Spider-Girl is the

code name A code name, codename, call sign, or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in ...

of several

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to Theoph ...

comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. The most prominent version and first to receive an

ongoing series In comics, an ongoing series is a series that runs indefinitely. This is in contrast to limited series (a series intended to end after a certain number of issues thus limited), a one shot (a comic book which is not a part of an ongoing series), ...

Mayday Parker Spider-Girl (May "Mayday" Parker) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She has been referred to as both Spider-Girl and Spider-Woman. The character appears in the MC2 universe. The character was created ...

from the MC2 universe, the second version is

Anya Corazon Aña "Anya" Sofia Corazón (surname alternatively shown without diacritic, Corazon, over the years) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, writer Fiona Avery, ...

, the third version is Gwen Warren, and the fourth version is Maka Akana, the latter three from the

Earth-616 In the fictional Multiverse (Marvel Comics), Marvel Comics multiverse, Earth-616 is the primary continuity (fiction), continuity in which most Marvel Comics titles take place. Origins of the term The designation "Earth-616" has its origins in ...

universe. Several alternate reality incarnations of the character have additionally received notoriety, including the Ultimate Spider-Girl, Ashley Barton,

Betty Brant Elizabeth "Betty" Brant-Leeds is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually in stories featuring the superhero Spider-Man. She is the personal secretary of J. Jonah Jameson at the ''Daily Bugle'', ...

April April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. Its length is 30 days. April is commonly associated with the season of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the ...

Penelope Penelope ( ; Ancient Greek: Πηνελόπεια, ''Pēnelópeia'', or , ''Pēnelópē'') is a character in Homer's ''Odyssey.'' She was the queen of Homer's Ithaca, Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius (Spartan), Icarius and ...

and Petra Parker, and Charlotte Morales; the name is also used by the Spider-Man advocacy group " The Spider-Girls".

Publication history

The first portrayed Spider-Girl,

, first appeared in a one-shot story in the ongoing series ''

What If What If may refer to: Film * ''What If'', a 2006 TV film starring Niall Buggy * What If... (2010 film), ''What If...'' (2010 film), an American film * What If... (2012 film), ''What If...'' (2012 film), a Greek film * What If (2013 film), ''What ...

''. Following positive fan response to the concept, ''

Spider-Girl Spider-Girl is the code name of several fictional Character (arts), characters in American comic book, comic books published by Marvel Comics. The most prominent version and first to receive an ongoing series is Mayday Parker from the Marvel Co ...

'' and two other series (''

A-Next A-Next is a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is the Marvel Comics 2 universe version of the Avengers. The team made its first appearance in '' What If?'' #105, the first comic featuring Spider ...

'' and '' J2'') set in the same alternate future universe were launched under the MC2 imprint with '' The Amazing Spider-Girl'' and ''Spectacular Spider-Girl''. On November 8, 2008, Marvel EIC

Joe Quesada Joseph Quesada (; born January 12, 1962'' Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; page 107) is an American comic book artist, writer, editor, and television producer. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books, ...

confirmed that Spider-Girl would become a feature in the monthly anthology magazine ''Amazing Spider-Man Family''. The series would replace the feature "

Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man ''Spider-Man Family'' (later retitled ''The Amazing Spider-Man Family'') is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. Publication history It began as a series of one-shots written and penciled by various writers and artists before becoming ...

", written by DeFalco, which served as a prequel series to the Spider-Girl universe. The title would continue to be simultaneously published in paper form within ''Amazing Spider-Man Family''. ''Amazing Spider-Man Family'' #5 (published April 2009) through #8 (July 2009) contained these Spider-Girl stories until the title's cancellation with issue #8, followed by one last Spider-Girl tale, ''Spider-Girl: The End'', in which fellow Spider-Girl April Parker is killed. In November 2010, a new ''Spider-Girl'' series was launched that was unconnected to the MC2 universe. The MC2 Spider-Girl title was cancelled, having surpassed publisher expectations for longevity. The new series featured a new character,

, whose adventures occurred on

Earth 616 In the fictional Marvel Comics multiverse, Earth-616 is the primary continuity in which most Marvel Comics titles take place. Origins of the term The designation "Earth-616" has its origins in Captain Britain comics from the early 1980s and ...

. The series was canceled after only eight issues. No official reason was given for the cancellation. This character returned for a ''

Spider-Island ''Spider-Island'' is a 2011 comic book storyline starting in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and crossing over into other comic books published by Marvel Comics, most of which were limited series or one-shots specifically for this storyline. The m ...

