Most people aren’t aware of everything Spider-Man has appeared in on TV and in movies. While many fans remember popular animated series like Spider-Man: The Animated Series from the 90s, and shows that followed like Spectacular Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-Man, the live-action films are also well-known. The upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be the ninth live-action Spider-Man movie, following the first one directed by Sam Raimi in 2002.
While Spider-Man is incredibly popular, some of his older adaptations have been largely forgotten. He starred in four TV movies – one was connected to the classic 1970s Japanese Spider-Man series, and the other three were part of a Spider-Man TV show that many current fans aren’t aware of!
Amazing Spider-Man First Premieres 48 Years Ago (& Spawned One of the First Movies)
The Amazing Spider-Man TV series officially began on CBS on April 5, 1978. Though a movie-length pilot episode aired in September 1977 and was even shown in international theaters, the April 5th date marked the start of the regular weekly show. Later, the first two episodes – “The Deadly Dust: Part 1” and “The Deadly Dust: Part 2” – were combined and released as a lower-budget film called Spider-Man Strikes Back on VHS.
As a lifelong Spider-Man fan, I remember hearing about the 1979 CBS series, but it didn’t really stick around – just 13 episodes before it was canceled. Interestingly, though, the two TV movies that came out of it actually became way more popular, especially once VHS tapes and home video took off. It kind of showed everyone that bringing Spider-Man to life in live-action on a TV budget back then was a really tough ask. But, in a way, that short-lived series paved the way for the amazing Spider-Man movies we’ve gotten over the years – it was a necessary first step, even if it didn’t quite swing perfectly at the time.
Nicholas Hammond played Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the series. Robert F. Simon portrayed J. Jonah Jameson – a role initially played by David White in the pilot – and Chip Fields played Rita Conway, a secretary at the Daily Bugle. Many other actors, including Ellen Bry and Michael Pataki, also appeared throughout the show.
Amazing Spider-Man Inspired Two Big Crossovers (That Never Happened)
When The Amazing Spider-Man television series was on the air, The Incredible Hulk was the only other Marvel character featured in a live-action show. The Hulk ran for five seasons (80 episodes) on CBS from 1977 to 1982. Despite the actors in both shows wanting to appear together in a crossover episode, it never happened.
Nicholas Hammond, who played Spider-Man, was friends with Bill Bixby, the actor who portrayed Bruce Banner (with Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk). Hammond recently shared stories about conversations he and Bixby had about the possibility of having their Marvel characters team up.
According to Hammond, they discussed a potential crossover event for a TV series, imagining a two-part story where Spider-Man and the Hulk would team up. However, the idea never progressed beyond an informal conversation between two people at the end of the workday.
It’s kind of heartbreaking, especially knowing how much Bill Bixby struggled, that the Hulk ended up with two made-for-TV movie crossovers with other Marvel heroes. First, there was a team-up with Thor in The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988), and then Daredevil in The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989). Both of those films actually became really popular with fans over the years, and honestly, they helped lay the groundwork for those first bigger Marvel live-action projects we started seeing in the ’90s.
The impact of The Amazing Spider-Man is still visible in today’s comics, with both Marvel and DC releasing special crossover issues featuring Spider-Man and Superman. Dan Slott, a key creator on the project, shared that his original idea was to tell a story with the versions of Spider-Man and Superman portrayed by actors Tobey Maguire and Christopher Reeve, but the idea wasn’t approved.
J. Michael Straczynski jokingly suggested a story idea for the Spider-Man/Superman comic where the live-action Spider-Man from the 1970s TV series would meet Christopher Reeve’s Superman from the 1978 movie. According to Straczynski, Marvel responded by pointing out that such a crossover would be more difficult to approve, not less, and questioned his reasoning.
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2026-04-07 02:44