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Credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel StudiosMarvel’s Spider-Man character is one of the most famous superheroes ever created. Since the wall crawler’s inception over 60 years ago, Spider-Man has gone on to play a vital role both in Marvel Comics, as well as live-action and animation. But, recently, Sony lost a Spidey character due to legal reasons.
Spider-Man in Film
What live-action films has Spider-Man appeared in?
The Spider-Man character has appeared in live-action films for years. Most notably, Tobey Maguire starred as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spider-Man 3 (2007), all of which were directed by Sam Raimi.
Sony Pictures then rebooted the franchise with Marc Webb directing both The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). Both of these movies starred Andrew Garfield as the title character.
Then in 2016, Kevin Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe featured Peter Parker/Spider-Man as a supporting character in Captain America: Civil War (2016). Tom Holland later went on to star in his own trilogy of movies, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Concurrently, Holland also appeared in the ensemble casts of Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
What animated films has Spider-Man appeared in?
In 2018, the Spider-Man character appeared in the Academy Award-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). The animated movie followed the Miles Morales iteration of Spider-Man, played by Shameik Moore. As its name suggests, the Marvel film delved into the Multiversal world of the Spider-Verse and brought in a variety of Spider-Man characters from years gone by.
What is the Marvel and Sony contract issue?
Over the last decade, the contractual issues between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have been increasingly prevalent. When Peter Parker made his official MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War back in 2016, it marked a huge moment for fans everywhere as the character was finally in the interconnected universe Marvel Studios had been building for the last eight years.
Following Civil War, Holland’s Spider-Man later appeared in his own trilogy — Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Despite eventually being a box office hit, the last movie may never have happened after contractual discussions between Disney’s Marvel Studios and Sony broke down. At the time, Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Tony Vinciquerra said that the door was closed on Spider-Man’s MCU journey and that the character would continue on in Sony’s own Spider-Man Universe.
It took huge fan backlash and Holland himself speaking to Disney CEO Bob Iger to get the project moving forward once more. For the full story on what happened between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures and the difference between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, head here.
Related: Marvel’s New Spider-Man Finally Speaks Out After Replacing Tom Holland
Spider-Man in Comics
When was Spider-Man created?
A huge part of the ongoing Marvel mythos, Spider-Man, or Peter Benjamin Parker, was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for Marvel Comics over 60 years ago. His first appearance was in “Amazing Fantasy #15” (1962).
How many Spider-Man characters are there?
Over the last 60 years, there have been a plethora of Spider-Man character Variants in the comic book Marvel Universe and in film and TV. Even the iconic villain Doctor Octopus became Spider-Man for a moment.
Is there a Spider-Boy?
Back in 1996, Marvel Comics and DC merged for a series of one-shots under the Amalgam Comics banner. The one-shots took place between the DC vs. Marvel crossover event and, in 1997, these 12 one-shots were followed by another dozen. In the one-shots, Marvel and DC characters were merged together to create a new type of superhero.
One of these heroes was the amalgamation of Spider-Man and Superboy — Spider-Boy. The Spider-Man in question was a clone of Ben Reilly. Spider-Boy, or Peter Ross, uses telekinetic abilities to move like a spider and was later adopted by General Thunderbolt Ross. He was created by Karl Kesel and Mike Wieringo for “Spider-Boy #1” (1996).
This Spider-Boy is not to be confused with Bailey Briggs/Spider-Boy in Marvel Comics.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
What is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It was directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, and produced by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal, Avi Arad, and Christina Steinberg.
In the Marvel movie, Miles Morales (Moore) teams up with Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld) on a mission across the Spider-Verse, where they encounter members of the Spider Society. Other cast members include Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker and Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099. Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield also appear via archival footage. In total, the film featured over 100 Spider-Man character Variants.
Marvel Comics veteran, Kris Anka, served as lead character designer for Across the Spider-Verse.
Why didn’t Spider-Boy appear in Across the Spider-Verse?
Both Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse featured a plethora of Spider-Man characters from past comic books and animated and live-action projects. However, one specific character that wasn’t featured but was spotted at an Expo in the wild was Spider-Boy.
Kris Anka confirmed that the artwork spotted was the real deal, but due to legal reasons, Spider-Boy was not permitted to be featured in Sony’s Across the Spider-Verse. Charlz (@clambuoyance) asked:
this might be a dumb question but a friend sent this photo of a …legally distinct spider variant…from some sort of expo but i was told it was fake? i cant seem to find this design anywhere else and i was wondering if you drew this
this might be a dumb question but a friend sent this photo of a …legally distinct spider variant…from some sort of expo but i was told it was fake? i cant seem to find this design anywhere else and i was wondering if you drew this👉👈 pic.twitter.com/FAkoUw2WJr
— charlz 🇵🇭💜 (@clambuoyance) July 30, 2023
Anka (@kristaferanka) responded, saying:
it is real, ive never posted the actual drawing. obviously we ended up not being able to do use it cause legal law reasons
it is real, ive never posted the actual drawing.
obviously we ended up not being able to do use it cause legal law reasons https://t.co/oA7MLlAu1r— kris anka (@kristaferanka) July 30, 2023
Related: ‘Spider-Man’ Star Officially Jumps Ship, Leaves Disney For New Lead Role
Spider-Boy’s presence in the Marvel and DC Amalgam Comics meant that he was not able to appear in Across the Spider-Verse. While Anka does not go into detail about the legalities surrounding losing Spider-Boy in the Sony movie, it could be because of the shared ownership over the character between Marvel and DC.
As for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, the actor recently revealed that conversations were happening about Spider-Man 4 until the Writers Guild of America strikes happened earlier this year. The shared usage of this live-action version means Holland’s return could happen in either the MCU or Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.
Would you have liked to see Spider-Boy in Across the Spider-Verse? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!