Alternative versions of Spider-Man

Alternate versions of Spider-Man
The many versions of Spider-Man. Art by Gabriele Dell'Otto. Note:Click image for better view.
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962)
Created by	Stan Lee Steve Ditko
See also	Spider-Man in other media Spider-Man video games Spider-Man television series List of incarnations of Spider-Man

Spider-Man (also described as Spider-Men and Spider-Totem) is the name of multiple comic book characters from the Marvel Comics Multiverse. The original and most well known is Peter Parker created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko originating from the Earth 616 universe. Within the mainstream Marvel Universe there have been other characters that have taken the mantle such as Ben Reilly and Doctor Octavius.

Outside of the mainstream universe, there are different incarnations of Spider-Man in alternate universes such as the Ultimate universe version. Originally, these characters were depicted as separate from each other, but they have crossed over together in Spider-Verse, where the many versions of Spider-Men are the major protagonists of the storyline. These characters were later merged in the same universe in the 2015 comic book series Secret Wars as a part of the Spider-Man family.

Earth-616

Other universes

Other related characters exist in alternative versions of the Marvel Universe called the Multiverse. These characters originally appeared in their own continuity but later on crossed over with the mainstream Spider-Man family. In 2015 all the alternate comic book universes were destroyed and only a few characters joined together with Earth-616 characters in its own universe including various Spider-Men.

DC Crossovers

In the intercompany crossovers with DC Comics, Spider-Man has worked alongside Superman twice, once to defeat Dr. Octopus and Lex Luthor and the other to stop Doctor Doom from providing the Parasite with long-term access to the power of the Hulk and Wonder Woman. He also worked alongside Batman to defeat Carnage and the Joker, the two later collaborating to defeat the Kingpin and Ra's al Ghul, with Fisk eventually aiding the heroes in the end.

Earth X

In the series Earth X and its sequels, Peter Parker is no longer a superhero and during the course of the series becomes a police officer. Three other related characters appear:

Exiles

In the series Exiles, which involves inter-dimensional travel, several alternative versions appear:

• The Spider is an alternative version of Spider-Man who merged with the Carnage-symbiote and has become a psychopathic killer. Before being displaced in time, he had been on death row in his home reality.^[1] He originates from Earth-15 and was a member of Weapon X.
• A Spider-Man who is a member of the Fantastic Five dies in a battle against The Spider.^[2]
• A Peter Parker is part of a mutant super hero team, Force-X, led by Emma Frost. His codename is "Spider". His outfit is the standard Force-X uniform and he wears goggles instead of a mask. Also, his webbing is organic.^[3]
• A version of Peter Parker exists, who is a child abused by his Uncle Ben. While locked in the cellar, he is befriended by a large spider-like creature, the Tallus instructs Blink and Nocturne to lead this universe's incarnation of Wolverine to the run down shack the Parkers call home, a fight ensues and the creature and Wolverine are both slain, as Blink and Nocturne depart this reality, it is shown that the creature bit the young Peter.^[4]
• Morph fought a Demon Spider-Man on an alternative world. Later, the Demon Spider-Man was viewed briefly by Mojo and Major Domo as it attacked a young couple in a parking complex, but Spider-Man killed himself.^[5]

House of M

In the "House of M", a Marvel crossover, the Scarlet Witch alters reality to make mutants the ruling class over humans. This world is ruled by mutants and their leader, Magneto. In the mini-series Spider-Man: House of M, Peter Parker is believed to be a mutant, and Spider-Man's identity is widely known. He is rich, famous and married to Gwen Stacy, and they have a young son named Ritchie. Aunt May and Uncle Ben are alive and in good health, and J. Jonah Jameson is Peter's often-abused publicist. Unfortunately, his life unravels when Jameson reveals to the world that Spider-Man is not a born mutant. After the world is restored to normal, Peter suffers terribly with the memory of the life he left behind, expressing a desire to kill Magneto, whom he mistakenly believes was behind the events of House of M, and the Scarlet Witch, whose powers were responsible for the altered reality.^[6] This version is later killed by Karn during the Spider-Verse event.

The Manga

Spider-Man: The Manga is a Japanese manga illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami which retold the story of Spider-Man in a Japanese setting. It was originally published in Japan from January 1970 to September 1971 in Monthly Shōnen Magazine. The main character is named Yu Komori (小森ユウ, Komori Yū) to maintain the Japanese adaptation.

Marvel Mangaverse

Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
Mangaverse Spider-Man. Art by Tommy Ohtsuka
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Marvel Mangaverse: Spider-Man (2002)
Created by	Kaare Andrews
In-story information
Alter ego	Peter Parker

The Marvel Mangaverse is a comic book universe which was set in the Marvel Comics Multiverse created by Ben Dunn. The universe's incarnation of Peter Parker debuted in Marvel Mangaverse: Spider-Man (2002) the first of a five-part mini-series, which was created, written and drawn by Kaare Andrews.^[7] Andrews depicted this version of Spider-Man as a ninja and the last of the Spider Clan after his Uncle Ben was killed by Venom.^{[8][9][10][11]} The character is the third depicted manga version of Spider-Man after Spider-Man: The Manga and Spider-Man J.^[8]

The Mangaverse Spider-Man first appeared in the first series (created, written and drawn by Kaare Andrews) where his origin was very different from the regular Marvel Spider-Man. In the Mangaverse Peter Parker is the last member of the Spider Clan of ninjas and has been taught martial arts by his sensei, Uncle Ben. After Ben's murder by Venom, an underling of the Kingpin, Peter starts to train in secret so he will be strong enough to exact his revenge. In this version of Spider-Man, Aunt May is Peter's mother's sister instead of Uncle Ben being his father's brother. The Mangaverse Spider-Man was brought back for his own mini-series (again written by original creator Kaare Andrews) in which he encounters a cybernetic version of the Black Cat, as well as the Venom symbiote. This symbiote does not become Venom and has mystical origins and connections to an 'evil' clan of Ninja who are affiliated with Spiders, apparently a counterpart to Spider-Man's own ninja clan. Norman Osborn, better known as the Green Goblin, has a minor appearance in the series.

