| Adaptations of Spider-Man in other media | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Stan Lee Steve Ditko |
| Original source | Comics published by Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) |
| Print publications | |
| Novel(s) | Spider-Man: Mayhem in Manhattan (1978) Spider-Man: The Venom Factor (1994) Spider-Man Super Thriller: Midnight Justice (1996) Spider-Man: Down These Mean Streets (2005) |
| Reference book(s) | The Amazing Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide (2007) |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) | Spider-Man (2002) |
| Television show(s) |
Spider-Man (1967) The Amazing Spider-Man (1977) Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981) Spider-Man (1994) The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008) |
| Theatrical presentations | |
| Play(s) | Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark (2010) |
| Audio presentations | |
| Radio show(s) | Spider-Man: From Beyond The Grave (1972) |
| Soundtrack(s) | "Ode to a Superhero" (2003) |
| Games | |
| Video game(s) | Spider-Man (1982) The Amazing Spider-Man (1990) Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (1994) Ultimate Spider-Man (2005) Spider-Man: Friend or Foe |
Spider-Man is a fictional comic book character who has been adapted in various other media.
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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.
All of the official Spider-Man films rank among the list of highest-grossing films.
Spider-Man features in three original Marvel novels published in the 1970s by Pocket Books -- Mayhem in Manhattan by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman, and Crime Campaign and Murder Moon, both by Paul Kupperburg. 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, and in 2007, they published Drowned in Thunder by Christopher L. Bennett. Some of the Preiss novels were team-ups with other Marvel characters (including the X-Men, Iron Man, and the Hulk), while others were solo adventures. 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.[3]
The daily newspaper comic strip The Amazing Spider-Man debuted on January 3, 1977. Produced by Marvel and syndicated by King Features Syndicate, the comic strip was surprisingly successful in an era with few serialized adventure strips. The strip slowly grew in circulation and as of 2011 is still being published. It was first written by Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee and illustrated by John Romita.[4] Stan Lee's brother, Larry Lieber, illustrated and later wrote the strip for much of its run. In 1992, Paul Ryan took over the penciling (with Joe Sinnott inking) on the Sunday version of the strip and drew that feature for three years. Since 1997, the daily strips are pencilled by Larry Lieber and inked by Alex Saviuk, while the Sunday strips are pencilled by Saviuk and inked by Joe Sinnott.
Early story arcs in the newspaper strip were paced much like a comic book, and a complete story unfolded in about 2 months of Sunday and daily strips. While the strip and the comic book feature the same characters, they do not share the same continuity. The strip differs from the established storylines of the comic books, most notably in the villains who Spider-Man fights and the women who Peter Parker dates. Many villains were introduced that have never appeared in comic books, on television or in the movies, including The Rattler, a man who acquired snakelike characteristics. A rare exception was the 1987 wedding of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson which occurred in both the comic book and the comic strip.
On December 31, 2008, the strip announced to its readers that it would be going through major changes. On January 1, 2009, the strip underwent a vanilla reboot (a reboot of an existing timeline without a real explanation for the changes based in the storylines), restoring Peter Parker to an unmarried young man. On January 2, 2009, the strip went on to reveal that it was now reflecting the "current storyline" in the Amazing Spider-Man title. Peter now lives alone in a renovated apartment, attends college, and dates long-time best friend Mary Jane whenever she is available. On January 3, it was revealed that the current timeline of the rebooted strip is set "in the days before Peter and Mary Jane were married". This confirmed that the newspaper strip's previous canon had not been compromised and that the present day timeline was on hold. On May 24, 2009, the marriage was restored to the dailys, the previous storyline involving Electro having been revealed to be a dream. The revelation dawns on Peter as Mary Jane walks out of the shower, paying homage to the infamous cliffhanger of Dallas involving the return of Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing.
On December 6th 2011, as Peter and Mary Jane embraced each other and celebrated thier recent good fortune, the strip warned readers that "nothing lasts forever", indicating that a staus quoe change was on the horizon. The story is ongoing
Guest stars in the newspaper strip include Wolverine, Daredevil and Doctor Strange. Villains include Dr. Doom, Kraven the Hunter, the Rhino and Mysterio.
