Spidey Super Stories: The backstories of guest characters and/or villains are compressed into a four-panel page with around six or seven lines of explanation, so Ice-Man and Storm are just explained to have been born with a strange/special power and Hank McCoy is just a scientist who was turned into the Beast because of an experiment gone wrong.
Spider-Man: Chapter One: The series serves as this for the Lee-Ditko original run. It condensed some 17 issues into 12 issues by the time it was canceled. For instance, Goblin is always shown on his glider, rather than the Broomstick he used in his very first appearance.
Issue #1 adapts different moments across the Lee-Romita era in a single story. Its main subplot is Flash going to Vietnam (which happened in ASM #47), while also dealing with Peter's first meeting with Norman Osborn (which happened in ASM #39-40).
Issue #2 mashes together elements across Lee-Romita's and Gerry Conway's run in The '70s, notably bringing together signature stories like the Drug Trilogy (ASM #96-98), The Night Gwen Stacy Died and The First Clone Saga (and parts of the second). It also adapts elements of Gerry Conway's Parallel Lives.
Issue #3 adapts Secret Wars (1984) as well as elements of Kraven's Last Hunt, The Black Costume Saga while also adding in the fact that Peter apparently started Parker Industries in The '80s despite it being a story from Dan Slott's run in The New '10s, while he and MJ separate here rather than in the tail end of The '90s in Howard Mackie's run.
Issue #4 adapts The Clone Saga, namely "Power and Responsibility", "Revelations", "The Final Adventure", as well as J. M. DeMatteis' landmark "Best of Enemies" arc featuring Harry Osborn.
Peter's interactions with Norman Osborn are based on Spider-Man Trilogy where in their first meeting, Norman praises Peter's intellect while belittling Harry at the same time, while his more predatory social behavior stems from the Thanksgiving scene, and Revenge of the Green Goblin and A Death in the Family. Likewise, Harry Osborn wears a black outfit like in Spider-Man 3 and calls himself the "Black Goblin" which was his production name in that film.
Gwen Stacy owes a lot of her character to Emma Stone's portrayal in The Amazing Spider-Man Series rather than her character in the Lee-Romita era. Likewise she also gets killed by Harry Osborn, albeit by accident in this case, like in the second movie.
The first thirty minutes of the movie are based upon Ultimate Peter's death and Miles' introduction. In the comic, Miles felt guilty on hearing that Spider-Man died saving the world and he did nothing; in the film, he goes Deer in the Headlights and runs when Spider-Man tells him to, and he is Forced to Watch Kingpin kill Spider-Man.
From a design standpoint, the Green Goblin has the hulking and brutish physique of the Ultimate Marvel version, but wears an outfit similar to his 616 counterpart.
Peni Parker mixes both her namesake (an anime-inspired mech pilot), Penelope Parker (a cartoon/comic strip-inspired happy-go-lucky preteen), and the Japanese Spider-Men, especially Leopardon, being crucial to the Spider-Verse plot.
Spider-Gwen's retelling condenses her backstory and excises Mary Jane's role (and, as a consequence, doesn't show off the Mary Janes, simply stating Gwen was in a punk band). Likewise, it's implied Peter B. knew a Gwen Stacy, but likely one who didn't get her neck snapped.
Both the "regular" Peter and Peter B.'s backstories take beats from Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy.
Spider-Ham as comedic relief replicates all the silly Spider-Men that showed up in the original Spider-Verse, ranging from a sentient buggy to a Spider-Cowboy and his Spider-Horse.
In the comics Spider-Woman's pregnancy is the result of artificial insemination, and the identity of the father is never revealed. Here she has a husband who is presumably the father.
Films - Live-Action
Spider-Man Trilogy: Classic moments, images, and arcs from 40+ years of Spider-Man stories are squashed down into a simpler thread:
Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man/Peter Parker is visually his comic book counterpart during the Lee-Ditko era: small, scrawny, and awkward. His friendship with Harry Osborn draws from the Romita years and the concept of Harry being in high school along with Peter, MJ, and Flash and a somewhat exploitative friend comes from Ultimate Spider-Man (first published in 2000, two years before the movie came out).