In New Mangaverse: The Rings of Fate, references are made to both the death of Captain America and in the Spider-Man: Legend of the Spider Clan miniseries which introduced his black costume and the Mangaverse Black Cat. During the course of this series, Spider-Man develops the unexpected ability to shoot webbing, which surprises him entirely. He is also the object of affection for both the Black Cat (though she later turns out to have been in league with the Mangaverse Nick Fury, her true loyalty unknown), and Mary Jane Watson, who becomes the Mangaverse version of Spider-Woman, and is shown to be being trained by Peter in the ways of the Spider-Clan.

Unlike in the mainline Marvel Universe where Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, and Felicia Hardy are now adults, all three of them are in their early to mid-teens at this point, and possibly their mid-to-late teens by the time of New Mangaverse. This version of Spidey has wrapped gloves, a backpack emblazoned with the spider symbol, and tennis shoes.

The Mangaverse incarnation later appears in the crossover comic book storyline entitled Spider-Verse.^[12][13][14] He was one of the starred characters in the anthology comic book Spider-Verse #1 starring in the story "Spider Clan: The Many" continuing the Marvel Mangaverse series that starred him before. The story is written by Skottie Young and Jake Andrews. Jesse Schedeen of IGN explained that despite that "fans of the Mangaverse Spider-Man will be pleased to see that Peter Parker return", he expressed Kaare Andrews not returning as unfortunate and also expressing disappointment with the new writers. He felt that Young "goes through a lot of effort in sending Peter on a journey to confront his heritage, only for it not to matter much in the end." He also compared it as Avatar: The Last Airbender-lite than being truly manga-inspired.^[15] Meanwhile, comic book writer Nick Lowe complimented their work calling it "great".^[13]

During the Spider-Verse crossover event, Mangaverse Spider-Man also appears teaming up with SP//dr, Spider-Man J, and Mecha Spider-Man.^[16] Jesse Schedeen praised that scene, describing as one of the highlights of the comics book issue.^[17]

Shane Denson of Transnational Perspectives on Graphic Narratives: Comics at the Crossroads was negative on the mini-series starring the comic book character feeling that it didn't offer enough transnational and transcultural themes unlike the other manga series starring Spider-Man. He also compared it to Star Wars with Uncle Ben being much like Yoda, Spider-Man being like Luke Skywalker and Venom being like Darth Vader with him being revealed as Spider-Man's cousin.^[8]

• The Marvel Mangaverse's Spider-Man suit appears in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. It is an alternate costume for Ultimate Spider-Man.^[18][19][20]
• The mangaverse Spider-Man is an unlockable playable character in Spider-Man Unlimited. He is depicted as the first alternate dimension recruit to help the main version of Spider-Man.^[21][22]

Marvel Adventures

This version of Spider-Man first appeared in Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #53-#61 before appearing in the re-titled Spider-Man: Marvel Adventures comic book series. A modern-day high school student, this Spider-Man's origin is similar to his mainstream counterpart, but his supporting cast is significantly different. Although Gwen Stacy exists in this universe, she and Peter are not dating—instead Peter is dating a brand-new character named Sophia "Chat" Sanduval, who is a mutant with the ability to talk to animals. Peter's relationship with Gwen's father Captain George Stacy also differs from the original version—here, Captain Stacy discovers Peter's secret identity early on, yet rather than hide this information from Peter (as his mainstream counterpart did), he confides in Peter and becomes Spider-Man's unofficial police contact. While this Spider-Man battles super villains, he is generally more concerned with combating street-level crime and focuses heavily on taking down the Torino Family, a powerful New York City mob.

MC2

An alternative version of Peter Parker also exists in the Marvel Comics 2 (MC2) universe, appearing as a supporting character in Spider-Girl.

The title follows almost the entire original timeline of the character up until the first attempt at a "relaunch" by the company, 1999, where it deviates and provides an alternative ending to the Final Chapter storyline. Peter's wayward daughter May is revealed to be alive and well, and is returned to both Parkers by Peter's first clone, the redeemed Kaine. Despite now being a father, Peter continues to fight crime as Spider-Man, and begins to cope with the new responsibilities brought by his baby daughter.

Two years later, during his final battle against the Green Goblin, rather than survive unscathed, Peter loses a leg to his arch-enemy and Osborn is killed. Peter finally realizes the price he has paid for being Spider-Man, and ends his career to raise a family with Mary Jane and May. Over the years, he overcomes his physical handicap and ultimately joins the NYPD in a scientific capacity. However, after saving him from an insane Normie Osborn, his daughter May "Mayday" Parker begins a career as Spider-Girl behind his back, a decision Peter begrudgingly is forced to accept and deal with, made difficult by his love for May.

Regardless of his handicap, Peter returned to the role of Spider-Man several times. Once was to aid his daughter and Darkdevil, the son of Ben Reilly, against Kaine, another to convince the latest Spider-Man (the son of Jessica Drew), to cease risking his life, and in the 100th issue of the Spider-Girl title to save May from the Hobgoblin. Peter and MJ ultimately have a second child, Benjamin "Benjy" Parker Jr, who is temporarily rendered deaf after possession by the Carnage symbiote and being blasted with high-frequency sonics. Benjy later develops powers of his own at an infant age. Peter was killed by Daemos, the brother of Morlun, during the Spider-Verse event while trying to protect Benjy and Mayday.

