Spider-Man in other media
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spider-Man is a fictional comic book character who has been adapted in various other media.
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[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Television
Spider-Man has been adapted to television many times, as a short-lived live-action television series, a Japanese tokusatsu series, and several animated cartoon series. There were also the "Spidey Super Stories" segments on the PBS educational series The Electric Company, which featured a Spider-Man (played by Danny Seagren) who did not speak out loud but instead used only word balloons.
Spider-Man's first cartoon series ran from 1967-1970. It became known famous for its catchy theme song, which begins, "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can...."
From 1978-1979, Nicholas Hammond starred as Peter Parker in the live-action television series The Amazing Spider-Man.
Two Spider-Man cartoons aired on television in 1981: the syndicated series Spider-Man which ran for one season, and the more popular Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, which aired on the NBC network for three seasons.
The web-swinger's longest-running show was Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which ran five seasons from 1994-1998, totaling 65 episodes, on Fox Broadcasting's afternoon programming block, "Fox Kids". That series continued as Spider-Man Unlimited the following year. In 2003, MTV aired a 13-episode Spider-Man CGI series based loosely on the film continuity, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, developed by Mainframe Entertainment. A new series, The Amazing Spider-Man, is planned for 2008.
[edit] Film
- In 1969, Donald F. Glut made a Spider-Man fan film, as well as playing the title role (who never appears out of costume). In this film, Spider-Man fights a raygun-toting mad scientist called "Dr. Lightning," who wears a black cape and metallic mask to hide his disfigured face. (Dr. Lightning was created especially for this film, and did not appear in any of the Marvel comics). Although this was Glut's last superhero film and amateur film, it was also unofficially the first-ever live-action adaptation of the Spider-Man character. The movie is available on the DVD, I Was a Teenage Movie Maker (the complete collection of Don Glut's amateur films). [1] [2]
- Spider-Man: On May 3, 2002, the feature film Spider-Man was released. It was directed by Sam Raimi and stars actor Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. The film uses various CGI effects to bring Spider-Man to life. Although the film adaptation took liberties with the character's history and powers—notably, he was bitten by a genetically modified rather than a radioactive spider, had organic web-shooters rather than mechanical ones, and had a long-standing crush on Mary Jane Watson—it was generally held to be true to the character and was widely embraced by the viewing public. It opened at a record US$114.8 million and earned more than US$403 million in the U.S. and Canada, the highest North American gross of any film released that year, though surpassed internationally (see 2002 in film). The villain of this film was the Green Goblin portrayed by Willem Dafoe.
- Spider-Man 2 was 2004's second-most financially successful movie in North America and third internationally (see 2004 in film). It premiered in more North American movie theaters (4,152) than any previous movie. Its original opening day was June 30th, 2004, but was moved to July 2nd, 2004. Its first-day gross (US$40.5 million) surpassed its predecessor's US$39.4 million record. Spider-Man 2 was also the first motion picture released in the Sony Universal Media Disc format for the PlayStation Portable, included free with the first one million PSP systems released in the United States. The villain of the film was Doctor Octopus, portrayed by Alfred Molina.
Both Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 rank among the list of highest-grossing films.
- Spider-Man 3 began production in 2005 under director Raimi. The studio has announced a theatrical release date of May 4, 2007, on a budget reported to be more than US$250 million. On February 23, 2006, the first photo was shown on SuperHeroHype.com of Spider-Man in a black costume, confirmed later that day by the official movie website. The film will feature three villains: the Sandman/Flint Marko (portrayed by Thomas Hayden Church), the New Goblin/Harry Osborn (portrayed by James Franco), and Venom/Eddie Brock (portrayed by Topher Grace). Bryce Dallas Howard plays Gwen Stacy.
