Spider-Man: Difference between revisions

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 [[Japanese Spider-Man|live-action]] ''Spider-Man'' was also produced as a [[Toku]] series in Japan, which borrowed the costume but little else, and teamed the arachnid hero with a [[Humongous Mecha]]. (This series inspired the development of the ''[[Super Sentai]]'' franchise.)

* ''[[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.

* ''[[The Amazing Spider-Man]]'' - The upcoming 2012 [[Darker and Edgier]] [[Continuity Reboot]] directed by Marc Webb. Starring [[Andrew Garfield]] as Peter Parker/Spider-Man.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* ''[[Spider-Man Friend or Foe]]'' - A 2007 game that used the same character designs as the [[Spider-Man (film)|films]], but told an original story and was somewhat cartoony in its designs.

* ''[[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.

* ''[[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.

 

* ''[[Spider-Man: The New Animated Series]]'' An [[All CGI Cartoon]] produced by [[Mainframe Entertainment]] and aired on [[MTV]] to catch the popularity of the [[Spider-Man (film)|live-action movies]]. It also lasted [[Too Good to Last|only a year]].

* ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]:'' A new series that goes back to the basics with [[Greg Weisman]] of ''[[Gargoyles]]'' fame leading the way. Despite major approval and praise by fans and critics alike, Sony lost the rights to the show, [[Too Good to Last|forcing the series to end after two seasons.]]

 

 

* [[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.

* [[All Webbed Up]]

* [[Animal Motifs]]: Spidey and a fair portion of his [[Rogues Gallery]]. Sometimes [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]].

** Deliberately invoke in-universe with Scorpion, who received his powers and codename so he could hunt Spider-Man: in real life, scorpions prey on spiders.

* [[Arch Enemy]]: Several over the years: [[The Sixties|Doctor Octopus]], [[Norman Osborn|Green Goblin]] (most famously, for [[Complete Monster|horrible, horrible]] reasons), [[The Eighties|Hobgoblin]], [[The Nineties|Venom]], Carnage, Kingpin.

** The four that ''really'' stand out are Doc Ock (his original archenemy, who reclaims the title occasionally based on what the status of the other three are), the Kingpin (who ceased to be archenemy material when he started to focus on [[Daredevil]] more), the [[Norman Osborn|Green Goblin]] (''killing the love interest'' does that) and Venom (as his appearance and powers make him a bigger, badder [[Evil Counterpart]] to Spidey). Since coming [[Back From the Dead]], however, its the Goblin who can more or less be considered '''the''' [[Arch Enemy]], as he [[Took a Level In Badass]] while the others suffered varying degrees of [[Villain Decay]].

* [[Artistic License Physics]]: During the first Sinister Six fight, Spidey grounds himself to make himself immune to Electro's electricity blasts. This actually would make him much ''more vulnerable'' to them.

* [[Ascended Extra]]: [[Clothes Make the Superman|Flash Thompson is the current host of Venom,]] [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|since S.H.I.E.L.D. decided that just the Venom symbiote EXISTING]] [[Sealed Evil in a Can|made him the greatest threat on Earth]].

* [[Ax Crazy]]: Carnage, Venom to an extent.

* [[Back From the Dead]]: Between Carnage and The Green Goblin it would seem that death is more of an inconvenience than anything. Though the Goblin is notable for lasting twenty-odd years, which seeing as he is an [[Arch Enemy]] is probably a record.

** Later, "Mary Jane and Felicia."

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Spidey is entirely well-meaning, but in times of severe stress and/or provocation (such as Gwen Stacy's death), he will often fly into [[Unstoppable Rage]], which invariably ends very painfully for the target of that rage.

* [[Big Brother Mentor]]: [[Daredevil]] has been this to Spider-Man from time to time. Overlaps with [[Heterosexual Life Partners]].

* [[Blow Gun]]: A group of one-time villains (four criminals who learned to copy Vulture's wings) use those. The curare is fatal for humans -- Spider Man is too tough to die, but gets stiffer with every dart and actually comes close to succumbing. The next issue, he has to save their lives when the real Vulture came to town.

* [[Body Horror]]: At one point Spidey created a formula to rid himself of his spider-powers which instead caused him to sprout four extra arms. On no less than three separate occasions he has been forcibly turned into a man-spider hybrid. As if the poor guy didn't have enough to deal with...