Spider-Girl

The Spider-Girl comic book series, originally published under the MC2 imprint, features May "Mayday" Parker, Peter's daughter in an alternative continuity. This timeline diverged from regular continuity when Peter and Mary Jane's daughter is returned to them by Kaine. In Spider-Girl, Peter has been retired from crime fighting since his final battle with the Green Goblin, which cost him a leg. Peter has settled down to family life and works for the New York City Police Department as a forensic scientist. His teen daughter May follows in his footsteps against his wishes, but Peter eventually helps her train for her calling. Peter appears in costume several times in Spider-Girl, either to restrain and protect May, or to assist her. Peter is among the superheroes kidnapped by Loki in the spin-off Last Hero Standing.

In the recent Spider-Girl storyline "Brand New May", Peter has uncovered a lab, within it is a stasis tank containing an exact physical duplicate of Mayday Parker, with notes left behind by Norman Osborn suggesting she is the real Mayday, and not a clone. When protecting his nephew Normie from an exploding test tube, Peter is affected by the serum within much like Osborn was...and begins to develop erratic behavior. He ultimately overcomes an attempt by Norman Osborn to control his mind and defeats him with the aid of his daughter, her clone, and the spirit of his Aunt May.

Spider-Man (Gerry Drew)

Spider-Man
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Spider-Girl #32 (May 2001)
Created by	Tom DeFalco Ron Frenz
In-story information
Alter ego	Gerald "Gerry" Drew
Abilities	Spider-like superhuman strength, speed, agility, wall crawling, can fire organic webs from wrists.

In the same MC2 continuity as Spider-Girl, Gerald "Gerry" Drew, the son of Jessica Drew, inherits spider-powers and poses as Spider-Man. Created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, he first appeared in Spider-Girl #32 (May 2001), and is a supporting character of Spider-Girl.

Within the context of the stories, Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman, had retired from super heroics, and gotten married. She gives birth to a baby boy, Gerry, who was diagnosed with a strange blood-borne disorder due to radiation exposure in the womb. With doctors and medicines unable to help her son, Jessica recreates the experiment that cured her of her radiation poisoning, the experiment that made her Spider-Woman. The experiment imbues Gerry with spider-like powers, but did not cure him. Gerry's illness strains his parents' marriage and leads to their divorce. Feeling responsible for the break-up, Gerry becomes withdrawn. Jessica tries to alleviate his pain by telling him stories from her past, his favorites involving Spider-Man.

Determined to make his short time on Earth count, Gerry designs his own Spider-Man costume and equipment based from his idol's, and convinces his mother to train him in how to use his powers. Calling himself Spider-Man, he meets Spider-Girl, and the two initially clash.^[23] During a fight between several villains, a bullet intended for Spider-Man kills one of the villains when Spider-Girl shoves him out of its way. Upset that he was responsible for a death, Gerry runs into Darkdevil, who trains him to be a more effective crime fighter. At the request of Peter Parker, the original Spider-Man, Gerry decides to retire from super heroic adventuring while Reed Richards searches for a cure for his blood disease.

Spider-Monkey

A Spider monkey-themed Spider-Man appearing in Marvel Apes. The character was later killed off by Jennix in the Spider-Verse storyline.

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects

In the Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects series, set in Earth-50701, Spider-Man was abducted by an alien scientist name Doctor Niles Van Roekel. The Thing, Wolverine, Elektra, Human Torch, and Storm are also abducted and injected with a drug in an attempt to corrupt them. Once infected Spider-Man's costume is brown-and-bronze with a blue spider mark in his chest. Spider-Man and the other heroes are eventually able to fight off the corrupting infection and defeat Van Roekel. In the aftermath of the invasion, Paragon and the Imperfects join together to share the Earth with the heroes.^[24]

Marvel Zombies version

The Marvel Zombies universe features a Spider-Man who has been turned into a flesh-eating zombie after being infected by Zombie Captain America.^[25] Although Spider-Man is just as ravenous as the other zombies when hungry, when he has eaten, Spider-Man is racked with guilt at what he has done, especially for having eaten Mary Jane and Aunt May, but unable to change his nature.^[26] At the conclusion of the original series, Spider-Man is one of the heroes who become The Galacti, having consumed the original Galactus and subsequently acquiring his cosmic powers.^[27]

In Marvel Zombies 2, he notices that his hunger is starting to fade and, as a result, is the first of the Galacti to turn against his fellow zombies.^[28] Eventually with the aid of Forge, Malcom, and the Acolytes, the zombies retaining their hunger are defeated. Spider-Man is one of the zombies that remain and continue work to rebuild New Wakanda, and bury the dead.

In Marvel Zombies Return Spider-Man is teleported to a new world, where he consumes and infects the Sinister Six (except for Sandman). As his cosmic abilities did not come with him, and his webshooters have dried up, the zombified superhero is forced to make do with his own veins and arteries. Following the death of the Spider-Man of this universe (killed by Sandman in revenge for the deaths of the Sinister Six)^[29] the zombie Spider-Man works on developing a cure for the plague with the aid of the Kitty Pryde of this universe, using nanites and the blood of this world's Wolverine.^[30] With the zombie Giant-Man having followed Spider-Man to this new reality, Spider-Man resolves to stop Giant-Man.^[31] Spider-Man releases the Sandman, now infused with nanites, and wipes out every zombie hero and villain. Zombie Spider-Man dies from being exposed to his own weapon.

