Western Animation / Marvel's Spider-Man

Marvel's Spider-Man, or simply Spider-Man, is a 2017 American animated series based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Marvel Animation and airing on Disney XD.

The show presents a back-to-basics approach following Ultimate Spider-Man, focusing on the early days of Peter Parker's career as Spider-Man, while having to balance his superhero life with school and his personal relationships, while battling his rogues gallery for the first time.

Compared to previous iterations of the characters, this show is notable for a considerable emphasis on the theme of science; Peter's science geek personality is played up, and has him recruited in the genius kid school of Horizon High (a school version of the Horizon Labs company from the comic).

Aside from Peter himself, other Spider-adjacent heroes like Miles Morales, Anya Corazón, and Spider-Gwen also appear.

Not to be confused with the PlayStation 4 video game of the same name.

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Marvel's Spider-Man provides examples of the following tropes:

• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Pretty much every background and vehicle in the show are obvious CGI.
• Accidental Misnaming: Iron Man writes an autograph to "Paul" instead of Peter.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: Similar to her counterpart in Ultimate Spider-Man, Aunt May looks much more youthful than how she looked in the comics.
  • Likewise following in Ultimate Spider-Man's direction, Harry Osborn is considerably more conventionally attractive here than his more nebbish appearance in the 616-universe comics and certain older adaptations. Heck, he's darn-near Hunk material by the end of the Maximum Venom season.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • The main students of Horizon High, even before some of them got powers. Check Badass Bystander below.
  • Man-Wolf isn't usually a wimp by any means in other incarnations, but this version can pose a serious threat to The Hulk.
• Adaptational Dye-Job: A significant amount of characters from the comics and most versions have been re-designed for the series, mainly through having different hair and/or eye colors.
  • Peter is usually portrayed with having either brown, blue, or hazel eyes in the comics and other versions. Here, his eyes are green.
  • Harry Osborn is traditionally depicted as brown or red-haired in the comics and most versions. Here, his hair is black.
  • Liz Allan is usually portrayed as being a blonde. Here, she's a brunette.
  • Alistair Smythe is usually portrayed with having brown hair. Here, it's ginger.
  • Aleksei Sytsevich is usually a brunette in the comics and most versions before becoming the Rhino. This version of him is a redhead.
  • Man-Wolf is now depicted with blue eyes and dark gray fur, rather than red eyes with white fur in the comics and other versions.
• Adaptational Intelligence:
  • There's a lot of it going around, in fact - a lot of his supporting cast go to Horizon High, which means most are now scientific geniuses in addition to their existing traits from past versions.
  • In the comics, Aleksei Sytsevich was Dumb Muscle even before becoming the Rhino. Here, he's a student at Horizon and thus is a Teen Genius.
• Adaptational Job Change: This version of Yuri Watanabe is the chief of police instead of a captain.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • In the comics, Keemia is a Cheerful Child who doesn't really understand that her dad, Flint Marko AKA Sandman is a villain. Here she's a teenager who gained his powers and joined Hammerhead, even though she hated her dad for working for Hammerhead.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • The Sandman in this cartoon is not nearly as powerful as his comics counterpart and other versions.
  • The same goes for this version of the Rhino, who is nowhere near as tough as past incarnations of the character, being little more than a humanoid brute with the mind of an animal. While fighting against Spider-Man, he doesn't even get in a single hit in their short fight.
• Adapted Out: The Spider-Island arc completely leaves out The Queen. In the original comics, she was the mastermind and true Big Bad behind Spider-Island, with the Jackal working for her as one of her main enforcers. Here though, Jackal is the one solely responsible for Spider-Island.
• Advertised Extra:
  • Most of the promotional push for the third and final season revolved around the "Maximum Venom" subtitle, with a good chunk of the merchandise focused on the Venomized versions of Marvel's heroes. Particular attention was paid to the Venomized versions of Miles and Gwen, who received several action figures each (including in the Marvel Legends and Titan Hero lines, with Venomized Miles also getting a Funko Pop). In the actual show, Miles and Gwen are only shown bonded to the symbiotes for the Cliffhanger ending of "Vengeance of Venom: Part 1," clocking in at under two minutes of actual screen time. Bizarrely, they're completely absent from the second part, where the Venomized versions of Doctor Strange, Ironheart, Iron Man and Hulk are featured much more prominently, even though they all have far less of a personal connection to Peter.
