The highly-anticipated sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse dropped a few exciting posters and trailers. The multiversal adventure teased quite a few alternate versions of Spider-Man. Exciting original new versions of Spider-Man and Spider-Woman appeared alongside popular multiversal variants of the characters from the comics.
A few of these multiversal Spider-Man variants have proven to be popular or intriguing enough with fans to warrant their own comic series. While characters like SP//dr appeared on the big screen, Peni Parker has never starred in her own comic. Other interesting versions like Spider-Kid and Spider-Assassin played a role in events like Spider-Geddon, but fans wanted to see more.
10 SP//dr
First Appearance: Edge of Spider-Verse (Vol. 1) #5, by writer Gerard Way, penciler/inker Jake Wyatt, colorist Ian Herring, and letterer Clayton Cowles
Fans of the hit anime Neon Genesis Evangelion will find similarities to love with the characters of Peni Parker and her symbiotic suit of armor, SP//dr. One of the best versions of Spider-Man first appeared prior to the Spider-Verse event when she joined the multiversal Spider-Army in the comics.
Peni Parker followed in her father’s footsteps as SP//dr’s pilot after his death. She bonded with the suit of armor when SP//dr’s radioactive spider CPU bit her. Peni Parker and SP//dr appeared in the hit animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, yet she has only appeared in a few event series over the years. Fans would love to see more of SP//dr’s story in her own comic series.
9 Kaine Parker/Scarlet Spider
First Appearance: Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #119, by writer Terry Kavanagh, penciler Steven Butler, inker Randy Emberlin, colorist Kevin Tinsley, and letterer Steve Dutro
While Kaine Parker never officially took on the title of Spider-Man like his brother clone Ben Reilly, he is still very deserving of another shot at his own title. Kaine was originally an enemy of both Parker and Reilly, but everything changed after the Spider-Island event.
His body was cured of the fatal clone degeneration that plagued him and he found redemption as the new Scarlet Spider. One of Marvel's most dangerous clones even starred in his own ongoing series as Scarlet Spider, though fans have been hoping the popular clone would get another chance to make a name for himself as a hero.
8 Cosmic Spider-Man
First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 3) #9, by Dan Slott, penciler/inker Olivier Coipel, colorist Justin Ponsor, and letterer Chris Eliopoulos
The Enigma Force temporarily empowered Peter Parker with the Uni-Power to transform him into Captain Universe during the Acts of Vengeance event. While the Uni-Power eventually left Spider-Man in the mainstream continuity, it remained with another version of Peter Parker in the Spider-Verse.
Spider-Man retained the incredible abilities of Captain Universe which made him the greatest protector on his planet. He also became a beacon of hope for the multiversal Spider-Army when they first faced the Inheritors. The vicious totem-hunting villains feared even entering his reality initially, and fans have been wondering about the character's very different world since his debut.
7 Spider-Assassin
First Appearance: What If? Spider-Man Vs. Wolverine (Vol. 1) #1, by writers Jeff Parker & Paul Tobin, penciler/inker Clayton Henry, colorist Chris Sotomayor, and letterer Nate Piekos
One of the darkest versions of Spider-Man is from Earth-8351, which started branching away from the mainstream reality after the events of Spider-Man vs. Wolverine. After Spider-Man accidentally killed a former KGB agent, he decided to walk down a new path.
This version of Spider-Man began working closer with Wolverine and he honed his killer instinct as a highly-trained assassin. He became the Spider-Assassin and modified his web-shooters to fire bullets as well as webs. Spider-Assassin played a large role in the Spider-Geddon event after his initial debut in a What If…? story, but a solo comic could explore the dark character better.
6 Peter Parker/The Spider
First Appearance: Exiles (Vol. 1) #12, by writer Judd Winick, penciler Mike McKone, inker John Holdredge, colorist Transparency Digital, and letterer Paul Tutrone
The Exiles were a team of multiversal repairmen who traveled to different realities to correct or repair certain events that destabilized the whole. While the Exiles took on the more heroic missions, a rival group of multiversal characters called Weapon X traveled to different realities to kill or alter certain events using extreme methods.