Mutant X

The Mutant X version of Spider-Man diverges from his mainstream counterpart in Amazing Spider-Man #102, in that he was unable or unwilling to cure himself of having six arms. For unexplained reasons, he reverses his name to Man-Spider. A third divergence occurs when he and his clone continue to coexist after the end of the original Clone Saga. The two keep this a secret by taking care to never appear in public at the same time,^[32] but "Man-Spider" is forced to admit the truth after his clone is killed by Madelyne Pryor.^[33] He himself is later killed.^[34]

Newspaper strip

The Peter Parker of the daily Spider-Man newspaper strip continues his career as a struggling photographer constantly facing down the abuse of his less-than-satisfied boss J. Jonah Jameson, whilst battling crime in his disguise as Spider-Man. In addition to opposing classic enemies, much of the strip sees Peter battle new enemies. He has also teamed up with various heroes through the strip's run, such as Daredevil and Wolverine. He is married to Mary Jane in this continuity, and has often been aided by her in his battles with his enemies. This universe was visited by Morlun during the Spider-Verse event, but due to time distortions constantly resetting things so that the simplest actions take weeks to progress, Morlun finds his efforts to consume this version of Peter fruitless. The Master Weaver of the Inheritors elects to rebel against his masters for once and seals this universe away in a pocket dimension where it will remain safe from any further attacks.^[35]

Powerless

Marvel published a limited series called Powerless in 2004, which tells how the Marvel Universe would be without super-powers. In this series, Peter Parker appears as a young man nicknamed Spider-Man on the internet. This version had also been bitten by a radioactive spider, but instead of getting super-powers his hand became atrophic. In this continuity, Peter is in love with Gwen Stacy; Mary Jane is not featured.^[36]

Ruins

Warren Ellis's parody of Kurt Busiek's Marvels, Ruins, was a two-part miniseries set in an alternative universe where the situations that led to the heroes of the Marvel Universe gaining superpowers instead led to the more realistic side effects of horrific deformities and deaths. In this world, when Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, instead of gaining powers, he broke out into an infectious rash that covered his body before his painful death. He had visited the offices of the Daily Bugle beforehand and infected fellow photographer Phil Sheldon, who set off to figure out how his world took a wrong turn, but succumbed to the disease before he could write his book.

Spider-Boy

In the Amalgam Comics continuity, Spider-Man was combined with DC's Superboy to create Spider-Boy. He was featured in Spider-Boy #1 (April 1996) and Spider-Boy Team-Up #1 (June 1997). In this continuity, Spider-Boy is the clone of researcher Peter Parker, created during an explosion in the Project Cadmus Labs. Adopted by Cadmus director General Thunderbolt Ross, he is given the name "Pete Ross". Spider-Boy's power is the ability to redirect his own personal gravity, giving him the ability to climb walls, and to increase his strength. He is able to shoot webs using a special "Web Gun" developed by Cadmus. Spider-Boy is an honorary member of the Legion of Galactic Guardians 2099 (an amalgamation of DC's Legion of Superheroes and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy plus the Marvel 2099 timeline).

Spectacular Spider-Man Adventures

The United Kingdom based Panini Comics publication Spectacular Spider-Man Adventures was loosely based on the continuity of the 1990s animated series.^[37] In the series Peter Parker deals with the day-to-day headaches of balancing a social life with his super-heroics. He has a close circle of friends such as Liz Allen, Harry Osborn, and Flash Thompson, and he is involved in a relationship with Mary Jane. However, in this continuity, Mary Jane does not possess an existing knowledge of his dual identity, and thus Peter finds juggling his life with her and his crime-fighting career difficult. Despite this, Mary Jane loyally supports Peter, believing it is his dangerous job as a photographer that keeps him away from dates and other activities. A look into the future reveals Peter and MJ ultimately get married in this continuity, and have a daughter, May, who is active as Spider-Girl. At some point in this future, Peter loses his leg, which forces him to retire as Spider-Man.^[38]

Spider-Ham

Spider-Man 1602

Peter Parquagh is a counterpart to Peter in the miniseries Marvel 1602, albeit without powers. In the series he acts as an apprentice to the royal spymaster Sir Nicholas Fury. A running gag involves Peter repeatedly almost getting bitten by unusual spiders, something that finally occurs at the very end. In the sequel, 1602: New World, he takes the identity of the Spider. Later, Peter's dual identity is revealed, and with the death of his beloved Virginia Dare at the hands of Norman Osborne, he returns to Europe and falls in love with Marion Jane Watson and joins her family of theater performers. During a battle with Baron Octavius, Norman Osborn, and Curtis Connors in Venice, a bystander picks up some of Peter's webbing which eventually served as the basis for the Super Soldier Serum and created Captain America in World War II in this universe.^[39] While in the Globe theatre, he is attacked and killed by the super villain Morlun.^[40][41] Spider-Man 1602 appears in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions as an alternative costume for Spider-Man Noir, and in Edge of Time as a costume for Miguel O'Hara.

Spider-Man 2099

A geneticist named Miguel O'Hara gained his spider-like powers from a gene-splicing incident, when the company he was about to quit injected him with a dangerous drug called Rapture. He tried to rid himself of the drug by using the Gene Slicer he helped to invent, but unbeknownst to him a jealous co-worker had set it to repeat the previous experiment of a spider. The last time they had tried this experiment it killed the test subject (the main reason Miguel O'Hara quit), but this time it worked. Instead of becoming a company owned version of Spider-Man he became the opposite, a Spider-Man to fight Alchemax and the other large corporations ruling the world in 2099. He now fights crime as the Spider-Man of 2099.^[42]

He is a playable character in the video games Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions and Spider-Man: Edge of Time, with Edge of Time seeing him pitted against a psychotic version of Peter Parker in 2099, this Peter having become the CEO of Alchemax and attempting to rewrite the universe to fit his vision. CEO Peter uses an elaborate spider-based robot in his fight against Miguel, but Miguel is able to defeat him by using the tentacles of Atrocity- a twisted hybrid of Anti-Venom, Doctor Octopus, and Alchemax employee Walker Sloan- to weaken CEO Peter's powers.

