Top 10 Spider Man Facts

So, consider yourself a huge Spidy fan? Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Spider-Man facts. For this list, we are focusing on facts about the character as opposed to looking at specific plot points.

The Spider-Man we know and love didn’t make his first appearance until “Amazing Fantasy #15”, but you may be surprised to learn that he wasn’t the first spider-themed character created by Marvel. A month earlier, Marvel produced an issue of “Journey Into Mystery” which featured a household spider that was transformed into a giant spider by radioactive rays. The spider gained the intelligence of a human and could even speak, but was killed by the end of the issue.

After the success of the Fantastic 4, Stan Lee decided to create another superhero. As the story goes, Lee was inspired to create a superhero that could stick to walls after seeing a fly on the wall. He didn’t think of Spider-Man right away, however –he first tried out “Insect-Man” and “Fly-Man” before eventually deciding to go with Spider-Man, which I think we can all agree was a great decision. Seriously, your friendly neighbourhood fly-man just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

After the death of Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, the Fantastic 4 were looking for a new team member, and they decided on Spider-Man. The addition of Spider-Man also triggered a name change, and the group became known as the Future Foundation. He also received a new suit for his troubles – a black and white one that was made with technology that prevented the suit from getting dirty and also gave him the ability to change into civilian clothes or his red and blue suit with his mind.

The longest-running series based on Spider-Man was extremely popular but also had a high level of censorship. Spider-Man doesn’t rely on weapons – instead, he uses his webs and super strength to overcome his enemies, which often involves throwing punches. This series, however, only saw our hero throw three punches in 65 episodes! This is because Fox television enforced strict censorship against violence, forcing Spidy to rely on his webs instead of his fists.

The death of Peter Parker in the Ultimate Universe did not mean the death of Spider-Man. In eerily similar circumstances to Peter, a young thief named Miles Morales is bitten by a radioactive spider in Oscorp and gains powers similar to the original Spider-Man. Morales then decides to protect the city and take up the mantel of Spider-Man, because who wouldn’t? The main difference between the two characters – Morales has a venom blast that can paralyze his enemies with a single touch.

In the 1970s, the Japanese television studio Toei Company produced their own Spider-Man TV series, “Supaidāman”; which ran for 41 episodes, including a movie. The character wore the same costume, but the storyline and origin was different from the original material. In true Japanese fashion, Spidy would pilot a giant mech, which he would call on to fight giant monsters. And you thought Hollywood superhero movies took too many liberties with the characters.

Despite multiple different adaptions, there is one common thread when it comes to Peter Parker – he never has any money. In the Sam Raimi trilogy, Peter sews his own costume in order to save money. Ironically, the actual props cost more money than Peter’s annual income from his various jobs, coming in at over one hundred thousand dollars apiece. Several props were actually stolen at one point, and still remain missing.

Some ideas sounds great on paper, but for whatever reason just can’t quite come together in practice. When it comes to the Spider-Man Broadway show “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” however, that is a massive understatement. This 2011 Broadway musical featured music from Bono and highly technical stunts, which included several aerial combat scenes. The show had tons of production troubles, however, and several actors were injured on-stage. Negative preview reviews resulted in a complete overhaul of the show and the removal of the show’s director. Maybe they should have just let George Takei play Spider-Man.

Peter Parker has died a couple of times throughout the series, but like all superheroes, Spidy always rebounded in some way or another. In the Ultimate Universe, however, it seems like Peter will stay dead, as the previously mentioned Miles Morales has taken the title of Spider-Man. In the primary Marvel continuity, Earth 616 (six-one-six) Doctor Octopus switched minds with Peter Parker and when Doc Ock’s body dies, so did Peter’s consciousness.

HM. His webbing lasts for an hour

HM. He once transformed into a spider

HM. Obama is a fan

The creation of Spider-Man was met with some initial hesitation from Marvel because they didn’t think people would care about a man with the same abilities as a spider. Why? Because spiders are creepy. After a few months, however, Marvel executives reviewed the sales figures and were stunned to discover that “Amazing Fantasy” featuring Spider-Man had become one of their highest-selling comics. They followed it up by giving him his own series, which would eventually become Marvel’s top-selling series and Spider-Man would become a cultural icon.

Do you agree with our list? What is your favourite Spider-Man fact? For more great Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.