  • The same goes for Peter's synthetic symbiote costume, which was featured heavily in the toy lines and promotional artwork even though he only wears it in the two-part season premier.
• Age Lift:
  • Miles Morales is 15 at the time Spider-Man makes his debut rather than 12/13.
  • Played with Anya Corazón in that she's the same age that she was when she debuted—but as the show features a rookie Peter, she's now the same age as him instead of being younger.
  • Doctor Octopus, Alistair Smythe, and Herman Schultz are now Teen Geniuses, as opposed to being adults that are Mad Scientists just like their comic book counterparts and most versions. Likewise, Aleksei Sytsevich/The Rhino and John Jameson are reimagined as teen geniuses.
  • Keemia was about seven or eight in the comics when she met an adult Spider-Man. Here, she's a teenager at the same time he is.
• Alien Invasion: The plot for Season 3 "Maximum Venom".
• Alternate Universe: This version of Spider-Man appears in a tie-in with Spider-Geddon where he is recruited by Spider-Punk, with his universe being designated as Earth-17628 in The Multiverse.
• Animation Bump: The animation in the first season is admittedly quite stiff and suffers from a lot of Limited Animation. Partway through the second season however, the animation sees a noticeable upgrade at least during the fight scenes, with more elaborate choreography and acrobatics.
• Animesque: The animation style is reminiscent of anime or Avatar and Voltron: Legendary Defender, especially in comparison to Ultimate Spider-Man.
• Art Evolution: Season 3 gives the characters visible shading in certain scenes, as opposed to the completely flat colors used in previous seasons.
• Artistic License – Chemistry: Harry and Spidey both decide to use silver jewelry to thaw the latter out of Harmless Freezing due to its high thermal conductivity. This apparently means the silver generates enough heat on contact to sublimate the ice without harm to Spider-Man's person.
• Badass Bystander: Word of God confirms that the theme of the show is teamwork. As such, the students of Horizon High, the main focused ones of course, won't be one of the stereotypical crowds of people running from danger. Their knowledge of science and technology proves useful to Spider-Man when he's in the middle of a fight.
• The Bad Guy Wins: At the end of "The Living Brain", Doctor Octopus has successfully transferred his consciousness into Spider-Man's body, with the latter's consciousness inside the robot.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Peter is overall portrayed as rather nice and dorky over the course of the five origin shorts. However, when he finally goes after the burglar who killed Uncle Ben, he acts downright terrifying, to the point the burglar ends up running to the cops and begging them to arrest him.
  Peter: Save your excuses! ALL I WANT TO HEAR IS YOUR SCREAMS!
• Big Bad: As the show adheres to an arc storytelling format, the role is shifted between Norman Osborn, the Jackal, Doctor Octopus, Venom, and Adrian Toomes.
  • For much of Season 1, Norman Osborn and the Jackal are the main threats with Venom and Arnim Zola appearing as arc villains. Doctor Octopus joins the ensemble near the end of the season, but Norman becomes the Final Boss for the two-part finale "Hobgoblin".
  • In Season 2, Doctor Octopus is more or less the main villain for much of it, with Venom again appearing for an arc before he's taken out again, and the season ends with Otto undergoing a Heel–Face Turn and the Goblin King (Adrian Toomes) taking over for the Goblin War arc.
  • For Season 3, Venom is the main threat this time around, with Norman Osborn and the Jackal making a return and being behind pretty much every other plot thread Venom wasn't.
• Bittersweet Ending: The season 2 finale, The Goblin War, follows this. While the city is saved and Adrian Toomes is defeated, Otto Octavius, who became a legitimate hero at this point, sacrifices his life using the Neuro Cortex in order to stop him.
• Broken Pedestal: Gwen, Miles, and Harry all become disillusioned by their respected idols by the end of the first season.
• Cast as a Mask: We have an interesting case involving the Hobgoblin. Max Mittleman, who voices Harry Osborn, also voices his alter ego, the Hobgoblin, who's a hero in this series. The Hobgoblin that knowingly attacks Spider-Man in part 2 of the season 1 finale is revealed to be Norman Osborn, who's voiced by Josh Keaton.
• Casting Gag:
  • Black Cat is not the first feline themed anti villain that Grey DeLisle Griffin has voiced.
