Spider-Man

About

Spider-Man is a Marvel Comics superhero who fights crime in a fictionalized New York City. He is the alter ego of high school student Peter Parker, an orphan raised by his aunt and uncle who becomes a vigilante upon acquiring several superhuman skills, including super strength, speed, clairvoyance and abilities to stick to surfaces and shoot spider webs from his wrists, as a result of being bitten by a radioactive spider.

History

Comics

In 1962, writer Stan Lee created the Spider-Man character in the midst of a growing interest in comics from the teenage demographic. After several arguments with Marvel published Martin Goodman, Lee's spider-costumed superhero was reluctantly approved for a trial run in the August 1962 issue of Amazing Fantasy (shown below, left). In March 1963, the first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man by Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko was published. It eventually went on to become Marvel Comics’ top-selling series of all time (shown below, right).

In 1966, Ditko left Marvel Comics and was replaced by artist John Romita, Sr. In May to July of 1971, The Amazing Spider-Man issues #96-#98 were released with a story depicting the negative effects of drug use, following pressure from United States president Richard Nixon's Department of Health, Education and Welfare for the series to push an anti-drug message.

In 1985, the series The Web of Spider-Man was launched, which featured Spider-Man in an alien black costume (shown below, left). In 1990, the monthly title Spider-Man was released (shown below, right), which was written and drawn by artist Todd McFarlane and sold a record-breaking three million copies.

In 2012, The Amazing Spider-Man series was renammed The Superior Spider-Man, with the villain Doctor Octopus inhabiting the body of Peter Parker as the new Spider-Man (shown below, left). In April 2014, The Amazing Spider-Man was relaunched with the return of the real Peter Parker (shown below, right).

Television

In September 1967, ABC began broadcasting the Spider-Man animated television series, which ran until June 1970 (shown below, left). Screen captures from the series subsequently inspired the 60s Spider-Man image macros. From 1978 to 1979, CBS broadcast the live-action series The Amazing Spider-Man (shown below, right).

Many other Spider-Man animated television shows were subsequently released, including Spider-Man and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends in the 1980s, Fox Kids' Spider-Man and Spider Man-Unlimited in the 1990s, followed by Spider-Man Unlimited (1999), Spider-Man: The Animated Series (2003), The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008) and Ultimate Spider-Man (2012).

Films

Sam Raimi Films

On May 3rd, 2002, Sony Pictures Entertainment released the Sam Raimi directed film Spider-Man, starring actor Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, Williem Dafoe as the Green Goblin/Norman Osborn, James Franco as his son Harry, and Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson (shown below, left). On June 30th, 2004, the sequel Spider-Man 2 (shown below, right) was released, in which Spider-Man faces the villain Doctor Octopus, played by Alfred Molina.

On May 4th, 2007, the final film in Sam Raimi's trilogy Spider-Man 3 was released, in which Spider-Man faces an extraterrestrial symbiote who turns into the villain Venom (shown below).

Marc Webb Reboot

On June 30th, 2012, film The Amazing Spider-Man was released, starring Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors/ The Lizard (shown below, left). On May 2nd, 2014, the sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was released (shown below, right), in which Spider-Man faces the living electric generator villain Electro (played by Jamie Foxx).

Spider-Man: Homecoming

In December 2014, leaks from the 2014 Sony Pictures Hack revealed communications between Sony and Marvel Studios, who were negotiating a deal that would allow Marvel to use the Spider-Man character, while Sony retains creative control, marketing and distribution.^[10][11] The talks eventually fell through, despite excitement from fans.

However, on February 9th, 2015, Marvel announced that Marvel Studios would begin using the character Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with Captain America: Civil War. ^[12]

On June 23rd, Marvel announced that Tom Holland would be taking over for Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, while Jon Watts would be directing. However, in March 2016, the casting of Zendaya, an actress of color, as potentially playing Mary Jane, Peter’s love interest who is traditionally depicted as white, caused controversy online.^[13] Zendya responded:^[14]

”People are going to react over anything. But nothing [about who she is playing] is fact. It’s like, you guys are just making shit up at this point and then reacting to it. Whenever we were on set, one of us gets some random character name [on the call sheet]. [Bloggers were] like, “Oh they must be so and so.” And we just crack up about it, because it’s like, “Whatever you want to think. You’ll find out.” It’s funny to watch the guessing game. But of course there’s going to be outrage over that because for some reason some people just aren’t ready. I’m like, “I don't know what America you live in, but from what I see when I walk outside my streets of New York right now, I see lots of diversity and I see the real world and it’s beautiful, and that’s what should be reflected and that’s what is reflected so you’re just going to have to get over it.”