Spider-Man 2211

Spider-Man 2211
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Spider-Man 2099 Meets Spider-Man (November 1995)
Created by	Peter David Rick Leonardi
In-story information
Alter ego	Dr. Max Borne

Spider-Man (Max Borne), also known as Spider-Man 2211, is a superhero who appears in comics published by Marvel Comics. Created by Peter David and Rick Leonardi, he first appeared in Spider-Man 2099 Meets Spider-Man (November 1995).

Within the context of the stories, Dr. Max Borne^[43] is from the year 2211, the Spider-Man of that year. In his first appearance he aids two other Spider-Men, Peter Parker and Miguel O'Hara, in defeating the Hobgoblin of 2211, his main enemy.^[44] This Hobgoblin is Robin Borne, his daughter, driven insane when she was infected by a nanovirus.^[45] Spider-Man 2211 is later shot and killed by the Chameleon of the year 2211, posing as Uncle Ben.^[46]

Spider-Man (Bruce Banner)

In Bullet Points, Peter Parker is Hulk and Bruce Banner is Spider-Man. Peter is killed by Galactus, and Bruce is killed by Daemos during the Spider-Verse event while trying to extract Kaine from Earth-616.

Spider-Man: Chapter One

The miniseries Spider-Man: Chapter One was John Byrne's attempt to reimagine Spider-Man's early years, (similar to the revamp given to Superman), giving him a new but similar origin. The series is no longer considered canon within the Earth-616 universe but is set in its own universe.

Spider-Man Fairy Tales

• Anansi. A playful trickster God based off the West African mythological figure of the same name.^[47] He is also featured in Spider-Verse^[48]
• Izumi, a Japanese boy who is bitten by a Tsuchigumo version of Venom and transforms into Spider-Man.^[49]
• The Prince of Arachne, a knight version of Peter Parker in an altered retelling of Cinderella.^[50] He is killed by Solus in Spider-Verse.^[51]

Spider-Man J

Just one of many manga related Spider-Man characters. The character later crossed over in Spider-Verse with the Marvel Mangaverse version and The Manga version.

Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane

Spider-Man (Pavitr Prabhakar)

Spider-Man (Pavitr Prabhakar)
An Indian version of Spider-Man
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Spider-Man: India #1 (January 2005)
In-story information
Alter ego	Pavitr Prabhakar

Pavitr Prabhakar debuted in Spider-Man: India, a comic book that originally published in India by Gotham Entertainment Group in 2004, retelling the story of Spider-Man in an Indian setting.^[52]

Pavitr Prabhakar, a simple Indian boy from a remote village, moves to Mumbai with his Aunt Maya and Uncle Bhim to study after getting half a scholarship. His parents died some years ago. Other students at his new school tease him and beat him for his studious nature and simple background. He knows his Uncle Bhim is struggling to support him and his aunt Maya, and pay his school fees. Only Meera Jain, a popular girl from his school, befriends him. Meanwhile, a local crime lord named Nalin Oberoi uses an amulet to perform an ancient ritual in which he is possessed by a demon committed to opening a gate for other demons to invade Earth. While being chased by bullies, Pavitr Prabhakar encounters an ancient yogi who grants him the powers of a spider, in order to fight the evil that threatens the world. While discovering his powers, Pavitr Prabhakar refuses to help a woman being attacked by several men. He leaves the place, but comes back when he hears his uncle cry out, and discovers that he has been slain. He learns that Bhim was stabbed when he tried to help the woman. Pavitr Prabhakar understands that with great power comes great responsibility, and swears to use his powers for the good of others.

Nalin Oberoi briefly becomes human again and transforms a mild-mannered doctor into a demon with four magical tentacles (the Indian version of Doctor Octopus), and sends him to kill Spider-Man, as instructed by the demon voices. Doc Ock fails, and Spider-Man makes his public debut as a hero. He is, however, labeled a threat by the newspapers.

Oberoi kidnaps Pavitr Prabhakar's aunt, taking her to a refinery outside Mumbai. There he betrays Doctor Octopus, blasting him into the ocean with a ray. Spider-Man arrives and fights Oberoi, who has also kidnapped Meera. He drops both Maya and Meera from the top of the refinery. Spider-Man dives for his aunt, but fails to rescue Meera, who is saved by Doctor Octopus. Pavitr reveals his identity to Meera and asks her to take his aunt to safety.

Oberoi gets rid of Doctor Octopus for good and touches Spider-Man with the amulet. A Venom-like creature emerges from the amulet tries to lure Spider-Man to the dark side. Pavitr remembers his uncle's saying about responsibility and rejects the evil. By doing so, the link between the demons and Oberoi is shattered, and he becomes human again. Spider-Man throws the amulet into the ocean, and Oberoi is sent to a mental institution.

Peace is restored to Mumbai eventually. Pavitr Prabhakar begins a romance with Meera, and is shown celebrating the festival Diwali with his aunt. The story ends with a quote from the Bhagavad Gita, showing the Venom-Demon still alive.

During the Spider-Verse storyline which featured Spider-Men from various alternate realities, Pavitr Prabhakar was seen fighting a mysterious new villain named Karn, whom he mistook for a demon. The Superior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus' mind in Peter Parker's body) managed to save him and recruited him into his army of Spiders.^[53] In the second volume of Spider-Verse set during the Secret Wars event, Pavitr Prabhakar found himself in the domain of the Battleworld called Arachnia, where he teamed up with Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-UK and Anya Corazon, though none of them remembered their previous encounter during the original Spider-Verse.

