Confirmed)

Marvel Comics

Until a recent episode of Marvel’s 616 on Disney+, many fans had no idea about the existence of the Japanese Spider-Man. This version starred in his own TV series in Japan from 1978-79. Although Japanese Spidey might look totally familiar, he is a completely different character from Peter Parker. Because his show premiered on May 17, 1978, his Earth is designated as “Earth-51778.”

In the series, Spider-Man was Takuya Yamashiro, a young motocross racer who gains powers from an alien ship from Planet Spider. Not only does he gain the traditional Spider-Man powers, but he also can transform his spaceship into a giant robot. All of these things are cooler than Aunt May already. Yamashiro appeared in the Spider-Verse comics event, so we say put him in an animated film next. And it seems Across the Spider-Verse producer Phil Lord has already confirmed he’s in it.

The Marvel Comics Spider-Man Variants That Could Show Up

“The Spider” (Earth-311)

Marvel Comics

DC Comics works like Sandman helped make fantasy author Neil Gaiman famous in comics. But for Marvel, he wrote two prominent series: The Eternals and Marvel: 1602. As the title suggests, this took place on an alternate Earth where Marvel’s heroes lived in the Elizabethan era. One of those heroes was Peter Parquagh, the apprentice and assistant of one Sir Nicholas Fury. He eventually gets powers and becomes “the Spider.” The Spider-Verse sequel could have a blast with a Spider-Man in an Elizabethan ruff speaking in Shakespearean soliloquies. Someone call Sir Patrick Stewart to play this Spider-Man variant.

The Superior Spider-Man (Earth-616)

Marvel Comics

A few years ago, Peter Parker seemingly died. But one of his great foes, Dr. Otto Octavius, took over his body. The arrogant scientist decided to become a hero after experiencing the dying Peter’s memories, but he was still an insufferable jerk. To the world at large, he was still Peter Parker, now the CEO of Parker Industries. Otto just couldn’t understand why, with his genius, Peter Parker wasn’t rich. So, he very quickly made him rich. This arrogant jerk of a “superior” Spider-Man would certainly be a scene-stealer on screen.

Spider-Clan Spider-Man/”Manga Spider-Man” (Earth-2301)

Marvel Comics

In the early 2000s, Marvel experimented with manga versions of their iconic heroes. One of these was naturally a “manga Spider-Man.” This version of Peter Parker, hailing from Earth-2301, was a member of the ninja warriors known as the Spider Clan. He was trained in their ways by his Sensei, Ben Parker. He became the last member of the Spider Clan after Venom kills Ben under orders from the Kingpin. A Spider-Man variant with all the powers of regular Spidey and with ninja training? Sign us up.

Cosmic Spider-Man (Earth-91110)

Marvel Comics

Everyone always talks about how the X-Men’s Jean Grey got a huge cosmic power upgrade and became Phoenix. But did you know something similar happened to Peter Parker once too? Yes, in the late ’80s, Peter Parker bonded with a potent mystical cosmic force known as the Uni-power, or the Enigma Force.  The “Captain Universe” power gave Peter immeasurable strength, energy manipulation abilities, transmutation, and molecular control. He even had near-omniscience. Cosmic Spidey was short-lived, but a version of a Cosmic Spider-Man who never lost these powers still resides on Earth-91110. We’d love to see this all-powerful Spider-Man variant in Across the Spider-Verse.

Six-Armed Spider-Man (Earth-92100)

Marvel Comics

Okay, so this wasn’t originally an alternate Earth Spider-Man. This actually happened to our Peter Parker in the ’70s comics. Back in the day, Peter Parker grew an additional four arms, after injecting a chemical he hoped would take away his powers. In the regular 616 universe, his six-armed Spider-Man status is reversed, thanks to Dr. Curt Connors and the DNA of Morbius the Living Vampire. On Earth-92100 however, this reversal never happens. And Spider-Man retains eight limbs. We’d love to see this ridiculous-looking Spidey pop up at least once in Across the Spider-Verse.