    • She also voices Headmaster Rappaccini, who's similar to Samantha Vanderberg from Batman vs. Robin in that they're both influential people who at first appear to be nice, but are then revealed to be the mastermind behind oppressive cults . Their fates are different though, such as how Samantha dies while Rappaccini gets sent to prison .
  • Several previous voice actors for Spider-Man have been involved in the series, including Josh Keaton as Norman Osborn and John Jameson, Yuri Lowenthal as Clash, and Ben Diskin as Spencer Smythe and Flash Thompson.
  • Ben Diskin once again voices somebody associated with the Venom Symbiote. This time, Flash Thompson.
  • Scott Menville once again voices the leader of a superpowered team who technically has no innate powers of his own outside of his strategic mind and gadgetry.
• The Cameo: Stan Lee appears as a cameraman in "Origins Part 5" and ends the short by telling Peter how he's gonna "remember this day for the rest of his life". Oh, yes, Stan. Peter certainly will.
• Camera Abuse: Bone Saw headbutts a camera, destroying it.
• Cassandra Truth: In "Stark Expo", Max ignores Peter's concern the V-252 sample is alive and states that he went over Peter's notes and thought that it was too unlikely for that to be a possibility. By the end of the episode, however, he gets undeniable proof that it's alive.
• Central Theme: The show is focused on the benefits of science, as well as the dangers of keeping secrets and holding grudges. The Goblin Wars story arc focuses on how lack of communication prevents issues from being solved.
• Chained to a Railway: Peter accidentally does this to himself when a web cartridge breaks at the worst possible time. Luckily, he uses his other webshooter to throw a switch that sends the train onto another track.
• Cheap Costume: Peter is shown fighting the Scorpion in a very basic outfit consisting of a balaclava, goggles and street clothes, which bears a resemblance to his original costume in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
• Clark Kenting: In the third short Peter starts web-swinging, but to make sure no one recognizes him he puts on a web mask. Said mask only covers small parts of his face and head. His eyes, nose, mouth and hair remain uncovered.
• Composite Character:
  • The Jackal is a mixture of several notable figures.
    • He is Raymond Warren, Peter's high school science teacher and brother of Miles Warren's brother
    • Like Miles Warren, he has used the Jackal identity and he is a professor, as well expendable clones at his disposal
    • He takes Arthur Stacy's place as Gwen's uncle.
    • He also takes Conrad Marcus's place in being the creator of the spider behind Miles's abilities.
  • Tiberius Stone's connection with Alchemax during Superior Spider-Man's reign is taken from his comic counterpart. However, his hairstyle and him being Alchemax's CEO is his son Tyler Stone. He also takes Donald Roxxon's place as the one behind Cloak's and Dagger's abilities.
• Continuity Lockout: Those who haven't watched the Guardians of the Galaxy series (specifically, the opening story arc of the third season), will be left utterly confused by how Peter already knows who Groot is when he finds the little tree alien in his closet during "Amazing Friends".
• Continuity Reboot: The series seems to have completely replaced Ultimate Spider-Man in the Shared Universe, and as a result, has no ties to said series aside from some of the characters.
• Continuity Snarl:
  • The series apparently exists within the same universe as Avengers Assemble. However so did Ultimate Spider-Man, which makes things confusing if you've followed the previous series and wondering how the Avengers from Avengers Assemble are now here, as the show never explains this and acts like Ultimate Spider-Man never happened.
  • Season 2 features an origin story for MODOK, and the Avengers act like they've never encountered him before. This is odd since MODOK was a major recurring villain in the early seasons of Avengers Assemble, a series that this ostensibly takes place in the same continuity with.
  • In the season 1 episode "Venom", Peter seems to already know Mary Jane Watson, reacting with mild surprise when Flash tells him that it's "MJ" who's wearing the Midtown High mascot suit. But the season 3 episode "Amazing Friends" shows Peter and Mary Jane being introduced to each other by Aunt May, with their interactions making it clear that this is their first meeting.
• Crazy-Prepared: What Anya considers Gwen Stacy to be, calling her the "queen of preparation".
• Crippling Overspecialization: In "Stark Expo", Ghost takes control of all the technology at said expo. He's only defeated when Spider-Man uses the Symbiote, a distinctly organic entity, to circumvent this particular weakness, and ends up defeated with ease.
• Cruel Twist Ending: At the end of "The Living Brain", it seems like Spider-Man has defeated the titular robot with Doc Ock's mind in it. However, it is revealed that Ock successfully transferred his mind into Spider-Man's body, while Spider-Man's mind is now inside the Living Brain.