Following the conclusion of Secret Wars the team of six Spiders that formed during the event will rename itself and feature in a new ongoing series called Web Warriors, a name that was coined by Peter Parker from the Ultimate Spider-Man TV series during the original Spider-Verse.^[54]

Pavitr Prabhakar is playable among other Spiders in the Spider-Man Unlimited video game.

Spider-Man: Noir

This version of Spider-Man appeared in a 4 issue miniseries (Feb-May 2009). He exists in the Great Depression Era of New York in the 1930s. Aunt May is a speaker of equality and spends time standing on a soap box shouting her beliefs. Uncle Ben was killed by a crime syndicate run by Norman Osborn, aka The Goblin. Shortly afterward, Peter is bitten by a strange spider and endowed with mystical spider-powers. Though he has no wall-crawling ability, he has increased agility, strength, a form of spider-sense, and can spray nets of webbing from his hand. He then dons a black mask, gloves, and a trenchcoat and sets out to stop Norman and his gang. This version of Spider-Man appears in the game, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

Spider-Man: Last Stand

Issue #500 of The Amazing Spider-Man shows what would happen if Spider-Man were to have proceeded in killing Kraven by Julia Carpenter, now possessing Madam Web's powers. In the vision of the second Madame Web that takes place on 312500, Peter appears with long hair and was kicked out of the Avengers for his killing of the Kravinoffs. He then develops a much colder and harsher personality and proceeds with attacking Harry Osborn. He then appears in a new red leather costume and starts killing all of the supervillains, with Doctor Octopus, and reveals his identity to his Aunt May, who is shocked and in tears.^[55]

Spider-Man: Reign

Spider-Man: Reign depicts an older Spider-Man in the future who, having given up on crime-fighting, is driven back into action by the return of some of his old enemies, exposing a conspiracy by Venom to take control of the city with a mass of symbiotes.^[56] The character is later killed by Daemos with his head smashed on Mary Jane Watson's tombstone in Spider-Verse.

Spider-Man Unlimited

This version of Spider-Man, after being blamed by J. Jonah Jameson for his son's disappearance exploring another planet, Counter-Earth, designs a new costume with sonic weaponry and stealth capabilities using nanotechnology borrowed from Reed Richards. Traveling to Counter-Earth himself, he joins a group of human revolutionaries led by John Jameson himself in resisting the High Evolutionary and his tyrannical rule, in which humans are brutally oppressed and the half-human, half-animal Beastials form the social elite. He also battles Venom and Carnage, who traveled with Jameson to Counter-Earth and are plotting to infect the entire planet with symbiotes. He is killed by Daemos of the Inheritors, along with the Knights of Wundagore and many other Beastials.^[57]

Spidey-Man

A satirical version of mainstream Spider-Man in Not Brand Echh.

Ultimate Marvel

Ultimate Peter Parker

Ultimate Spider-Man is a modernized reboot of the Spider-Man story, starting from the very beginning, with a plot that is inspired by, but very different from, the original continuity, and thus is a parallel universe counterpart to the mainstream version of Spider-Man. The main purpose of the series is to be accessible to new and young readers, as it is free from the decades of history of the original, but it has been embraced by many longtime fans as well.

In Ultimate Spider-Man, Peter Parker is a high-school student who is bitten by a spider during a school field trip—but instead of a radioactive spider (which reflected the Atomic Age in which Spider-Man's origin was written), it is a lab subject that has been genetically modified by Osborn Industries. The themes, characterization, and setting are updated to reflect modern life. It is set in the Ultimate Marvel universe.

This Spider-Man also appears along Amazing, Noir, 2099 Spider-Men in the game Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions wearing the black symbiote suit.

In Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #1 Peter Parker is revealed to be alive and meets his successor for the first time.^[58]

The Spider

In the ongoing series Ultimate Comics: Avengers, a second Spider-Man was shown to be one of its members, and is simply referred to as the Spider. His costume bears an orange-and-purple color as opposed to red-and-blue. The Spider once claimed that he was a clone made from the DNA of Spider-Man and Professor X that was sent from the future. In the "Death of Spider-Man" story arc, "Avengers vs. New Ultimates", he is revealed to be North Asian and under the orders of Gregory Stark. He led a superhuman uprising in North Korea.^[59] During the events of said uprising, The Spider was killed by Hawkeye after the Avengers and the New Ultimates intervened.

Miles Morales

After Peter Parker's apparent death in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #160 a new character by the name of Miles Morales takes up the mantle of Spider-Man as a thirteen-year-old superhero.^[60]

The Webslinger

On the sword and sorcery alternative Earth called Eurth The Webslinger is the alternative version of Spider-Man that helps Captain Avalon rescue his son from the Dreadlord.^[61]

What If?