'' limited series. The character who would in 2023 become the second Earth-616 Spider-Girl was introduced in ''

Avenging Spider-Man ''Avenging Spider-Man'' is the title of an American comic book series that was published monthly by Marvel Comics from 2012 to 2013, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man. The events in the story take place in the primary ...

'' #16 (January 2013), before returning a decade later in ''X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic'' #69 (January 2023) under the name "Gwen Warren", assuming the mantle of Spider-Girl as a member of the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

. ''

Spider-Boy Spider-Boy (Bailey Bartholomew Briggs) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Dan Slott and artist Humberto Ramos, the character first appeared in ''Spider-Man'' vol. 4 #7 (April 2023). He i ...

'' vol. 2 #12 (October 2024) introduced the supervillain Funhouse (Maka Akana), the villainous protégé of

Bullseye Bullseye or Bull's Eye may refer to: Symbols * ◎ (Unicode U+25CE BULLSEYE), in the Geometric Shapes Unicode block * (Unicode U+0298 LATIN LETTER BILABIAL CLICK), the phonetic symbol for bilabial click Animals and plants * Bull's Eye, '' Eury ...

, who aiming to become Spider-Boy's nemesis, temporarily takes the name "Spider-Girl" to mock him while the two partake in a tournament, ultimately keeping the name as the third Earth-616 Spider-Girl. This Spider-Girl later gained her own comic series that detailed what happened to Spider-Girl after she parted ways with Bullseye.

Spider-Girls

Mayday Parker

The daughter of

Peter Parker Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the Silver Age of ...

and

Mary Jane Watson Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, making her first appearance in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #25 (June 1965), and subsequent ...

from the MC2 universe.

April Parker

Prior to calling herself "Mayhem", Mayday's clone April goes by Spider-Girl, the two sharing the mantle.

Anya Corazon

The first Spider-Girl in the mainstream Marvel Universe is the

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

superhero who originally called herself Araña (Spider), and occasionally goes by Spider-Girl.

Gwen Warren

The second Spider-Girl in the mainstream Marvel Universe is the Chimera genetic daughter of

Gwen Stacy Gwendolyne Maxine "Gwen" Stacy is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in those featuring Spider-Man (Peter Parker). A college student and the daughter of George Stacy, Georg ...

, Ana Soria, and

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; , ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguished. In Hesiod's ''Th ...

. She was created by the

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical genomes, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction; this reproduction of an organism by itself without ...

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insanity, insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabas ...

Jackal Jackals are Canidae, canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe Canina (subtribe), canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-b ...

using DNA stolen from

Mister Sinister Mister Sinister (Dr. Nathaniel Essex) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Marc Silvestri, the character was first mentioned as the employer behind the team ...

. Gwen has the ability to transform (back) into a giant spider with optical lasers. Seeing Cyclops as her father, Gwen later joins the X-Men Green.''

'' #16. Marvel Comics.

Maka Akana

The third Spider-Girl in the mainstream Marvel Universe is introduced in second volume of ''

'' as the

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

minion of

. She is later revealed to be a Hawaiian

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It i ...

named Makawalu "Maka" Akana, possessing the ability to duplicate superpowers and other talents. Akana originally uses the name Funhouse earlier in her career upon working for Bullseye, but assumes the Spider-Girl alias after copying Spider-Boy's powers and still being able to wield them as a default ability. After parting ways with Bullseye, Spider-Girl struggles to be a superhero in New York City while attending the Red Snow martial arts studio. She soon ends up targeted by

Vermin Vermin (colloquially varmint(s) or varmit(s)) are pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases and destroy crops, livestock, and property. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included vary by regi ...

who has been sent by

Doctor Tramma Emmanuel da Costa Emmanuel da Costa is a fictional character appearing in American comic book published by Marvel Comics. Emmanuel da Costa is an Afro-Brazilian businessman and the father of Roberto da Costa. Dagger Dagoth Daggoth is a fict ...

. More Vermin clones arrive to assist him. Spider-Girl was able to copy Vermin's abilities to make the Vermin clones drag Vermin back to his home. Doctor Tramma speaks to Spider-Girl through the drone that was watching her as she vows to see her later.

Miscellaneous

''Peter Parker'' #1–4 (March–June 2010) features a Spider-Man advocacy group known as The Spider-Girls in "The Private Life of Peter Parker", consisting of , , and , who operate a community service centre in Spider-Man's honour, opposed in merchandising by , also calling herself Spider-Girl, with the four coming to peace and ultimately all being known as Spider-Girl by the storyline's end.