Stories from the strip have been reprinted as 3 separate volumes in pocket paperback form. A few selected storylines were also reprinted in a trade paperback in the 1980s, showcasing several different artists. A black & white trade paperback reprint (on high-gloss paper) of the first 2 years of the newspaper strip was released on May 3, 2007 by Panini Publishing UK. Some stories have also been reprinted in the magazine Comics Revue.
In 1995, BBC Radio commissioned a Spider-Man audio book which aired on BBC Radio 1 over 50 episodes on week days between January 15, 1996 and March 24, 1996. The performance was co-produced by Brian May, who also contributed to the musical arrangement and wrote and performed the theme tune.[5]
The scope of the story included a number of familiar characters from the Spider-Man comic books as well as key figures from the Marvel "Heroes" universe such as the Fantastic Four, Namor the Submariner, and Doctor Doom. The role of Spider-Man was performed by William Dufries. Also included in the cast list was EastEnders star Anita Dobson.
Spider-Man appears in the Spider-Woman motion comics. In this series, he is voiced by Geoff Boothby.
At the Butlins family entertainment resorts in the UK a musical called Spider-Man On Stage played in 1999. The show contained music by Henry Marsh and Phil Pickett and a book and lyrics by David H. Bell. The original cast album by Varios Records runs 44 minutes.
In 2002, the company 2MA produced the first live-action Spider-Man stunt show, staged in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The same show played at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England in 2003 and 2004. Spider-Man has also made stage appearances in Pantomime at the Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre and the Churchill Theatre, Bromley UK. In 2003 a similar stage show called Spider-Man Live! toured North America.
At Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, a musical stage version (loosely based on the 2002 live-action film) titled Spider-Man Rocks! was produced, combined singing and action stunt sequences. The attraction ran from May 2002 to August 2004, when it was replaced by Fear Factor Live!
A Broadway musical titled Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark opened at the Foxwoods Theatre in New York on June 14, 2011. The show is directed by Julie Taymor and features music by Bono and The Edge. The production stars Reeve Carney, Jennifer Damiano, T.V. Carpio and Patrick Page.[6] The much-in-news troubled musical, is the most expensive piece of live theatre to date, and features high-flying action sequences and stunts. It holds the record for the most preview performances, with over 180 before its opening.
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.
In 1980, D. Gottlieb & Co. released The Amazing Spider-Man pinball machine, designed by Ed Krinski as part of their Star Series 80 line. The line continued well into the early 1980s.
The Amazing Spider-Man, a puzzle-oriented action game developed by Oxford Digital Enterprises and released in 1990 for the Amiga, then later ported to PC:DOS, Commodore 64, and Atari ST. The title was published by Paragon Software Corporation and features over 250 screens.[7]
In 1990, The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin, developed and published by Sega, premiered on the Sega Master System and was later ported to the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1991, the Sega Game Gear in 1992, and the Sega Mega-CD in 1993. Fundamentally, the game is the same on each platform with each iteration including new levels, enhanced graphics and a few incremental improvements to the game play. The story involves Spider-Man trying to collect six keys from six villains to defuse a bomb in New York planted by the Kingpin. Spider-Man has a finite supply of webfluid and the only way to replenish is to take photos, most profitably of the supervillains, to sell to the Daily Bugle.
The Amazing Spider-Man is the title of a video game released for the original Nintendo Game Boy. It was published in 1990 by LJN Ltd. (a subsidiary of Acclaim), and developed by Rare. It is a platform side scrolling action game. The game play involves running across New York chasing supervillains to locate Mary Jane Watson.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was released the following year and was developed by B.I.T.S. The game is a side-scrolling beat-'em up. Spider-Man attempts to clear his name after he is accused of a crime committed by the Hobgoblin. In 1993, B.I.T.S. released the third in the series titled, The Amazing Spider-Man 3: Invasion of the Spider-Slayers.
As well as various games based on the Spider-Man license, Spider-Man has also appeared in a few cross-over titles. He appears as a guest character in X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, as well as appearing in both Marvel: Ultimate Alliance games. He is also a playable character in Capcom's series of Marvel-based fighting games, first appearing in Marvel Super Heroes as well as every game in the Marvel vs. Capcom series of games starting from Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter. While not appearing in the main series due to licensing issues, Spider-Man appears in Marvel Super Hero Squad, Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet, and Marvel Super Hero Squad Online as a playable character.
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 (300 mm) 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 8,000 toys, collectibles and miscellaneous memorabilia are in existence.
Real-life "Spider-Men" include:
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