Top 10 Lists
The Top Ten Men Behind the Mask of Spider-Man
Happy Fourth of July all you Marvel movie maniacs! We Movie Geeks hope you had a fun time at all the barbeques and at the big fireworks shows. But all the excitement won’t end with that final bottle rocket. Just a couple of days later everyone’s favorite friendly neighborhood web-spinner will be swinging back into the multiplex in SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING. Hard to believe that Peter Parker’s been in feature films for over fifteen years now. This got us to thinking about all the actors who have played him on the big AND small screen, those who have donned the skin-tight spandex and those who have given him a voice. So. let’s take a leisurely stroll down Marvel memory lane with this top ten list. For fun, let’s go from the earliest to the latest, from cartoons and TV to the movies. So, make sure your web-shooters are filled as we begin with…
10. Paul Soles (“Spider-Man” animated series on ABC 1967-1970)
It’s 1966, the year that the Batman TV grabbed the public and proved to be a rating powerhouse. Since the nation’s kids were swept up in Batmania, the broadcast networks scrambled to bring these “funny underwear” characters to Saturday mornings (while soaps and game shows filled the airwaves Monday thru Friday, kids shows filled the weekend mornings back in those pre-cable days). While many of the heroes were original creations (“Space Ghost” on CBS, “Birdman” on NBC). ABC opted to base two of their biggest new shows on the hip, very popular Marvel comics characters (although CBS did have Filmation Studios’ “The New Adventures of Superman”). Toon’ factory Hanna-Barbera adapted Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s “Fantastic Four” (with designs by the great Alex Toth), while “Spider-Man” came from the smaller Krantz Films and Gantray-Lawrence animation house. Originally Spidey was part of the “Marvel Superheroes” cartoons for syndication (he would rotate with Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Captain America), but when the network “came a’ callin'”, the Sub-Mariner took that fifth slot. Giving voice to Peter Parker and Spider-Man was Canadian actor Paul Soles. He was already providing the soundtracks to Rick Jones, ‘Happy’ Hogan, and the Incredible Hulk/Bruce Banner for the aforementioned syndicated package. Prior to that he was one of the voice artists for the Rankin/Bass company, the same folks behind many perennial holiday specials. In fact, he was the voice of Hermey, the “wannabe’ dentist” elf in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (along with the “Smokey the Bear” and “King Kong” TV shows). Soles made a vocal distinction similar to what Bud Collyer did on the Superman radio show. Peter’s voice had a lite tenor lilt while Spidey was a deep, dynamic baritone. He provided the vocals for all 52 episodes, including the bizarre, trippy third season ones directed by Ralph Bakshi assisted by the great Gray Morrow. In 1979 he returned to the role for a guest spot on ABC’s “Spider-Woman” cartoon series. Mr. Soles has kept busy over the years, in films, TV, and in animation. And he’s part of the Marvel “movie-verse” playing pizzeria owner Stanley (or is it Stan Lee) in 2008’s THE INCREDIBLE HULK.
Now, let’s jump briefly from cartoons to live action with…
9. Danny Seagren (“The Electric Company” PBS 1974-1977)
Name not ringing a bell? Okay, here’s some “back story”. In 1969 “Sesame Street” revolutionized educational TV shows for kids. Naturally, a couple of years later, the PBS network and the CTW (Children’s Television Workshop) were hoping to expand , to succeed with a half hour show aimed at a slightly older audience, to sharpen their grammar and reading skills. In 1971 they premiered “The Electric Company” which used a fast pace similar to Sesame, but without Jim Henson’s Muppets. Instead, they showcased a troupe of veteran performers and up and coming young actors. Those newbies included Skip Hinnant (voice of Fritz the Cat) and future Oscar winner Morgan Freeman, while the ‘old pros” were “EGOT” Rita Moreno and… ahem.. bill cosby. A couple of well known characters like Batman and the Roadrunner had made a trek to Sesame, so the producers decided to license Spider-Man. not for just a quick cartoon spot or two, but as a series regular in 1974. To cast him they called on the Henson company and hired young Muppet performer and puppet designer Danny Seagren to don the red and blue leotard. Each episode of the five-day-a-week show included a Spider-Man segment, usually about 3 or 4 minutes complete with faux comic book cover and theme music (“Spider-Man…nobody knows who you are…”). The other cast members interacted with Spidey, even though he only “talked” in “word balloons”, so Seagren was basically doing a mime performance. And you never saw him remove his mask to become Peter Parker. While the backgrounds were comic art, none of Spidey’s supporting characters (Aunt May, etc. ) or villains (Green Goblin, etc.) were featured. His TV appearances were so popular that Marvel released a tie-in comic book “Spidey Super Stories” designed for younger readers. Spider-man was part of the Electric Company right up to its final season in 1977, when Seagren returned to “Muppet-land”, and later puppet designing and performing.