• Alternative versions of Spider-Man appear in several issues of What If..?. In one major alternative universe Spider-Man joins the Fantastic Four;^[62] this universe is revisited in several different issues of What If..? During the Spider-Verse storyline, this version of Reed, Ben, Johnny, and Peter are killed by Karn.
• 'What if Spider-Man Had Kept His Six Arms?' explores what would have happened if Morbius was eaten by sharks and never made it to Connors Lab with a cure. Ultimately the arm mutation is irreversible, but it proves an advantage and he defeats most of his villains easily. Spider-Man even becomes a spokesman for the physically challenged, and inspires all to rise to their true potential. This Spider-Man appears in Spider-Verse and is killed by Daemos.
• What if someone else besides Spider-Man had been bitten by the radioactive spider explores what would have happened if Flash Thompson, Betty Brant or John Jameson were bitten by the spider, but all three prove to be failures as the 'new' Spider-Man. Each story ends with Peter extracting the residual radioactive venom from the dead spider and using it to create a serum to give himself powers, thus becoming Spider-Man.^[63] Versions of all three appear, and are killed, except for John, in Spider-Verse.
• What if Spider-Man had never become a crimefighter explores a world where Spider-Man stopped the burglar and continued his television career, becoming a public relations 'specialist' for superheroes until Jameson's angry attack on him for slacking off with his powers results in Daredevil's death, inspiring Spider-Man to become a real hero.^[64]
• What if the alien costume had possessed Spider-Man? sees Spider-Man being killed when he fails to go to Reed Richards for help in time to remove the symbiote, which goes on to drain the Hulk's powers and possess Thor until it is driven away by Black Bolt.^[65]
• "What if?: The Other", set during "The Other" storyline, features an alternative version of Peter who abandons the Spider when given the choice. Some time afterward, the Venom symbiote leaves its current host Mac Gargan and merges with Peter to become Poison.^[66]
• Another "What if?" universe has a version of Spider-Man who works side by side with his Uncle Ben to fight crime after Aunt May is killed.^[67]
• Another issue portrays a Parker whom the radioactive spider bite mutated him into a spider creature, as well as making his son a mutant.^[68]
• In a "What if?" Age of Apocalypse reality, in which both Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr were killed, Apocalypse is served by clones of a symbiote Spider-Man, although the clones seem to be more symbiote than man.^[69]
• In "What If? Spider-Man vs. Wolverine" Spider-Man goes to Russia with Wolverine on a rescue mission and eventually becomes a Black-ops version. Through training alongside Wolverine he enhances his spider-sense and becomes more confident. He eventually decides to join up with Wolverine permanently and leave behind his old ways. He also develops a change to his web shooter which enables him to shoot bullets out of it, which he does, killing a man. He is shown in a sleeker black and red suit more fit for his new lifestyle.^[70] This Spider-Man appears in Spider-Verse as Assassin Spider-Man and is killed by Daemos. ^[71]

Secret Wars

A number of alternate versions of Spider-Man appear in the Battleworld domains as seen in the Secret Wars:

• In the Armor Wars reality, Peter Urich is a nephew of Ben Urich who became Spyder-Man after being infected with the "spider virus". He was dating Kiri Oshiro, the daughter of Rumiko Fujikawa.^[72] Spyder-Man was killed by Technopolis' baron Iron Man after he discovered about the disease that forced everyone in Technopolis to wear armor.^[73]
• In an alternate Civil War reality where the conflict continued after the anti-registration side's attempt to escape the Negative Zone prison triggered a self-destruct that destroyed most of New York, Peter continued serving on Captain America's side in the conflict, and was given new upgrades such as wings that bear a resemblance to the Falcon, with Rogers noting that Peter is now his fastest operative. Since Mary-Jane and his daughter Maybelle live on Iron Man's terrain due to them not getting the chance to evacuate, he hardly gets the chance to see them. Following Steve's death in the final battle, Peter becomes the leader of Steve's side, "the Blue", and collaborates with the new leader of "The Iron", Jennifer Walters.
• In a different version of Spider-Island, Spider-Man was supposedly killed by the spider-infected Avengers which inspired Agent Venom to lead the resistance. However he is discovered to be alive and captive in the Spider Queen's facility. He aids Flash to stop the Spider Queen and becomes the baron of the city after she is defeated at the cost of Flash's life.
• In Renew Your Vows, a story that has Spider-Man and Mary Jane married with a daughter named Annie (who is developing Spider powers of her own), Peter saves his family from Venom while most of the heroes die to Regent. He retires as Spider-Man to avoid detection from Regent and to focus on raising his family. However, he is later forced to don the mask again to stop Regent and protect his family.

Characters introduced in Spider-Verse

In the Spider-Verse event, a multitude of new Spider-Men (and women) from throughout the multiverse are revealed.

Spider-UK

Billy Braddock alias Spider-UK, a British-based Spider-Man and a member of the Captain Britain Corps.^[74] He became a sole survivor from Earth-833 after his home reality was destroyed during Time Runs Out and chose to remain in the reality of the defeated Inheritors along with Anya Corazon.^[75] During the second volume of Spider-Verse set during the Secret Wars event, Spider-UK and Anya Corazon found themselves in the domain of the Battleworld called Arachnia with no memories of how they got there.^[76] and eventually teamed up with Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham, Spider-Man Noir, and Spider-Man: India, neither of them remembering their previous encounter during the original Spider-Verse.^[77] Following the conclusion of Secret Wars the team of six Spiders will rename itself and feature in a new ongoing series called Web Warriors, a name that was coined by Peter Parker from the Ultimate Spider-Man TV series during the original Spider-Verse.^[54]

Spider-Woman

An alternative teenage version of Gwen Stacy who was bitten by the radioactive spider instead of Peter.^[78] On this Earth, Peter Parker's anger at being bullied results in him transforming himself into the Lizard. When he dies due to the chemicals he used in the transformation, Gwen is inspired to use her powers to help others.^[78]