* [[Broken Bad]]: Several, most notably Lizard and most strongly Hobgoblin 2112.

* [[Building Swing]]: Spider-Man, natch.

* [[Camera Sniper]]: Common, but most of the time it's Peter Parker's own camera on auto-shutter taking the pictures of Spidey in action. But not always.

* [[Can't Stop the Signal]]: The ''[[What If]]'' issue [http://www.4thletter.net/2006/11/the-top-100-what-if-countdown-part-19/ "What If Gwen Stacy Had Lived?"] concludes with a {{spoiler|reversal of this trope, in that it's the ''villain'' who sends information to the press rather than the hero. The Green Goblin posts evidence of Spider-Man's [[Secret Identity]] to the hero's "second-greatest enemy": [[Da Editor|J. Jonah Jameson]].}}

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

** Osborn is still a very good example of this trope, as it is often lampshaded--most notably by the Hobgoblin--that he could be several magnitudes wealthier if he just marketed his stuff, which would give him a lot of the power he is after anyway. It's explained and [[Justified Trope]] by the fact that Osborn is, well, crazy.

* [[Da Editor]]: J. Jonah Jameson.

** 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.

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

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

* [[Deconstruction]]: The series has always had elements of this, [[Older Than They Think|long before]] [[Alan Moore]] wrote ''[[Watchmen]]''. Notably, the series frequently showed how being a superhero would create problems, and how ''not'' using your superpowers would create even more.

** Also a front runner in the idea that if someone decided to be an ideal hero/citizen/human being, it would have serious ramifications on their social, romantic, family, and professional life.

** Venom visited them both, although Mary Jane knew who and what he was and spent a long time terrified of him. He visited Aunt May as "a friend of Pete's".

** Norman Osborn did this a lot, obviously since he was one of the first villains to learn of Peter's secret identity.

*** ''Aunt May'' fuckin' well '''took out the Chameleon''' disguised as Peter Parker with poisoned cookies because [[Spot the Imposter|she knew he wasn't the real Peter]].

* [[Distaff Counterpart]]: At last count, Spider-Man has had no less than five of them, including [[Spider Girl|his own daughter]]. Unlike most versions, none of them had any major connections to Peter and stood on their own. In fact, in an odd inversion, when the second [[Spider-Woman]] was introduced in ''[[Secret Wars]]'', the Marvel EIC at the time wanted him to have a black costume similar to hers. Thus, the black costume was made, leading to the creation of Venom years later.

*** This doesn't always work for the villains, especially the recently debuted, and quickly mocked, Lady Stilt-Man. Yes, you heard us. To be fair, Spidey starts laughing hysterically, proving that this woman was not meant to be taken seriously. At least we got a [[Funny Moments (Sugar Wiki)|CrowningMomentOfFunny]] out of it.

* [[Damsel in Distress]]: Subverted by Mary Jane, who typically escapes the sticky situations she finds herself in on her own, and has rescued her husband more than once from his enemies.

* [[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''.

* [[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,] [[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.]]

** Not quite. After Spider-Man saves him, he tells the remnants of the symbiote to shut up. After being exonerated for the crimes he committed as Venom, he met Mr. Li, who offered him a job. Eddie accepted, and when Mr. Li touched him, the remnants of [[The Symbiote]] were fused to his immune system, turning him into Anti-Venom.

*** 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).

* [[Evil Counterpart]]: Venom is often positioned as an evil Spider-Man, making Brock similar to Peter but not accepting Great Responsibility. Currently in the comics, the latest Hobgoblin ({{spoiler|Phil Urich}}) is being made into one.

* [[Fat and Skinny]]: Styx and Stone.

* [[Festival Episode]]: In ''[[Untold Tales of Spider Man]]'' #19, teenage Peter Parker is taking pictures of a festival for J. Jonah Jameson.

* [[Fix Fic]]: After ''[[One More Day]]'' showed up, there were plenty of these out there. In-universe this has happened several times to help [[Retcon]] certain parts of the comic's less than well-received issues.

