Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a male comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Peter Parker was a male human born in the modern age as the son of Richard Parker and his wife Mary Parker with their child being conceived on mission in Bombay, India. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #-1) Both of his parents were noted to had served in the CIA. (Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1 #5) Unknown to him, his parents had a second child with this being a daughter and thus he had a younger sister named Teresa Parker. (Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #302)
At Midtown High, he was often bullied by the other students though received praise from his teachers. (Amazing Fantasy v1 #15)
Another one of his class fellows Jessica Campbell though she was too shy to speak to him even though she was attracted to Parker. (Alias v1 #22) He came to learn about the death of her family and being in a coma where he approached her but she saw this as him taking pity on her and she decided to run away from him. (Alias v1 #23)
One day, he attended a public demonstration involving the study of atomic energy where unknown to anyone a spider came to be irradiated in the experiment. The arachnid came to crawl to Peter Parker and bit him where it came to transfer its traits to him. Shortly afterwards, Parker discovered that he gained superhuman abilities such as strength and the capacity to stick to surfaces allowing him to climb them with ease. He later looked to use this to earn some money and made a costume that protected his identity where he challenged a wrestler. In the ring, he easily overpowered his foe and came to the attention of the arena manager who decided to hire him on for matches. He then crafted a costume for himself and the identity of Spider-Man. After his first TV appearance, stardom came to fuel Peter in his Spider-Man suit where he failed to act to stop an escaping thief as he believed it was not his responsibility. Peter forgot the incident as his fame rose but days later he returned home late to find his Uncle Ben had been murdered. From the police, he learnt that the burglar responsible was hiding in a warehouse. Intending to hunt him down, Peter changed into Spider-Man costume and easily managed to capture him only to discover he was the same thief he had allowed to escape earlier. The revelation filled Parker with remorse knowing that his inaction led to the tragedy of his Uncle Ben's death. The incident made him realize that when someone had the power that they had an obligation to use it responsibly. This in turn led to him deciding to become a vigilante super hero helping whoever he could. (Amazing Fantasy v1 #15)
Spider-Man
However, it was seeming impossible to him to find a job in order to pay his growing debts. As Spider-Man, he was not able to continue his career as TV star, because of J. Jonah Jameson, owner of the NOW Magazine and the newspaper Daily Bugle, who started a smear campaign against Spidey. Jameson would make statements that he was a bad influence for children and a criminal for taking justice into his own hands, referring to the situation with the burglar. Protests started taking effect and turning the public perception against Spider-Man, eventually causing Spidey's manager to leave him, impeding his ability to earn money even in costume. With these forced change of events, Peter searched through the wanted ads, only to be rejected by all the employers. Not being able to use his super-powers as Spider-Man infuriated Peter, and his fury only intensified after seeing his Aunt May selling her jewelry to try and earn some money. Spidey's second heroic action was to save Jameson's astronaut son, John Jameson, from an accident in a deviated space capsule. Spider-Man hitched a ride on a small airplane and boarded the capsule during re-entry. Spidey then attached the missing capsule piece, allowing it to land safely. Although he had saved John, Spidey was still blamed by J.J. Jameson for the accident. Later, trying to find a way to make some money, he decided to join the super hero team the Fantastic Four. Spidey intruded into the Baxter Building, battling the FF, as a way of showing them his power, but the team refused Spidey's entry after explaining to him that they did not get paid for their actions and that they were a family, not an enterprise. Later that day, the Russian criminal and master of disguise known as the Chameleon used Spider-Man's identity to steal defense missile plans. The real Spidey was used by Chameleon as a pawn to escape the scene without problems. After managing to avoid capture by the police, Spider-Man caught Chameleon in a helicopter before he could reach a soviet submarine and handed him over to the authorities. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #1) Peter finally found a way to make money when the Daily Bugle asked for photos of the winged criminal known as the Vulture. Not only did Spider-Man defeat the villain, he also found a way to take photos, which caused J.J. Jameson to hire Peter to get him pictures of Spider-Man, under the condition that the publicist would not ask Peter how he took the pictures. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #2)