Other characters

In comics

• Dr. Aaron Aikman, a young scientist who fights crime as "The Spider-Man" using a gadget-laden suit of high tech body armor. He is supposedly killed by Morlun.^[79]
• Patton Parnell, a disturbed, bullied teenager who upon being bitten by a radioactive spider, becomes a twisted, bloodthirsty variant of Spider-Man/Man-Spider and is subsequently killed by Morlun.^[80]
• Peni Parker, a Japanese middle school student who was adopted by Aunt May and Uncle Ben following the death of her parents. She pilots a psychically-powered machine known as the SP//dr, which is partially controlled by a radioactive spider.^[81]
• Spider-Wolf, A werewolf version of Spider-Man of Earth-13989 killed by Karn.
• Spider Moon-Man of Earth-449, where humans live on the moon. He is killed by Morlun. ^[82]
• "Golden Sponge Cakes" Spider-Man, a parody of the Spider-man that appeared in Hostess-brand Cakes advertisements during the 1970s and 1980s. He is killed by Morlun.^[35]
• Old Man Spider of Earth-4 whose identity is Ezekiel Sims.^[81][83] He took the Spider-Man mantle after his reality's Peter Parker was killed by Morlun. He died during the Spiders' clash with the Inheritors but was able to warn Spider-Man (Earth-616) to protect the "Other" and the "Bride".^[83]
• Cosmic Spider-Man of Earth-13. This version of Spider-Man retained the powers of the Enigma Force.^[82] He is killed by the leader of the Inheritors, Solus.^[84]
• Cyborg Spider-Man of Earth-2818. Introduced during the Spiders' battle with Karn, the origin of his implants are never explained.^[85] He later dies at the hands of Daemos.^[83]
• Lady Spider of Earth-803. Her secret identity is May Reilly. Her father keeps a large number of animals in his study and when she is bitten by a spider she tries to pet, she realizes that like the spider, she too is caged. Lady Spider does not have spider based superpowers, but instead uses a steampunk set of mechanical spider legs.^[35]
• Man-Spider: Peter Parker has an allergic reaction to the bite of the radioactive spider and is hospitalized. Because both Uncle Ben and Aunt May are at Peter's side in the hospital when their house is broken into, Ben is not killed by the burglar as in the main timeline. He is discovered by the Six-Armed Spider-Man and Spider-Man Noir, who cure him of his spider powers.^[86]
• Spider-Punk (a.k.a. The Anarchic Spider-Man) of Earth-138. He is an African-American punk rocker named Hobart Brown who joins the Spiders' battle with the Inheritors. On his own world, he helped lead a populist revolution against corrupt President Norman Osborn and his Venom enhanced police force.^[83][87]
• Spider-Girl of Earth-11. This version is an 11-year-old girl named Penelope Parker who gains spider powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider. She dons a homemade costume and becomes Spider-Girl, despite viewing her new powers as "gross".^[35]
• Hobgoblin (Peter Parker) of Earth-21205. After Gwen Stacy died, an enraged Peter murdered the Green Goblin and becomes this universe's version of the Hobgoblin. Spider-Woman (Gwen Stacey) attempts to recruit him while on the run from the Inheritor, Verna. He dies saving Gwen from Verna.^[88]
• Spider-Man of Mexico. The son of a Luchadore who died after being betrayed by his tag team partner, this version of Spider-Man protects the streets of Mexico City and wears a costume inspired by that of his father.^[87]
• Regency Spider-Man. This Spider-Man is first glimpsed during the decisive battle with the Inheritors on Loomworld debating what makes him and another black-suited Spider-Man different. In the end, this Spider reckons their differences come down to the "little things". It is revealed that this Spider is married. This is the same Spider-Man that appears in the Secret Wars miniseries "Renew Your Vows".^[89]
• Spider-Ma'am. On Earth-3123, Aunt May was bitten by the radioactive spider instead of Peter, and takes the identity of Spider-Ma'am. She and her family are confronted by Karn. Sensing that he's too strong for her, she proposes to offer her life for the sake of her family, causing Karn to hesitate for a moment (because she reminded him of his mother). Before Karn kills her, other Spider Totems intervene and convince him to join them.^[90]

Minor references

• In the "Age of Apocalypse", Peter Parker is executed by Apocalypse's regime simply because he is a potential ally for rebel Gwen Stacy.
• Peter Parker's counterpart on Counter-Earth is mentioned as having "died from radioactive over-exposure".^[91]
• Spider-Man was depicted as one of many murder victims in Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe, Marvel Universe vs. the Punisher^[92] and Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe.^[93]
• In the Earth-691 continuity Spider-Man is a time-traveler who aids Killraven in fighting a second invasion by the Martians from H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, during which he is killed.^[94]
• In Old Man Logan, Spider-Man was killed (possibly by Venom) during or sometime after the big battle between heroes and villains, where the villains won. In this timeline, he married an unknown African American woman and had a daughter, who eventually married Hawkeye and had a child of their own. Hawkeye won in a poker game and customized the Spider-Mobile after his death.^[95]
• Deadpool encounters a version of Spider-Man in a universe which he refers to as "an Age of Apocalypse" (not the Age of Apocalypse). This alternative version of Spider-Man is Pestilence, a Horseman of Apocalypse. He has six arms, poisonous fangs, and engages in cannibalism.^[96]
• In the X-Men Forever universe, after the X-Men have faked their deaths, Spider-Man runs into Rogue during a patrol, Rogue having recently unintentionally absorbed Nightcrawler's powers and appearance. Testing her new powers, Rogue spends the night fighting crime alongside Spider-Man, later suggesting that the two kiss to see how her recent transformation has affected her original abilities. After Spider-Man assists the X-Men in destroying a group of Sentinels,^[97] the X-Men return to the manor, Cyclops concluding that Spider-Man can be trusted to keep the secret of their continued survival.^[98]

In other media

There also contain many other versions of Spider-Man outside of comic books. Some in film, in television or in video games among countless other media. Some characters have crossed over in the comic book canon as one of the separate incarnations such as the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series version appearing in "Spider-Verse".

References