Which leads us to another “live” web-slinger…
8. Nicholas Hammond (“The Amazing Spider-Man” CBS 1977-1979)
In 1977, CBS execs knew there was “something in the air”, probably before STAR WARS changed pop culture that May. They, along with Universal Studios, had optioned several of the Marvel superheroes for possible TV movies and hopefully some hit weekly TV shows. That eventually did happen with “The Incredible Hulk”, though there were two Captain America TV movies and a solo Dr. Strange TV “movie of the week” (Iron Man, Thor, the Sub-Mariner, and the Human Torch never went into production). But Spidey was not part of that deal, he was with Charles Fries Productions over at Columbia, though he beat the Hulk to the air by two months. The September “movie special” was a modest hit for the network, buoyed by the casting of an actor who was part of one of the big box office hits of all time. A dozen years before he was Peter Parker, Nicholas Hammond was best known as the eldest Von Trapp son, Friedrich in THE SOUND OF MUSIC (two years prior to that he was Robert in LORD OF THE FLIES). In the years between he kept busy in films and TV (boyfriends on “The Brady Bunch” and “The Waltons”). In the pilot show we see the twenty-something actor as a college intern bitten by that spider who’s accidentally doused with radiation. On the way home he discovers his new abilities and later fashions a costume to hide his identity while creating his “web-shooters”. Peter is then hired as a photographer for the NYC newspaper, the Daily Bugle, reporting to the editor/publisher J. Jonah Jameson (David White of “Bewitched” in the pilot, replaced by Robert F Simon when it goes to series). Later Pete becomes pals with Jameson’s assistant Rita (Chip Fields, mother of Kim Fields of “The Facts of Life”). The second episode doesn’t air till early 1978 and would run sporadically thru 1979. Rumor is that it was never given a consistent series night after a CBS “big wig’ was teased at a party when someone said that CBS now stood for “Comic Book Shows” (after they picked up “Wonder Woman” from ABC). Stan Lee would complain that it was more like a “cop show” since none of the super-villians from the comics were used and Michael Pataki became a regular as cranky cop Captain Barbera. The constraints of TV budgets hampered the fantasy elements of the series. The Spidey suit was ill-fitting, with odd one-way glass in the mask’s eye pieces (later they’d be white), and a white “utility belt” and white plastic bracelets (for the web cartridges). That webbing resembled kids’ party “silly string” and bad guys had a web net thrown over them from off camera (some were webbed by reversing the footage or “back-winding”). Stuntman Dar Robinson worked a wire that made it look as though he was crawling up the sides of buildings (though he feet and hands barely touched the surfaces as he was whisked up). For its third season a rival reporter, Julie Masters played by Ellen Bry, was brought in generate some Lois and Clark romantic sparks, but it was too little, too late as the erratic scheduling finally sent the series to rerun heaven. Several episodes were edited together to make syndicated movies (a few played foreign theatres). Hammond said that there was talk in 1984 about doing a reunion movie that would have him meeting up with the Bixby/Ferrigno Hulk, but nothing materialized. Since then, Mr. Hammond has kept busy both in front of and behind the camera as a screenwriter.
And now back to the Saturday morning cartoons!
7. Dan Gilvezan (“Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends” NBC 1981-1983)
It’s another Saturday morning show, another network for the ole’ webhead. ABC had a weekend staple with different versions of the Hanna-Barbera classic, “Super Friends”, which began with the partnership of DC comics icons Superman, Batman (with Robin), Wonder Woman, and Aquaman along with “regular” teens Wendy, Marvin, and their mutt Wonder Dog (other members of the Justice League along with the alien Wonder Twins would be added in future seasons). It was only natural that the “peacock network” would want their own “super-team” toon’. When Marvel bought the Depatie-Freeling Animation Studios (becoming Marvel Animation) they pitched and sold a show originally called “Spider Friends”, but airing as “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends” from 1981 to 1983. Those friends were former X-Men Bobby Drake AKA Iceman ,voiced by the prolific Frank Welker (the original Fred on “Scooby Doo” and the current “Garfield”) and Angelica Jones AKA Firestar, voiced by Kathy Garver (Cissy on the sitcom classic “Family Affair”), an original character that was perhaps a female sub for the troublesome (to network watchdog groups) Human Torch. She could fly, control and emit warm temps, and toss fireballs. The three heroes shared the upper floor of a Queens boarding house run by Pete’s beloved Aunt May (voiced by the legendary June Foray) and her excitable pooch Ms. Lion. With the turn of a trophy (and other triggers) the common living room turned into a high-tech anti-crime center (mainly a big computer with flashing lights). Oh, and Peter Parker was voiced by a St. Louis native, the very busy (in front of the camera and behind the mike) Dan Gilvezan. Besides Spidey, Dan’s best known cartoon roles may be as the father of “Dennis the Menace” and as fan favorite autobot Bumblebee of “The Transformers”. But back to those “Spider pals”, each half hour would begin with breathless narration from comics co-creater Stan Lee and pit the trio against new and established villains from Marvel . And sometimes they’d get an assist from other comics heroes (this show had the first animated appearance of Wolverine). After the end of its network run, the show became part of Marvel’s big animation syndication strip (Monday thru Friday) package. And the talented Mr. Gilvezan continues to be much in demand.
