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Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Peter Parker / Spider-Man
- Voiced by: Christopher Daniel Barnes, Warren Sroka (as a child), Jim Cummings (as Man-Spider), Peter Mark Richman (as an old man)
"It's not nice to steal in Mister Spider-Man's neighborhood. Can you say 'I'm going to jail now?'"
Our hero. Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man, is a famed superhero based in New York City. Despite the shaky public image that he has (which has been caused by the publisher of a tabloid newspaper company that he works for as Peter Parker), Spider-Man is one of the most recognized heroes in the world, having performed numerous acts of courage. He lives by his late Uncle Ben's motto, "With great power comes great responsibility."
- 10-Minute Retirement: Has tried to quit for a variety of reasons (a really big screw-up, being presumed dead, his powers failing him, etc.), but it never sticks because he just can't ignore when people need help.
- Abled in the Adaptation: A downplayed and zigzagged example. Traditionally, Peter needed glasses prior to being bitten by the spider, but in most of the flashbacks to before he was bitten here, the glasses are noticeably absent, except for one scene where Flash Thompson is bullying him.
- Action Hero: Just like his comic book counterpart and most versions.
- Adaptational Curves: Unlike in the comics where Spider-Man is depicted with a leaner muscular physique, this version is portrayed with a Lantern Jaw of Justice and a heavier muscular stature akin to Captain America. In fact, he is so muscular that even Flash Thompson doesn't look much physically intimidating next to him, except for being slightly taller.
- This is actually used as a plot point as unlike other animated incarnations, when Flash dresses up as Spider-Man, he doesn't look like a bodybuilder badly cosplaying as Spidey, and the Spider-Slayer actually mistakes him for the real deal.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the comics, Peter started off as a 15-year-old high school student with an understandable chip-on-his-shoulder attitude that was caused by his peers bullying him for his nerdy interests. This leads to Peter craving validation and becoming an Attention Whore after capitalizing on his newfound powers as Spider-Man, which leads him into not intervening against the robber since it's not his problem. This ends up costing Uncle Ben's life, but the guilt of being indirectly responsible doesn't affect Peter as much, and so he doesn't truly grasp the idea of With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility for a while and is still quite self-centered as Spider-Man during The Amazing Spider-Man run. While his origin in the animated series is played out quite similarly, Uncle Ben's death truly has a profound effect on Peter's conscience and he became the All-Loving Hero as Spider-Man to make up for his mistake.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Compared to his comic book counterpart, who was still motivated by selfish desires and is rather Hot-Blooded to the point of usually resolving conflicts with violence first, this version of Spider-Man is an All-Loving Hero who will always put the needs of others before himself, tries to resolve conflicts non-violently and only engages in a fight if necessary. Even then, his fighting style focuses a lot on dodging and using his foes' strength against them, primarily consisting of swinging kicks or incapacitating them through his webbing.
- Adaptational Wimp: Zigzagged. Relatively speaking, this version of Spider-Man doesn't physically fight as much and prefers a "brain over brawn" approach to conflicts. While it's justified due to the heavy censorship the show was under (as Peter only throws a single punch throughout the whole series), in moments of desperation, frustration, or being influenced by the symbiote, Peter can get aggressive in a fight to the point where he can beat his foes with his superhuman abilities alone.
- Age Lift: In the comics and most versions, Peter usually becomes Spider-Man during the middle of his high school years. In this adaptation, Peter officially becomes Spider-Man towards the end of his high school years.
- Alliterative Name: Peter Parker.
- All-Loving Hero: Consistently devoted to his friends and family, keeps performing good deeds in spite of almost always getting grief, and he can never make good on his desire to quit being Spider-Man because he knows someone will always need his help. He was selected to lead the Alternate Spider-Men in their mission because his compassion for others and devotion to responsibility run so deep.
- Alternate Self: He has four who he meets in the Spider Wars story arc, along with a clone of one of his counterparts named Ben Reilly (who might actually be him).