At one point, Aunt May's health got so bad that she suffered from a heart attack. Peter heard the news while he and the Human Torch were fighting the Green Goblin, and he was forced to flee in order to get to her quickly. However, this only convinced the public-at-large that Spidey was a coward who had fled from a battle. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #17) Die-hard Spider-Man fans like Flash Thompson continued to support him, while J. Jonah Jameson ran editions in the Bugle claiming that he himself scared Spider-Man off. While looking after Aunt May, Spider-Man was forced to escape yet again from the Sandman in order to get home quickly. When he learned that his aunt's health had improved, he vowed to prove the world wrong about him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #18) Meanwhile, a worried Torch tried to look for Spidey, but only managed to get captured by the Sandman. Spider-Man rescued him and defeated his enemy, wiping the smirk off of Jameson's face and getting the world to appreciate him again. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #19)
He came to graduate from high school as a valedictorian. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #16) This led to him being enrolled at Empire State University on a science scholarship. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #28) Whilst there, he made the acquaintance of some of his new class fellows including Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy. However, Flash Thompson continued to bully Parker and looked to turn their new class mates against Peter. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #31)
Whilst clearing things in the attic, he came to stumble on a trunk containing information about his parents. This revealed that his parents had been secret government operatives that had worked for the CIA. However, these included a newspaper article claiming that they were traitors who had sold out the U.S. to the Red Skull. Shocked at this information, Peter arranged to travel abroad to find out the truth where he came to uncover that his parents had been framed where he went out finding evidence to clear their names. (Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1 #5)
They battled on a rooftop and Captain Stacy died when saving a child from falling debris. Before dying, Stacy revealed to Spider-Man he knew his identity and asked him to take care of Gwen. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #90)
Alien Costume Saga
However, his costume was replaced by an alien symbiote which shaped itself into a black costume. Peter, unaware that he was wearing an alien as a costume, used it as his regular costume. The symbiote was also able to create its own webs and change its appearance to look like regular clothes. (Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars v1 #8)
Once the Secret Wars came to an end, Peter returned to Earth along with the other abducted superhumans and continued to use the black suit. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #252)
Richards helped remove the costume by force and kept it at the Fantastic Four's headquarters in captivity. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #258)
The symbiote would later escape, plaguing the life of Parker again and ultimately merging with one of Spider-Man's critics, Eddie Brock, creating the villain Venom. In a climactic fight, Spider-Man defeated this new foe. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300)
Clone Saga
Spider-Totem
Peter soon took a job as a teacher at his somewhat beloved Midtown High. After getting this job, he encountered a strange man named Ezekiel Sims who possessed powers very similar to his and presented Peter with the possibility that his powers had been bestowed on him by mystical forces, effectively making Peter a 'totem' that connected the animal and human realms. (Amazing Spider-Man v2 #30)
During an ensuing confrontation against Spider-Man, the Gatekeeper revealed him the truth. Peter was chosen to become a Spider-Totem due to his nature, a prey to bullying during his teenage years whose reserving anger made him the perfect candidate to become a hunter, one who would never give in to submission again. Through visions imparted by the Gatekeeper, Peter also discovered that Ezekiel was the one Spider-Totem deemed unworthy, due to having searched for the source of the power instead of having it bestowed upon him, and that the predators that confronted Peter were actually meant for Ezekiel. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #507) As Peter was recovering from the encounter with the Gatekeeper, Ezekiel brought him to the temple where he had obtained his powers in South America and planned to use him in a sacrificial ritual to maintain his abilities. The ritual linked Peter's mind with Ezekiel's and made him realize he had wasted his gifts, unlike Peter. When a spider monster emerged to kill Peter, Ezekiel gave his life to save him. A shaman named Miguel who had previously helped Ezekiel buried his body. When Peter asked him whether his powers came from science or magic, Miguel told him that one explanation did not necessarily contradict the other. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #508)
Avenger
With his identity now public, Parker came to find himself the target of the Kingpin who hired a sniper to kill Spider-Man in his home with his wife and Aunt May both being secondary targets. Spider-Man managed to stop Mary Jane from being hit but missed the second bullet which still hit May Parker. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #538)
Brand New Day