The Scarlet Spider, Earth 616 (Confirmed)

Marvel Comics

A toy release confirmed this Spider-Man variant for Across the Spider-Verse. Ben Reilly is as evocative of a certain period of ’90s comics as electric Superman and armored Batman. The highly controversial (but highly selling) “Clone Saga,” introduces Ben as the long-lost clone of Peter Parker. He had all of Peter’s memories, but forged a new life for himself under a new identity. Ben (naming himself after his beloved uncle) eventually became a superhero himself, known as the Scarlet Spider.

He even took over as Spider-Man for a while, letting Peter and Mary Jane lead a civilian life. Once the Clone Saga ran its course, Ben died. But of course, he eventually returned. He’s since become beloved by those who grew up with ’90s comics. The blond Peter Parker from Into the Spider-Verse was a nod to Ben Reilly. But we think Spider-Verse 2 may give us the proper Ben Reilly at last on screen. And recent early action figures released seem to confirm this Spider-Man variant will indeed appear in Across the Spider-Verse.

Originally published on June 10, 2021.

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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was one of the greatest superhero films of all time. So naturally, we can’t wait to see Across the Spider-Verse and Beyond the Spider-Verse. Recently, rumors have been running rampant that the three big-screen live-action Spideys would appear in the two upcoming sequels. Along with other classic Spider-Mans from various cartoons and comics. And now, the digital effects experts at the Corridor YouTube channel have created an incredible version of what Tom Holland showing up in Miles Morales’ Spider-Verse might look like. You can watch the full video of Spider-Man: Everyone’s Home right here:

The Corridor Crew really outdid themselves with this video. The way in which Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, as well as Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s were rendered was just perfect. If they do show up in either of the upcoming Spider-Verse sequels, we certainly would not mind if they looked just like this.

Even the voice actor they got to portray Tom Holland’s Spidey sounded quite a bit like him in this Spider-Verse video. In a separate video, the Corridor crew detailed how they made this Spider-Verse fan film come to life, using A.I. And it’s nothing short of amazing. You can watch that one right here as well.

Of course, Marvel fans will recognize many of the other friendly neighborhood wallcrawlers who portal in, Avengers: Endgame style. Spider-Man from the classic ’90s animated series appears. Not to mention the Peter Parker from The Spectacular Spider-Man. PS4 Spidey is there too, as is the Spider-Man from the short-lived 2000s MTV series. Remember that one? That one seems like it’s forgotten today by most fans.

Maybe our favorite appearances were from two 1970s live-action Spideys, the one from the 1977 TV series, and the Japanese Spider-Man, a.k.a. ” Supaidāman.” They have confirmed the latter of those is showing up in the next film. We also got a kick out of seeing Hostess Snacks Spider-Man. (Yes, he was a real thing). For more amazing videos like these, be sure to check out the Corridor YouTube channel.

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Moviegoers haven’t exactly been fond of watching living vampires. However, Sony isn’t letting the box office and critical failure of Morbius slow down its expanding Peter Parker-free live-action Spiderverse. It’s getting back into the ring with another Spider-Man baddie. Bad Bunny will play the super-powered Marvel wrestler El Muerto in Sony’s next solo antihero film. And it will mark the first time a Latino actor will lead a Marvel film.

At this year’s CinemaCon, Sony Motion Pictures Group president Sanford Panitch announced (in news we first heard at Variety) that the studio will bring El Muerto to the screen. The film has an initial release date of January 12, 2024. Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, most commonly known by his stage name Bad Bunny, will play the title character of this Marvel movie.

Additionally, Jonás Cuarón, the son of Alfonso Cuarón, will direct the movie. And, according to The Wrap, Blue Beatle writer, Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer is writing El Muerto‘s script.

El Muerto, whose real name is Juan-Carlos Estrada Sanchez, is not an especially famous Spider-Man comic book character. He made his debut in 2006’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6. Yet he’s only made two appearances in the comics’ main Earth-616 timeline. But we can’t wait to see how Sony will bring the character to life.

