Spider-Man: Difference between revisions

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[[File:AmazingFantasy15.jpg|frame|Spidey's first appearance, August 1962.]]

 

In the 1970s, a silent costumed actor played Spider-Man on ''[[The Electric Company]]'', who only spoke in word balloons viewers were expected to read. Subsequent [[Animated Series]] teamed Spider-Man with other heroes, such as Firestar and Iceman. This period saw the beginning of the long-running newspaper comic ''[[Spider-Man (comic strip)|Spider Man]]''.

 

 

 

 

A [[The Musical|Broadway Musical]] based on the characters started production in 2010, called ''[[Spider Man Turn Off the Dark]]''. It was originally directed by [[The Lion King|Julie Taymor]] and features music written by [[U2|Bono and the Edge]]. [[Troubled Production|The production has been plagued with injuries]] stemming from the stage machinery used to make its titular character swing through the air. After a disastrous series of previews in which critics savaged the show and Julie Taymor's departure from the show, the book was completely rewritten before it's much-delayed official debut in June 2011. Despite the fact that reviews were only marginally better, the show continued to sell well in spite of (or possibly because of) the reputation it gained on Broadway.

 

 

== [[Comics]] (Marvel Universe) ==

* ''Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'' - A side series published from ''[[Bat Family Crossover|The Other]]'' to the events of ''[[One More Day]]''. Written by [[Peter David]], the series focused on Peter's life as a school teacher.

* ''Marvel Knights Spider-Man'' - A more mature book than the other Spider-Man titles. Was renamed to ''The Sensational Spider-Man'' during ''The Other'' and canceled following ''[[One More Day]]''.

* ''Peter Parker: Spider-Man''

* ''The Sensational Spider-Man'' - Replaced ''Amazing Spider-Man'' as the main title when Ben Reily took over as Spider-Man during the [[Clone Saga]].

* ''[[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]]'' - Spidey has been an Avenger since the ''Avengers Disassembled'' event.

* ''[[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|FF]]'' - When the Fantastic Four reinvented themselves as the Future Foundation, Spider-Man was asked to fill the spot left by the fallen Human Torch.

 

=== Storylines ===

== [[Film]] ==

* ''[[Spider-Man (film)|Spider-Man Trilogy]]'' - Directed by [[Sam Raimi]] and starring Toby Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, James Franco as Harry Osborn, and J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson.

* Unofficial Turkish movie ''[[Three Big Men]]'' (1973) which gained [[Cult Classic|notoriety status]] since it features [[Captain America (comics)]] and [[El Santo]] fighting an [[In Name Only|evil]] Spider-Man.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* ''[[Japanese Spider-Man]]'' - Japan had an officially licensed series that was [[In Name Only|In Name and Costume Only]].

 

* ''Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro'' - Developed by Trearch and a sequel to the above game, released in 2001.

* A trilogy of tie-in games for the [[Sam Raimi]] [[Spider-Man (film)|trilogy]], all developed by Treyarch.

* ''[[Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions]]'' - A 2010 game developed by Beenox, and featuring the Spider-Men of the [[Marvel Universe|mainstream Marvel]], Marvel Noir, [[Marvel 2099]] and [[Ultimate Marvel]] universes teaming up to [[Applied Phlebotinum|reunite the pieces of a strange artifact called the Tablet of Order and Chaos]] in order to save reality.

* ''[[Spider-Man: Web of Shadows]]'' - A 2008 game, once again developed by Treyarch, which featured Spider-Man trying to stop Venom and a symbiote army from taking over New York. However, Spider-Man has also been infected with a symbiote, and can either stop Venom or take over the symbiote army himself.

* ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man (video game)|Ultimate Spider Man]]'' - A 2005 game developed by Treyarch that used the [[Ultimate Marvel|characters of the Ultimate universe]] and featured both Spider-Man and Venom as playable characters.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

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* [[Action Series]]

* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: In the [[Sam Raimi]] films, Spider-Man's webbing is organic, Gwen Stacy showed up ''after'' he started dating Mary Jane (both of whom have personalities that are closer to each other's comic book interpretations) and there have been a few costume changes (most obviously is the Green Goblin who went from torn purple robes and a rubber mask to a full body green battle suit). However, fans love the movies (''1'' and ''2'', anyway; ''3'' definitely flies into [[Love It or Hate It]] territory) despite the changes.