• Dark Reprise: The heroic, triumphant song that plays whenever Spider-Man is doing heroics is replaced by a darker, slightly off-key, ominous version of that song whenever he's wearing the V-252.
• Darker and Edgier: Downplayed. While Ultimate Spider-Man got much darker over the series' run, the shorts end with the explicit death of his Uncle Ben and the show reemphasizes certain bad traits in Peter's home life (such as his Aunt May's money problems and partial estrangement with his friends due to his job as Spider-Man), but remains fairly lighthearted for the most part.
• Destructive Saviour: Occasionally, but Peter is in particular top form in "Bring on the Bad Guys Part 1" where his already tarnished reputation takes furthers blows from him rather recklessly demolishing scenes of crimes flinging villains Rhino and Panda-Mania around. He destroys both a bank and a subway tunnel, leaving civilians running in fear begging him not to hurt them.
• Distaff Counterpart:
  • Sandgirl is the daughter of Sandman with her own sand-based shapeshifting abilities.
  • Anya Corazón and Spider-Gwen are this to Spider-Man.
• Does Not Know His Own Strength: His spider powers begin kicking in not long after the initial bite in this version, leading him to accidentally knock down a door while trying to find a bathroom to puke in.
• Double-Meaning Title: The final origin short "Conclusion" can signify that it's the last part of the scientific method and also because it's the last short. A third one could also coincide with Foregone Conclusion since we all know that Uncle Ben has to die for Spider-Man to be born.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Peter gets a bout of this after Gwen gets her spider-powers and becomes the darling of New York, where she's running around without a secret identity.
• Easily Forgiven: Subverted twice following the Superior Spider-Man arc.
  • Max, unaware of the mind swap between Peter and Otto, is unable to forgive Peter for "his" behavior while dropping out of Horizon High. Even before that, Peter was struggling to pay for the tuition. Eventually, he was allowed back in after a "generous donation" from Otto after his Heroic Sacrifice.
  • Peter, meanwhile, took some time before forgiving Otto, with the latter hijacking his normal and hero life. He slowly began to forgive and trust him after seeing how much he wanted to redeem himself.
• E = MC Hammer: In-Universe Uncle Ben illustrated his Comes Great Responsibility mantra to Peter with a pseudo-formula. In present day Peter keeps a photo of it on his phone and taped to his backpack.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Dr. Otto Octavius is short and has short arms, which makes him have trouble reaching things. Spidey fans know what's gonna happen later.
  • In the second episode, Harry Osborn asks Peter to get him his stuff he built in his lab that's to be confiscated, being rather vague and unclear as to what he created and why, and dodges the subject of what the invention is. Said invention looks and acts very similar to the pumpkin bombs that the various Goblin identities use.
  • In a moment of uncharacteristic kindness, the Jackal actually saves Gwen's life in the third episode, though Spider-Man saw it as him taking a hostage. It later turns out this is because she's his niece.
  • Spencer Smythe ask Raymond Warren on how he got out of prison with Raymond not giving him an answer which brings a bit implications considering Raymond did not recognize Smythe and says he did not left prison.
  • In the episode "Ultimate Spider-Man", Miles gains spider powers like Peter, thanks to a genetically enhanced spider. Anya and Gwen offer to examine his bite mark for a pattern and source. Anya jokingly believes they could all gain spider powers one day. The entire population of New York City ends up in this state [temporarily] during the "Spider Island" arc, but both girls keep their powers for the rest of the series, totaling four Spider People.
  • Hammerhead mentions that he's considering phasing out more of his goons in favor of supervillains.
  • When Spider-Man first fights Venom, a cloth covering a sign from a building that's being constructed behind him is uncovered. The sign depicts a bugle, indicating the Daily Bugle will show up in some capacity.
• Godzilla Threshold: When Ghost takes over all the tech in Stark Expo, making both Spider-Man's and Iron Man's usual equipment useless, Spider-Man willingly puts the Symbiote back on despite now knowing how dangerous it is, taking advantage on its organic nature to evade control.
• Halloween Episode: The episode "Halloween Moon" takes place during Halloween, where Spider-Man teams up with the Hulk to stop the Man-Wolf.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Like in other media, Spider-Man officially becomes this in season 2 by the time J. Jonah Jameson shows up.
