Slingin’ over the years - The evolution of Spider-Man

From scary mutant villains to a self-aware AI suit, the world of Spider-Man has come a long way   
Slingin’ over the years - The evolution of Spider-Man

Even though Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Holland’s characters share a teacher-disciple relationship in Spider-Man: Homecoming, we all know how Spider-Man is incredibly capable of handling things on his own. From having his costume custom-stitched with a logo he designed, to engineering his own web shooting device, Peter Parker himself has played a major role in the evolution of his alter-ego over the years. 

This is where Homecoming differs, as it has Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) getting into the thick of things. The Spidey costume here is designed by Stark, and is perhaps the fully actualised version of what the comics have to offer. Featuring the webbed wings that were discarded in earlier reboots, and mechanical eyes which, for the very first time, bring in the element of facial expression to live-action adaptations of the character, the costume is made complete with a built-in JARVIS-like AI system as well (gasp!).

That said, the black alien symbiote costume in Spider-Man 3 — a significant change from the traditional blue-and-red spandex suit — is something that Parker may not want to revisit. Also, fans and critics were divided on the concept of web shooters (or their lack, thereof) — conceived as a hidden device in the original comics, which then became a biological mutation in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, and go back to being an external device of Parker’s own design in Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider Man

The homemade costumed donned by Tobey Maguire in <em>Spider-Man (2002)</em>
The homemade costumed donned by Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man (2002)
L-R: Tom Holland in the homemade costume, Michael Keaton and Jon Watts
L-R: Tom Holland in the homemade costume, Michael Keaton and Jon Watts
The Black Suit that gave Peter extraordinarily enhanced powers. In <em>Spider-Man 3 (2007)</em>
The Black Suit that gave Peter extraordinarily enhanced powers. In Spider-Man 3 (2007)
The web-shooter as seen in <em>The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)</em>
The web-shooter as seen in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Spider-Man does an Iron Man
Spider-Man does an Iron Man

All said and done, Stan Lee’s most endearing character is here to stay for many more generations to come. And until he gets a director like Christopher Nolan to give it Dark Knight-like status on the big screen, Spider-Man will have to make do with the ever-evolving legacy of his illustrious past to remain one of our favourite superheroes. Ahead of the latest reboot, we take a look at his evolution from comics and TV series to the movies and beyond.

TRIVIA TIME

All in the name
A much-debated topic is the reason behind hyphenating the name Spider-Man. Stan Lee’s deceptively simple explanation was that he didn’t want people to confuse his name with Superman, who predated the character by over 20 years. He also went against convention by choosing Spider-Man over Spider-Boy, as he didn’t want the character to sound inferior to other superheroes.

Spider-Man 2002
Spider-Man 2002


Bite bytes 

Retroactive continuity in films have made it possible for origin stories to be updated in every reboot. While Hammond doesn’t become Spider-Man until he’s a working professional, Maguire and Garfield are both high-schoolers when they get bitten. Although The Amazing Spider-Man is mostly true to the original comics, it also introduces the story of Peter’s father, Richard. Homecoming picks up after Captain America: Civil War, instead. 

Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy
Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy


Love on loop

The 1977 film saw the previously unseen character of Julie Masters as Peter’s love interest. On the other hand, both Sam Raimi and Marc Webb drew from the comics and chose Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy, respectively. A lesser known fact is that after Spider-Man failed to save Gwen, he went on to stop using the webbing to save falling people, and instead swooped down himself.

THEN and NOW

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