In April 2016, at CinemaCon, Marvel announced the title Spider-Man: Homecoming. On December 8th, the first trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming premiered on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Within the first five months, the trailer has been viewed more than 27 million times. The film will be released in the United States on July 7th, 2017.

Online Presence

On April 17th, 2000, the Spider-Man news site Spider-Man Crawlspace^[9] was launched. On October 3rd, 2005, the Spider-Man Wiki^[8] was created, which gathered upwards of 2,500 entries in the next nine years. On July 2nd, 2010, the /r/spiderman^[7] subreddit was launched for discussions related to the superhero. On Feburary 4th, 2011, a Facebook^[6] page titled "Spider-Man" was launched, gathering over 11 million likes in the first four years.

Fandom

There are numerous Spider-Man fan blogs on Tumblr, including The Amazing Spider-Man Blog,^[3] Fuck Yeah Spider-Man^[4] and Spider-Man Spider-Man,^[5] among many others. As of May 2014, more than 94,200 images have been uploaded to DeviantArt ^[2] under the tag “spider-man” andover 2,500 Spider-Man-related stories have been submitted to the fanfiction database Fanfiction.net.^[1]

Related memes

'60s Spider-Man

'60’s Spider-Man, also known as “Retro Spider-Man," is an image macro series based on still shots from the 1960s Spider-Man cartoon series, typically featuring an absurd internal monologue that correspond with the actions depicted in the images.

Dancing Spider-Man

Dancing Spider-Man is an animated GIF image of Spider-Man performing a dance in front of a blank white background.

Toei Spider-Man

Toei Spider-Man( スパイダーマン Supaidāman) is the Japanese tokusatsu television series loosely based on the Marvel Comics character. In this version, Spider-Man is portrayed as a live-action hero equipped with a giant mecha named Leopardon and cheesy, over-the-top entrances, such as referring to himself as "The Emissary from Hell".

How Do I Shoot Web?

“How Do I Shot Web?” is a catchphrase associated with a comic panel of Spider-Man holding hands in front of his body to express confusion.

Crippled Spider-Man

Crippled Spider-Man is a YTMND fad featuring a photograph of a person in a Spider-Man costume holding a walking frame.

Italian Spider-Man

Italian Spider-Man is a 2007 Australian Spider-Man film parodying Italian action-adventure films released in the 1970s.

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

”With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility” is a quote from the Spider-Man character, Uncle Ben and the phrase is often parodied.

Spider-Man Ass Slap

Spider-Man Ass Slap (NSFW) is a video from a homoerotic pornography movie in which one man dressed as Spider-Man slaps the buttocks of another man dressed as Spider-Man.

Who Are You?

"Who Are You?" is an exploitable clip from the 2002 film Spider-Man. The scene involves the iconic Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man trying to run away, and his love interest Mary Jane Watson stops him and asks for his identity. It is used along with other exploitables like And His Name is John Cena and My Name Is Jeff, usually in vine form.

Peter Parker's Glasses

Peter Parker's Glasses is a multi-pane exploitable series in which Spider-Man alter ego Peter Parker looks at various images that drastically change as he puts his glasses on and off.

Spider-Man and Elsa Videos

Spider-Man and Elsa Videos are videos on YouTube featuring people dressed as the Marvel superhero Spider-Man and the Frozen protagonist Elsa, who are often filmed engaging in various bizarre acts. The videos have gained much notoriety on YouTube, garnering considerable amounts of views, and with some speculating they are being aimed at younger audiences using manipulation of YouTube algorithms and bots to generate video views.

Peter Parker's Spider Bite

Peter Parker's Spider Bite is an exploitable 4-panel image series that, in the first two panels, features Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker in the 2002 film Spider-Man getting bitten by a radioactive spider and becoming the titular hero. In the second two panels, a person is "bitten" by an object and undergoes a similar, humorous transition, becoming a hybrid of a human and the object they were bitten by.

Spider-Man: Home Coming Poster Parodies

Spider-Man: Homecoming Poster Parodies refers to a series of photoshop memes of the poster for the 2017 superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Search Interest

External References