• Hypocrite: The Goblin King (Adrian Toomes) criticizes Norman Osborn for stealing other people's work and passing it off as his own, while he and his army are using Goblin tech stolen from Harry Osborn.
• Innocuously Important Episode: Season 2's "Rise Above It All" initially feels like filler that only introduces the Wake Riders and brings back Vulture as an antagonist. His return to crime allows him to build his empire as the Goblin King, and he even recruits the Wake Riders as part of the Goblin Nation, Season 2's final major threat.
• Keeping Secrets Sucks:
  • Peter and Harry's friendship is tested throughout Season 1 because Peter has to keep his Spider-Man identity a secret.
    • Peter has to make excuses or outright lie to Harry to disappear and work as Spider-Man, and Harry begins having an Irrational Hatred to the hero. Peter later tells Harry his father, Norman Osborn, is up to no good, but he doesn't believe him and is unable to provide evidence.
    • Exaggerated in "The Rise of Doc Ock" when Octavius reveals the belief that Peter is a "business partner" of Spider-Man, shortly after Peter promises to prioritize their friendship, and even further when Peter is forced to save Harry over Norman when Jackal's hideout self-destruct, even though Norman told him to. It doesn't help that Spidey distrusted Norman, and Harry was well aware.
    • During the "Spider Island" arc, Peter finally reveals his secret to Harry as his blood was needed to help cure a mutated Norman and the rest of New York. Sacrificing Osborn Academy to save everyone severely damaged their friendship. Luckily, their time fighting crime, with Harry becoming the Hobgoblin, and finally learning the truth about Norman mended their it once and for all.
  • Peter had to keep his hero identity from Miles, Anya, and Gwen. He revealed himself to Miles to help him during Season 1, but Anya and Gwen were the last to know during "Spider-Man Unmasked" (during Season 3) and took a long while to forgive him, since they all fought many villains together.
• Kinda Busy Here: Harry tends to call Peter at terrible times, mainly when he’s busy kicking villain butt, so naturally Peter ends up carrying on the conversation while fighting multiple times.
• Knight of Cerebus: The show's lighthearted tone darkens when the Venom Symbiote is around. While it darkens Peter himself in Season 1, when it returns in Season 2, the stakes ramp up considerably.
• Lost in Imitation: The show's version of the Venom Symbiote is more or less the familiar Jekyll & Hyde take on the concept, featured in Spider-Man 3 and the Fox animated series. This is needless to say not how the costume worked originally in the comics, where the Venom suit was alive and had a possessive love and desire for Spider-Man and would creep out Peter with its possessiveness and desire to control his body permanently. However, its appearance in the episode "Superior" plays those elements up considerably.
• Mook Horror Show: Peter's Beware the Nice Ones moments has him wanting to hear Uncle Ben's killer scream, causing the guy to immediately run to the police instead of having to face Peter's wrath.
• Never Trust a Trailer:
  • To promote the show, Marvel put out a series of posters, one of which◊ features more traditional versions of Doctor Octopus and the Rhino and a more Spider-Man: Homecoming-esque design for the Vulture, rather than the Younger and Hipper versions of the former two and the more-Science Ninja Team Gatchaman-inspired Vulture of the series proper.
  • The trailers for the two part season 1 finale show the Hobgoblin attacking Spider-Man. Harry took up the mantle of the character in this series, but as a hero. Harry attacking Spider-Man in part 1 is due to not knowing that he was brainwashed, and immediately tries to snap him out of it when he finds out. The Hobgoblin that knowingly attacks Spider-Man in part 2 is Norman Osborn.
• New Season, New Name: Season 3 gains a subtitle - Maximum Venom. The name is a reference to Maximum Carnage.
• Never Trust a Trailer: A teaser trailer for the "Maximum Venom" season depicted the original Bruce Banner version of the Hulk as one of the Venomized heroes. In reality, Amadeus Cho serves as the Venomized Hulk in the storyline, and Banner never even appears.
• Not Helping Your Case: When he shows up at Oscorp to assist Miles against the Living Brain in its titular episode, Spider-Man is arrested by the police for breaking in. This, of course, justifies Jameson's criticisms about Spider-Man being a vigilante.
• Not His Sled:
  • Harry is the first to call Spidey a "menace" after a misunderstanding. J. Jonah Jameson, who usually calls him that and more, doesn't appear until Season 2.
  • The season 2 finale is a 4 part story called "Goblin War", in which Spider Man and his allies fight a gang using mass produced Hobgoblin technology lead by a larger green Goblin King. In part two it is revealed that the Goblin King is not Norman Osborn as teased, but Adrian Toomes.
• Now You Tell Me: Miles straight out says this when Spider-Man tells him his webs aren't organic.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: During their team-up with Otto in "The Rise of Doc Ock, Part 2", both Peter and Mile willingly act like goofy Idiot Heroes who don't understand science so Otto will be unable to recognize them as his students. This eventually backfires, as when they rightfully point out he didn't test the formula to cure Connors, exposing their actual intelligence in the process, he refuses to listen to them, assuming they are merely repeating Techno Babble they heard him say without knowing what it actually means.
• One-Steve Limit:
  • Perhaps the reason Raymond Warren is The Jackal instead of his brother, Miles, was to avoid confusion with the Miles we already know.
  • Similarly, Electro is Francine Fyre here instead of Max Dillon likely due to Max Modell already being a main character.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: A Power Crystal called the lunar crystal that channels gamma radiation to modify preexisting wolf traits in humans for medical purposes has Gone Horribly Right and caused full on feral lycanthropy. It can also transmit the energy through inflicted wounds that turns anyone into werewolves, making it contagious.
• Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Peter gets a ton of it following the events of the Superior Spider-Man arc. By the end of the Cellar arc, he's at least won back Ms. Marvel's friendship, mostly because she was so certain something affected him (she guessed aliens).
• Poor Communication Kills: The last half of season two is full of this after Otto gives Peter his body back. Max refuses to accept any of Peter's attempts at making an apology, Gwen and Anya refuse to even talk to him, and Harry repeatedly questions why Peter would be with Otto after all he's done, understandably so. The only ones willing to put logic and reason over personal grudges are Peter and Ms. Marvel; Peter is able to see that Otto honestly wants to make a change for the better despite having every reason to hate him, while Ms. Marvel just hand-waves it on the account that she has seen much stranger things.
• Power Echoes: When bonded to the Venom symbiote, Spider-Man's voice is underscored by a reverberating effect.
• Quality vs. Quantity: Hammerhead believes that supervillains make more despite costing more, and mentions that he's thinking of hiring exclusively supervillains from now on.
• Related in the Adaptation: Gwen Stacy and Raymond Warren/The Jackal.
• Retcon: The series appears to take the place of Ultimate Spider-Man in the shared animated universe between Avengers Assemble and Guardians of the Galaxy, with all of the character designs and actors carrying over to those shows' then-recent seasons. It is later explained that only the last season of Avengers Assemble is canon while Guardians of the Galaxy is only canon with this show.
• Reused Character Design: Uncle Ben's killer looks alarmingly like Peter, only older and with a mole.
• Shared Universe: This show is canon with Guardians of the Galaxy (which previously was believed to be canon with Ultimate Spider-Man) and the final season of Avengers Assemble.
• Ship Tease:
  • Peter and Gwen have a few moments of this:
    • In "Osborn Academy", when Peter is first introduced to her, he's a bit flustered when talking to her, yet takes it in stride, and is not annoyed at him for his goof ups. In fact, she's impressed with who he is because of what happened in the pilot.
    • In "Party Animals", after her uncle, who's revealed to be the Jackal, is taken to prison , Peter comforts her by saying how he lost someone important in a way, and then she hugs him for being a good friend.
    • In "Screwball Live", when Peter is trying to figure out what Hammerhead wants with a special flash drive, Gwen sees him working on it, and thinks that it's a school assignment. When she chimes in, and decodes it, Peter doesn't stop her, and is quite impressed with what she did. He even remarks: "I guess what I was missing was you.", and she gives a knowing smile and glance. Also consider how they're both not fond of Screwball and how she seems too obsessed with fame and views.
    • In "Spider Island Part 1", Gwen tells Spider-Man (not knowing his identity) "My friend Peter Parker has a saying: With great power comes great responsibility". Peter is very clearly a key factor in her becoming a hero.
  • Anya and Miles, or rather Spider-Kid, get one in "Spider-Island: Part 5". Miles manages to use the cure on a spider-monster chasing the others. Anya then says "I could kiss you!" and then Miles has that look.
  • Peter and Ms. Marvel have one in "School of Hard Knocks", where the two take off their disguises and pretend to be a couple to avoid being caught by guards. The Headmaster calling them "lovebirds" and Peter's reaction afterwards sells it.