- Amazon Chaser: His attraction to Black Cat has shades of this.
- The Atoner: It's not played up as much as in some other versions of the character, but the motivation is still there.
- Badass Bookworm: As with most versions of the character, he usually ends up going into the lab or under a microscope pretty often.
- Being Good Sucks: Peter often hates his superhero identity due to what it does to his personal life and how he rarely if ever gets any gratitude or respect for his actions. More than once, he's tried to quit, but every time, he remembers his uncle's death and gets back into the game.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's a nice guy as Peter Parker and a snarky comedian as Spider-Man... until someone endangers his beloved Aunt May or a certain Goblin made him think he killed Mary Jane Watson; in the latter case, the only other time we've seen Spider-Man that angry is when he was controlled by the Venom symbiote. He gets into it as his civilian self in "The Return of Hydro-Man, Part 1", where after putting up with Anna Watson's Irrational Hatred of him for the entire series, he finally snaps when she accuses him of not caring about Mary Jane and rightfully tells her off.
- The Cape: In his continuity, Spider-Man is considered one of the most important heroes in the world, as other heroes like Captain America or Thor aren't as prominent.
- Chewing the Scenery: Falls into this while wearing the symbiote suit.Spider-Man: GET BACK HERE, SHOCKER!!! SHOOOCKEEEERR!!! YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME!!! I'LL CHASE YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EEEEEAAAAAAAARRRTH!!!
- Chick Magnet: He manages to attract the affections of both Mary Jane Watson, a beautiful every-girl type who goes on to become a famous actress, and the wealthy and beautiful Felicia Hardy. Additionally, during the X-Men: The Animated Series crossover, Rogue can barely keep her hands off him, to Gambit's chagrin.
- Clothes Make the Maniac: He had a bad run-in with an alien symbiote that nearly drove him over the edge.
- Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: An accidental example. He looks very similar to Nicholas Hammond, who played him in the '70s live action TV series. Except
John Semper has said that it was coincidental. - Companion Cube: Spider-Man occasionally talks with Bruce, the gargoyle. While Peter is well aware that the gargoyle is not alive, he talks to him as if he is since he's the one individual who Peter can open up to fully.
- Composite Character: Of a sort. The six arms come from the arc "Six Arms Saga", first published in Amazing Spider-Man #100-102 (1971). Its further transformation to a large dark gray Man-Spider comes from another storyline altogether, Marvel Fanfare (1982) #1-2.
- Deadpan Snarker: Especially towards enemies to make them pissed-off.
- The Dog Bites Back: Peter puts up with Anna Watson's temper and Irrational Hatred of him and belief he is "irresponsible" a lot throughout the series, on top of every other struggle he is constantly facing. However, in "The Return of Hydro-Man, Part 1" after she declares that he is directly responsible for Mary Jane's disappearance after Hydro Man kidnapped her due to not contacting the police right away (since he tried finding her himself as Spider-Man), he finally has enough and shouts back at her for daring to accuse him of putting the woman he loves in danger.
- The Dreaded: Pretty much to the entire criminal underworld. Spidey's such a danger that he has managed to become a singular threat to the Kingpin's entire global operation, necessitating the crime lord to engage in various schemes just to eliminate him.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: All the time. He's constantly targeted by people who think he's a villain, in addition to real villains themselves, a sizeable portion of the public (including his own aunt) hate him as Spider-Man, and he gets little to no respect in his civilian life either. He even gripes about it during the X-Men: The Animated Series crossover, upon finding out that Professor X can't cure his mutation disease.Spider-Man: It's always the same. I can save the world ten times over, but when I need help? I'm on my own. Thanks... for nothing.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: In the end, Spider-Man defeated Spider-Carnage, and Madame Web carried out her promise that they would find Mary Jane and rescue her from limbo.
- Evil Sounds Raspy: When he starts succumbing to the Black Suit, his voice drops an octave and becomes raspy. It's particularly noticeable during his rematch with the Rhino.
