Fanfic / Amazing Fantasy

This is the story of how I,
Izuku Midoriya, became Spider-Man.^note Original art belongs to tkdboy2000. Used with permission.

"Do you want to know my story?
Are you sure you want to know?
The tale I'm going to spin isn't for the faint of heart and...
Wait! Wait, don't go!
O-Okay look, this is the first time I've told anybody what happened like this, so please be patient!
Our story begins like a lot of manga and comics do... in middle school."

—The story's opening

Izuku Midoriya thought he was going to die after he was bitten by a strange spider on his way home from school. After waking from a two-day-long coma, he's surprised to find that not only is he fine, but he now has biceps and a six-pack. Things only get weirder when tiny hairs start growing out of his palms, his brain starts tingling whenever he's in danger, he accidentally destroys his desk and leaps twenty feet in the air.

If that wasn't enough, he inadvertently electrocutes a homeless man in a Spider-Man costume who introduces himself as Peter Parker. Now forced to reevaluate everything he thought was possible, Izuku finds a new mentor and a new path toward his dream of becoming one of the world's greatest Heroes as the spectacular Spider-Man!

Amazing Fantasy is a My Hero Academia/Spider-Man crossover story written on SpaceBattles.com by The Infamous Man of Just an Unorthodox Thief and A Different Kind of Truth fame. Taking inspiration from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it follows Izuku's road towards becoming his world's version of Spider-Man with Peter Parker as his mentor and all of the repercussions that come with it. It was last updated in 2022.

The Fanfiction.net version can be read here.

Beware of unmarked spoilers.

Amazing Fantasy contains examples of:

Tropes A-K

• 20 Minutes into the Future:
  • The date is said to be 20XX, but the status quo (minus superpowers) is largely the same as the present day thanks to heavy legislation to regulate Quirk usage and the regression of technology in the strife that preceded it. Subtle reminders of the time period pop up here and there, such as the 2,250-foot-tall Bespi Tower in Musutafu and how Post Malone is considered "classical" music. Spider-Man himself is considered an "old-school" character despite being one of the most enduring comic book superheroes in real life.
  • This is made more apparent in the Melissa Shield side-story, where hoverboards and smart tables are treated as common appliances despite being decidedly futuristic by our standards.
• Abandoned Area: Peter first camps out in an abandoned construction site after arriving in Izuku's universe. He later relocates to an abandoned theme park on the outskirts of town.
• Adaptation Amalgamation: Peter's world is a combination of the world depicted in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the main comics, bringing up the Sokovia Incident and mentioning both Mister Sinister and Kamala Khan.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: Numerous characters, such as Hanta Sero and Kyouka Jirou, appear earlier than in canon thanks to Izuku's changed-up training schedule and Peter's presence in the story.
• Adaptation Expansion:
  • The story establishes that like every major city, Musutafu isn't all sunshine and roses. Burakumin, an ostracized class of people known for doing dirty jobs in Japan, still exist. They live in the filthy, smog-filled neighborhood of Mob Eisteiku, where they handle jobs like butchering and ore processing away from the shiny streets near U.A. This is where Izuku goes to acquire the materials he needs to develop his own web-fluid, as buying it anywhere else is too expensive for him.
  • Mitsuki's Parental Neglect is chalked up to how busy she is at work, as she wanted her family to escape the Burakumin stigma she was born into. She's shown to have little understanding of her son's social life and still refers to Izuku as "Izu-kun" under the mistaken belief that he and Katsuki are still close. She's genuinely regretful when she discovers the truth and pleads with Izuku not to give up on him.
• Adaptational Superpower Change:
  • Instead of eating All Might's hair to gain One For All, Izuku is bitten by a genetically altered (and possibly radioactive) spider, giving him the powers of Spider-Man.
  • In the comics, the Prowler is a Badass Normal. Here, she has some degree of Super-Strength and the ability to manipulate her own gravity.
• All Webbed Up: Peter never goes into battle without his signature web-shooters and teaches Izuku to make his own.
• Alternate Universe:
  • Peter lived in one parallel to Izuku's universe, where superpowers are less common and the world was repelling killer robots and Alien Invasions every week. Izuku's universe also runs parallel to the events of the original My Hero Academia.
  • In another universe, Melissa Shields is the one bitten by the radioactive spider and becomes Spider-Woman. Marvel characters and properties like Oscorp also exist instead of being fictional as in Izuku's universe.
  • In the universe of "Let the Devil In", Bakugou becomes Venom after losing his chances of getting into U.A. and wages a one-man war against Carnage and his Religion of Evil.
  • In "Musutafu 2099", Alchemax has effectively taken over the world and the hero system, turning them into enforcers of a brutally oppressive capitalist regime. Kyouka Jirou is Spider-Woman in this reality, working to fight Alchemax in hopes of freeing the world of its influence.
• Animal-Themed Superbeing: Peter and Izuku are spider-based. As if the name Spider-Man wasn't a giveaway.
• Arrested for Heroism: Without a license, Peter would be arrested for any of his heroic actions in Izuku's world and has to ditch the ambulance to avoid getting interrogated and jailed. The same goes for any other vigilante caught in the act.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Quinten Beck was a special effects expert who created some truly amazing visuals with practical effects and optical illusions, but his methods weren't as cost-effective as CGI so the industry gave him the boot.
• Bat Family Crossover: Subverted. Peter casually mentions that Izuku won't have to fight "interdimensional vampires" because he only got his powers recently, meaning that both Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon happened at some point before the events of the story.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Mysterio is working with All For One, supplying him with technology while All For One lends him manpower and supplies.