• Shown Their Work: The mark left on Peter's hand after he is bitten actually looks pretty close to what a spider bite looks like in real life.
• Shout-Out:
  • The two possibilities Peter brings up for the warning in the lab in "Introduction!" are gamma radiation and Asgardian interference. Thor: Ragnarok, starring both Thor and the Hulk, released in the same year as that episode.
  • When taunting Blizzard, Spider-Man mentions "Mr. Zero" as one of his potential names. Mr. Zero was the original name of the Batman villain Mr. Freeze.
  • Spider-Man KOs Molten Man with a Shoryuken.
• Significant Double Casting: In the episode "Venom", Ben Diskin voices both Venom and Flash Thompson. That's because the latter ends up being taken over by the former. Fortunately, it's only for this episode.
• Skyward Scream: Peter unleashes this in "Origins Part 6" during his My God, What Have I Done? moment above.
  Peter: WHAT HAVE I DONE?!
• Super-Soldier: "Ultimate Spider-Man" reveals that Raymond Warren created the spider that bit Peter, as well as several others, in order to create an army of spider-powered soldiers.
• Super Team: Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Miles Morales, Ghost-Spider (Gwen Stacy), and Spider-Girl (Anya Corazon) form a team of spider-powered superheroes who protect New York, though the show's main focus is on Peter as a solo hero.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • This show quickly establishes one of the downsides of attending a special school. Peter may be a genius, but not even he, someone of middle class status, could pay for such high tuition. It takes Max Modell taking him under his wing at the lab that he can afford this.
    • Related to this, there isn't exactly a high tolerance for Peter being late with his projects and commitments due to the school's higher standards, with him being penalized in some way. It's only because Status Quo Is God that Peter's place in Horizon is secure.
  • "A Day In The Life" shows that Peter may have done the project, but it means nothing if it's not brought in on time.
  • In "Symbiotic Relationship," Spider-Man attacks the Vulture after seeing he's been released from prison. The police promptly inform him that they have no legal grounds to arrest Vulture, as he was bailed out legally and hasn't done anything wrong. They then inform Vulture that he actually has the right to press charges, since he was just assaulted by Spider-Man for no reason. Spider-Man was only lucky Vulture decided to let him off.
  • Harry tries to go up against Blizzard with only a thermal sword and an insulating jumpsuit, while the latter is controlling a giant ice golem, and is taken out in one hit.
  • The crook that would become Blizzard stole what appeared to be a large diamond from a jewelry store, which he later uses to amplify a cryonic gauntlet he stole from Peter and Harry. When Peter tries to return it, he's told that it's fake, as the store wouldn't keep a diamond that big in the store window.
  • While Black Widow quickly forgives them due to the circumstances, she cuffs Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, and Anya because the Vibranium key they took to investigate at Horizon High meant they effectively stole government property (something Spider-Man warned Gwen about doing).
  • While Silver Sable and her Wild Pack are professional mercenaries who studied Spider-Man's moves and used it to take advantage on him, Sable still is a mere Badass Normal, while Peter is superhumanly agile and has Wall Crawling. When the two of them fight on the top of a flying jet, Silver Sable struggles to even keep her balance, while Spidey moves without any trouble and keeps coming back whenever she tries to push him away from the jet, eventually resulting in her defeat.
  • Fighting swarms of villains going after him with little time to rest in the "Bring on the Bad Guys" arc has taken a heavy toll on Spider-Man. In "Brain Drain" and "The Living Brain", Peter has become so exhausted that he can barely stay awake, making it all the easier for Doctor Octopus to steal his body.
• The Symbiote: Venom and Carnage are two of the show's villains, bonded to Eddie Brock and Cletus Kasady respectfully.
• Talking Is a Free Action: Averted for poor Spider-Man. When he and Spider-Gwen stop to discuss Crossbones, it gives Crossbones an opening to land a pretty solid punch.
• That Man Is Dead: The show's version of Moon Knight has given up that identity, though he kept his equipment and costume.
• Theme Naming: Origins Part 2 to 6 are named after the five steps of the Scientific Method.
• Together in Death: While holding Clayton and Herman hostage, the Jackal sarcastically says that he can't break up such a touching friendship. His solution? Kill them both. Luckily, Spidey saves them.
• Transformation Discretion Shot:
  • John Jameson studies a Lunar Crystal, which later turns him into the Man-Wolf in "Halloween Moon". However, this transformation is never shown.