[edit] Novels and books
Spider-Man features in three original Marvel novels published in the 1970s by Pocket Books. In the 1990s, Byron Preiss published a series of novels based on Marvel Comics, edited by Keith R. A. DeCandido, and written by various authors including Adam-Troy Castro, Tom DeFalco, and Diane Duane; Preiss also published two Spider-Man short-story anthologies. Byron Preiss' license eventually lapsed, and the new licensee, Pocket Star (an imprint of Pocket Books), released Down These Mean Streets, by DeCandido, in 2005. In 2006, they released The Darkest Hours by Jim Butcher. Some of these novels were team-ups with other Marvel characters (including the X-Men, Iron Man, and the Hulk), while others were solo adventures. All were set in the comic book continuity, but are not canonical, although they have been referenced in Marvel handbooks. However, the Byron Preiss novels shared a common continuity and occasionally referenced events in earlier novels, while later novels included a time-line.
A number of Spider-Man children's books have also been published, from early readers and picture books to novels. Guide books such as DK Publishing's Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide, by Tom DeFalco, are also common.[1]
[edit] Newspaper strip
Spider-Man has long been the subject of a comic strip produced by Marvel and syndicated by King Features. The strip is known as The Amazing Spiderman and is the only official instance in which the name is not always hyphenated.
[edit] Stage
In 2002, the company 2MA produced the first live-action Spider-Man stunt show, staged in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The same show played at Tussauds Thorpe Park in 2003 and 2004. Spider-Man has also made stage appearances in Pantomime at the Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre, UK.
At Universal Studios in California, a musical version of Spider-Man was produced, combining singing and live action sequences. The musical re-enacted the Green Goblin arc.
[edit] Games and toys
- Main article: Spider-Man computer and video games
Dozens of computer and video games starring Spider-Man, based on comics, animation, and movies, have been released for over 15 different gaming platforms. Spider-Man editions of Monopoly, chess, pinball, and many other games have also been made. Spider-Man has been included in every Marvel expansion of the tabletop miniature game Heroclix released to date. Spider-Man cards have been included in both the Overpower and VS System card games.
According to ToyFare magazine, more action figures of Spider-Man have been released than any other character except Batman. The first major Spider-Man toy was the 1966 Captain Action Spider-Man by Ideal, a costume made for the 12 inch Captain Action figure. It is estimated only 17-22 exist in the original box. ToyFare listed this Spider-Man as the most valuable action figure at $15,000 and up.
Numerous other Spider-Man action figures have been produced, from the Secret Wars line from Mattel, to the more recent from Toy Biz, (especially in the Spider-Man Classics line, Spider-Man movie lines and the Marvel Legends line). Lego and Minimates versions have also been made. Over 5000 toys, collectibles and miscellaneous memorabilia are in existence, but many are low-quality, unlicensed knock-offs.[2]
[edit] Real-life Spider-Men
Real-life "Spider-Men" include:
- "Spider Dan" Goodwin climbed the glass of two Chicago skyscrapers, the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Center, using suction cups in 1981.
- Alain Robert, nicknamed Spiderman, is a rock and urban climber who has scaled more than 70 tall buildings using his hands and feet, without using additional devices. He sometimes wears a Spider-Man suit during his climbs. In May 2003, he was paid approximately $18,000 to climb the 312-foot Lloyd's of London building to promote the premiere of the movie Spider-Man on the British television channel Sky Movies.
- 'The Human Spider', alias Bill Strother, scaled the Lamar Building in 1921.[3]
- Fathers 4 Justice member David Chick used a Spider-Man outfit to obtain publicity for fathers' rights.[4]
[edit] Spider-Man in music
- The catchy original Spider-Man cartoon theme song has been covered and reinterpreted by numerous musical acts, including The Ramones, Aerosmith, Michael Buble, Moxy Früvous and Tenacious D. The 2002 and 2004 movies have featured buskers performing the song; Jayce Bartok and Elyse Dinh respectively.
- In 1972, Buddah Records released "Spider-Man: From Beyond The Grave," a rock musical story LP record with an included wordless comic strip for listeners to follow. Kingpin appears as the villain and Dr. Strange guest stars.