Sony seemingly couldn’t have made a better choice for the role than Bad Bunny (Bullet Train). The performer’s own interests intersect perfectly with El Muerto’s story. El Muerto is a title and set of powers the character inherits from his family via a wrestling mask. He even faced off with Spider-Man in the squared circle. (El Muerto is way tougher than Bonesaw McGraw.) Sony says Sanchez will be on the verge of getting those powers in the film. And Bad Bunny doesn’t need much training for the part. He’s worked with the WWE previously. And he gave what many consider the greatest celebrity wrestling performance in company history.

And if you can earn the respect of wrestling fans, turning a minor comic book character into a star shouldn’t be that hard. Maybe just don’t wrestle any living vampires.

Originally published on April 26, 2022.

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A Madame Web movie has been in the ether for a hot minute now. But movement is finally underway. According to Deadline, Dakota Johnson is in talks to play the character in an upcoming film. Given Madame Web’s comics background, the choice is a bit surprising—and incredibly intriguing.

The film, another addition to Sony’s growing Spider-Man Universe franchise, features a script from Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. S.J. Clarkson is on tap to direct. It’s Sony’s first woman-led superhero flick, joining the Venom films, the forever-upcoming Morbius—which finally drops in April 2022—and 2023’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson-led Kraven the Hunter. In addition to Johnson, Variety reported in mid-March that Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria) has joined Madame Web in an undisclosed role. Ghostbusters: Afterlife‘s Celeste O’Connor will also appear in the film, as will The Flight Attendant’s Zosia Mamet. Isabela Merced has also come on board. Further, Emma Roberts has joined the cast in an undisclosed role. And finally, Severance‘s Adam Scott has come aboard Madame Web in an undisclosed role.

Additionally, according to Variety, Sony has now delayed the Madame Web movie. Instead of releasing on July 7, 2023, Madame Web will release on February 16, 2024. 

Madame Web is a pretty fascinating character to have at the center of a film. Most notably, because she is a long-supporting figure in the comics. And further, has never anchored her own series. An elderly blind woman with a myasthenia gravis, Madame Web—a.k.a. Cassandra Webb—has a life support system that looks like a spiderweb. First appearing in an Amazing Spider-Man issue in the early ’80s, the character generally assists Spider-Man using clairvoyance. Due to her supporting role, she’s never faced off against any villains and, as such, doesn’t really have any evil foes to speak of.  

But that’s not to say Sony doesn’t have giant plans for the character. Deadline ominously notes that “sources have stressed it’s possible the project could turn into something else.” (Like a ham sandwich?) So what does this mean exactly? There’s not exactly a comics history featuring younger Cassandra Webb, which is certainly an interesting avenue. But more than likely, Sony will want to set this project in the present, alongside the rest of its Spider-Man Universe roster. Most recently, Deadline noted, “The film will be an origin story of the clairvoyant, whose psychic abilities allow her to see within the spider world.”

There’s also the possibility of a film centered on Julia Carpenter. The character becomes Madame Web after Cassandra Webb passes on her clairvoyance (as well as her blindness) after she’s mortally wounded in a 2010 issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. So while Madame Web is a curious character to frame an entire film around, there are options. We’ll be keeping an eye out for any exciting updates on the Madame Web movie.

Featured image: Apple TV+/Marvel Comics/Netflix

Originally published February 3, 2022.

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Memes are their own form of internet wildlife. Some have short life spans, like fruit flys. But others age just like tortoises. They just seem to live forever practically. Such is the case with the “Spider-Man pointing” meme. Originally born from the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon series, it has since taken on new meaning in the social media age. And now, it’s become a collectible 1:10 scale sculpture from the folks at Iron Studios.