• Big "SHUT UP!":
  • Bakugou gets so fed up with Izuku's mumbling over his new "Quirk" that he does this while firing an explosion at Izuku's head.
    Bakugou: SHUT THE HELL UP!
  • The Prowler says this to Peter after he webbed her up and won't stop quipping throughout their fight.
    Prowler: DAMARE!^note An extremely rude version of "BE SILENT!" OR "SHUT IT!"
• Bilingual Backfire: When Izuku mistakes Peter for a mugger, Peter tries to ask Izuku (in English) what just happened while assuming the kid can only speak Japanese. Fortunately for Izuku, he'd been paying regular attention in his English classes and is able to communicate with Peter.
• Black-and-Grey Morality: The side-story "Musutafu 2099" basically runs on this. The "good guys" of the setting are the Resistance who's run by Doctor Doom who basically just wants to establish his own worldwide dictatorship and the Omni subdivision who regularly employ Police Brutality. On the other hand, they are also facing Alchemax, which is run by All For One and has utterly wrecked the planet and ruined lives on a whim. Kyouka Jirou is Spider-Woman and is resisting against the system, but she might be just a pawn in both players' schemes.
• Born Unlucky: Peter is cursed with "Parker luck" through his superhero work. His marriage dissolved, he became estranged from his daughter, he's in Perpetual Poverty, and was fired when his Chronic Hero Syndrome won't let him stay at work for long. Izuku is a literal case of this, being one of the relatively rare 20 percent of people to be born without a Quirk, leading to years of torment and derision from his classmates.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Peter admits this of the Superhuman Registration Act. While he doesn't support the oppressive regime and overwhelming oversight, he does back the training, living wage, backup from law enforcement, and superhero networking, all of which were handled in Izuku's universe.
• Breather Episode: Issue #16 serves as this after the previous issue ended with Nighteye's team brutally killed or traumatized by Mysterio and the Enforcers. Most of the chapter is devoted to allowing the heroes to process what happened just before Shigaraki makes his move at the USJ.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer:
  • Although he takes the job seriously, Peter is a quippy jokester who constantly mocks his opponents and generally looks silly with how he only wears the upper half of his costume most of the time. But 30 years of superhero experience means he kicks the asses of all but the most hardened Villains in short order.
  • The Enforcers clearly have a lot of issues, between Clash's A-Cup Angst, Boomerang's Extreme Doormat tendencies, and Vulture's loud preening and insensitivity as a Japanese Delinquent. Despite this, they're all extremely effective Professional Killers who seek to murder Pro Heroes en masse.
• Butt-Monkey:
  • As usual for Spider-People, Izuku and Peter are the butt of the majority of the story's misfortune and physical slapstick.
  • Bakugou is repeatedly humiliated in public by Izuku (who didn't mean it at all), loses the respect of his peers, and is generally left to stew in his own rage.
• Cannot Tell a Joke: The first joke Future Izuku cracks in the story is a god-awful pun on web-swinging that provokes a Lame Pun Reaction from his audience. His teenage self has a tendency to take Peter's jabs and jokes at face value.
• Cape Snag: it's mentioned that Peter disapproves of Izuku's insistence on having an All Might-inspired hood, as it could be easily grabbed by someone or snag on something in the middle of a brawl. They compromise by making it detachable.
• Cavalry Refusal: Not willingly, but when the Pro Heroes try to save Peter from the Prowler, she quickly takes Mount Lady hostage and declares that she'll kill her if anyone intervenes. As a result, the Heroes are forced to stand back and watch as Peter gets his ass kicked until Izuku runs in and All Might arrives.
• Celebrity Paradox: The Marvel Cinematic Universe in its entirety exists in Izuku's world along with the rest of Marvel Comics. He's utterly baffled when the man he electrocutes introduces himself as Peter Parker, as he's read both the comics and seen the Spider-Man movies. At one point, the two of them sit down to marathon through the films and Peter comments on everything he sees in relation to his Earth.
• Character Name Alias: After Inko asks who his tutor is, Izuku quickly comes up with the name "Tobey Reilly", combining the names of Tobey Maguire and Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider, together so he wouldn't have to say the much more glaring "Peter Parker".
• Character Narrator: The story is primarily told from Izuku's point of view. He provides direct, first-person narration during lulls in the action and while transitioning between scenes. Peter gets narration privileges when he's explaining how he ended up in Izuku's universe over lunch.
• Comes Great Responsibility: The reason for Peter's Chronic Hero Syndrome. The death of his Uncle Ben motivates Peter to risk his life every day and using his amazing abilities to save others. But this has all but ruined his civilian life and he's absolutely miserable outside of costume. This is also referenced in the story's blurb on Fanfiction.net, which declares that Izuku has gotten great power and now has to learn to use it responsibly.
• Comic-Book Time: Explicitly defied. In a manner akin to Earth-982, Peter and numerous other superheroes have been active since the 70s and 80s and have aged appropriately into the modern day. Several heroes, including Peter and Thor, have children of their own.
• Composite Character:
  • Peter is a combination of many different versions of Spider-Man. His troubled family life and age are derived from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. His membership in the Avengers is taken from his comics counterpart. His advanced webshooters and the HUD in his Expressive Mask are both taken from Spider-Man (PS4). Finally, his status as a father of Mayday Parker is taken from his MC2 incarnation.