Peter grew increasingly desperate to save the life of his Aunt May. He sought the help of Dr. Strange, finding that even magic could not help him save Aunt May's life. After appealing to Tony Stark, Jarvis was sent with $2 million to pay the hospital fees and give her the best care possible. At one point, Eddie Brock was found in Aunt May's room; where he attempted to commit suicide by jumping out of the window. The inter-dimensional Demon Mephisto offered to save Aunt May in exchange for Peter and MJ's love. As part of Mephisto's deal, everyone would forget Peter's identity as Spider-Man. Because of this decision, the daughter they would have had never existed. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #545)
Peter soon learned that Bennett had blacklisted him to nearly every news source in town preventing Peter from finding work. However, Harry suggested that Peter find a job at a news source that was Bennett's enemy, which he did by joining the Front Line as it was not under Bennett's influence. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #561)
After the Skrull Invasion, Norman Osborn, who had killed the Skrull Queen that posed as Spider-Woman in the final battle, was given Stark's position as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Initiative. He donned a altered Iron Man armor with Captain America's color set a became known as the Iron Patriot. He dissolved S.H.I.E.L.D. and created H.A.M.M.E.R. and his personal 'Avengers', composed mainly of super-criminals who had served in the Thunderbolts posing as heroes. Since Osborn had transformed Venom into a more Spider-Man like look to join his Dark Avengers. (Dark Avengers v1 #1) Peter had to reveal his secret identity to the New Avengers, in order to implicitly earn the team's trust. Upon doing so, Jessica Jones fled the place, as she had gone to high school with Peter and had a crush on him at the time. (New Avengers v1 #51)
During a trip to the Macroverse, Spider-Man re-revealed to the Fantastic Four his identity, and after coming back, he discovered two months had passed in standard time. J.J. Jameson had become the new NY mayor, Aunt May and Jameson's father Jay were in a relationship, Harry had fallen to drink and Michele Gonzales had moved to his apartment. Then Spider-Man knew he must act against Norman Osborn and his Dark Reign. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #594)
With help of the F4's Unstable Molecules, Spider-Man infiltrated Osborn's Avengers as Venom and discovered how Osborn wanted to make his son a new hero called American Son and have him killed in action to increase his Avengers' popularity. After Spider-Man was captured by Norman Osborn, Harry confronted Osborn using the American Son Armor with the truth about his father's relationship with Lily Hollister (Harry's girlfriend). Spider-Man prevented Harry from killing Norman. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #599)
After the wedding of Aunt May and Jay, Jonah's parent, Spider-Man saved Jameson from Doctor Octopus with the help of the Human Torch. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #600)
Superior Spider-Man
In the middle of a fight against the Hobgoblin, while his spider-sense was overloaded, Spider-Man was unsuspectedly pinched by one of Doctor Octopus' Octobots programmed to swap consciousness between the two, causing Peter to become trapped in the dying body of his foe while Octavius claimed Peter's life for himself. In an attempt to take back his life with the little time he had left, Peter broke out of Octavius's cell in the Raft. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #699) Though Peter failed to reverse the change, he managed to establish a weak link with Otto's mind using an Octobot. In his final moments, Peter forced Otto to relive all of his memories. Having experienced in a flash all of Peter's trials and tribulations, Otto learned his lesson of power and responsibility and swore to carry on with Peter's life with dignity as a superior Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #700) Since Peter was mentally connected to Otto when his body perished, a portion of himself survived in his original body, but in the form of a subconsciousness, thus not able to control the actions of his body entirely. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #1) Otto then attempted to rid of this remnant of Parker. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #9)
In the aftermath of Otto's possession of his body, Peter began to amend the relationships damaged by Otto's arrogance and negligence, both as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. He additionally took up the reins of Parker Industries, a small company founded by Octavius after leaving Horizon Labs. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #31)
He then tried to adjust to his new status quo particularly in his position as the CEO of his very own company. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #1) Peter learned of the existence of Cindy Moon, a second person to have been bit by the same radioactive spider which granted Peter his powers. Spider-Man tracked her down and freed her from a bunker owned by the late Ezekiel Simms, where Cindy had spent over a decade in voluntary confinement shortly after getting her powers, in order to avoid drawing attention. While Peter notified Cindy that Morlun was dead, he had, in fact, survived his last encounter against Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #4)
Rise and Fall of Parker Industries
At the head of Parker Industries, Peter then pushed for the company to expand to a global market with branches around the world. A notable company's trademark invention was a new type of mobile device that was called Webware. This change in Peter's life impacted his super-heroic alter ego as well. Spider-Man officially became the mascot of Parker Industries under the guise of being Peter's bodyguard.One of its latest expansions was into China where Parker began to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. to respond to recent activity by the Zodiac. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #1)