You can see product photos in our gallery below. And you read the official description for this unique Spidey collectible right here:

Raising his right arm, the friendly neighborhood arachnid superhero points to an identical figure, that repeats the same gesture, in a fun and confusing scene from his first animated series, that became one of the most popular memes on the internet. Inspired by this iconic meme, derivative from the episode “Double Identity”, the 19th episode of the hero’s classic animation from the ‘60s where a villain tries to impersonate the hero, Iron Studios present the statue “Spider-Man ‘60s Animated Series – Spider-Man – Art Scale 1/10”, faithful down to the smallest details, even in the absence of some, to the visual of the beloved wall climber’s original cartoon, with the hero over a pedestal next to a wooden crate, referring to the background scenery of this unusual moment in the animation.

Click To View Gallery

The polystone statue is in 1:10 scale, which means that it stands eight inches tall. They sculpted it to look just like the Spidey of the original animated series. That means the costume has less webbing on the torso, a specific trait of ’60s Saturday morning cartoon Spider-Man. Of course, for the full effect of recreating this meme, you’ll need to buy two identical pointing Spider-Mans. Each of these statues comes priced at $162, so to fully recreate the now-iconic moment will cost a pretty penny. You can pre-order this statue now, but don’t expect it to ship until August 2023.

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I didn’t understand what was wrong with me. Sure, I’d seen all the movies and knew through conventional wisdom that being a nerd wasn’t exactly the gateway to popularity as a young buck. Whatever famous quote there is about knowledge not equating to experience is true. There’s a very specific kind of pain when the things you like—and the worlds you choose to inhabit—are deemed to be “weird” and “stupid.”

As a result, during the school year especially, I spent many weekends in my room. I’d play a game of Mario Party against nobody but the computer-controlled Waluigi who always managed to steal my stars. Looking back, I’m thankful that Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) comic by Brian Michael Bendis with artwork by Stuart Immonen and Mark Bagley—which remains my favorite fictional story across any medium to this day—became my friend when I needed one the most. 

My early childhood wasn’t awful; however, there was plenty of loneliness and self-consciousness in it. Were video games some terrible thing? Was there something wrong with enjoying that old Sonic the Hedgehog movie? Was it bad that I loved Yu-Gi-Oh! and collecting Bionicle LEGO figures? I thought I was a nice and friendly kid, but was I actually a jerk? 

Of course, I didn’t know it at the time, but part of the ostracization from kids partially came from being at a small private middle school with predominately white kids. But on the other side of things, being around my fellow Hispanic brethren was just a different kind of pain. I still remember the times people would mock me for “not really being Spanish” because I fancied a weekend of playing Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal over playing soccer. 

That’s where Ultimate Spider-Man—which had an iconic run from September 2000 to June 2011—comes into my life. I certainly loved Spider-Man before this comic run after first meeting the character through Sam Raimi’s films. But this was another thing entirely. My discovery of this comic series was totally accidental. My mom bought me a textbook for school with art that I didn’t recognize. I thought,” Wait, why does it say Ultimate? I want to be Ultimate!” And the rest is, as the cool kids say, history.

There was something about the look of Ultimate Spider-Man that immediately felt more relatable. He really was a teenager, which I couldn’t exactly saying for Tobey Maguire. So, whenever I felt alone, I simply viewed Ultimate Spider-Man as one of my best friends. In middle school, I loved his silly, cocky attitude, like the time he insulted the big mean bully Kingpin—a figure that my unpopular-self knew all too well. Spidey literally whipped out flash cards with jokes on them to get his point across.

I also loved when he met up with other heroes. The story was showing me a warmth and a hope that, like Spider-Man, I’d eventually stumble into “different” people like me. His many interactions with the X-Men, when the Human Torch came to Spidey’s high school and they all went down to the beach together, and even when Spidey and Wolverine temporarily switched bodies were such precious moments. Every issue felt like preparation for a fun hangout.

