It’s a good time for Spider-Man and to be one of his many incarnations. So much so, in fact, that we’re seeing multiple versions of the same characters all at once.
Look around you. There’s a Spider-Man renaissance going on. In movies, TV, and video games (and, of course, the comics), Spider-Man is really everywhere. And never before have we had so much Spider-Man front and center.
Before, we had the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies and tie-in video games. Once those stopped, we moved on to The Amazing Spider-Man movies and tie-in games. After that is when layers and layers of Spidey-related media were released back to back: Infinity War, Venom, Spider-Man PS4, etc., etc.
Now, to top off it all off, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse released its second trailer that shows us how it is tying in characters from all across Spider-Man lore. The thing is, we’re already seeing these characters in so many other Spider-Man iterations. If you haven’t seen the second trailer for Into the Spider-verse, watch it below. Then, scroll down to see if you can remember where else you’ve seen these same characters recently.
Peter Parker/Spider-Man
The main man, Peter Parker, is the most recognizable Spider-Man, and we’ve seen him everywhere. In recent film history, it started with Tobey Maguire, then Andrew Garfield. Now, many have come to accept Tom Holland as the best on-screen Parker of the three. We’ve just seen him in Avengers: Infinity War and (if you’ve kept up with our coverage) also filming for Spider-Man: Far From Home. While the Spider-Man Noir character hasn’t really made it out the comics yet, it’s also possible that this character’s suit will appear in Far From Home.
And, we can’t forget about Peter Park in Marvel’s Spider-Man PS4. Parker is the protagonist in the game, with many arguing the game is just as good (or better) as any Spider-Man movie out there.
Miles Morales/Spider-Man
Finally, Miles Morales is being brought from the page to screen. He’s the character who many wanted Donald Glover to play once upon a time. Even though Glover ended up having a smaller role, his character in Spider-Man: Homecoming name-dropped Miles as his nephew. We’ve also seen Miles in Spider-Man PS4. Miles is a playable character in the game, but you don’t get to play him as his Spider-Man alter ego… yet. Hopefully, DLC or a sequel will fix that.
Mary Jane Watson
Mary Jane has come along way from her big screen appearance portrayed by Kirsten Dunst in the early 2000s. MJ didn’t get picked up in The Amazing Spider-Man reboot, but she did get picked up in the MCU reboot. This time, she’s Michelle “MJ” Jones. The character, played by Zendaya, appeared in Spider-Man: Homecoming and will be back for Far From Home.
Just like the last two characters, Mary Jane also appeared in Spider-Man PS4 as a playable character. No more was she a damsel in distress. She fought her own battles, and took on the biggest troublemakers in NYC (mostly) without Spider-Man’s help.
Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen
Remember when we said Mary Jane was left out of The Amazing Spider-Man? That’s because Gwen Stacy was there to take her place — as the love interest that is. Gwen did appear in 2007’s Spider-Man 3, as well. She was just part of a convoluted plot, and it doesn’t really require a lot of explaining.
In the cartoon world, Spider-Gwen (or Ghost-Spider) was part of the one-off Marvel Rising: Initiation. A series of shorts, “Ghost-Spider” deals with a troubled past having superpowers and meets Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel along the way. It’s the ultimate set up for the cartoon movie, Marvel Rising, and it’s all about girl power.
Wilson Fisk/Kingpin
Lurking in the shadows of the Into the Spider-verse trailer was the big man himself, Wilson Fisk. Some might know him as The Kingpin, and he’s made his rounds outside of this movie as well. Fisk recently came on the scene as the baddie in Netflix’s Daredevil. After his downfall in season 1, the latest teaser for season 3 seems to show the crimelord will be back at it once again.
Fisk was also a major baddie in Spider-Man PS4, quietly pulling the strings behind some of the chaos giving Spidey trouble. (Oh, and he appeared in the book prequel to the game, too.)
Some of the newer characters to appear on screen in Into the Spider-verse trailer include the anime character Peni Parker and the seriously silly Spider-Ham. Maybe with their introduction into this movie, we can see these characters introduced into other Spider-Man projects later. Sony really seems adamant on building up their Spider-verse, so they have plenty of characters to mix and match in their movies.