* [[Alertness Blink]]: Most times the spider-sense activates.

* [[Alliterative Name]]: [[Stan Lee]], Spidey's creator, was the [[Trope Codifier]] for the trend, because he found names easier to keep track of if he used alliteration as a mnemonic. Examples include: Betty Brant, Curt Connors, Spencer Smythe, Glory Grant, J. Jonah Jameson, John Jameson, Kenny "King" Kong, Otto Octavius, Peter Parker, Randy Robertson. Randy's father Joe might also count, since his nickname is "Robbie".

* [[Animal-Themed Superbeing]]: See above.

* [[Animated Adaptation]]

** When he was originally introduced, however, he fit the [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type]] [[This Loser Is You|I]] characterization fairly well. He hasn't changed all that much, but the world has; [[Seinfeld Is Unfunny|flaws and problems in a hero were big news when Spider-Man first put on his suit, but now they're expected of every character.]]

** Venom is more this trope played straight. He was initially introduced as a villain, but was shown to only harbor violent emotions towards Spider-Man, and actually fought crime on occasions when he wasn't hunting Spider-Man. He even got a spin-off comic that was all about his actions of taking down bad guys.

* [[Beam Me Up, Scotty]]: The infamous "With great power comes great responsibility" quote from one of the early issues is usually attributed to Uncle Ben. While it wasn't long before it was [[retcon]]ned to be from him, the actual first appearance of the quote was in a narration box.

** Not only that, the exact quote is "with great power, there must also come great responsibility". Like ''[[The Lion King|matata hakuna]]'', this was likely changed so that it was more marketable as a motto.

* [[Betty and Veronica]]: See the Alternate Name, "Gwen And Mary Jane".

** Later, "Mary Jane and Felicia."

* [[Catgirl]]: Western costumed variant in the Black Cat.

* [[Chronic Hero Syndrome]]: Justified in that he blames himself for his inaction with Uncle Ben when he could have saved him just by stopping the robber earlier, he takes this to the logical extreme and even other superheroes think he needs a vacation at times.

* [[Cloning Blues]]: Dear lord, where do we start...

** [[Shaped Like Itself|With the]] [[Clone Saga]]?

** Spidey himself gets a [[Iron Man]]-esque suit of armor, greatly enhancing his powers. In this suit, he's called "Iron Spider".

*** More than once. The first was a silver and blue one that evaporated in water. Then there was the one from Stark that could shapeshift, and we have a new one coming.

** White Rabbit is another example of this trope.

* [[Comes Great Responsibility]]: [[Trope Namer]], of course.

* [[Cool Loser]]: Peter Parker after high school.

* [[Crapsack World]]: This has been a hallmark of Peter Parker's life for a very long time, although it's perhaps a little more realistic than most depictions when Peter occasionally catches a break every now and again. [[Character Development]] would later show that life was no picnic for many of Peter's supporting cast members and even some of his villains.

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: While Spider-Man's actually on the low end of superhuman physical power in the Marvel universe (he can lift about ten tons, while a lot of other 'strong guys' are in the 50-100 ton range), he rarely uses his full strength, due to most of his [[Rogues Gallery]] not being in the same ballpark as him, powers-wise. In particular, the Kingpin was able to hold his own with Peter on multiple occasions due to his mastery of fighting skills and Peter's being unwilling to cut loose. But in the ''Back In Black'' storyline, when Aunt May is shot and nearly killed, Peter [[Berserk Button|loses it big time]] and tracks down the responsible party. When it turns out to be the Kingpin, Peter effortlessly and quite savagely ''beats the living shit'' out of him, then informs the battered, broken Kingpin that if May dies, so will he.

** It was only a few years in real time, as Mary Jane was only out of Peter's life for a few months in Marvel continuity.

* [[A Day in the Limelight]]: Different characters related to Spider-Man, such as supporting cast members, villains and second-tier heroes who first appeared in spider-books have all been developed over the years via subplots and main story-lines or even spin-off mini-series.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Our dashing hero.

* [[Death by Origin Story]]: Uncle Ben.

* [[Doom Magnet]]

* [[Dramatic Dislocation]]: He once did this in order to put a ''dislocated jaw'' back into place after battling Hammerhead. Proportionate strength of a spider + metal garbage bin = ''ow''.

** Peter was often quite the egotistical jerk back in those days. Fans are often surprised to read the story where he crashed the Human Torch's frat party simply out of spite.

