By Rafer Guzmánrafer.guzman@newsday.comJuly 25, 2026 5:00 am
You’ve seen the Tobey Maguire “Spider-Man” trilogy, both Andrew Garfieldinstallments and all the newTom Holland movies so far
Ah, but have you seen the Danny Seagren versions?
As hard core Spider-fans know, Marvel’s web-slinging superhero has been brought to the screen many times, some dating back generations. The earliest adaptations were for television, and all still have their followings. That’s because fans are willing to embrace multiple iterations of the character, according to Patrick Madden, event director for the local pop-culture convention Tropic Con. He points to such diverse Spideys as the Afro-Latino kid Miles Morales, the hard-luck private eye Ben Reilly (played by Nicolas Cage in the new MGM+ series “Spider-Noir”) and even a Japanese incarnation.
“You care about the character, and you want to see what they can do with him,” Madden said of his fellow fans. “Anything that’s out there, they want it.”
As we near Friday’s release of the fourth Holland movie, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” — predicted to open domestically with as much as $250 million — here’s a look at some of the many Spideys on screen
SPIDER-MAN(1967-1970) The first such series, on ABC, was initially produced by the cost-conscious studio Grantray-Lawrence Animation, then fell into the unlikely hands of Ralph Bakshi, who would later direct the infamous X-rated cartoon “Fritz the Cat.” Today the show is remembered for its enduring theme song (“Does whatever a spider can!”) and for inspiring an internet meme dubbed “Spider-Man Pointing,” which eventually showed up in the closing credits of 2023’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”
SPIDEY SUPER STORIES (1974-77) The first person to play a live-action Spider-Man on TV was puppeteer-actor Danny Seagren, on the PBS kids’ show “The Electric Company.” The series-within-a-series saw Spidey communicating only through dialogue balloons — the better to promote reading comprehension — while foiling low-stakes villains like Can Crusher and Funny Bunny. Several early episodes were narrated by Morgan Freeman
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1977-79) The CBS series starred Nicholas Hammond (who played young Friedrich von Trapp in 1965’s “The Sound of Music”) as Peter Parker and Ellen Bry as his love interest, photojournalist Julie Masters. David White of “Bewitched” fame (ad exec Larry Tate), played newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson in the feature-length pilot but was replaced by Robert F. Simon for the series. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hammond said he and Bill Bixby, star of “The Incredible Hulk,” spoke about having their series cross over, but “it never got past the stage of two actors talking at the end of the day over a beer.”
SPIDER-MAN (1978-79) The Japanese edition tinkered with the lead role quite a bit. Here, he’s a professional motocross racer named Takuya Yamashiro (played by Shinji Tōdō) who receives an injection of space-alien blood that grants him spiderlike powers. It’s a fresh take on a familiar story, in Madden’s estimation: “It’s not Peter Parker and his Uncle Ben dying over and over again,” he said
SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (1994-98) The Fox Kids series remains much-loved by fans for helping create the onscreen Spidey we know today: fighting the Green Goblin, pining for Mary Jane Watson, teaming up with Iron Man. The show was also the first to adapt Marvel’s concept of the Spider-Man multiverse
THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (2008-09) Following its blockbuster movies with Maguire, Sony produced an animated series that emphasized Peter Parker’s high school career as much as his superhero activities. It premiered on The CW, then moved to Disney XD, then got canceled after Disney purchased Marvel. “Disney now owns the rights to the character of Spider-Man for TV,” Josh Keaton, who played the voice of Spidey, explained in an interview posted at TheDirect.com last year. “But Sony still owns the rights to the show.” The fan base remains strong, according to Madden, who has booked Keaton for a two-day guest appearance at Tropic Con (litropiccon.com) on Aug. 15 and 16 in Hauppauge.
By Rafer Guzmánrafer.guzman@newsday.com
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