Earth-15's Peter Parker joined Weapon X as a dark version of the character called The Spider. He was a mass murderer who became a host of the Carnage symbiote. This increased his powers and made him even deadlier, but raised a number of questions about the character that could be explored in a solo comic series.
5 Lady Spider
First Appearance: Spider-Verse (Vol. 1) #1, by writer Dan Slott, penciler Humberto Ramos, inker Victor Olazaba, colorist Edgar Delgado, and letterer Travis Lanham
The Spider-Verse event introduced quite a few new and exciting takes on Marvel's wall-crawler. An interesting steampunk version known as Lady Spider joined the Spider-Army to fight against the inheritors. Maybelle Reilly was a brilliant inventor who created a set of mechanical arms and web-shooters after the death of her father.
Lady Spider proved popular enough that she appeared outside of the Spider-Verse event as well. She helped the multiversal Web-Warriors fight back against the Electro-Verse, where her close friendship with Bill Braddock/Spider-UK developed further. Lady Spider features a unique and intriguing twist on the character that deserves further exploration in her own series.
4 George Stacy/The Spider
First Appearance: Vault of Spiders (Vol. 1) #2, by writer Geoffrey Thorne, penciler/inker Todd Harris, colorist Andres Mossa, and letterer Travis Lanham
New York City Police Captain George Stacy was the ill-fated father of Gwen Stacy in the mainstream universe. He died during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus, revealing he knew Peter Parker’s secret with his final breath.
The Vault of Spiders series from the Spider-Geddon event introduced a different take on Stacy who had gained his own spider powers. He operated as a police officer by day but became the masked vigilante known as The Spider at night. This version of The Spider doesn't have many comic appearances so there are a lot of potential stories left to tell.
3 Poison
First Appearance: What If? Spider-Man The Other (Vol. 1) #1, by writer Peter David, penciler Khoi Pham, inker Sandu Florea, colorist Marte Gracia, and letterer Joe Caramagna
The various What If...? comic series from Marvel explored moments from the established continuity that went wildly different in another part of the multiverse. One of the scariest versions of Spider-Man appeared in Peter David and Khoi Pham's What If...? Spider-Man: The Other #1. The one-shot reimagined the death and rebirth of Spider-Man and his encounter with the Other.
This version of Peter Parker rejected the Other's offer and was never brought back to life. Instead, the powerful alien Venom symbiote bonded with Peter's carcass to become the terrifying monster known as Poison. When Mary Jane rejected him, he dug up Gwen Stacy's body and bonded her to a symbiote as well, teasing a larger storyline that fans would love to see in the comics.
2 Spider-Kid
First Appearance: Spider-Force (Vol. 1) #1, by writer Christopher Priest, penciler Paulo Siqueira, inkers Oren Junior & Craig Yeung, colorist Guru-eFX, and letterer Joe Sabino
One of the newest alternate versions of Spider-Man appeared during the Spider-Geddon event. Peter Parker of Earth-218 dealt with years of abuse from his Uncle Ben, so he changed his name to Charlie and struck out on his own.
After gaining spider-powers, Charlie Parker became Spider-Kid and began warring with drug dealers to earn money and protect the streets. Spider-Kid was thrust into the action of Spider-Geddon as a member of Spider-Force, intriguing fans with the tragic new take on Peter Parker’s origin. Spider-Kid’s return during the End of the Spider-Verse event further showcased his potential.
1 Old Man Spider
First Appearance: Edge of Spider-Verse (Vol. 1) #5, by writer Gerard Way, penciler/inker Jake Wyatt, colorist Ian Herring, and letterer Clayton Cowles
Technically, the “Old Man Spider” character that appeared during Spider-Verse was an amalgamation of two different characters. The Spider-Man of Earth-4 was actually Ezekiel Sims, the character who first clued Spider-Man into his totemic abilities in the 616 reality before his death.
Earth-4’s Ezekiel Sims eventually took over as Spider-Man after the death of Peter Parker in his reality. He wore one of Spider-Man's most impressive costumes which fans first saw Peter Parker wear in the mainstream reality's future. Ezekiel Sims was an interesting character, and a comic exploring his evolution into Spider-Man on Earth-4 could fill in a few holes in his story.