  • Izuku is this of his canon counterpart and Miles Morales as depicted in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. He's got the history, motivation, and mindset of his canon counterpart, but his role as Peter's student, his Venom Strike ability, and confusion regarding alternate universes are taken from Miles. Izuku also shares Miles' appreciation for hip-hop in this story, listening to Post Malone and other rappers, who are considered "classical" artists of his time.
• Comic Books Are Real: Izuku's disbelief over getting spider-powers is fueled by the fact that Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and Marvel Comics exist in his world and Spider-Man is considered decidedly fictional.
• Continuity Cameo: Several major Marvel characters appear in Peter's flashbacks or are mentioned in passing such as Captain America, Doctor Strange, Wolverine, and Kamala Khan. Stan Lee makes an appearance as the costume shop cashier Seto.
• Cop Killer Manhunt: Peter learns from Gentle Criminal that Pro Heroes in Izuku's world have this mentality among their own. While they accept the risk of death while on the job, if a Villain or criminal makes it personal by attacking an off-duty hero at their personal residence or targets a hero's loved one for Revenge by Proxy, the entire Pro Hero community would hunt them down like a dog.
• Cosmic Horror Reveal: Played with in the side-story "As Above, So Below", in which Aoko Kurisu's research into Izuku's blood causes her to have a vision of the One Below All. Ultimately it ends up being [defied – Aoko makes sure to destroy all of her research before committing suicide, ensuring that the One Below All will never enter the Amazing Fantasy part of the Multiverse.
• Cruel to Be Kind: A downplayed version. Due to the discrimination of mutants, Krakoa does its best to find mutants and take them to what they say is a safe place for them. Yet despite many mutants loving their new home, Mayday herself says that not all mutants wanted to go there, but were forced to.
• Cranky Landlord: Peter's landlord Ditkovich sends the bill in big sharpie marked, "WHERE'S MY MONEY PARKER!", and generally doesn't seem to have much patience for Peter.
• Creepy Good: Calling back to Steve Ditko's horror days, the story's Fanfiction.net blurb refers to Izuku as his "World's Strangest Hero" as Spider-Man. His wall-crawling and stunt where he nearly got hit by a car unnerved people present. Peter elicited similar reactions when he first started out as a superhero.
• Crossover: Peter meets his younger counterparts from Peter Parker: Foreign Exchange Student and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the "Into the Spider-Fanfic Verse" comic by AlexDrawsAgain.
• Crossover Villain-in-Chief: Mysterio forms a Big Bad Duumvirate with All For One, the Greater-Scope Villain of My Hero Academia, supplying superpowered weaponry to the local Villains to wreak havoc on Japan. Unbeknownst to him, All For One doesn't see him as an equal at all, and just wants to use him to further Shigaraki's ascension.
• Culture Clash: Izuku and Peter both suffer this while learning about each other's worlds. Izuku is shocked that superheroes would ever go to war with each other, while Peter is astonished that Izuku's world runs on a peaceful and successful version of the Superhuman Registration Act. On a more mundane level, Peter is weirded out by certain Japanese customs like public baths.
• Cyberpunk: The side-story "Musutafu 2099" lives and breathes this subgenre. It has the flying cars, advanced technology globalization, over-pollution, income inequality, and a heartless MegaCorp overseeing it all.
• Dead Guy Junior: Mayday is named after her late grandaunt, May Reilly-Parker.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Peter always has a quip ready, mocking common crooks for trying to rob a bank in the most superhero-infested city in the world.
    Peter: Seriously, I don't understand you people. You'd have to be a moron to try and rob somebody in a city that every hero from D-Man to Thor calls home.
    Bank Robber: Screw you, man!
    Peter: Hey man, you're lucky you got me! Let me tell you, ya would've been disappointed if it was Wolverine. That Canuck is not a people person.
  • Izuku is genuinely sweet and polite, but he has his own streak of wittiness that he keeps to himself.
    Izuku: [referring to his punishment for ditching school] The fact that my "Quirk" had just awakened probably convinced them to be more lenient. Lucky me.
• Death by Adaptation: Rock Lock, Fat Gum, Centipeder, and Sir Nighteye die in the raid on Mysterio's warehouse in Chapter 16.
• Death Is Cheap: Subverted in Peter's universe. Despite the prevalence of Comic Book Death in Marvel Comics as a whole, everyone in Peter's universe has stayed dead for the most part, including most of Peter's old rogues. One of the few exceptions in Peter's universe is Thor, who gets channeled through Donald Blake after dying at Ragnarok.
• Defensive Feint Trap: Bakugou runs into Jirou alone during combat training. Eager to get the small fry out of the way before going after Izuku, he charges after her, becoming particularly determined after she manages to uppercut him hard enough to make him bite his tongue and bleed. During his pursuit, she leads him to a stairwell and he's about to pounce on her when Izuku reveals that he'd been hiding underneath the stairs and promptly webs Bakugou to a wall. They repeat the stunt later with an even more pissed-off Bakugou, only with Jirou willing to let herself get captured so Izuku can finally knock out Bakugou with a Venom Strike.
• Do Not Adjust Your Set: Mysterio hijacks all of the wireless devices in Musutafu to force them to broadcast his and the Enforcer's murders of Sir Nighteye's team, including the gruesome injuries and deaths of Rock Lock, Snatch, Fatgum, and Centipeder before taping the Rasputnian Death of Nighteye live for everyone to see.