Other versions

Betty Brant

In " What If Someone Else Besides Spider-Man Had Been Bitten By The Radioactive Spider?", Betty Brant is one of three candidates – along with

Flash Thompson Eugene "Flash" Thompson is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962). Flash ...

and John Jameson – who is bitten by the radioactive spider which gave

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

his powers. After confiding in Peter, and with his assistance, she begins to fight crime under the name "The Amazing Spider-Girl", with a mask similar to Spider-Man's but a very different costume. One time, she fails to stop a certain

crook Crook is slang for criminal. Crook or Crooks may also refer to: Places Canada * Crooks Inlet, former name of Kangiqturjuaq, Nunavut England * Crook, County Durham, a town * Crook, Cumbria, a village and civil parish * Crook Hill, Derby ...

, who subsequently murders Peter's

uncle Ben Benjamin Franklin "Ben" Parker, usually referred to as Uncle Ben, is a supporting character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually in association with the superhero Spider-Man (Peter Parker). He was the husband of ...

. The shock over the consequences of her failure makes Betty quit her Spider-Girl identity, although Peter takes up the identity of Spider-Man later on by synthetically recreating and ingesting the irradiated spider's venom. This incarnation also appears in the events "

Spider-Verse Spider-Verse is a comic book series issued by Marvel Comics since 2014. Its first major event/storyline started on November 5 in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' (2014) No. 9 along with an individual issue named ''Spider-Verse Team-Up''. This event ...

" and "

End of the Spider-Verse "The End of the Spider-Verse" is a 2022–2023 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics. It features multiple alternative versions of Spider-Man that had appeared in various media, where they team up with Morlun to fight Shathra, the Spid ...

Ultimate Marvel

Ultimate Marvel Ultimate Marvel, later known as Ultimate Comics, was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe, later known as the ...

version Version may refer to: Computing * Software version, a set of numbers that identify a unique evolution of a computer program * VERSION (CONFIG.SYS directive), a configuration directive in FreeDOS Music * Cover version * Dub version * Remix * ''V ...

of Spider-Girl/Spider-Woman is featured with the Ultimate continuity. This version, known by various names, is a gender-swapped clone of the Peter Parker of the Ultimate Universe, with all of his memories, from their perspective having gone to sleep one day a boy and woken up the next as a girl. Initially known as Spider-Girl/Spider-Woman, she joins the Avengers and takes on the mantle of Black Widow, before returning to their original name. In ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' #200, a glimpse of the future shows to eventually become Spider-Girl.

Ashley Barton

In the pages of ''

Old Man Logan Old Man Logan is an alternative version of the superhero Wolverine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. This character is an aged version of Wolverine set in an alternate future universe in which the supervillains overth ...

'', Ashley is the daughter of Tonya Parker and Hawkeye who did not like the way that Kingpin was running Hammer Falls. She becomes "Spider-Bitch", allying herself with a new Punisher and Daredevil, and plans to take back Hammer Falls, only for the group to be captured and Daredevil and Punisher to be fed to the carnivorous dinosaurs.''Wolverine'' Vol. 3 #67–70. Marvel Comics. Hawkeye breaks his daughter out of her cell, whereafter Ashley immediately beheads Kingpin which avenges Daredevil and Punisher's deaths. Then she attempts to kill her father, before taking over Hammer Falls as the new Kingpin. Old Man Logan rescues Hawkeye as Ashley sends her men after them. The character appears in the "

" and ''

Spider-Geddon ''Spider-Geddon'' is a 2018 comic book Limited series (comics), limited series and Crossover (comics), crossover Story arc, storyline published by Marvel Comics featuring multiple alternative versions of Spider-Man that had appeared Spider-Man in ...

'' storylines, now referred with her father's surname as Ashley Barton, and alternately referred to as "Spider-Girl" and "Spider-Woman" due to the family-friendly nature of the narrative, and is among the spider-powered characters who are recruited by The Superior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus's mind in Peter Parker's body) to help fight the Inheritors, before returning to the Wastelands in "

Venomverse "Venomverse" is a 2017 comic book story arc, starring Venom. It was written by Cullen Bunn and drawn by Iban Coello. Publication history Marvel started a new ''Venom'' comic in 2016, where the main character was Lee Price, a new host of the sy ...

" and "

Old Man Quill Star-Lord (Peter Jason Quill) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, the character first appeared in '' Marvel Preview'' #4 (January 1976). The son of human Mered ...

Penelope Parker

Introduced in "Spider-Verse", Penelope P. Parker is the 11-year-old Spider-Girl of Earth-11, who is best friends with

and has a crush on

Charlotte Morales

The celebrity daughter of

and

Miles Morales Spider-Man (Miles Gonzalo MoralesAhmed, Saladin (w), Garrón, Javier (a). ''Miles Morales: Spider-Man'' #1 (2018) Marvel Comics (New York). ) is a superhero and the third predominant Spider-Man to appear in American comic books published by M ...

from Earth-8, Charlotte "Charlie" Morales operates as Spider-Girl alongside her brother Max as Spider-Boy. In '' Spider-Man: Reign 2'', Charlotte and Max are revealed to be Miles' children with Tiana Toomes, and just Gwen's stepchildren on Earth-8.

