The 5 Spider-People You Need to Know

Until 2018’s Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse came along the most famous web-slinger, Peter Parker was believed to be the one and only Spider-Man for many casual fans. In the animated Spider-Verse, Afro-Latinx teen Miles Morales was bitten by a genetically engineered arachnid and developed Spider powers of his own and, he discovered he wasn’t the only Spider-Person. When his beloved city, universe, and all of the multiverses face sudden doom Miles teams up with a squad of other Spider-powered individuals: Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker in her SP/dr suit, and Peter B. Parker rocking a pizza gut and gray sweats. But… those six are not the only Spider-People out there. With the OG Spider-Man’s comic Marvel-versary* fast approaching (June 5th, 1962), and in celebration of the multitude of Spider-People his character inspired I’ve rounded up five Spider-Powered people you need to know.

*Spider-Man made his comic debut in Amazing Fantasy #15 which hit stands June 5th, 1962.

 

Silk

Our Spiderriffic list begins with Cindy Moon. The Korean-American high schooler turned superpowered spider-woman made her first comic appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #1 in 2014 where she was bitten on her ankle by the very same radioactive spider that “turned” Peter. Taking on the name Silk, the super teen’s Spidey powers manifested just as quickly as Peter Parker’s.

But, Silk’s Spider powers differ from Peter’s in a couple of ways. She’s faster than Spider-Man, has more finely tuned reflexes (Peter Parker even openly admits to that) and a photographic memory along with a precognitive “Silk” Sense. She’s also more agile than Spider-Man thanks to years of playing hockey, her smaller frame and rigorous training. Unlike how Peter Parker’s self-taught, smells-like-teen-spirit superheroing journey was a giant DIY project, Cindy was professionally trained by wealthy, enigmatic, Spider-Person Ezekiel Sims. Ezekiel’s mentoring and years of experience put him in a position to help Cindy target her strengths and weaknesses right out of the gate.

Silk also doesn’t need tech and complicated gadgets to flaunt what she’s got. Her body organically generates exceptional webbing that’s stronger than Spider-Man’s and right at her fingertips. It can be woven into clothing and shaped into barbs or “claws” to up the damage factor when Silk’s up against criminal scum. Which, as a dedicated Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and member of the multiversal Spider Army, Silk basically faces on the daily. Silk infiltrated Black Cat’s crime ring, rescued her parents from the dark and imploding Negative Zone, and defended the multiverse against dimension hopping supervillain Morlun and the Spider-person eating Inheritors.

Spider-Woman

Jessica Drew, the OG Spider-Woman emerged in Marvel comics in 1977 in Marvel Spotlight #32. Jessica’s famous origin story is that she was born in the remote Wundagore Mountains in Europe and came into her powers in an, erm, unusual way. (Is there any other?!) She grew up off the grid with her geneticist parents Miriam and Jonathan– a power couple who specialized in researching Arachnids. Well, Jonathan obsessively tinkered with manipulating spider genes and created an actual machine capable of altering them from a ray gun alone! Any guesses where this is going?

Miriam was hit by the laser beam right on her stomach. While she was pregnant with Jessica. Thus, unborn Jess was blasted with highly concentrated spider DNA aaaand hello, origin story!! Her carefree childhood took a dark turn when she turned six and her powers started to break through. Father of the year, Jonathan, made Jess his personal guinea pig and conducted a rash of experiments on her, causing her powers to intensify! When word got out about her condition, Jess was kidnapped by the High Evolutionary, a wicked scientist working for Hydra and put into a coma for ten years and, yup, experimented on some more!

Even worse? When she “woke up” she was hailing Hydra and didn’t even know it. When she stormed S.H.I.E.L.D. to save her Hydra boo, Jared, she discovered 1. her Hydra “family” was actually a terrorist organization that abducted and brainwashed her. And, 2. Jared was a double-crossing jerk. Welp.

Newly #woke Jessica skedaddled back to the Hydra base, blew it up sky high and began her Spider-Woman superhero journey. As Spider-Woman, Jess took up crime fighting in LA and San Francisco, became Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel’s BFF, and joined S.H.I.E.L.D. As Jess, she launched a private investigator career. Not only was Jess crushing it with her small biz, but she was also crushing it with her superheroing.