• Dwindling Party: During Nighteye's raid against Mysterio's warehouse, his team slowly dwindles due to various factors. Rock Lock is eviscerated by Vulture, who proceeds to kidnap both Bubble Girl and Centipeder. Snatch is then pulverized by Clash's MK Ultra attack. Fat Gum is killed by Clash soon afterward, leaving Nighteye to face Mysterio alone. After that, Centipeder is killed by Shocker. Nighteye then succumbs to Mysterio, leaving Tamaki (who had been tricked into fighting the police) and Bubble Girl as the only survivors.
• Entitled Bastard:
  • Mysterio felt he was "owed" money for his special effects work even if they suffered from a case of being Awesome, but Impractical for how expensive they are. Rather than expand his repertoire or seek more cost-efficient methods of producing his work, he turned to supervillainy.
  • In "Let the Devil In", Bakugou never registers how his actions tanked his chances of getting into U.A., including underage smoking and drinking on top of beating Izuku to a pulp at school in broad daylight. As a result, he feels like he's owed admission to U.A. and blames Izuku for ruining his chances of becoming a Hero.
• Experienced Protagonist:
  • Peter has been Spider-Man for more than 30 years by the events of the story. He's famous throughout New York and the world, approaching most of his problems with a Seen It All attitude.
  • In "The Tangled Web of Spider-Woman #9", Melissa has been Spider-Woman for at least several months by the events of the story. She has her own lab, her own Spider-Mobile, Transformation Sequence, among other things. She's also moved to New York to get an internship there.
  • In "Let the Devil In", Bakugou has been Venom for several months, becoming the town's most infamous vigilante as he wages a one-man war against Carnage and his followers.
  • In "Musutafu 2099", Jirou has been Spider-Woman for years before the start of the story and is resisting the MegaCorp-controlled future of 2099.
• Face Death with Dignity: Fat Gum and Nighteye face their dooms without a hint of fear or despair. Fat Gum imparts some last advice to Clash while thinking about his intern, Tamaki, while Sir Nighteye finds solace in knowing that a Spider-Man will inevitably defeat Mysterio. He even rubs this fact in Mysterio's face as a last act of defiance.
• Famed In-Story: Izuku becomes a local celebrity people stop to take pictures with as the "Prowler Kid" after rushing to save Peter from the Prowler on live television. To a lesser extent, Peter becomes the police department's biggest headache because of the paperwork his vigilantism creates.
• Fantastic Ableism: Izuku was frequently mocked for being Quirkless. Even when the whole classroom ganged up on him, his teachers did nothing to intervene. When Izuku's spider powers developed, he's given a relatively light punishment of cleaning the boards and desks after school and a few days of detention for bolting out of class. Izuku notes that they probably went easy on him because he had just gotten his "Quirk". After the Prowler incident, he bitterly mentions that the Pro Heroes singing his praises probably would have forgotten all about him if it weren't for his "Quirk".
• Foreshadowing:
  • The police tell Izuku that the spider that bit him was likely some kind of super illegal genetic experiment. Future Izuku dryly remarks, "If only they knew..."
  • Izuku suddenly gains a Heroic Build after waking up from the spider bite and becomes a Big Eater when he's released from the hospital, which worries both him and his mom. His new muscles and increased appetite point to the development of his spider-powers, which start appearing that same day.
• Formerly Fit: Now upon reaching his late forties, along with a junk food diet, Peter has now gained a noticeable gut. He is understandably dismayed that he now has a "dad bod" and thought he'd always maintain a six-pack.
• Fusion Fic: The multiversal side-stories tend to blend elements of the Marvel Universe into the My Hero Academia setting. For instance, in "Spider-Woman 2099", Alchemax reigns supreme and has complete control over the Hero System.
• Happily Married: Implied, given that Future Izuku insists that his wife is fine after his teenage self wonders if he has cancer or if his blood is radioactive. Subverted in Peter's case, as he got divorced from MJ after she couldn't take the stress of him risking his life every day as a superhero.
• Heroism Won't Pay the Bills: Peter earned a mere $1,000 every two weeks as an Avenger, but this is partially because of his unwillingness to get most of his income from the man who began Civil War. Subverted in Izuku's universe, where being a Hero is a good-paying job and the popular Heroes can earn sponsorship deals, merchandising, and other sources of revenue.
• High-Altitude Interrogation: Peter interrogates the new White Rabbit by taking her out for a few runs on the Spider-Bungee.
• Hijacked Destiny: The nature of One For All's successor is inverted from canon. Izuku doesn't meet All Might in that underpass as he's hospitalized from the spider bite. This gives Sir Nighteye enough time to pressure All Might into making Mirio his successor. However, Izuku and All Might end up meeting anyway during the Prowler incident. The Hero laments that he would have loved to make Izuku the next torchbearer had he not already given away One For All. By the time Izuku arrives at school, All Might shows some clear favoritism towards him even though he's not his protégé.
• Identifying the Body: All Might's civilian identity is called in to identify the body of Sir Nighteye after it's brutally mutilated by Mysterio. He laments that he was the only emergency contact listed and is on the verge of breaking down in tears when Gran Torino arrives to help him process his grief.
• Immoral Journalist: Ouka Oosawagi is a struggling broadcast reporter who seizes on her ability to provide five minutes of "commentary" in her stand-ups to lambast Peter for views and clicks. She spreads conspiracy theories and rumors about him, often with little to no basis, and jumps on any opportunity to get a story even under mysterious circumstances (like when the U.A. barrier is suddenly decayed away by an unknown force).
• In a Single Bound: Izuku easily clears a ten-foot gate while fleeing from class. He leaps twenty feet into the air while dodging an oncoming truck the same day. Peter did the same thing when he first got his powers.
• Inner Thoughts, Outsider Puzzlement: Izuku goes on a dramatic inner monologue and stares off into the distance right before the U.A. Entrance Exam. Jirou notices this, waves her hand in front of his face, and lampshades it.
  Jirou: Hey, dude. [waving her hand in front of his face] You kind of zoned out there for a second. [gives a coy smile] You having a dramatic inner monologue or something?
  Izuku: [shaking his head in a panic] W-What!? No... no. Just pre-test jitters! [laughing nervously and thinking] Please buy that.
  Jirou: Riiiight.
• In-Series Nickname: Izuku gets called "Deku" by Bakugou and Peter's daughter May gets called "Mayday". Izuku also calls Bakugou "Kacchan", his Affectionate Nickname from when they were kids.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Izuku still meets All Might and inspires him to push his limits to salvage a terrible situation despite not meeting him when the Sludge Villain was escaping.
  • Uraraka still hears the name "Deku" from Bakugou and inspires Izuku to take it as an Appropriated Appellation even though they didn't speak before the entrance exam.
• Irony: In the manga, Izuku gains One For All after eating All Might's hair and trying to save Bakugou. Here, Izuku gets bitten by a spider and has to be saved by Bakugou. In addition, One For All-using Izuku is infamous for grievously injuring himself with his powers, while Spider-Izuku's powerset comes with a degree of Super-Toughness on top of Intangibility and a Spider-Sense for avoiding harm.
• Jerkass Realization: During his turn in the Heroes Vs. Villains training exercise, Ida takes the time to wonder why he feels upset that Deku thanked him for his criticism of his round. He then realizes he'd been holding onto a grudge against Izuku from their first interaction and had been overly judgmental of his fellow classmate.
• Kids Are Cruel: Everyone in Izuku's class either bullies Izuku or pities him without bothering to do anything to help him, as they'd rather let him be the punching bag than earn Bakugou's ire.
• Kid Hero: Izuku is just 14 when he first gets his spider-powers and plans on entering U.A. at 15. Peter also started his superhero career at 15.

Tropes L-Z

• Language Barrier:
  • Subverted with Izuku. Peter immediately assumes that Izuku won't be able to understand a word he says and tries to communicate through charades. He didn't count on Izuku responding in broken, but intelligible English. Of course, there are still plenty of words that Izuku doesn't know and he can't keep up if Peter speaks too quickly, but the language divide is far from insurmountable. The two Spider-Men manage to teach each other English and Japanese to overcome this completely.
    Izuku: I can tell and hear English, sir.
    Peter: You can understand...? [sighs and facepalms] Smooth, Peter. You just made yourself look like an ass in front of a teenager.
  • Played straight during his fight with the Prowler. Neither of them can understand a word of what the other is saying, but his constant quipping quickly grates on her nerves. Peter can only assume that her growling and angry responses are a flurry of Japanese curses.
• Legacy Character:
  • Izuku is taking on the mantle of Spider-Man in this story, having gotten Peter's blessing and tutelage. Also Deconstructed, as this means Izuku inherits all of Peter's enemies as well, which is seen when he's singled out by Shigaraki and Kangaroo at USJ.
  • Mysterio's equipment spawned a new generation of Villains using Marvel-styled weaponry to make a name for themselves. This includes the Rocket Racer Gang, the Beetle Gang, and many more examples of C-List Fodder. Mysterio's Enforcers: Clash, Boomerang, Vulture, and Shocker, are far more dangerous by comparison and have Quirks of their own, making them even more deadly than the originals.
  • Interestingly enough, dozens or even hundreds of Heroes and Villains of the past have taken on the names of the comic books they grew up reading about. However, it's a cultural faux pas to do it in the present, as major corporations made huge campaigns against the practice out of spite for the people profiting off the image of characters they once owned. This lands Izuku, the newest person to take on the Spider-Man mantle, in hot water with Disney, who try to "suggest" he change his identity.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: While helping Peter clear a run-down fridge of an angry raccoon and rotting food, they come across what appears to be a disturbing unidentified lifeform. The two of them agree that they never want to find out what it is.
• Luminescent Blush: Izuku turns bright red when Peter starts alluding to the effects of puberty and his new spider-powers. Peter also blushes a little when he realizes that he made himself look like an ass in front of Izuku, who has at least a rudimentary understanding of English.
• Masquerade: The side-stories reveal that part of the reason why Izuku wasn’t taken away by the government is because he’s not the only being whose powers don’t come from the Quirk. Various governments around the world have discovered other instances of strange, otherworldly beings whose abilities come from either the unknown reaches of space or something equating to magic. Rather than revealing this to the world, they instead pass off these individuals as Quirk Users and conscript them as licensed Heroes. The biggest example of this is Project: Hyperion from the United States.
• Mood Whiplash: Izuku is over the moon when he hears that he's been accepted into U.A., but his elation is cut short when All Might informs him that he'll have to come to U.A. early so Nezu can interrogate him on how he has powers without a Quirk.
• The Multiverse:
  • Izuku's universe is one of an infinite number of universes that go any number of ways on top of overlapping with other multiverses. In addition to Peter's universe, it's connected to a universe where Izuku is a phantom thief and another where he's the last survivor of Krypton.