One of Peter's biggest challenges during his tenure as a billionaire C.E.O was the emergence of a mysterious biotech company, operating out of the Transamerica Pyramid, called New U. Peter discovered it was a front for the operations of the Jackal, who claimed to have found a way to bring people back from the dead using cloning technology. In an attempt to persuade Peter to put Parker Industries' resources to help his plan, the Jackal resurrected numerous of his late friends and foes, including Gwen Stacy. (Clone Conspiracy v1 #1)
To prevent company resources from falling into Octavius and Hydra's hands, Parker was forced to have his employees obliterate all systems of the company, running Parker Industries into the ground. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #31) He later fought alongside the rest of America's super heroes that assembled in Washington, D.C. to retake the United States from Hydra's control. (Secret Empire v1 #9)
He came to be overpowered in battle even after Eddie Brock had lent him his symbiote. Peter only managed to defeat Osborn in a fight after tricking him into rejecting the symbiote, having claimed that any credit for his defeat would go to the Carnage symbiote and not Osborn himself. Unfortunately, the process of defeating Osborn cost the life of Spider-Man's biggest fan, Flash Thompson, who had recently become the super hero Agent Anti-Venom. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #800)
Kindred Saga
Later on, Peter's public reputation came to be further damaged when he was accused of plagiarizing his doctoral dissertation from the works of Dr. Octavius. Unable to defend himself without exposing his secret identity, Peter was stripped of his credentials which led to his subsequent firing from the Daily Bugle as well. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #1)
Receiving a re-enrollment recommendation by Dr. Connors at Empire State University to earn his college degree, Peter also started sharing an apartment with Randy Robertson again. They were joined by a third roommate in the form of Frederick Myers, the super villain Boomerang. (Free Comic Book Day Vol 2018 v1 #Amazing Spider-Man)
Beyond
Overview
Personality and attributes
After gaining his powers, he looked to earn money in wrestling where he first used a mask to hide his identity and was referred to as a Masked Marvel. After trying to make a career out of it, he decided to be superpowered wrestler where he took the name Spider-Man due to his powers. (Amazing Fantasy v1 #15)
Following Marla Madison demise, Parker could no longer stand the death of people close to him. This led to him forming an unrealistic goal of "Nobody dies!" where he attempted to unsure everyone survived a dangerous encounter. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #655)
He came to hold himself responsible for all the deaths and destruction caused by Symbiotes on Earth on account of bringing the Alien Costume to the world. (Absolute Carnage v1 #4)
Peter Parker was the son of Richard Parker and Mary Parker. His father used to work in the Special Forces until he was recruited into the Agency by Colonel Fury. With regards to his mother, she originally went under her family name where she was Mary Fitzpatrick. By adulthood, she came to work as a translator and analyst in the CIA but yearned for work in the field which was when she met Richard Parker. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #-1)
Unknown to Peter, he had a younger sister who had been named Teresa Parker. (Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #302)
His father had an older brother by the name of Ben Parker. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #-1)
From his maternal side, his grandmother had died when Mary Parker was young and she came to be raised by her father Wild Will Fitzpatrick who was well known in the O.S.S. It was said that he was not a wealthy man but made sure that his daughter went to the finest schools. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #-1)
Through his Aunt May, he had an extended family that consisted of the Reilly's. Among them included May's Uncle Horace, her Uncle Bill and his wife Claudia with the pair having a son called Sam along with a daughter named Julia. Julia had three young daughters that were cousins to Peter Parker with them being his age and noted for being attractive. These included the red-headed Alexa, the brunette haired Amy and the blonde-haired Amanda. May herself had a younger sister by the name of Jan and another sister by the name of April who was regarded as the black sheep of the family which they had not spoken to for years. (Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1 #36)
Powers and abilities
Originally, Peter Parker was an ordinary human being with no special abilities in his youth. (Amazing Fantasy v1 #15)
Parker's intellect came to earn him a place among the Horizon Labs think tank. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #648) His intelligence saw him being acknowledged by some of the Earth's most brilliant minds such as Hank Pym. (Marvel Knights: Spider-Man v1 #15) It was noted that his college IQ scores were the same as those posted by Reed Richards at the same age. (Spider-Man Human Torch v1 #3)