- Expressive Mask: The shape of the eye lenses changes to match his facial expressions.
- Extremity Extremist: Spider-Man only throws a single punch throughout the entire series but he still makes liberal uses of kicks when he's not subduing his enemies with web attacks or beating them with his wits or talking them down. This was another result of the censorship the show was subjected to.
- Form-Fitting Wardrobe: As per usual, he wears a form-fitting, red and blue spider-based costume.
- Guile Hero: Of course. And with the heavy censorship that the show was under, Spidey could rarely take on foes head-to-head, so he'd usually outsmart them instead.
- The Hero: Of the series, as always.
- Heroic BSoD: Hits it hard when he thought Mary Jane had suffered the same fate as TASM's Gwen Stacy.
- Heroic Build: He is a costumed superhero with powers and a physique that is very similar to that of a bodybuilder.
- Heroic Host: Just like in the comics, Spider-Man was the first host of the Venom symbiote, though this was the first iteration of the symbiote that explicitly amplified his negative emotions and nearly edged him towards villainy.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: It isn't as extreme as in most of the comics, but yeah, the Daily Bugle is far from Spider-Man's best friend.
- It's All My Fault: As always, Peter is very hard on himself when things go wrong. It gets to the point of being a borderline Guilt Complex.
- Kick Chick: A male example. Whenever he does engage in a physical fight as Spider-Man, Peter is always seen using kicks in fighting style, but most of the time it's performed by web-swinging into the opponent.
- Lantern Jaw of Justice: He has a square jawline, and is very much a heroic individual.
- Large Ham: When emotional, he really gets like this compared to most versions.
- And as the symbiote influenced him more and more, it really ramped up his hamminess.
- And as the symbiote influenced him more and more, it really ramped up his hamminess.
- The Leader: In "Secret Wars" arc, he becomes this to a superhero team. It is revealed that this was merely a Secret Test for Spider-Man to see how ready for the real challenge he would be when he would have to lead Spider-Men from other dimensions to stop an insane Spider-Man villain known as Spider-Carnage from destroying all of reality.
- Martial Pacifist: Justified and enforced due to the kid-friendly nature of the series, as Spider-Man will only resort to a physical fight if it's truly necessary (even then, he mainly uses kicks and has only thrown a punch once in the entire series) and prefers to use his head to outsmart his foes rather than counter them with his own superhuman abilities.
- The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: He's never had a single relationship where this didn't factor in some way.
- My Greatest Failure: Not saving Uncle Ben of course.
- Nice Guy: This is pretty much his defining character trait. He's such a nice guy that most other heroes will go out of their way to help him in times of crisis (such as in the Secret Wars arc).
- The Paragon: The Secret Wars three-parter essentially positions the Spider-Man of this continuity as one of the greatest heroes of all time. Especially impressive as he is being judged against the likes of Captain America, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four. When he says he needs their help, they all fall in line behind him.
- Parental Abandonment: His parents were secret agents who were killed on a mission when he was young, leaving him to be raised by Uncle Ben and Aunt May.
- Rage Against the Mentor: In "Turning Point", he, in a blind rage over the fact that Madame Web can't/won't bring back Mary Jane, explodes and screams at her to get out of his life. She obliges, only returning come Secret Wars.Madame Web: This is the path you chose for yourself. To do things on your own. Once that decision is made, there is no turning back. It is yet another thing that you have to learn.
Spider-Man: Learn?! I am tired of you... and your riddles. And your lessons. And your SUPREME ARROGANCE! Don't you ever, EVER enter my life again! Do you hear me? DO YOU HEAR ME!? - Spider-Sense: Spider-Man possesses a "spider-sense," an intuitive warning system that alerts him to imminent danger, giving him advanced awareness in combat.
- Super-Reflexes: Spider-Man's reflexes are extremely fast, granting him the ability to react quickly to danger.