  • Sir Nighteye ends up seeing the multiverse when he touches Mysterio. It's described as being like a snowflake as seen in Planetary and has glimpses of heaven, hell, the Speed Force, among other features native to both DC Comics and Marvel Comics.
• Mundane Solution: All Might uses duct tape to tie down the detonator switch the Prowler was using to hold Mount Lady hostage. He then tosses it into another prefecture to ensure that it would be too far away to trigger the bomb.
  Prowler: Get back! I still have the trigger! I'll kill her! I swear to…!
  All Might: Oh? You mean this? [holds up the trigger that's been wrapped in tape] Duct tape! Useful for all things from fixing leaky pipes… [tosses it past the horizon] to robbing a Villain of her bargaining chip!
• Mythology Gag: Enough to have its own page.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Expect Izuku's and Peter's Spider-Sense to go off whenever something big is about to happen.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The X-Men supposedly killed Mr. Sinister, but in secret, they kept him alive to do their work. This of course without their knowledge, bites them in the butt as Sinister finds a way out of their thumb and even works with Quentin to create a Quirk Mutant hybrid while kidnapping mutants to the X-men's shock.
• Old Shame: In-universe, All Might considers his Christmas album this as it isn’t released in any other country but the United States. Even then he only recorded it while drunk and strapped for cash while training in America.
• Omake: The story has a number of non-canon sidestories to explore assorted ideas. For instance, a short in which MC2 Mayday gets thrown into Izuku's universe was written for Valentine's Day.
• Perspective Flip: The story frequently uses this to get into the heads of characters other than Izuku.
• Point of Divergence:
  • The story begins when Izuku decides to turn down an alleyway out of curiosity instead of the shady underpass he walked under in the original manga. As a result, he has a run-in with the Prowler, gets bitten by the spider, is hospitalized, and gains the powers of Spider-Man. He never meets the Sludge Villain or ever learns All Might's secret. All Might ends up finding a successor first and passes down One For All to them, but secretly muses that he would've loved to hand his Quirk to Izuku when they meet.
  • Peter never joined the Pro-Reg side in the superhero civil war and One More Day never happened. As a result, May eventually dies of old age, Peter is a father, and he and MJ are divorced due to the stresses of his superheroing.
• Police Are Useless: Subverted. While the rise of Heroes has sidelined the role of traditional law enforcement in the eyes of the public, police officers still play a vital role in busting criminals and doing investigative work.
• Post–Wake-Up Realization: Izuku's too busy reeling from barely surviving a spider bite that put him in a coma for two days to notice that he'd completely lost his Geek Physique while he was unconscious. He only realizes the change after Dr. Tsubasa mentions it while doing blood tests.
• Prescience by Analysis: Peter mentions that Reed Richards attempted this as part of his support for the Superhuman Registration Act. The problem was that it wasn't peer-reviewed and no one else could understand it but him, which destroys Reed's arguments when the SHRA was put on trial. He suffers a falling out with Sue for months afterward.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: Izuku's peers at school sucked up to Bakugou out of fear of getting beaten up themselves, letting Izuku be the punching bag and joining in on Bakugou's antics for years. When Izuku gains his spider powers and unintentionally humiliates Bakugou, they immediately drift over to Izuku in hopes of riding off his fame as the Prowler Kid. Izuku is aware of this and declines to hang out with any of his old tormentors.
• Projectile Webbing: The story features the original web-slinger himself, who teaches a newly spider-powered Izuku how to make his own web formula and web-shooters.
• Rapid-Fire "No!": Mysterio says this as Peter starts kicking his ass again.
  Mysterio: No, no, no…!
  Peter: Oh, yes, yes, yes!
• Reality Has No Subtitles: In Melissa Shield’s side-story, she speaks in untranslated Spanish with a bodega cashier while Martin and the Demons speak in Chinese. The reader is only given the general gist of the conversation through character actions or thoughts.
• Religion of Evil: Cletus Kasady, aka Carnage, heads one. Cletus and his ilk worship the god Knull, a primordial being who revels in death and darkness and the creator of the symbiotes. To this end, Carnage recruits Serial Killers like himself as well as the downtrodden and insane to turn Earth-2018.688 into one giant offering to Knull. Their efforts are opposed by the Katsuki Bakugou of that world, who has since bonded with the Venom symbiote and is taking down their members one by one.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: In the last legs of "The Enforcers!", it's revealed that information about Nighteye's raid was leaked by a corrupt police chief Mysterio had bribed, leading to the operation's complete and utter failure. The chief is later found riddled with bullet holes atop a car after being dropped from a hundred feet in the air by Vulture.
• Secondary Color Nemesis:
  • Mysterio's costume is a green bodysuit along with a purple cape and yellow accessories. The Prowler's purple costume with green flame designs contrasts Peter's Primary-Color Champion.
  • Izuku inverts this, as his primarily green and white costumes starkly contrast with the black bodysuit and blue flaming head of Mysterio's robot avatar.
• Shock and Awe:
  • Izuku possesses the same Venom Strike power as Miles Morales, accidentally electrocuting Peter and sending him flying backward. But he can only use it once a day.
  • The Prowler's shinai can produce electricity, paralyzing those struck by it.
• Shoot the Television: Stain throws a knife at and stomps on his small TV out of disgust when he sees Mount Lady on the news.
• Shout-Out:
  • Mysterio is a fan of John Carpenter, has a screensaver of Big Trouble in Little China's poster and his password is JC'STheThing.
  • The teens that stop Izuku to take a picture of him are dead-ringers to Wam and his gang from DEVILMAN crybaby due to their clothing as well as being aspiring rappers.