When I got into high school, I began to connect with the character on a deeper level than just quirky jokes and other superhero cameos. It was the Peter Parker side—the vulnerable, anxiety-ridden mess. The guy who was constantly unsure and having inconveniences that seem enormous at that age alongside genuine tragedy. His many girl troubles, class attendance worries, and even his job at the Daily Bugle struck a chord with me. I worried about girls too and I struggled with school! And I wondered, constantly, about what the heck my career would entail!

The deeper things with Peter always hit too, even beyond Uncle Ben. Sometimes, they weren’t treated in some epic, self-aggrandizing way. Peter’s frustration with how the Kingpin’s constant vindication by an unjust system, and particularly the death of Gwen Stacy by the symbiote Carnage, rang true. It seemingly came out of nowhere—almost as if the series was simply saying “s**t happens,” for a lack of a better term. 

There was even a small moment, when he and the X-Men are captured by Deadpool to compete on a life-or-death game show for mutant-hating viewers. Kitty Pryde—who shares a brief but wholesome and adorable relationship with Peter—points out how hate gets affects us after a while. This sentiment didn’t bang me over the head, because it didn’t need much explanation. It just was. 

It’s often forgotten, thanks to his plucky attitude, how dark Spider-Man stories can be. And despite all of that, Peter just keeps going. Not because he has some grand ideas about saving the world. But just because he has to try. Is it possible that it’s all pointless? Is the hate in the world too much? Probably. But we still try anyway. Even in the final moments of his life when a sniper shot from the Punisher left him bleeding, he still does everything he can to protect the people who he cares about the most. Not to save the world, just to save his family. 

I don’t want to make some dramatic statement about how Ultimate Spider-Man “saved” me from the world. I still had a couple of friends. And my unbelievably supportive parents gave me a rather privileged upbringing. Rather, it was just something that was there for me. It was a safe space. In an age where—for better and worse—superheroes have become the main fixture of pop culture, I think some of their defining messages can get lost in translation. I think, fundamentally, one of the most important takeaways is that being different is okay. 

Ultimate Spider-Man helped me realize this fact as a guiding force when folks around me ravaged the things I enjoyed. I realized that I, too, can be cool. There will be rough patches, and tragedies will come my way, but it’s okay. That’s just part of growing up. And I did indeed meet plenty of fellow super-nerds who are there for me.

At this stage of my life, I’ve come to believe that we are, indeed, likely doomed. But I try anyway, and I think anyone who reads this should, too. Because even if there’s the slightest atomical chance for a better existence, we owe it to those less fortunate than us to try. We all have great power, in our unique ways, and a great responsibility. Ultimate Spider-Man echoed this sentiment the best, and I’m glad my curious younger self discovered it. 

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We recently told you about the mod for Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered that allows for players to swing around New York as Stan Lee. Thought that was out of left field? Thanks to Comic Book, we’ve discovered that there’s a mod that’s even weirder. Because now you can play as Uncle Ben’s gravestone instead of as Peter Parker himself. The mod offers players the option to “become Uncle Ben himself.” And yes, it sort of does that? We guess it’s a classier, less gross option than “zombie Uncle Ben.”

The morbid mod came to life (so to speak) thanks to a user who goes by Saphire. Another user later uploaded it to the Nexus Mods site, named HomelanderSoldierBoy. (Guess someone’s a big fan of The Boys). The only image we saw on this mod’s page displays the gravestone for Uncle Ben with an inscription they displayed in the game itself. One which gives Uncle Ben’s year of death as 2010. This puts the game’s Peter Parker at about thirty years old, assuming he was about sixteen or so when the spider bit him. The gravestone is actually an asset in the game.

Players are going to need the SMPCTool mod installed if they want to use this Uncle Ben gravestone. If a player’s got Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered via Steam, then that’s all they’ll need. Now, here’s what we want to know. When is someone going to make a mod for Aunt May? And we’re talking comic book Aunt May. From back when Marvel artists drew her as if she was 150 years old. Long before the days of young Aunt May in the MCU. That’s the mod we want to see in Spider-Man Remastered. Ok, that and Ms. Lion, Peter Parker’s Llahsa Opso dog from Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. Explore the whole Spider-verse, we say!