6. Christopher Daniel Barnes (“Spider-Man” Fox-Kids 1994-1998)
Eleven years later Spidey leaps to another network, Fox (technically its branch for youngsters, Fox Kids). The still young “net” (begun in 1987) wanted to establish thmeselves as an after-school staple for the nation’s pre-teens, so they brought in Marvel (now thru New World Entertainment Films) for weekday adventures of the X-Men (turning them into multi-media titans) and new tales of everyone’s favorite wallcrawler. These were tight adaptations of classic stories using villains and heroes from the entire Marvel comics universe (the even did a “secret wars” mini-series). Spidey’s core group of supporting players included Sara Ballantine as Mary Jane Watson and Ed Asner, the former Lou Grant, as another news editor, J. Jonah Jameson. And voicing Peter Parker was a terrific young actor named Christopher Daniel Barnes, who lent his pipes to another toon’ hero, Ariel’s adored Prince Eric in the Disney classic THE LITTLE MERMAID.This was around the same time he co-starred in the live-action NBC sitcom “Day by Day” (prior to that he was in the ABC TV adaptation/sequel to STARMAN). Later he would earn great praise for his turn as another pop culture icon, Greg Brady in 1995’s THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE and its sequel the following year. The five day-a-week “Spider-Man” show would amass 65 episodes and boast a stellar roster of voice actors (Eddie Albert as the Vulture, Oscar-winner Martin Landau as the Scorpion, Marc Hamill as the Hobgoblin, and Brian Keith as Uncle Ben, among many others). Since the end of production, Barnes has been very active in many projects (including several Spidey shows and games).
5. Neil Patrick Harris (“Spider-Man: The New Adventures” MTV 2003)
Five years pass, a big box office blockbuster is released, and Spidey is back on the small screen on yet another network, this time it’s that basic cable institution MTV. The thirteen episode series is a loose adaptation of the Marvel Comic hit spin-off book “Ultimate Spider-Man” filtered through the events of the recent Sam Raimi-directed smash film. And it’s a very different look to Pete and his pals. Rather than they “hand-drawn” 2-D “painted” cel animation, the characters and backgrounds are fully rendered in CGI (computer animation ala’ Pixar). As at the end of the 2002 hit, the main characters are young college students. Harry Osborn is voiced by “Beverly Hills 90210 vet Ian Ziering while singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb voiced Jane Watson. Whoah, this time around Spidey is voiced by none other than the “notorious NPH”, self-professed comics geek Neil Patrick Harris! This was ten years after his breakout TV role as “Doogie Howser, MD” and just a couple of years after his hoped-for return to series TV with NBC’s “Stark Raving Mad”. But just two years later he’d be back in the spotlight stealing scenes in HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE and in another couple of years he’d begin his nine season run as the leg…wait for it..endary Barney Stinson on the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother”. His Spidey would face off against an army of “re-tooled” comic villains including Michael Clarke Duncan reprising his role as Wilson Fisk AKA the Kingpin from the then recent DAREDEVIL feature starring Ben Affleck. Harris continues to delight as he wins Emmys and Tonys, stars in big feature films (THE SMURFS, GONE GIRL), and headlines the Netflix show based on the popular childrens books “A Series of Unfortunate Events”, but still makes time lend his voice once more to his favorite “webhead’ in the video game “Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions”.
