It’s entirely possible that Marvel fans have become trivia-hounds what with the influx of awesome Marvel Cinematic Universe films and shows that have hit our screens. However, with Spider-Man: Homecoming on the horizon, I realized there may be quite a bit fans don’t know about our web-slinging underdog!
1. While most may remember a Green Goblin vehicle being solely his Glider, Green Goblin actually rocked a broomstick in his earlier runs in the comics. You know, like Goblins do…? Yeah, we don’t know why either.
2. At a certain point, Peter Parker ditches the spectacles during his early comic run. It’s rumored that artists had a hard time remembering from panel to panel if he had them or not, so the higher-ups just decided to write a story where then-high-school-bully Flash Thompson destroyed them in a fight. Voila! No more pesky eyeglasses to remember!
3. Surely you can remember Spider-Man’s favorite food, right? Hamburgers? Nah, that’s Jughead Jones. Pizza? Nah, that’s the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Oh, was it Aunt May’s famous Wheat Cakes? You bet it was! Yeah, wheat pancakes were Peter Parker’s favorite food. Wonder if they’ll ever update his faves to more timely things.
4. Most people remember Bone Saw being the wrestler that Peter squared-up against in his infamous origins. However, it was actually a wrestler named Crusher Hogan that the 1962 Spidey went toe-to-toe with!
(Marvel)
5. According to IMDB, you’ll see no appearance of Gwen Stacy or Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Instead, Liz Allan and Michelle Gonzales make their MCU debut! Neither girl may remain Peter’s love interest, if they follow Earth 616 inspiration from the comics. It’s in the same origin story-lines from the 60’s that have his first girlfriend being a young Betty Brant. (Who does appear in the new film!)
6. He’s not a well-known villain in Spidey lore, but The Chameleon was Peter’s first nemesis! He was poised to be a rather famous villain, but the popularity of the mysterious arc of Doctor Octopus put the brakes on that…
7. J. Jonah Jameson had a hand in creating the villain known as Scorpion, but it was Tinkerer that built Scorpion’s tail. Phineas Mason is Tinkerer, who is also Spider-Man’s third villain he fought in the 60’s run of the comics.
8. Many who were fans of the Spider-Man Animated series from the 90’s may think that the Peter got the ‘Venom‘ suit from a space station. However, in the original comic run Peter got that suit from, you guessed it, Battle World. Obviously a space station was far more punchy! (At least, it provides less reason to have to explain Battle World for the cartoon set…)
9. Peter Parker does have a sister. Well, a long-lost sister in Teresa Parker, introduced in Spider-Man: Family Business, in 2014. Though Peter’s identity as Spider-Man is revealed to her, she suffers a concussion during a blast created by Kingpin and subsequently forgets.
10. There has been runs of Marvel comics that teamed Peter up with the X-Men. Heck, he even taught a class at Xavier’s school in one. And Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends on TV featured X-Men Iceman and Firestar. Well, if this Avengers thing isn’t possible, maybe another team will call in the future…
(Marvel)