Mary Jane Watson is more or less a Composite Character of several of Peter's girlfriends (herself, Liz Allan, and Gwen Stacy). She is initially Flash Thompson's and Harry Osborn's girlfriend (much like Liz Allan was) and is an outwardly charming and charismatic girl with aspirations to become an actress while balancing a troubled family background at home (which is MJ's background in the comics). Her overall serious and melancholy nature is very much based on Gwen Stacy rather than the immensely upbeat and snarky MJ of the early comics (who more or less lightened up Peter's mood and that of the overall dark tone of the comics), who was even something of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. She still retains the fundamental elements of MJ in that she loves both Peter and Spider-Man and is comfortable with both his identities unlike Gwen (who loathed and hated Spider-Man in the comics), which, for most of her history, is what set her apart and made her and Peter so compatible.
Likewise, Gwen Stacy, when she appears in the third film, is based on her comic book counterpart’s original appearance during Steve Ditko's run where she was a beauty queen who was a little superficial (or as Peter remarks to MJ about Gwen being in his class in the third film, science is not her best subject) while her role as Eddie Brock's blonde Love Interest has her stand in for Ann Weying.
Norman Osborn is largely based on how his comic book counterpart was portrayed during the Lee-Romita era (which reinterpreted him as a frustrated businessman and Workaholic, and a distant but still supportive father of Harry) alongside the idea of the Goblin as a separate personality (rather than Ditko's original interpretation for the character and Bendis' Ultimate version, who were both presented as being two-faced, scheming, and corrupt businessmen without anything good about them to start) being based on the version in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
Harry Osborn draws elements from the Ultimate version of the character via being a somewhat handsome, cool, and rich friend who Peter looks up to. In the original comics, Harry was a drug-addicted loser who resented Peter as his Always Someone Better, especially for the fact that the girls he dated (Gwen and MJ) dumped him for Peter.
In terms of overall story, the entire film series focusing on a Love Dodecahedron for its dramatic tension draws squarely from the soap opera of the Lee-Romita years, rather than the bildungsroman/science-fiction of the Lee-Ditko years, or the more weirder and complicated runs in later Spider-Man arcs. Most notably, Peter's personal involvement with his villains, either knowing them before transformation (Dr. Octopus, Eddie Brock, Flint Marko) or being connected to them personally (Norman Osborn) came from this era, whereas in the earlier stories, Peter did not have any connection to any of these villains.
The Amazing Spider-Man: The series is largely inspired by the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, but also takes a lot of different elements from the mainstream Spider-Man mythos.
Peter no longer creates his own web fluid, the Lizard's family is adapted out, Gwen becomes Peter's Single-Target Sexuality and becomes a mixture of herself and Mary Jane (namely knowing and accepting Peter and Spider-Man and serving as confidant and partner which Gwen never did), shows up in high school rather than college, the Daily Bugle and staff don't appear at all, and Harry Osborn becomes the Green Goblin rather than Norman.
The way Uncle Ben articulates "with great power comes great responsibility" to Peter without saying it verbatim is very similar to the way it was handled in the Ultimate comics.
Gwen Stacy was Peter's love interest before Mary Jane Watson was created. Her interest in science and role as an intern for Dr. Connors is also similar to her portrayal in The Spectacular Spider-Man. While her personality and the way she interacts with Peternote him revealing his identity to her and her becoming his schoolmate confidante and ally is closer to the Ultimate comics' version of Mary Jane than Gwen Stacy in the original comics or the Ultimate comics.
The movie version of the Rhino is a Russian thug like the mainstream version, but sports a suit of Powered Armor like the Ultimate Rhino.
Electro seems to be taking cues from his Ultimate universe's design (specifically his later design where he looks like a solid-blue energy being) and origin from his The Spectacular Spider-Man take. There is also a precedent to him being a vengeful social outcast in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series.
Harry Osborn maintains his relationships with Norman Osborn and Peter, and adds Ultimate Eddie Brock's history with Peter, namely that they were childhood friends who drifted apart and reconnected after Peter became Spider-Man. As the Green Goblin, he gains his powers from the same source as Peter and physically transforms into a Goblin-like creature as in the Ultimate Universe, however the transformation isn't as extreme as in the Ultimate Universe and he still uses the glider and pumpkin bombs from the traditional comics. Much like Ultimate Eddie Brock, Harry is spurred into villainy by a perceived betrayal by Peter.
Richard Parker combines elements of the Ultimate Comics version (brilliant scientist whose experiments tie into Spidey's rogues gallery) and the regular comics (killed by villains via a plane crash and falsely branded a traitor, which is why Aunt May avoids talking about him).
The spider that bit Peter in the last film is part of an Oscorp genetic modification experiment as in the Ultimate universe, with Richard Parker's notes revealing in this film that part of the experiment included a radioactive isotope being injected into the spider, essentially making it into a radioactive spider as in the original story. It also combines elements of Ultimate Venom, as the spider is part of Richard Parker's research in an attempt to cure terminal illness and is ultimately what leads to the plane crash that leaves Peter an orphan — albeit with the plane crash occurring under different circumstances in the two instances.
Peter no longer creates his classic costume but rather is given it by Tony Stark/Iron Man. He makes his own web fluid, however.
Mysterio is a blend of a number of different versions:
His heroic aspect comes from his origins in ASM #13, as well as Stan Lee's Spider-Man Newspaper Strip which in The Oughties did a serial story of Mysterio as a hero (who actually convinced Spider-Man there unlike the original L-D story), and whose motivation and origin is a grudge that he held against a hero ruining his civilian career.note In the newspaper strip, this was Spider-Man who trashed the set of Beck's low-budget horror production, thinking that it was an actual monster attacking a civilian rather than a scene in the film, so good was Beck's VFX work. Rather than see this as a tribute to his own artistry, Beck was furious that Spider-Man's attack destroyed his production, since such an accident wasn't covered in the production's insurance, sinking it and Beck's movie career in the process.
His more murderous approach and tendency to target teenagers, as well as his fondness for Mind Rape and Gaslighting, while always present in a minor degree, was ramped up considerably in Guardian Devil (where he went after Daredevil and caused Karen Page's death) as well as Old Man Logan (where he manipulated Wolverine into killing the X-Men including several teenagers at the X-Mansion).
This version of Mysterio claims to be a traveler from a parallel Earth. In Spider-Men, the Ultimate version of Mysterio was revealed to be an android controlled by the regular 616 vision of Mysterio who had traveled to a parallel Earth, albeit for far different motives— he didn't claim to be trying to save the world, and was just sick of losing to 616 Spider-Man so much that he tried to start his criminal career over in what he thought was a more vulnerable Earth.
Video Games
Spider-Man: The Movie: Some elements from the movie are skipped entirely or their placement is altered, likely to make room for the other villains' subplots.
Green Goblin trying to make Spider-Man join him, which in the movie was the former's way of a heart-to-heart in a less action-packed scene, is integrated into the Unity Day Festival levels mid-fight.
Spider-Man and Green Goblin never fight inside of a burning building, and their final battle stays entirely on the bridge rather than moving into an abandoned building.
Spider-Man 3: The vast majority of the film’s plots are not present in the game, including the Gwen/MJ love triangle, Peter trying to propose to Mary Jane, Sandman being Uncle Ben’s killer, Harry’s memory loss, and Harry blackmailing MJ into breaking up with Peter. Even two of the film’s fight scenes (the armored truck fight with Sandman and the fight in Harry’s mansion) are left out of the game.
Spider-Man Unlimited: The Civil War storyline just focuses on Spider-Men unmasking. In this universe, however, it's not Peter Parker unmasking, but Miles Morales. The game not only gives players an unmasked variant of the Miles Morales Spider-Man, but also unmasked versions of Spider-Gwen, Spider-Girl and Agent Venom.
Spider-Man himself is a composite of several different versions of the character, having the same general backstory to the comic canon in his postgraduate years (bitten at age 15, has moved out of Aunt May's house and into his own apartment, is friends with Harry Osborn and has dated MJ). Background details imply that his relationship with MJ and Harry Osborn as a Power Trio is based on the Spider-Man Trilogy and the Ultimate Spider-Man series, in that they know each other since middle school and high school respectively, with MJ as both his best friend and first confidant.
The PS4 costume is a blend, inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe version, with black lines on the joints and a mechanical Expressive Mask with built-in gadgets and a VR Headset, but with white accents that seem to be taken from the black symbiote suit, while the scary-looking large spider logo is based on the Sam Raimi outfit.
Peter and MJ have an on-again and off-again relationship much like their relationship during the Wolfman-Stern-Defalco era, the Ultimate comics, and the Raimi films. Like always, Aunt May is a Shipper on Deck for them.
Mary Jane is based primarily on her Ultimate incarnation; she has an interest in journalismnote and in the game has actually become a respected reporter for the Daily Bugle, she's Peter's First Love and has been his Secret-Keeper since High School, and her Plucky Girl personality is more in-line with Ultimate MJ than classic MJ's Stepford Smiler party girl personality.