As far as powers go, Spider-Woman can fire venom blasts from her hands, exude pheromones that either attract or repel her opponents and is an especially talented wall-crawler. Along with superhuman strength, speed, hearing, and healing Spider-Woman is also an adept martial artist and close combat fighter. The custom Spidey suit Hydra made her–that she nicked before destroying them– is a crimson and black getup that helps her regulate those powers and glide through the air (foldable webbed wings FTW). San Fran’s “Dark Angel” joined S.W.O.R.D. (the Sentient World Observation and Response Department), The Avengers, The Lady Liberators, and the New Avengers. She battled Skrull invaders, teamed up with Thor to defend Asgard, and defeated the Inheritors with the Spider-Verse army. Her latest gig? Super-Mom! After having her son, Gerry Drew, Jess continued to work as a P.I. and fight crime as Spider-Woman. Talk about being a busy bee…er spider.

Spider-Girl / Araña

Teen Brooklynite Anya Sofía Corazón became The Amazing Spider-Girl when she was caught in the crosshairs of a violent skirmish between superpowered criminal girl gang The Sisterhood of the Wasps and The Spider Society one night in Central Park. Anya’s selfless act to save a stranger from harm, and the near-fatal stabbing that came along with it put her on the Spider Society sorcerer (say that five times fast) Miguel Legar’s radar. Because, YES, Miguel was the stranger, Anya took the blow for. After deeming her worthy of joining the Spider Society, and well, not dying, Miguel zapped some of his own Spider-Person powers into Anya, whisking her back from death’s door and giving her a dope spider tattoo to boot.

Earth-616’s Anya Corazón, or Araña as she goes by when superheroing, made her debut in Amazing Fantasy Vol 2 #1 in 2004. Created by Fiona Avery and Mark Brooks the Latinx superhero Araña is actually Marvel comics second Spider-Girl*. But don’t go thinking that makes her sloppy seconds. Yes, Araña’s Spidey powers are quite similar to those of the Spider-People who came before her. She’s superhumanly strong, can run over 30 miles per hour, and is extraordinarily coordinated and agile. However, unlike some of her predecessors, Araña organically creates her own silk webbing that she can shoot from her unique forearm glands. She also had the ability to generate a spiderish exoskeleton for a short time after Miguel’s superpower transfusion.

Currently, Araña is Spider-Woman’s mentee and protege and one look at her “resume” is enough to prove this wall-crawler is no wallflower. Right out of the gate Araña was appointed the Hunter of the Spider Society, a warrior chosen to go up against the Sisterhood of the Wasps. Afterwards, Araña attended Avengers Academy, teamed up with Young Allies and underwent years of professional S.H.I.E.L.D. training. She registered as a hero on the Pro-Superhuman Registration side during Civil War and is also a crucial member of the multiverse defending Spider-Army.

When the Inheritors invaded Earth and set out to gobble up every single Spider-Person, Araña was the only one able to translate their scrolls and figure out how to stop them and end the war they began waging. With her fierce ink, superpowers, and a rep for protecting the universe Araña is no itsy bitsy spider.

*The first was Mayday Parker, or The Spectacular Spider-Girl, who was Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s daughter in the Earth-982 universe.

Iron Spider

Engineered by Tony Stark, the Iron Spider is an armored supersuit that has been worn by many characters over the years, since it originally appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #529 in 2006. Although Stark designed it for Peter Parker to wear during Civil War, one of the most notable Iron Spiders is none other than the vivacious actress and model Mary Jane Watson! More often than not the extroverted ginger-haired, go-getter is known for being Peter Parker’s flame and part of Marvel’s most famous OTP. MJ isn’t exactly known for having superpowers. Sooo what gives? A power-absorbing supervillain is what.

When the power-hungry Regent nearly demolished both Iron Man and Spider-Man, MJ slipped into something more badass and sprung into action. Dressed to impress in the mechanical wonder known as The Iron Spider, MJ put up a good fight, made for a mean distraction, and saved both Tony and Peter’s lives. MJ’s Iron Spider stint begins in 2015 in The Invincible Iron Man comics. The Invincible Iron Man featured Mary Jane Watson who went from the quintessential girl next door to girlboss club owner. Until some one’s *cough* Iron Man *cough* messy superhero battle destroyed her club and job as a small biz entrepreneur. So when Tony Stark rightfully offered her a gig at Stark Industries, MJ pounced on it. Hello, new high powered career! Her Stark Industries gig allowed her to get up and personal with the Iron Spider suits, replicas Tony made of the armor he invented for Peter.