- Super-Strength: Spider-Man possesses incredible strength, allowing him to lift colossal objects, shatter barriers, and overpower even the mightiest of opponents with ease.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Upon becoming Venom, Eddie Brock launches a campaign of psychological warfare against Spider-Man in between beating him up: stalking Mary Jane, trying to publicly unmask him, and going so far as to show up at Peter's house to charm his Aunt May. Spidey ultimately defeats Venom by using his own tactics against him, exploiting Brock's anger and bitterness at being fired from the Daily Bugle to lure him to a shuttle launch, with the roar of the rocket forcing the symbiote off Eddie and leaving him powerless.Spider-Man: He'll never stop torturing me! I've got to fight... and I know just the way to do it.
- Tracking Device: Like in the comics, he uses this to track down people.
- Wall Crawl: Spider-Man can adhere to and crawl on most surfaces, including walls and ceilings, using his specially designed gloves and boots.
- What You Are in the Dark: Peter strangely both fails and succeeds in this. When the Green Goblin had seemingly killed Mary Jane, an enraged Spider-Man actually pushes him towards an unstable portal that was sucking everything in through its gravitational pull. However, despite his hatred for the Goblin, he regrets his choice and attempts to save him when he asks.
- With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Said word for word almost every other episode. It becomes a plot point during the confrontations with Doctor Doom and Spider-Carnage.
- You Fight Like a Cow: A signature of Spider-Man regardless of the medium is making wisecracks while fighting.
May Parker
May Parker
- Voiced by: Linda Gary (Season 1 to 3) Julie Bennett (Season 4 and 5)
Aunt May is Peter Parker's doting aunt, loving him as if he were her own son. May has a bad habit of trying to set Peter up on blind dates.
- Adaptational Dye-Job: May has short, blonde hair instead of the grey or white hair usually tied in a bun that she has in the comics and most adaptations.
- Doting Parent: May does try to spoil Peter, but he's just too nice to take advantage of her generosity.
- Horrible Judge of Character: She utterly fears and despises Spider-Man, despite his heroism, while both Eddie Brock and Doctor Octopus are able to get on her good side by pouring on some fake charm.
- Mama Bear: While she's not Peter's actual mother, trying to harm him in front of her is not a good idea.
- My Beloved Smother: Not too much, but it's there.
- Parental Substitute: May treats Peter like he was her own son.
- Parents as People: While she clearly loves her nephew and just wants the best for him, May's oblivious and overprotective nature hinder her from properly recognizing the root of Peter's problems, making him reluctant to open up to her. Not helping is her inability to trust Spider-Man.
- Shipper on Deck: As in the comics, she supports Peter and Mary Jane's relationship, having set up their first date.
Mary Jane Watson
Mary Jane Watson
- Voiced by: Sara Ballantine
"Face it, Tiger, you just hit the jackpot."
Mary Jane lost her parents at a young age, and she was mostly brought up by her Aunt Anna. Mary Jane and Peter Parker met through a blind date set up by their aunts and afterwards, began a relationship.
- Abusive Parents: She had an emotionally abusive father who often mistreated her and her mother when she was little, and eventually abandoned them for good.
- Action Survivor: In the climax of "Hydro-Man" while being pursued by the titular villain, she lures Morrie to a paper mill, an area with plenty of heat and no significant water source, and sets up diversions to tire out and dehydrate him, knowing it will allow Spider-Man to beat him.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: In the comics, Mary Jane has green eyes. Here, her eyes are blue.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: She has a very buxom, which often leaves Peter distracted, such as when he sees her modeling in a leopard-print dress.
- Blind Date: Her introduction into the series, just like in the comics.
- Character Death: Not MJ herself, but her clone created by Miles Warrennote perishes due to her unstable genetics.
- Composite Character:
- She has MJ's appearance, backstory, and career but her Girl Next Door personality and being Peter's main Love Interest from the beginning are more in-line with Gwen Stacy (who doesn't appear until the final episode in an alternate reality).