Aunt May is given a slight Age Lift in line with the Ultimate Spider-Man and Amazing Spider-Man series retool (Sally Field being the first screen May without a single gray hair).
She also works as an activist helping the poor like her Noir counterpart.
Like regular comics and the MCU, Peter Parker exists in a world with other superheroes. Notably, the Avengers, Doctor Strange, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Black Panther, and the Wasp are confirmed to exist in the setting, despite not appearing themselves, and Peter is implied to have had a bond with Tony Stark similar to their dynamic in the MCU.
Norman Osborn's turn in this game as Mayor of New York, is inspired by his turn as the leader of H.A.M.M.E.R. and the Thunderbolts which had him becoming a well-known political figure and operative. His rivalry with Dr. Octopus is based on the Ultimate version as well as The Spectacular Spider-Man. Him being involved in Venom and using it on Harry is based on the Ultimate cartoon.
The Rogues Gallery is a blend of different Spider-Man eras and creative runs. Some classic Ditko rogues (Norman Osborn, Doctor Octopus, Vulture, Electro, Scorpion), Romita era villains (Rhino, Shocker, Kingpin), Gerry Conway (Tombstone, Hammerhead), Dan Slott's more recent offerings (Mr. Negative, Screwball) as well as anti-heroines by Marv Wolfman (Black Cat) and Tom Defalco (Silver Sable).
Despite the heavy censorship, the writers still managed to incorporate the Punisher into the show (complete with laser guns, see above) and make him both completely credible and sympathetic.
Similarly, Carnage may not be shown actually killing people left and right (merely "draining their life energy" for Mordo), he was portrayed as unhinged and callous enough that it wouldn't surprise you if he went on a rampage. Cletus Kasady was in fact introduced as a Mad Bomber who, when cornered, laughed at the idea of taking out Spider-Man and any number of police with himself.
The Black Suit Spider-Man storyline streamlined the whole arc from the comics so well that this incarnation is the one usually referenced for future adaptations. Specifically it dropped the entire Secret Wars (1984) origin of the black suit, instead having it brought to Earth in a space mission. The sentience of the suit manifests as Peter's aggression building to a fever point before he realizes what is happening, whereas in the comics the suit being discovered as sentient was after a number of traditional Spider-Man stories.
One particular incident of this was born out of mishap. When the series tie in toys were being made, somebody's mistake led to action figures of The Hobgoblin being ordered instead of The Green Goblin. This meant that the show had to follow suit. However, this kept Hobgoblin out of Green Goblin's shadow, and allowed him to blossom more as a character until "The One True Goblin" could be properly introduced.
The Spectacular Spider-Man: While the show does stay true to the comics (through being based on the early comic stories by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko; the show brought in characters, storylines, and plot elements with a similar balance of action, drama, and comedy as well as a high school setting), it also tends to utilize material from all eras of the comic's run and other sources such as the more recent ones, the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, and the Sam RaimiSpider-Man Trilogy, and even Spider-Man: Chapter One, making a Spider-Man cartoon that is recognizable to both older and younger fans.
The origin of Spider-Man is transferred almost shot-for-shot from the Raimi films. Likewise, the Daily Bugle is in the Flatiron Building.
Kong, Eddie Brock's backstory and role (albeit Venom is more or less the 616 Version, i.e. an alien symbiote from outer space) are adapted from Ultimate Spider-Man.
Norman Osborn as the Greater-Scope Villain who converts mooks into supervillains is adapted from Spider-Man: Chapter One.
Shocker was originally the alias of Herman Schultz, who created the costume and equipment himself. Here, the costume was created by TriCorp, and used by Jackson Brice, who in the comics was Montana of the Enforcers.
Ricochet was originally an identity Peter Parker made during the Identity Crisis storyline, which was later given to an X-Men mutant. Here, the costume was created by Phineas Mason.
In his second appearance, Miles' backstory is more fleshed out, being a streamlined version of his comic book origin. Miles' mom knows that he is Spider-Man and his dad was a cop who presumably died in the line of duty.
This version of Venom is more like a mix between the Ultimate version of Carnage and the Marvel Adventures version of Venom. In addition, this is the first version (in animation) where his identity is Harry Osborn and Flash Thompson instead of Eddie Brock.
Though not a straight adaptation of the Ultimate iteration, the depiction of Carnage retains a similar relationship with the Venom symbiote. To be precise, it is more closely based on Peter's biology as well as being absorbed to return Venom to full strength.