4. Drake Bell (“Ultimate Spider-Man” Disney XD 2012-)
And this brings us to the current-day voice of Spidey on yet another channel, Disney sister station Disney XD. This show, still in production, owes much to the Marvel movie universe, yet also harkens back to an earlier animated incarnation. It’s got a looser, more “cartoon-y” look which supports its fast. frenetic pace. Spidey’s exploits have caught the attention of the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D., so they bring him in for a high-tech upgrade. But in return, they want him to mentor four heroes-in-training as they attend Mid-Town High, now run by principal (and undercover agent ) Phil Coulson (actor Clark Gregg reprises his film and TV role…and the design looks just like him). Hmm, sounds a bit like the ole’ “Spider Friends” idea. Those friends are the high-flying Nova (voiced by Logan Miller) and teen versions of the invulnerable Luke cage (Ogie Banks) along with martial artists Iron Fist (Greg Cripes) and the White Tiger (Caitlyn Taylor Love). Oh, and the “Big Apple” is peppered with massive video screens of J Jonah Jameson (voiced by Oscar-winner J.K, Simmons) decrying the “Spider-Man menace”. Whoops, almost forgot, voicing Spidey is Drake Bell, half of the hit Nickleodeon “Drake & Josh” and star of the live-action movie satire SUPERHERO MOVIE. This hit series show no signs of slowing down is it engages in crossovers with the other Marvel animated shows that feature the Avengers and the Hulk.
That’s it for the toons’, now let’s head to the multiplex….
3. Tobey Maguire (SPIDER-MAN, SPIDER-MAN 2, SPIDER-MAN 3 2002-2007)
After years of court battles, the movie rights to Spider-man were finally awarded to Sony Pictures. With the astounding box office response to the X-MEN movie in 2000, Sony was eager to give the web slinger the big budget treatment he richly deserved. The directing reigns were handed off to Sam (THE EVIL DEAD) Raimi, a long time comics fan, who began the long casting process. Nearly every twenty-something up and coming actor did a screen test, but the coveted role went to Tobey Maguire. A working thespian since his teens, Maguire had been steadily making a name for himself, graduating from TV work (an episode of “Walker, Texas Ranger” for gosh sake) to the movies with a high-profile role as Leonardo Di Caprio’s best bud in THIS BOY’S LIFE (the two remain good friends). He’d follow this up with memorable work in acclaimed films such as THE ICE STORM, THE CIDER HOUSE RULES, WONDER BOYS, and PLEASANTVILLE. As Peter Parker he was paired with Kirsten Dunst as love interest Mary Jane Watson, James Franco as pal/roomie Harry Osburn, Rosemary Harris as Aunt May, and Willem Dafoe as master villain the Green Goblin AKA Norman Osborn. The script began with the “accident” during Pete’s senior year in high school and focused on his new job at the Daily Bugle newspaper run by the hotheaded J. Jonah Jameson (J. K. Simmons) and his staff including Betty Brant (Elizabeth Banks) and ‘Robbie’ Robertson (Bill Nunn). Sure this first outing was action-packed, but it also worked as a romance, with a love triangle (Pete, MJ, and Harry) creating sparks. After the film broke box office records, a follow-up was put into production with Alfred Molina as iconic baddie Doctor Octopus AKA Otto Octavius. For many (yours truly included) this was a superior sequel, giving us the lovable loser we’d read for years, while exploring the MJ/ Pete dynamic. It quickly became the biggest movie of 2004. Unfortunately the next film three years later, was a bit of a let-down. Rumors circulated that Raimi was not ready with a the script as the studio wanted to get another blockbuster out. That pressure might have been the reason for the addition of two new villains, seminal bad guy the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and newer, fan favorite, the alien Venom, who takes control of Bugle reporter Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) while Harry Osborn became a sleeker version of the Goblin. With the addition of Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard) as a rival to MJ, and the alien taking over Pete (in one horrific sequence “emo Peter Parker” dances down a city street), this 2007 flick was a disjointed muddled mess. Nobody seemed to be happy with it Later director Raimi denounced it in the fan press. Still Sony wanted another, but Raimi along with stars Maguire and Dunst were done. Mr. Maguire would go on to star in THE GREAT GATSBY and PAWN SACRIFICE (as chess master Bobby Fisher) and produce several films including Spike Lee’s 25TH HOUR, ROCK OF AGES, and THE 5TH WAVE.