* [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]: [[wikipedia:The Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2)#.22The Last Temptation of Eddie Brock.22 .28Issues 38-39.29|Eddie Brock is dying of cancer.]] [[Byronic Hero|Alone, and forgotten except as a remorseless monster to the public at large,]] [[Oh Crap|and the remnants of his old]] [[The Symbiote|"pal"]] [[Byronic Hero|are floating around in his head telling him]] [[Complete Monster|that he still has one chance at revenge]] [[Oh Crap|by killing a comatose May Parker or just disappearing off the world with nothing to show for it.]] Or he can just sit in his bed waiting to die [[Complete Monster|with Venom tormenting him until the end of his wasted life.]] [http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/31005/1080771-last_temptation_9_super.jpg Instead,]{{Dead link}} [[Take a Third Option|he]] [[Better to Die Than Be Killed|cuts himself trying to remove the remnants of Venom from his blood]] [[Crazy Awesome|and it works.]]

* [[Embarrassing First Name]]: To the Shocker, "I didn't know your name was Herman!"

* [[Entitled Bastard]]: J. Jonah Jameson.

** Doesn't quite count; from the beginning, Jameson was never portrayed as evil, [[Jerkass|just an asshole]]. In fact, he was a relatively ''[[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|nice]]'' guy when he wasn't angry, often giving Peter bonuses and helping him out of trouble, and is seen to be fair-minded in terms of everything except Spider-Man. He is also seen to support homosexuality and all sorts of minority groups, including [[X-Men|mutants]].

*** Except of course [[Depending on the Writer|in the hands of lazy writers]], as far as some ignoring this key element of the character for cheap jokes about J.J.J. being racist (and evoking his friendship with Joe Robertson to refute the claim when he's caught saying it).

* [[Kayfabe]]: The comics treated the fight between Peter and the wrestler as real; [[Grandfather Clause]] meant that the first movie followed this as well, though it was explained in issue #14 of ''Spider-Man's Tangled Web'' that Crusher Hogan was actually a "shoot" wrestler—in which the outcome of the match is not scripted.

* [[Keeping Secrets Sucks]]

* [[Knockout Gas]]: Enemies of Spider-Man have used it from time to time. Mysterio, Kraven, the Chameleon, the Hobgoblins, and [[Norman Osborn|Green Goblins]] are all culprits.

* [[Laser-Guided Karma]]: J. Jonah Jameson's poor treatment of Peter Parker and his financing attempts to capture/kill Spider-Man have repeatedly come back to haunt him.

* [[Run the Gauntlet]]: Spidey's first battle with the Sinister Six was one of these, where he was forced to battle the Vulture, Electro, Kraven, Sandman, Mysterio and Doctor Octopus one after another to save Aunt May and Betty Brant.

* [[Samaritan Syndrome]]: ''Big time.'' After [[Death by Origin Story|Uncle Ben]], Pete has taken much more responsibility for the safety of New York than a hero of his modest power set should have. Other heroes respect the hell out of him for it, but consider it unhealthy.

* [[Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up]]: Subverted in that Flash Thompson matured and became a much nicer guy after he graduated from high school and enlisted in the army. His tour of duty made him a much more intelligent and introspective character.

* [[Science Marches On]]: Now that we know more about the dangers of radiation, modern versions of the story typically have the spider be genetically engineered rather than radioactive. The radiation, [[Grandfather Clause|still the source of his powers in the main continuity]] (well, that [[JMS Spider-Man|that or magic]]), has caused some complications as well. For example, it caused some complications for Mary Jane when she became pregnant with his kid.

* [[The Worf Effect]]: Seems to get knocked around by his enemies more often than other heroes. Then again, he usually comes back to win, so the Effect isn't as bad as it otherwise would be.

** If anything, you could argue it's an inversion: Spidey gets knocked around all the time (and often fights enemies who are much stronger and/or larger than he is) to show that he's weak and spindly. But wins anyway.

* [[Wring Every Last Drop Out of Him|Wring Every Last Drop Out Of Her]]: Aunt May has been on the verge of death for ''four decades''.

* [[You Fight Like a Cow]]: Spider-Man's an undisputed master of this trope.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:The Sixties]]

[[Category:Marvel Comics Characters]]

[[Category:Animal Title Index]]

[[Category:Western Animation]]

[[Category:Franchises]]

[[Category:Memetic Works]]