- This extends to her role in narrative; like comics MJ, she is involved with a Love Triangle with Peter and Harry before eventually marrying Peter, but she also replaces Gwen in a child-friendly variant of The Night Gwen Stacy Diednote , and her "returning" afterward as a clone created by Miles Warren mirrors the clone of Gwen from the original Clone Saga.
- Damsel in Distress: A frequent target of kidnapping due to her Love Interest status.
- Damsel out of Distress: She gets attacked and kidnapped a lot, but don't underestimate her; she's trained in self-defense and can sometimes help Spider-Man quite a lot in defeating the villains who kidnap her. For example, she exploited Hydro-Man's latest attempt to capture her to set up his defeat.
- Dude Magnet: She's dated Morrie Bench, Peter Parker, and Harry Osborn, all of whom were reluctant to let her go (temporarily in Peter's case).
- Faux Action Girl: After her run-in with Hydro-Man, she says she took self-defense classes to defeat a Mook. These skills don't appear in later episodes.
- Fiery Redhead: Played With. She's not very temperamental, just has a lot of exuberance and a strong sense of determination.
- Girly Bruiser: She tries to be this (without much success given the number of times she's kidnapped).
- Head-Turning Beauty: People tend to be stunned by her beauty, which is pretty much what happens the first time Peter sees her (causing him to do a complete 180 on his initial apprehension towards their blind date). It's a direct adaptation from the comics, right down to MJ's most iconic line as quoted above.
- Maybe Ever After: The series ends with her still lost, but with Madame Web promising Peter they'll find the real MJ.
- Ms. Fanservice: As per usual for the character. MJ is a fairly tall, very beautiful red-haired woman who tends to wear outfits (which include either a yellow sweater with a pair of blue skin-tight jeans and red cowgirl boots, a form-fitting Spy Catsuit, or a black dress) that highlight her bust and long, shapely legs. She also tends to get some gratuitous fanservice scenes, such as a Workout Fanservice sequence right in her second appearance and being a Fanservice Model.
- Nice Girl: She can be flighty and impatient, but is usually a kind, upbeat, and vivacious young woman.
- Parental Abandonment: Her father bailed when she was young. It still affects her in her adolescent years. This was taken advantage of by Baron Mordo once. Her mother, meanwhile, only ever appeared in flashbacks, hinting that she died or abandoned Mary Jane too.
- Plucky Girl: Only Hydro-Man has ever really shaken her, and even then she'd still stand up to him.
- Proud Beauty: She's very confident about her appearance, and doesn't mind showing off.
- Put on a Bus: In a weird sort of way. After the battle with Norman's Green Goblin, she gets thrown into a dimension portal and sent flying through it, with Spider-Man unaware of any of this. She suddenly returns out of the blue with no memory of what happened. Things carry on from where they left off as normal, with Peter and Mary Jane getting married. However, it's eventually revealed that the returned Mary Jane was a water clone created by Miles Warren who was still in love with Peter, meaning the real Mary Jane was still stuck in limbo. Eventually, the clone evaporated due to her unstable genetics, and we never see the real MJ againnote , even though the series ends with Spider-Man and Madame Web going to find her.
- Sexy Sweater Girl: She wears yellow ones, and it somehow accentuates her figure.
- Trauma Conga Line: Grew up with an abusive father who eventually abandoned her as a child, lost her mother by unknown means, had a difficult relationship with Morrie in high school, gets frequently targeted by Spider-Man's foes, including being stalked by a now superpowered Morrie, and is thrown into a dimensional vortex by Green Goblin, where she's been stuck for who knows how long.
- Will Not Be a Victim: The reason for the self-defense classes. Unfortunately, this didn't stop the kidnappings.
- Workout Fanservice: While MJ was exercising at the beginning of “The Menace of Mysterio”, she wore workout clothes that showed off her toned body.
