While Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse's Peter B. Parker clearly draws from other popular versions of the character, one fan believes there might be a connection to a lesser-known version. Reddit user u/Dalcor117 theorizes that Peter B. Parker is actually the same Peter from Spider-Man: The New Animated Series.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, also known as Spider-Man 2003, was an animated television show that aired on MTV. It was set loosely after the events of Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man film and followed Peter Parker as a college student. Although the show was generally well-received, it was cancelled after only one season.

Aside from their similar backstories and love interests, Dalcor117 points out that Peter B. Parker looks like he could be an older version of the 2003 character. Additionally, the film utilizes different art styles for characters from different universes, with both Peter B. Parker and the 2003 Spider-Man being developed with CGI, giving them a 3D appearance.

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Visual representations of Peter Parker have varied over the years, but there is a physical resemblance between these two Peters. They have similar face-shapes, eyebrows and messy, brown hair, as well as having similar body builds. Into the Spider-Verse doesn't specify what year Peter B. Parker is from, but he says he's been Spider-Man for twenty-two years, which is around the amount of time the 2003 Peter would've been Spider-Man if he continued his heroics after the series ended, give or take a few years. Furthermore, like the television show, his backstory roughly consists of the same events as the Raimi films.

Peter Parker from Spider-Man The New Animated Series vs. Peter B from Into the Spider-Verse

Despite listing their similar backgrounds and love interests as potential evidence, this isn't exactly unique to these two iterations. Most popular versions of the character do share the same basic backstory of Peter being an orphan who was taken in by his aunt and uncle before gaining powers. Many of them also have the same primary love interest, Mary Jane. Furthermore, both versions were loosely based on the Raimi films. This explains why the two share these similarities without necessarily supporting the theory that they are the same iteration.

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As some fans have already pointed out on Reddit, the animated movie's creators previous statements about the character may offer an alternative explanation. In an interview with Fandango, Into the Spider-Verse producer Chris Miller described the film's Peter Parker as, "an amalgam of all the Peter Parkers that you have seen in popular culture."

He went on to list all of the live-action Peter Parkers as inspiration, as well as some Spider-Man television shows and comics. While he doesn't specifically name the 2003 series, elements from this show's Peter could have been incorporated into the design of Peter B. In short, this suggests that the 2018 film may have been influenced by the series rather than being a continuation of it.

That being said, there still isn't enough evidence to decisively prove or disprove this theory. The series didn't end up following the same continuity of the rest of the Raimi films, and Spider-Verse didn't get far enough into Peter B.'s backstory to see how it compares to the series. As others have commented, the main evidence against this theory is that Peter B.'s webbing is synthetic, whereas it's organic in the series. While this is a definite difference, it's not quite enough to dismiss the entire theory. Nevertheless, it's a fun idea to think about, especially for fans of the 2003 show.

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