His life changed one day when he attended an experiment that accidently irradiated a spider that came to bite him. This imparted on him special abilities similar to a spider giving him traits such as superhuman strength, endurance, and agility. (Amazing Fantasy v1 #15) As a result, he was said to had gained an enhanced chromosome pattern. (Invincible Iron Man v3 #8) Nick Fury's intelligence files classified Spider-Man as possessing a power level of 8. (Secret War: From the Files of Nick Fury v1 #1)
Similar to a spider, he gained the power to stick to surfaces using his limbs allowing him to scale buildings with ease. (Amazing Fantasy v1 #15)
He was also known to possess superhuman recuperative abilities that sped up his recovery from injuries. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #329)
At one point, he came to lose his Spider-Sense and underwent training at the hands of Shang-Chi. This saw the creation of the Way of the Spider that was a specific style that was tailor made for Spider-Man's abilities. (Free Comic Book Day 2011 v1 #1) It involved the targeting nerve clusters as well as pressure points, striking with spider-speed and hitting with spider-strength. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #669) When Parker Industries was in China, he came to take driving lessons and came to be a natural. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #1)
Parker was shown to had been responsible for the following creations:
- Spider-Man Suit :
- Webshooters : after gaining his powers, Parker used his scientific acumen to make a wrist shaped device able to shoot out a web-like substance that he chemically created with his own equipment at home. (Amazing Fantasy v1 #15) During the time of Parker Industries, he installed different cartridges of webshooters that could achieve different effects with these being activated by voice command. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #1) It was remarked by Thomas Fireheart that the finest scientists he assembled from around the world were unable to replicate the webfluid. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #7)
- Spider-Tracer : a small device created by Parker that resembled a detailed model of live spider that had transistorized circuits installed in it. Once attached to a target, it could send coded messages that could be picked up by a portable receiver which Spider-Man could track. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #11)
- Spider-Signal :
- Spider-Mobile :
- Parker Particles :
Ezekiel Simms though claimed that Peter Parker's powers were not the result of a scientific mishap but rather due to him being a totemic avatar of the Web of Life and Destiny. (Amazing Spider-Man v2 #30)
On Battleworld, he came to gain a new black Alien Costume that morphed around him. (Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars v1 #8)
Tony Stark once created a suit of armor for him when Spider-Man joined the Registration Act leading to him wearing the Iron Spider costume. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #529)
At one point, he came to be chosen by the Uni-Power and gained the abilities of Captain Universe. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #328)
As the CEO of Parker Industries, he came to expand the company into a multinational corporation with branches around the globe. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #1)
Notes
- Spider-Man was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko where he made his first appearance in Amazing Fantasy v1 #15 (August, 1962).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man, Spider-Man appeared in the setting of the 1967 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Paul Soles.
- In Spider-Man, Spider-Man appeared in the setting of the 1981 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Ted Schwartz.
- In Spider-Man, Spider-Man appeared in the setting of the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Christopher Daniel Barnes.
Films
- In the Sam Raimi Trilogy, Spider-Man featured in the shared continuity setting:
- In Spider-Man, Peter Parker starred in the 2002 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Tobey Maguire.
- In the Amazing Spider-Man Duology, Spider-Man featured in the shared continuity setting:
- In the Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker featured in the 2012 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Andrew Garfield.
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man appeared in the shared continuity setting:
- In Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man appeared in the 2016 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Tom Holland.
- In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was once again portrayed by actor Tom Holland.
- In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was once again portrayed by actor Tom Holland.
- In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was once more portrayed by actor Tom Holland who encountered his multiversal counterparts portrayed by actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.
Video games
- In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Spider-Man appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
Other
Appearances
- Amazing Fantasy v1: (1962)
- Amazing Spider-Man v1:
- Web of Spider-Man v1:
- New Avengers v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man v2:
- New Avengers v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man v4:
- Clone Conspiracy v1:
- Secret Empire v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man v5:
- Amazing Spider-Man v6:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