* [[Follow the Leader]] / [[Older Than They Think]] / [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: The plots of the first three Spider-Man films follow closely those of the first three [[Superman (film)|Superman]] films. ''Superman'' and ''Spider-Man'' were origin stories combined with introducing an archenemy. ''[[Superman II]]'' and ''Spider-Man 2'' had the heroes try to give up their identities and/or powers. ''[[Superman III]]'' and ''Spider-Man 3'' introduced evil versions of the characters.

* [[Friends with Benefits]]: Shortly after ''[[One More Day]]'', Spidey tried having this with the Black Cat. It didn't last long.

* [[From a Single Cell]]: Several.

* [[Genetic Memory]]: Every [[Cloning Blues|clone]] of Peter will invariably have his memories.

* [[Genius Bruiser]]: Spider-Man. In fact, he's a rare case of the genius [[Lightning Bruiser]] but without the size.

** Actually Mary Jane was ''literally'' a girl next door in the original, as the niece of Aunt May's next-door neighbor. Gwen came from a totally different social background: her father was a respected elder citizen of New York who belonged to the same gentlemen's club as millionaires J. Jonah Jameson and Norman Osborn. Her boyfriend before Peter was Harry Osborn, prospective heir of the latter.

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: The Sandman eventually decided to try and go straight. It worked for a while, until John Byrne decided to have him declare he was faking reformation (which pissed off fans so much, that [[Author's Saving Throw|Marvel had to rush out a back-up story declaring that Wizard had brainwashed Sandman back to being evil/claiming he faked redemption]].

* [[Heroes Want Redheads]]: Pete's love interests have varied quite a bit in hair color over the years, but the woman he eventually married and his most prominent love interest to date, was the redheaded Mary Jane. Until ''[[One More Day]]'' that is...

* [[Hurting Hero]]: Just exactly HOW many ribs has he had cracked? (70% or better caused by Venom -- to the point it becomes a [[Brick Joke]].

** And if Spidey has a cold or flu you know he will battle a villain with relatively weak superpowers before page 24.

* [[Idiot Ball]]: Spider-Man is tossed one of these nearly any time he is taken by surprise by an attack, considering that his comic named the trope for [[Spider Sense|the ability to sense when something potentially dangerous is about to happen.]]

* [[I Let Gwen Stacy Die]]: [[Trope Namer|The trope namer.]]

** It was also kind of handy when it came to taking out Morlun that time.

*** {{spoiler|Except Morlun returned in a case of ''[[Back From the Dead]]''.}}

* [[Irrational Hatred]]: Jameson for Spider-Man.

* [[It Got Worse]]: ''Always''. The one thing which you can count on from a Spider-Man story is that things can--and usually will--get a ''lot'' worse at any point.

* [[Jerk Jock]]: Flash Thompson. Later subverted in that he smartened up and returned from his overseas military service a much better man. Then Green Goblin put him in a coma and he developed amnesia and lost all memories from the point that he entered the service. Luckily, he reverted back when he rejoined up and lost his legs.

* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: [[Depending on the Writer|Sometimes]], J. Jonah Jameson.

* [[Keep the Home Fires Burning]]: Mary Jane gets this plot a lot, notably in the [http://spiderfan.org/comics/reviews/spiderman_web/031.html Kraven's Last Hunt] storyline.

* [[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.

* [[Lizard Folk]]: Well, The Lizard.

* [[Look Ma, No Plane]]: Spider-Man swings by helicopters all the time. In the game of the second movie, you end up chasing one... if you go too close to the rotors, exactly what you'd expect happens.

* [[Not Me This Time]]: Subverted in that even though Norman Osborn will often deny involvement in a scheme hurting Spider-Man, lazy writing will often retcon him as being the mastermind.

* [[Ordinary High School Student]]

* [[Perpetual Tourist]]: In one story, Mysterio's ultimate goal when he takes over the Maggia is to grab as much money as he can, and "buy an island in the tropics where I can sit under palm trees and drink things out of coconuts".

* [[Phlegmings]]: Just about every time Venom or some other symbiote-based character appears.

* [[Plot-Driven Breakdown]]: "I'm out of Web Fluid!"

* [[Popularity Power]]: How Spidey gets to beat the ''really'' tough villains and heroes.