In other media

Film

* Several incarnations of Spider-Girl appear in '' Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'' (2023): ** Mayday Parker, the infant daughter of

Peter B. Parker Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

and Mary Jane Parker of Earth-616B. *** Mayday Parker, an adult with

Heterochromia iridum Heterochromia is a variation in coloration most often used to describe color differences of the iris, but can also be applied to color variation of hair or skin. Heterochromia is determined by the production, delivery, and concentration of mela ...

operating as Spider-Girl and a member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Society. *** April Parker, an adult clone of Mayday operating as a blue-suited Spider-Girl and a member of the Spider-Society. ** Anya Corazon, a short-haired muscular adult operating as a blue-armored Spider-Girl and a member of the Spider-Society. *** Anya Corazon, a black-and-white-costumed version of Spider-Girl who appears as one of the Spider-People pursuing Miles. ** Betty Brant, a webbed-suited version of Spider-Girl who appears as one of the Spider-People pursuing Miles.

Television

* An alternate universe version of Spider-Girl named appears in ''Ultimate Spider-Man'', voiced by

Olivia Holt Olivia Hastings Holt (born August 5, 1997) is an American actress and singer. She starred in the Disney XD series ''Kickin' It'', List of Disney Channel original films, Disney Channel Original Movie ''Girl vs. Monster'', and the List of program ...

. ** An alternate future version of Petra as Cyborg Spider-Woman appears in '' Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse''. * Anya Corazon / Spider-Girl appears in ''

'' (2017), voiced by Melanie Minichino. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. This version is a student at Horizon High. After developing spider-powers during the first season, she later adopts the Spider-Girl alias in subsequent seasons. * Anya Corazon / Spider-Girl appears in ''

Marvel Super Hero Adventures ''Marvel Super Hero Adventures'' is an American short-form animated series based on characters created by Marvel Comics. Aimed at a preschool audience, the shorts first air on Disney Channel's Disney Junior block, followed by the Disney Junior c ...

'', voiced by

Gigi Saul Guerrero Gigi Saul Guerrero (born February 27, 1990) is a Mexican filmmaker and actress. She is known for creating and directing the 2017 horror web series ''La Quinceañera'', and for her work on the 2019 series ''The Purge'' and '' Into the Dark''. Ear ...

Novels

An alternate universe variant of May Parker/Spider-Girl originating from

Iron Man 2020 Iron Man 2020 ( Arno Stark) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a superhero appearing as the counterpart of the superhero Iron Man in the (then) future year of 2020 set in the multiverse w ...

's timeline appears in the novel ''Time's Arrow 3: The Future'' by Tom DeFalco and

Rosemary Edghill Rosemary Edghill (born 1956) is an American writer and editor. Some of her work has appeared under her original name, eluki bes shahar (lower case intentional). Her primary genres are science fiction and fantasy, but she began by writing Regency ...

Video games

* Spider-Girl appears as an alternate costume for Spider-Woman in '' Marvel: Ultimate Alliance''. * Spider-Girl makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in '' Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions''. * Spider-Girl was a playable character in ''

Marvel Super Hero Squad Online ''Marvel Super Hero Squad Online'' was a massively multiplayer free-to-play online game for younger audiences based on the '' Marvel Super Hero Squad'', developed by American video game companies the Amazing Society and Gazillion Entertainmen ...

''. * The Mayday Parker and Anya Corazon incarnations of Spider-Girl appear in ''

Spider-Man Unlimited ''Spider-Man Unlimited'' is an animated television series produced by Saban Entertainment which features the Marvel comic book superhero Spider-Man and serves as a follow-up to '' Spider-Man: The Animated Series''. ''Unlimited'' premiered in 1 ...

'', with the former voiced by

Laura Bailey Laura Bailey (born May 28, 1981) is an American voice actress. She made her voice acting debut as Trunks (Dragon Ball), Kid Trunks in the Funimation dub of ''Dragon Ball Z'' and has since voiced List of Gunslinger Girl characters#First Generati ...

. * Spider-Girl appears as a playable character in '' Marvel: Avengers Alliance''. * Ultimate Spider-Woman, referred to as "Spider-Girl", appears as a playable character in ''

Lego Marvel's Avengers ''Lego Marvel's Avengers'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, for the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Windows, ...

'' via the Spider-Man DLC pack.

References