It would be 5 years until Spidey swung on screen once more. And to cast him, Sony shot a web across the Atlantic…
2. Andrew Garfield (THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2012, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 2014)
For the 2012 “reboot” Spider-Man, the all-American hero, would be played by a Brit, Andrew Garfield. He had made a name for himself in the UK through his stage, film and TV work (the “Red Riding” TV movies) and had prominent roles in the futuristic NEVER LET ME GO and David Fincher’s docudrama THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Marc Webb (appropriate) would helm this different take on the hero. There’s no MJ here, instead Pete is smitten with “whiz kid” Gwen Stacy (Oscar-winner Emma Stone) while dealing with her no-nonsense pop, Police Captain Stacy (Denis Leary). We’d get a flashback at the film’s start which would show Pete’s birth parents Richard and Mary Parker (Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz) and hint that their demise was planned by the sinister Oscorp company (its founder, Norman, is never really shown). And they had a hand in the “accident” that gave Peter his arachnid abilities. But this time Peter invents the web-shooters (as in the comics) rather than the organic “spinnerets” that shot weblines from his wrists in the Raimi trilogy. And now another Oscar-winner (twice), Sally Field, wears the apron of Aunt May. Another early comics villain, the Lizard AKA Dr, Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) would challenge our hero. The story often stalled while concentrating on the shadowy Oscorp shenanigans and the CGI Lizard seemed to be plucked out of a video game, but audiences responded to the chemistry between Garfield and Stone (which for a time transferred off-set). So much so, that a sequel was in theatres two years later. Pete and Gwen graduate from high school while things get stickier with Oscorp. Turns out they’re bankrolling baddies like the Rhino (Paul Giamatti) while turning one of their employees, Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) into the shocking Electro. Plus Oscorp heir, and old school chum of Pete, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) returns to town, tinkering with a top-secret formula (and weaponry) that will turn him into the Green Goblin. As with Raimi’s SPIDER-MAN 3, too any cooks…er..villains spoiled the broth, and the charming romance of Pete and Gwen was lost amid the noise and destruction. The film “under-performed” at the box office. Director Webb and star Garfield would not return. The latter would continue in several acclaimed films like 99 HOMES and SILENCE. He would earn an Oscar nomination for HACKSAW RIDGE last year. But Mr. Garfield would not be slipping on the mask once more. Sony was at a crossroads. They had too much invested to give up on the character and lose a potentially still-lucrative franchise. Perhaps someone familiar with Spidey would have some ideas…
1. Tom Holland (CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR 2016, SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING 2017, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR 2018)
Sony, along with all of the other studios, were astounded by the incredible success and box office gold generated by Marvel Studios since they released their first film, IRON MAN, back in 2008. Many in Hollywood thought they would flop since they didn’t control the movie exploits of several of their most popular characters. The X-Men and the Fantastic Four were with Fox while their corporate symbol (their “Mickey Mouse”), Spider-Man was with Sony. But after the 2014 flick, Sony made a call and Marvel listened. They would co-produce the Spidey series, with Marvel handling most of the creative direction. In turn, the webhead would be a part of the ever-expanding “Marvel movie-verse”. And what better way to introduce the new hero than with lots of the other heroes during an epic European airport tarmac battle in 2016’s CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. In the smash hit film, Cap and Iron Man are at odds and the Avengers are split. In order to prevent Cap from helping his pal Bucky AKA the Winter Soldier. Tony Stark recruits a little extra “muscle” for his squad (War Machine, Black Widow, the Vision, and another new movie hero, the Black Panther). We first meet this new “recruit’ in the hallways of a Queens, NY apartment building. It’s fifteen year-old high school whiz (and ‘dumpster diver”) Peter Parker played by yet another Brit (!) Tom Holland, who at 20 he’s the youngest actor to play the role. A former “Billy Elliot” on the London stage, he made critics take notice with his powerful performance in the true-life disaster drama THE IMPOSSIBLE. Later he co-starred with Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, in Ron Howard’s epic IN THE HEART OF THE SEA. In CIVIL WAR. we also meet his new Aunt May, Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei. After donning his new Stark-designed, tricked out Spider-suit, Pete takes on the Falcon, Cap and Bucky while tossing out wisecracks. And when team Stark freaks out when Ant-Man becomes Giant-Man, Pete keeps a level head and takes him down by recalling a “really old” movie. Holland is an energetic delight, a charmer who steals nearly every scene. And this Friday, he gets his first solo adventure. Pete’s back in Queens, living with May, and being mentored by Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr) via his right-hand man ‘Happy’ Hogan (Jon Favreau). Our hero yearns to be a full-fledged Avenger while Tony wants him to keep his sights, and profile, low (“Just be your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man”). Pete’s going to challenge that when he keeps running into the heavily armed gang of Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) AKA the Vulture (the second villain he faced in the comics). But Mr. Parker may get that chance for the big leagues sooner than he expected, since it’s been confirmed that he will be in next year’s AVENGERS: INFINITY WARS. But, first things first, don’t miss him in SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING playing everywhere this Friday
And, to paraphrase that wonderful song, spidey “spins a web any size, catches moviegoers just like flies..look out.. here comes the SPIDER-MAN!!!”
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