* [[Pro Wrestling Is Real]] / [[Pro Wrestling Episode]]: When Spider-Man first got his powers, he entered a wrestling tournament and beat a wrestler by the name of Crusher Hogan. Interestingly enough, Crusher came back years later, publicly stated that wrestling was fake, and that he [[Blatant Lies|purposefully threw the fight to Spidey.]]

* [[Psycho Electro]]: [[Trope Namer|Trope Namer?]]

* [[The Ramones]]: Covered his [[Theme Song]]. And it was awesome.

* [[Reality Subtext]]: Carlie Cooper is named for [[Joe Quesada]]'s daughter.

* [[The Reveal Prompts Romance]]: With Mary Jane. It helps that they already had a sort of [[Rescue Romance]] going.

* [[Ride the Lightning]]

* [[Rogues Gallery]]: Just about every adaptation has presented the classic villains (the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Electro, the Shocker, the Rhino, Mysterio, etc.).

** Played more straight with issue #100, which, [[Late Arrival Spoiler|if you haven't read it]], features Spidey briefly battling various enemies, who call him out on his various insecurities, usually one that they share, finally culminating in his speaking with the recently deceased Captain George Stacy.

* [[Rogues Gallery Transplant]]: Several B-list villains who started out fighting other heroes would go on to become recurring spider-foes.

** Rhino also has had quite a few run-ins with [[Incredible Hulk|The Incredible Hulk]].

** ''[[The Punisher]]'' even started as one of Spidey's enemies.

* [[Sanctuary of Solitude]]: Venom's origin story: Eddie Brock, down-on-his-luck reporter, [[media:Venom_origin_in_church.jpg|is contemplating suicide in a church]] while Spider-Man is trying to escape from the Symbiote. After he successfully drives it off, it bonds with Eddie, and Venom is born.

* [[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.

** At one point, Aunt May needed a blood transfusion, and Peter donated his blood... only for his aunt to become incredibly ill from it soon after, because he hadn't taken into account the fact that his blood is radioactive.

** [http://www.comicvine.com/36036-stunner/105-339003/ She] [http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/77/90634-44091-stunner_super.jpg also] [http://www.comicvine.com/120990-stunner/105-90632/ crosses] [http://www.comicvine.com/stunner_2/105-1500086/ it] [http://www.comicvine.com/stunnerspidey3/105-825758/ with] [[Amazonian Beauty]]. Unfortunately, this is not Angelina Brancale's real form; it's a [[Inside a Computer System|virtual reality construct]] that assumes an ideal, more beautiful version of herself. She [http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/35698/825755-stunnerspidey5_super.jpg actually appears] as an [[Fat Girl|overweight woman]].

* [[Status Quo Is God]]: Ever since Peter and Mary Jane wed, writers have been trying to backpedal and make Peter single again.

** The whole ''[[One More Day]]'' storyline supposedly had everyone forget Spidey's secret identity -- yet, strangely, in the first issue of the new ''FF'', every member of the [[Fantastic Four]] seems to know Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

*** Because he ''told'' the Fantastic Four his identity in issue #591, after the Human Torch figured out that they used to know it, but now didn't. At the end of the issue, Peter unmasks and they regain their memories from before the mindwipe that occured in ''[[One Moment in Time]]''.

*** Played straight in the ''[[Spider Island]]'' arc, which {{spoiler|restores Spider-Man's [[Spider Sense]], removes the psychic blind-spot that prevents people from knowing who he is, has him hook up with Mary Jane again, and has Eddie Brock lose the Anti-Venom symbiote.}}

* [[Stock Footage]]

* [[Stripperific]]: Depictions of Mary Jane can get especially bad for this, particularly during [[Spawn|Todd McFarlane]]'s run as Spider-Man's main artist.

* [[Superhero]]

* [[Super Reflexes]]: Closely coupled with his [[Spider Sense]].

* [[Tears of Remorse]]: In the penultimate panel of his origin story.

* [[Teen Genius]]

** Ironic in the fact that Spidey actually ''predated'' Wolverine with this type of exposure.

** At this point Spidey may have passed even Wolverine and Deadpool in over-saturation as he is now either a member or guest-starring with the three big teams in the Marvel Universe--including the X-Men, the Avengers (both teams), and the new [[Fantastic Four]] (known as the FF); plus his own book is released twice a month.

** 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.