  • The abandoned amusement park Peter’s staying at is called Jakuri Park, which is a reference to Rey’s homeworld from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This is, of course, lampshaded by Peter himself.
  • The reason why Jakuri Park is abandoned is explained by Izuku as the result of a recession, bringing to mind the explanation for the “park” in Spirited Away.
  • Peter also introduces the park to Izuku the way John Hammond introduces his own in Jurassic Park.
  • Izuku's chemistry teacher is named Kurisu.
  • The Mob Eisteiku section of Musutafu takes inspiration from Mos Eisley, the lawless spaceport Luke visits in Star Wars: A New Hope.
  • Izuku jumps off "Bespi Tower" to get over his fear of heights. This is a reference to Bespin, the planet where Luke dueled Vader and lost his hand.
  • Toga listens to "Helter Skelter" while leaving the area where Peter defeated the Rocket Racers.
  • Izuku's Venom Strike is activated by his buried feelings of anger and resentment as well as his long-repressed desire to lash out at others for wronging him, much like Force Lightning.
  • The Ramones’ cover for the Spider-Man theme song is mentioned, and played, by Izuku.
  • Peter states that in his universe, it was U2 who played his unofficial theme song.
  • Stain has several Mr. A comics in his apartment.
  • Martin Li’s smart table demands Melissa pay five cents for her coffee with cream and sugar’s cost being separated. This is similar to how Joe Chip’s apartment demanded him to pay before he performed any basic necessities in Ubik. The similarities are noted when Martin says his assistant put in the commands from a book she read because she thought it was funny.
  • After the U.A. Entrance Exam, Izuku and Peter catch a bite to eat at a burger joint called Big Bang Burger and are eating a burger that's apparently difficult to finish in under half an hour.
  • The events of Earth-2018.562 are based on DuckLordEthan's "Marvel Academia" art series.
  • Class 1-A has to solve an English problem that is a quote from Gladiator. Izuku also reads a passage from the book.
  • “Gunga Pizza” is a reference to the Gungans, a species introduced in The Phantom Menace.
  • Jirou mentions that she doesn't have the bust to wear spandex, referencing a quote by Jenny Sparks.
  • The three vulture lawyers are a reference to McDuck Industries’ three Board of Directors.
  • During its monologue to Nezu, The Living Brain rants how much it hates humanity, ending its previously elegant descriptions with "Hate. Hate.", much like the supercomputer AM from I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
    • On top of that, The Living Brain prefixes his lines with an announcement of what type of sentence he's using, much like HK-47 from Bioware's Knights of the Old Republic.
  • The title of the Bakugou side-story "Let The Devil In" is taken from a recurring lyric in Eminem's title track from the 2018 Venom movie.
  • The side-story “Musutafu 2099” references various works of the Cyberpunk subgenre. The new currency in Japan, New Yen, is taken from Neuromancer while the comment of various animals going extinct with the commercialization of robot ones is from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
  • The sidestory "As Above, So Below" is not only inspired by H. P. Lovecraft but also by Stan Uris' suicide in It, by Word of God.
• Show Within a Show:
  • In Izuku's universe, Spider-Man is treated much like he is in the real world: a fictional character depicted in a series of comic books, movies, video games, and merchandise distributed by Marvel Comics. This contributes to Izuku's disbelief that he could possibly have Spider-Man's powers, as it was fiction while he lived in reality. According to the author, the inverse is true for Peter's universe as the events of My Hero Academia are just a manga there.
  • There is an In-Universe show called “Teleporting Party Crasher” that Mount Lady and Toga watch on their downtime.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Bakugou, as usual, cusses constantly. The Prowler isn't much better.
• Skewed Priorities: Disney tried to lobby Congress to further extend its copyright protections over characters like Spider-Man... while the world was teetering on the edge of collapse from the rise of Quirks. Naturally, Disney got ignored in favor of more pressing matters, which let Disney's properties go into the public domain. The House of Mouse has gone on a crusade against people using the image of characters they once owned ever since by making it a cultural faux pas.
• Social Media Is Bad: The Prowler tracks Peter down when people snapped photos of him eating with Izuku and posted them online, allowing her to ambush and nearly kill him. Izuku is wary of doing anything traceable online from then on, choosing to buy things with cash in person rather than risk creating any other trails to his mentor.
• Spider-Sense: Izuku's powers come with the classic Spider-Sense, alerting him when Bakugou was sending an explosion at him and ensuring that he managed to jump out of the way of an oncoming car. Naturally, Peter has this too as the original article.
• Standard Evil Organization Squad: The League of Villains has been collaborating with Mysterio, who provides them with technology from the Marvel Universe. He also outfits numerous upstart criminals with the equipment of D-list Marvel Villains like the Rocket Racer, Big Wheel, and Stilt-Man.
• Starstruck Speechless: Izuku meets All Might after the Prowler incident and is totally tongue-tied. He desperately tries to work up the nerve to say something, only to blurt out "I love you!", to his intense embarrassment. He's finally able to speak properly after All Might starts asking him questions.
• Superheroes Wear Tights: Many Heroes in the story wear spandex as part of their costumes, including All Might and Peter. In some cases, like Mount Lady's, this is a necessity as their costumes are specifically designed to handle their Quirks.