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It’s been three years since we lost Stan “The Man” Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man, not to mention a metric ton of other Marvel Comics icons like Iron Man. One of the most offputting bits of Phase 4 MCU is not seeing Stan mugging for the camera in a cameo scene, as he did in nearly 40 Marvel-based films over the past 20 years. But in the world of video games at least, Stan Lee lives on. Well, in a manner of speaking. A mod for the Spider-Man video game lets players play as Stan Lee.

In news we first spotted at GameSpot, you can now play as Stan Lee in Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered for PC. The mods for the game added several new costumes for Spidey to wear, pulling from the character’s long history. But the coolest Spidey “costume” is simply getting to play as Spidey’s daddy himself, Stan Lee. If you’re so inclined to swing through New York shouting “Excelsior,” you can find the Stan mod by clicking here. And you can watch an example of the Stan Lee mod in the video above, from YouTuber Dracul.

Marvel recently signed a deal with the Stan Lee estate that allows the company to license his name and likeness for all manner of media over the next 20 years. So we doubt this is the last time “Spider-Stan” gets to be part of a game. The mod replaces the Spider Clan suit from the main game with one of Stan Lee wearing a tuxedo. Players can then swap the head in the “Bombastic Bag-Man” suit with Stan’s.

For those of you who are unaware, the Bombastic Bag Man is the spare Fantastic Four costume Peter Parker once wore, in which he had a brown paper bag over his head. This is when Peter and the black symbiote costume separated in the Fantastic Four’s Baxter Building, but Peter still needed to swing around to get home. Marvel Comics’ history is wild, folks. Marvel’s Spider-Man is out now on PC via Steam and Epic Games store.

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Avengers: Secret Wars is coming in a few years, landing in Phase 6 of the MCU and capping off Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga. How loyal this Avengers movie will remain to the original 1984 event comic, or its 2015 reinvention of Secret Wars, is still a mystery. But the MCU version of Secret Wars won’t be the first time Marvel has adapted the seminal comics. Back in the ’90s, Spider-Man: The Animated Series did its own (fairly loose) adaptation. For a whole generation of kids, this was “their” Secret Wars.

The producers of Spider-Man: The Animated Series stuck to some key elements of the comic but took some wild swings too. Now, the folks at Comics Alliance have created a video detailing the 3-part Spider-Man: TAS version of Secret Wars. And this rendition of Secret Wars may give us a hint as to how the MCU might condense such a sprawling story into a relatively brief runtime. You can check out the full video above.

The Spider-Man version of Secret Wars kept certain core parts from the original 1984 comic, such as the omnipotent Beyonder, and his superhero vs. supervillain planet, Battleworld. But the roster of heroes was much smaller on TV. The creators kept it to Spidey, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America, and the X-Men’s Storm. Almost all the villains in this rendition of Secret Wars were Spidey villains as well. In fact, Lizard took over the role Magneto played in the comic event, acting as the “bad guy on the good guy’s team.” Luckily, Doctor Doom was still the main baddie. Just as in the comics.

The 1997 Spider-Man: TAS version made things even more Spidey-centric than that, though. In a team with Reed Richards, Iron Man, Captain America, and a literal goddess like Storm, they made Peter Parker the leader of the heroes. And they added Black Cat, who was nowhere to be found in the original comics. Also not in the original comics, but appearing in the cartoon, were Blade and Morbius. It’s hard to say whether the MCU’s Secret Wars will take anything from this rendition.

These three episodes led to the final two, which were actually a very early iteration of the Spider-Verse, all decades before the comics. In 2017, the animated series Avengers: Assemble also did its own version of Secret Wars, far more tied to Loki and Asgard. It was ok but lacked the charm of the ’90s Spidey version. That one was truly a wild adaptation of Secret Wars but a reminder that with the right storytellers, one could pull it off. Even on weekday afternoon television.

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