The upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” from Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures and starring Tom Holland, is merely the most upfront and central component of an aggressive multimedia offensive that is focused on the iconic spider-powered superhero of New York City. A second entry is a PS4 videogame from Sony Interactive Entertainment and Insomniac Games, an open-world action-adventure title similar to more recent “Spider-Man” videogame adaptations that is due to release in 2018. The third one is “Marvel’s Spider-Man,” a brand-new animated series premiering in two months on Disney XD.

Animated shorts have been released to promote the upcoming show, with the latest being the newest take on Peter Parker’s origin to becoming Spider-Man.

Revised origin version ‘N’

The new four-minute short, posted on various social media outlets like Marvel Entertainment’s official Twitter page, features a retelling of the origin story of Spider-Man, wherein high school student Peter Parker gets bitten by a spider that gives him super powers. Understandably, due to the passing of time and the numerous adaptations since, several elements of the event have been embellished with retroactive continuities. It’s not much of an issue however since this is an entirely new animated universe that Marvel Entertainment is developing with “Marvel’s Spider-Man.”

In the Disney XD preview, Spider-Man flashes back to the incident that changed his life.

The original comics had Peter Parker bitten by a spider exposed to radiation in a science fair. The series origin has him on a field trip to Oscorp laboratories like in previous films, and the spider was an experimental subject instead of radioactive. A number of new twists to the back-story are included, such as Peter’s friend Harry Osborn not being a classmate of his this time around.

Furthermore, his science teacher is Spencer Smythe who is father to one of his classmates Alistair. Both are comic super-villains and Alistair did not meet Peter at all in that particular period of their lives.

Potential ‘Spider-team’

While not confirmed, “Marvel’s Spider-Man” appears to have been animated by the same animation studios that worked on “Avatar: The Legend of Korra” and the Netflix “Voltron” series.

And while the setting is Peter Parker in his early days as Spider-Man in high school, the producers hint at his getting to team up with other Marvel superheroes throughout the series. It was also revealed that part of the story conceptualization process is Dan Slott, current regular writer of the main “Amazing Spider-Man” comic title at Marvel.

Perhaps this involvement by Dan Slott is what pushed a very noteworthy aspect of the new series: Spider-Man teaming up with other spider-powered heroes sharing his motif. They include the Miles Morales Spider-Man, the Spider-Girl Anya Corazon, and his comic love interest Gwen Stacy as well. “Marvel’s Spider-Man” is expected to premiere on Disney XD in the middle of the year.
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