With its four mechanical arms, web shooters and gliding capabilities The Iron Spider is able to replicate Spidey’s super powered fighting style, and more. The Iron Spider armor is also computerized with GPS, police scanners, infrared vision, and cameras. It’s bullet resistant, screens out poisons in the air with its carbon filter, enables its wearers to breathe underwater and even has the ability to detach certain parts to shield the wearer from danger. Like radioactive junk careening from the sky, danger.

The Iron Spider is a tech triumph (can we expect anything less from Tony Stark?) and gave MJ a BAMF battlefield advantage when she went up against Regent. While for the time being Mary Jane shed the Iron Spider and is back to business as usual at Stark Industries you’d be mistaken, Tiger, if you think this is the last we’ve seen of MJ’s Iron Spider crime-busting feats.

Spider-Man 2099

In the year 2099 in Nueva York (“New York”) on Earth-928, a new Spider-Hero is made. After Alchemax Corp. geneticist Miguel refused to conduct anymore cruel human experiments the consequences of his ethical rebellion were, well, extreme. Alchemax’s crooked Vice president and CEO, Tyler Stone, drugged him with a crazy addictive DNA altering serum called Rapture. But, Stone’s wicked attempt to get his best scientist hooked on Rapture so he’ll never act out ever again, or leave Alchemax, backfires big time. Here’s a hint: Miguel O’Hara’s comic isn’t titled Spider-Man 2099 for nothing.

When Miguel’s last ditch effort to break free of the Rapture ( injecting his own DNA back into his body) is sabotaged, the futuristic web-slinger is born. How? His DNA trials were switched with the spider DNA he was manipulating to recreate Spider-Man’s powers. In his hurry to flush the Rapture out of his system Miguel inadvertently splices his genes and permanently bonds the spider DNA into his genetic code, turning it 50% spider. Spider-Man 2099 has the same basic powers as Peter Parker, superhuman eyesight, agility, reflexes, and strength, accelerated healing and then some.

Such as how Spider-Man 2099 sports retractable talons, fangs that secrete a paralyzing venom into whoever he bites, and web-shooting spinnerets on the back of his wrists. Webs, that are chemically identical to real spider silk. Spider-Man 2099 can also leap 30 feet high in one bound, can deadlift 10 tons, survive falling from a multistory building sans serious injury, and has spidey senses that manifest as telepathy. Spider-man 2099’s superspeed makes him the fastest Spider-Man in the multiverse to the point where he’d be able to go up against the DC speedster The Flash and maybe even win! Also worthy of noting? In one comic storyline, when Spider-Man 2099 is defending Nueva York with Captain America he’s able to lift Mjölnir.

Spider-Man 2099 mostly sets his vigilante fighting efforts on taking down Alchemax in ways he couldn’t as its “dutiful” and complicit employee. But, he also fights off his fair share of villains in the many other comics he appears in, like the cyborg bounty hunter Venture, the futuristic foe Hobgoblin 2211, and the time-manipulating and illusion creating Thanatos* while teamed up with Genis-Vell’s Captain Marvel.

Spider-Man 2099’s also gets help enhancing his powers with his spidey suit. Crafted with Unstable Molecule Fabric, or, UMF and a cape made of an anti-gravity particle fabric called Lyte Byte Spider-Man 2099 can glide through the air. He can also shank his opponents with arm blades he sneakily stuck into the suit. While Spider-Man 2099 has a post-credits cameo in Into The Spider-Verse, he’s not officially acknowledged in the film or the MCU. Fingers crossed that there’s more Miguel O’Hara to come.

Note: At the moment there is no one true canon for Spider-Man 2099. He has had many different origin stories and adventures in countless universes, timelines, and alternate realities.The above summary reflects several officially approved bits of his canon from his debut in 1992 to the most recent 2015 Spider-Man 2099 comic.

*In 2015’s Spider-Man 2099, Thanatos (not to be confused with Thanos) is an evil, alternate reality version of Rick Jones, better known on Earth-616 as the superhero A-Bomb and a former sidekick to The Hulk and several other Avengers.

So there you have it. A very happy Marvel-versary to Spider-Man and all the proceeding wall-crawlers and web-slingers he’s spawned over the years. These five spider-powered people are superheroes worth celebrating as much as Spidey himself, and are really just a teaser of the sprawling Spider-Verse. That said, who on this list is your favorite? Is there anyone you wish we included? Drop a comment to me on Twitter @thebadgerbabe_ or @ThatMomentIn