• Superman Stays Out of Gotham: For some reason, Spidey is one of the only superheroes in New York to actually take on street crime, stopping bank robberies and investigating things while the entirety of the Avengers are off stopping an Alien Invasion or some other Apocalypse How scenario. Lampshaded, of course:
  In a city that was just lousy with superheroes, how come it always seemed like he was the only one on top of things like this? How come he doesn't see someone like Daredevil just a few rooftops away also going over to investigate?
  Peter: Aw, who am I kidding? He's probably busy with the Hand or something.
• Super-Reflexes: Izuku's powers come with a boost to his reflexes, ducking under one of Bakugou's explosions as if it were in slow motion and jumping out of the way on an oncoming car in a split second. They aren't infallible, as he fell flat on his face after Peter webbed him by accident while being blown backward by Izuku's Venom Strike.
• Super-Strength: Izuku is strong enough to accidentally smash his desk to pieces while trying to dodge one of Bakugou's explosions. Peter is even stronger, easily kicking the Prowler through a brick wall albeit he's out of shape.
• Take That!:
  • Peter's narration of his version of Civil War is one long jab at how stupidly both sides acted and how poorly something like it would fly in reality.
  • Disney's lawyers are portrayed as Funny Animals with vulture and mosquito heads while the narrative admonishes their constant attempts to extend their copyright protections even as chaos looms on the horizon. They also badger anyone who takes on the names of comic book characters, including Izuku.
  • Jirou takes potshots at the tide of edgy, brooding Anti-Heroes from the 90s and early 2000s that wore black everything and too many Badass Longcoats. She takes special note of how overly self-important they felt.
  • In the author's notes at the end of Chapter 10, The Infamous Man decries The Boys by Garth Ennis as a 'Sixty issue long bashfic filled with Strawmen that you shouldn't read.'
• That Came Out Wrong: Izuku says the day after he got a grasp on his Venom Strike and shocked Peter again, he tried it again and let the sparks fly... before admonishing the reader and saying that they know what he means.
  Izuku: We met the next day and tried it again, and I was able to see the sparks fly… Okay, stop looking at me like that. You know what I mean.
• Theme Naming: Every chapter is called an "issue" like a comic book and is given a title related to major arcs, events, devices, or installments of Spider-Man.
• There Are No Therapists: Subverted. Because of his various traumatic experiences, Peter regularly visits William Samson/Doc Samson for therapy sessions.
• Training Montage: The majority of Issue 5, "Learning Curve", is devoted to Izuku learning the limits of his new powers and the ins and outs of being Spider-Man, from wall-crawling techniques to building and maintaining his own web-shooters. The montage continues through Issue 6, which has Izuku settling into his new abilities and how "normal" he is now that he's no longer Quirkless.
• Villain Takes an Interest: During the UA Sports Festival, Izuku shouts "I AM SPIDER-MAN!" to psyche himself up. Unfortunately, Mysterio was watching the broadcast. Because of his obsession with being the one to kill Peter Parker, Mysterio refuses to let anyone else bear the mantle of Spider-Man. Hearing that claim, Mysterio orders his Enforcers to dig up every detail about Izuku, his family, his potential crushes, and any friends he might have with the intention of killing all of them to make Izuku suffer for daring to take the name of his Arch-Enemy.
• Wall Run: The Prowler is able to run straight up a wall as if gravity didn't affect her. Peter also runs straight up a wall even without the help of his Wall Crawling powers with his Super-Strength and momentum. Izuku demonstrates his new powers to his mom this way.
• Wham Episode Chapters 15 and 16: The raid on Mystero's warehouse fails resulting in the deaths of Rocklock, Fatgum, Centipeder, and Nighteye which is broadasted throughout the world.
• Willfully Weak: Peter has Izuku squeeze stress balls to teach him to control his Super-Strength so he won't apply more force than he needs to. As a result, neither of them brings their full force to bear in most fights because it would severely injure or even kill someone. Stain finds this out the hard way when Peter enters a state of Tranquil Fury and punches him so hard that Stain's jaw is instantly fractured and partially dislocated. This same blow also tore off a chunk of his cheek and crushed Stain's lips.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Daredevil says this to Mayday when her actions cause many people to get hurt between her fight and Hobgoblin. Needless to say, she feels bad about what her actions have created.
• Wounded Hero, Weaker Helper: Peter is badly wounded by the Prowler and his attempts to limit collateral to the surrounding area. When Prowler takes a hostage to keep the Pro Heroes from intervening, the cowardly and insecure Izuku, who had only just gotten his spider powers that same day, is the only one to rush in to help Peter.
• Wretched Hive: Downplayed. In contrast to the pristine streets around U.A., Mob Eisteiku is the roughest part of town. The streets are filthy, the air is filled with pungent smog, and people are always wary of being mugged. At the same time, most people living there aren't necessarily evil or villainous. They're just Burakumin, people born into families known for handling the dirty jobs that no one else will. Izuku is ashamed at how unnerved he is of the people he's sworn to protect once he becomes a Hero, especially after he learns that Mitsuki Bakugou used to live there too.
• Year X: The story is said to take place in 20XX. By this point in time, artists like Post Malone and Beau Young Prince are considered classical music, and skyscrapers top 2,200 feet.
• Your Costume Needs Work: Since Comic Books Are Real isn't a widely-known fact, Peter and Mysterio are assumed to be copycats rather than the genuine articles.
• Your Magic's No Good Here: Downplayed. The chemicals Peter used to create his own web fluid don't exist in Izuku's universe, meaning that he can't make more of it the way he knows how. Instead, he and Izuku develop a new web fluid formula from whatever Izuku is able to procure.

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