- In 1975 Ramsey Lewis released a single titled "What's the Name of this Funk? (Spider Man)" [sic].[5]
- In 1975 Marvel Comics and Lifesong Records released an album entitled, "Spider-Man: Rock Reflections of a Superhero." It contained songs of various styles altered to elucidate certain moments and feelings of Spider-Man's origin, such as "No One's Got a Crush on Peter" and "Peter Stays and the Spider-Man Goes" interspersed with narration clips by Stan Lee.
- In 1983, Muse Records released Woody Shaw's jazz version of "Spider-Man Blues", based on the television theme, on Shaw's "Setting Standards" album.
- In 1992, the Italian rock band 883 made it to the European charts with a song called "Hanno ucciso l'uomo ragno" (They killed Spider-Man) from an album of the same name, describing how after the death of the superhero, the streets are being overrun by gangs of stressed accountants in double-breasted suits.[6]
- The 1993 Wu-Tang Clan song "Protect Ya Neck" includes the lyric "Swingin through your town like your neighborhood Spider-Man".
- In 1994, Joe Perry of Aerosmith wrote and performed the theme song for the Fox Kids Spider-Man animated series. Joe Perry is noted fan of Spider-Man.
- in 1998 Michale Graves wrote the song "Spider-Man" (aka The Spider-Man Song aka Spider-Man Save Me) while still in The Misfits. It is yet to be officially released, although he has played this song live in every band he's played in since. On his 2006 solo release, Return to Earth, Michale again mentions Spider-Man in the song "Butchershop".
- In 2002 Nelly performed a song called "Spida Man," on his double album Sweat/Suit.
- The 2003 "Weird Al" Yankovic album Poodle Hat has a track entitled "Ode to a Superhero". It is a parody of the Billy Joel song "Piano Man", and recounts the events of the 2002 film.
- A soundtrack album and score was released with each of the two Spider-Man films. The two soundtracks were mainly songs thematically linked to the film, performed by popular rock acts. Both soundtracks included hit singles (notably "Hero" by Chad Kroeger, "Bother" by Corey Taylor (of Stone Sour and Slipknot), and "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional). The two scores were composed by Danny Elfman.
- Danish pop group, Aqua, mention Spider-Man in the chorus of their single, Cartoon Heroes.
- In his 2006 album, Kingdom Come, Jay-Z raps "Peter Parker: Spider-Man, all I do is climb the charts".
[edit] Spider-Man in popular culture
- Comic Relief aired the Spider-Man movie parody Spider-Plant Man, starring Rowan Atkinson and Rachel Stevens.
- The CGI animated movie Shrek 2 has at least two refernces to Spider-Man: the upside-down kiss between Shrek and Fionna, and Donkey's "donkey-sense" tingling.
- The sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air has many references to Spider-Man as the main character, Will Smith, is a fan of the character, as he is in real life.
- A variety of Spider-Man products can been seen in the HGTV show Ultimate Collectors, in which Brady Sullivan exhibits his vast collection of memorabilia.
- In the Stephen King movie Maximum Overdrive the main villain, a truck carrying toys, features the face of the Green Goblin.
- Fairly Odd Parents often make refences in the form of "sence"s. ie: "Cosmo is about to make Timmy dead" sense, "Timmy" sense, etc.
| Spider-Man | ||
|---|---|---|
| Publications | Main continuity: Amazing Fantasy • The Amazing Spider-Man The Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2) • Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man • Astonishing Spider-Man • Spider-Man Family Other continuities: Ultimate Spider-Man • Marvel Adventures Spider-Man • Spider-Girl • Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane Spider-Man: Reign |
|
| Television | Spider-Man (1967) • Spidey Super Stories (1974, live action) • Amazing Spider-Man (1978, live action) • Supaidāman (1978 - Japanese) • Spider-Man (1981) •Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981) • Spider-Man (1994) •Spider-Man Unlimited (1999) • Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003) • The Amazing Spider-Man (2008) | |
| Films | Spider-Man (2002) • Spider-Man 2 (2004) • Spider-Man 3 (2007) | |
| Other topics | ||
| Fictional history of Spider-Man • Spider-Man supporting characters • Spider-Man villains • Spider-Man's powers and equipment • Video games • Alternate versions of Spider-Man • Spider-Man in other media |
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