Spider-Man is one of the most recognizable comic book characters of all time. However, unless you grew up in Japan in the 1970s, you probably aren’t familiar with this version of your friendly neighborhood wallcrawler. Here’s your chance to witness some historical web-slinging action as Marvel has re-released the live-action Japanese Spider-Man on their website. Grab some popcorn, you will want to watch this.
Japanese fans of Spider-Man got really excited when this version of the comic book hero graced the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #12. However, if that brief disappointing glimpse of Japanese Spider-Man wasn’t enough for you, Marvel has made it possible to experience a distinctly different kind of Spider-Man in all its original full-episode glory.
As RocketNews24 has shown you before, there aren’t too many similarities between this incarnation of Spider-Man and the Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield Spider-Mans you might be used to, but one thing is the same: that iconic red and blue spidey suit. The similarities end there as Japanese “Supaidaman” doesn’t fight vultures, rhinos or goblins, neither green nor hob, but he does battle with giant aliens!
▼ Watch the trailer in all its glory.
Japanese TV historians will know that we aren’t watching some crazy Ultraman or Super Sentai (Power Rangers) spin-off. In fact, the giant robot in this show actually predates the giant robots in Super Sentai shows. That’s right, this version of Spider-Man was the first TV show of its kind to use giant robots to fight the bad guys. It paved the way for every big robot that followed.
▼ You can thank Spider-Man for Pacific Rim.
The best part of the Spider-verse storyline is that Marvel gets to dig up all these forgotten, for better or worse, versions of Spider-Man that have been gathering dust in the closet. Give each of them a couple of sweet action pages, and Spidey fans will be lining up to discover interpretations of the web-slinger they never knew about. Those looking to broaden their “spider-verse” can do so by watching the first episode of Japanese Spider-Man right here!
▼”Me…Spider-Man…really?”
Source: YouTube (Marvel Entertainment), Marvel, Reddit
Images YouTube (Marvel Entertainment)
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