  • In the five-part episode, "Spider-Island", everyone gains spider powers and later turn into spider creatures, some of which occur offscreen.
• Truer to the Text:
  • Zig-Zagged. The series is about Peter balancing his superheroics with his normal life, which is something that Ultimate Spider-Man had downplayed for a majority of its run, but still takes itself in a fairly different direction due to Peter's enrollment into Horizon High. Although, it appears that this series is much more faithful to the comics than Spider-Man: Homecoming.
  • Gwen Stacy's portrayal as a somewhat stuck up, condescending bookworm actually reflects parts of her early portrayal in the comics, but differs in both kind and degree^note Before Characterization Marched On, Gwen was snobbish because she was a beauty queen and a kind of Uptown Girl.
  • Jack O'Lantern's portrayal is much closer to the comic version than in Ultimate Spider-Man; the one in USM was created by magic and shared the name and appearance but otherwise had no other resemblance to his comic counterpart, while the version here is a mercenary like in the comics.
• Underestimating Badassery: The burglar who killed Uncle Ben is initially puzzled by Spider-Man coming after him, and doesn't take him seriously. Peter quickly shows him why he should be very, very afraid.
• Ungrateful Bastard:
  • Even after Peter modifies Anya's invention to put out the fire in the auditorium, she gets upset at him for tampering with it. Fortunately, it's only for that one time, and subsequent episodes show that her being hard on him is only because she wants him to contribute his own way to the group and school success.
  • In the second episode, instead of showing appreciation for being saved from the Spider Slayer, Harry accuses Spider-Man of trying to get him killed and blames him for the shenanigans happening, even though the robot was apparently after Harry the whole time. Ironically, it is Anya who calls Harry out for being ungrateful.
  • In Bring on the Bad Guys: Part 1, instead of thanking Spider-Man for turning in Overdrive, the Police give him a ticket.
• Villain Team-Up: The Sinister Six, whose membership (in promotional art) consists of the Green Goblin, the Rhino, the Vulture, Doctor Octopus, the Lizard, and Venom. The actual team in-show is comprised of Doctor Octopus, Vulture, Rhino, Ollie Osnick, and Alistair Smythe; Norman was the former team leader, Harry had been considered, and the true sixth member turned out to be Spider-Man himself.
• Wham Episode: "The Rise of Doc Ock" four-parter significantly changes the status quo of the series: Octavius's arms are merged with his body, and after briefly becoming a hero, defects to Oscorp due to Norman's manipulations, which results in Octavius betraying him, along with Harry ending his friendship with Peter after finding out he's (supposedly) making technology for Spider-Man.
  • The ending of "Dead Man's Party" also counts, even if it is not quite as significant. The V-252 returns, and finds its way to Eddie Brock, birthing the Venom we know and love; and thanks to the symbiote's Genetic Memory, he already knows who Spider-Man is and is set to destroy his life systematically.
  • The ending of "The Living Brain". Doctor Octopus takes over Spider-Man's body and Spider-Man's consciousness is inside the titular robot.
• Wham Line: Smythe and Warren were in cahoots for the entirety of the episode Ultimate Spider-Man, and at the end, Alistair is caught by Miles and arrested. When he sees Raymond reading in his cell, he laments that they were both captured, until...
  Raymond: What are you talking about? I never left. And how do you know my name?!
• You Have Failed Me: Hammerhead attempted this on Flint Marko, only to accidentally turn him into Sandman. The one pulled off by Keemia, his own daughter, however is far more successful.
• Younger and Hipper: In addition to receiving redesigns, a large amount of characters (particularly the villains) from the comics and most versions have been reimagined through being portrayed as teenagers as opposed to adults.
  • Alistair Smythe, the Shocker, and the Rhino are portrayed as teenagers, rather than adults, as they traditionally are. Additionally, Doctor Octopus is only slightly older than Peter, as opposed to being middle-aged like in the comics.
  • The series itself is this for The Amazing Spider-Man (Dan Slott). In addition to the presence of Clash, Horizon Labs is reimagined as a special high school for geniuses, Max Modell (Horizon's founder) is a supporting character as the school's principal, and Peter's improved Spider-Man costume is a version of the Spider Armor Mk IV from All-New, All-Different Marvel. Additionally, season 1 adapted Spider-Island and season 2's adapted Superior Spider Man.

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