To celebrate Tom Holland turning 25 on Monday – here is a deep look into the evolution of the much loved Marvel superhero Spider-Man.
The Comics
Spider-Man first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962 and then had his own comic series created by the much loved Stan Lee and Steven Ditko, after they saw a surge in teenagers wanting a main character to identify with.
The story of Spider-Man originates under his true name of Peter Parker who is raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben after his parents die in a plane crash. He is bitten by a radioactive spider which gives him his spider-like abilities and soon learns that “with great power there must also come great responsibility.”
TV Series
There were many series that were created to follow Spider-Man’s story, but one in particular that has stuck with me since I was a little girl was ‘Spider-Man’ created in 1994.
Me and my brother grew up watching this series on DVD every time we went to our Gran’s house and our love for Spider-Man stuck with us ever since!
This series was the first to do so well with having five series with 65 episodes until Ultimate Spider-Man overtook this with four series and 104 episodes.
The Films
When it comes to the films for Spider-Man – there are many different adaptations to choose from.
Tobey Maguire played Spider-Man in the first trilogy, then Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man one and two and now Tom Holland plays Spider-Man in the Marvel universe with Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Many debates took place online as to who the best Spider-Man, with the results showing that people agreed Tobey Maguire brings an incredible Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield bought an incredible Spider-Man and Tom Holland has the perfect mix of both.
Tom Holland has bought a whole new life to Spider-Man with officially joining the films in the Marvel universe after first having a cameo in Captain America: Civil War and then joining the Avengers in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame.
An unforgettable adaptation of the much loved story was Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018. The incredible drawings create a comic book-like film making an amazing unique animated film that won many awards including a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture.
Video Games
I finally managed to grab a PlayStation 5 at the start of the year and the first games I bought and quickly devoured were Spider-Man and Spider-Man Miles Morales. There have been many games to play on PlayStation, Gameboy and other consoles in the past, but these two games painted a whole new light for the Spider-Man universe.
The graphics of the games and the story-telling brings you into both characters storylines as you get to delve more into their abilities, storyline and relationships. With great gameplay and tons of side missions to do, the games are well worth the time and money.
The Future of Spider-Man
There is a great future ahead with the new upcoming films for Tom Holland’s character in Spider-Man: No Way Home which is bound to be eventful after the shocking ending to the last one, as well as the sequel to Miles Morales’ story in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
After the success of the PlayStation games and the hint to a second one after the first Spider-Man game with the inclusion of Harry Osborn – it is likely we can also look forward to more games in the future
There is sure to be a lot to look forward to with our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.
By Scarlett Acres
Feature image: Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios