Spider-Man is one of Marvel's most popular comic book superheroes, but did you know that there have been web-slinging women around since the 1970s? Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse introduced us to the likes of Ghost-Spider and SP//dr, but there are far, FAR more female spiders out there. We did our best to track down all of them for you, and maybe someday we'll get to see more of them appearing in Marvel movies and TV shows. If you didn't already know, Earth-616 is where the core of the Marvel universe resides. However, there are tons of alternate realities and Earths where other characters hail from. How many of these women of the Spider-Verse do you know?
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Women of the Spider-Verse Transcript
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse introduced cinema-goers to spider-heroes from a variety of alternate realities. We met cool characters like Spider-Gwen and Peni Parker, but there are even more female heroes in the Spider-Verse! Come and see some of our favorite women to take up the Spider name!
Valerie the Librarian (Earth-57780)
Main Alias: Spider-Woman
First Appearance: October 1974 - Spidey Super Stories #1
Valerie was a librarian who fought crime in a suit that she found and modified. She pre-dated Jessica Drew as the first Spider-Woman featured in a Marvel comic. Spidey Super Stories was published by Marvel Comics and children's television producer The Electric Company.
Jessica Drew (Earth-616)
Main Alias: Spider-Woman
First Appearance: February 1977 - Marvel Spotlight #32
As a toddler, Jessica was poisoned by uranium. She was put into stasis, which slowed her aging, and given spider-serum in an attempt to save her life. When she emerged decades later, Jessica was an adult woman with no life skills. She was easily influenced and taken in by Hydra before she found her footing as Spider-Woman.
Aunt May (Earth-3123)
Main Alias: Spider-Ma'am
First Appearance: October 1980 - What If? #23
Aunt May was bitten by a radioactive spider while retrieving Peter Parker's lunch. She gained spider-like powers, and donned a costume with the intent of performing stunts to make money. However, after an encounter with Leap-Frog, she instead became a crime fighter.
Cassandra Webb (Earth-616)
Main Alias: Madame Web
First Appearance: November 1980 - Amazing Spider-Man #210
Cassandra was born blind, but she developed powerful psychic abilities. She used her powers to become a medium, and came to help Spider-Man. Cassandra has noticeably different abilities from the other Spider-Women, such as telepathy, astral projection, immortality, mind alteration, clairvoyance and prescience.
May "Mayday" Parker (Earth-982)
Main Aliases: Spider-Girl, Spider-Woman
First Appearance: February 1988 - What If? #105
May was born to Peter and Mary Jane, who decided to keep her father’s superhero life and powers a secret from her. May began to develop her own powers around age 15 and eventually became Spider-Girl. After some Spider-Verse events, May decided she had grown out of Spider-Girl and adopted the name Spider-Woman.
Charlotte Witter (Earth-616)
Main Alias: Spider-Woman
First Appearance: May 1999 - Amazing Spider-Man #5
Charlotte Witter was the granddaughter of psychic Madame Web. Dr. Octopus could sense latent psychic abilities in her, so he kidnapped Charlotte and conducted experiments with spider DNA. She was primed to kill the other Spider-Women and Spider-Man.
Veranke (Earth-616)
Main Alias: Spider-Woman
First Appearance: January 2005 - New Avengers #1
Queen Veranke wanted to conquer Earth because the Skrull homeworld was destroyed. She impersonated Jessica Drew as Spider-Woman and joined the Avengers, aiding them while simultaneously looking for ways to orchestrate their downfall.
Jessica Drew (Earth-1610)
Main Alias: Spider-Woman
First Appearance: August 2006 - Ultimate Spider-Man #98
Jessica Drew was one of a number of clones of Peter Parker. Before she had her memory wiped, Jessica and the other clones were released by another experiment victim, Cassandra Web. She took up residence in an abandoned warehouse and bumped into Peter Parker, later joining him to fight crime.
April Parker (Earth-982)
Main Alias: Mayhem
First Appearance: July 2008 - Amazing Spider-Girl #20
April was a clone of May Parker, making her the first symbiote/human hybrid clone. Trapped in stasis for years, April was finally released because of meddling by Normie Osborn and Peter Parker. She impersonated Spider-Girl and later fought alongside her, but April grew into her own as Mayhem.
May Porker (Earth-94024)
Main Alias: Swiney-Girl
First Appearance: April 2009 - Amazing Spider-Man Family #4
The daughter of Peter Porker, relatively little is known about May Porker. Hailing from a hybrid universe where all the characters are animals, she's a pig just like her father. She was born with innate spider powers inherited from her father, similar to those of Earth-982's May Parker. She eventually came to be known as Swiney-Girl.
Anya Corazon (Earth-616)
Main Alias: Spider-Girl
First Appearance: October 2010 - Young Allies #5
Anya is a teenage gymnast from Brooklyn who was saved by the Spider Society. She gained a spider-shaped tattoo, and her innate strength, agility, and exoskeleton were magically unlocked. Anya was given the name Spider-Girl by Jessica Drew. Interestingly enough, she first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #1 in 2004, but it wasn’t until Young Allies #5 in 2010 that she became Spider-Girl.
Cindy Moon (Earth-616)
Main Alias: Silk
First Appearance: July 2014 - Amazing Spider-Man #4
Cindy Moon visited a nuclear lab with her high school class and was bitten by a radioactive spider along with Peter Parker. To protect her from Morlun, Ezekiel Sims kept her in hiding for thirteen years. Cindy was released by Peter Parker and she took up the mantle of Silk.
Gwen Stacy (Earth-65)
Main Aliases: Ghost-Spider, Spider-Gwen
First Appearance: September 2014 - Edge of the Spider-Verse #2
Gwendolyn Stacy was a high school student at Midtown High School and a drummer in the band The Mary Janes. She was bitten by a genetically engineered spider and became Spider-Woman. She was often nicknamed Spider-Gwen, but has been using the moniker Ghost-Spider in the comics.
Peni Parker (Earth-616)
Main Alias: SP//dr
First Appearance: October 2014 - Edge of the Spider-Verse #5
Peni Parker lost her dad at a young age, inheriting his SP//dr Suit. She becomes the new pilot, forming a genetic bond with a radioactive spider. Apart from the suit, she doesn’t have any spider-powers.
May Reilly (Earth-803)
Main Alias: Lady-Spider
First Appearance: November 2014 - Spider-Verse #1
May was bitten by a caged spider in her father’s study. She took this as a lesson about letting others confine her. After her father’s death, May constructed a spider-suit with web-shooters and became Lady-Spider.
Mary Jane Watson-Parker (Earth-18119)
Main Alias: Spinneret
First Appearance: December 2006 - Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #2
Mary Jane and Peter Parker have a daughter, Annie, who is interested in fighting crime. Peter reverse-engineers a suit so that Mary Jane, now known as Spinneret, can watch over their daughter.
Anna May "Annie" Parker (Earth-18119)
Main Alias: Spiderling
First Appearance: February 2017 - Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #4
Annie is the daughter of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson-Parker. She develops spider-powers of her own and becomes known as Spiderling. Her parents try to keep her away from hero work but ultimately fail.
Margo (Earth-22191)
Main Aliases: Spider-Byte
First Appearance: October 2018 - Vault of Spiders #1
Margo Lived in a reality dependent on technology, where most people spent their time as avatars in Cyberspace. Margo became Spider-Byte, a vigilante determined to fight cybercrime.
Honorable Mentions
Elizabeth "Betty" Brant (Earth-78227)
Main Alias: Spider-Girl
First Appearance: February 1978 - What If? #7
Julia Carpenter (Earth-616)
Main Aliases: Spider-Woman, Arachne, Madame Web
First Appearance: June 1984 - Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #6
Martha "Mattie" Franklin (Earth-616)
Main Alias: Spider-Woman
First Appearance: November 1988
Sylvia Yaqua (Earth-616)
Main Alias: Arachne
First Appearance: May 1992 - Avengers West Coast #82
Courtney Duran (Earth-TRN483)
Main Alias: Spider-Girl
First Appearance: February 2000 - Spider-Girl #19
Widow of the Web (Earth-616)
Main Alias: Widow of the Web
First Appearance: October 2000 - Avataars: Covenant of the Shield #2
Galina Tsarfin (Earth-1078)
Main Alias: Black Widow
First Appearance: February 2002 - Marvel Knights Millenial Visions #2001
Felicity Hardy (Earth-982)
Main Alias: Scarlet Spider
First Appearance: May 2002 - Spider-Girl #45
Kitty Pryde (Earth-1610)
Main Alias: Spider-Girl
First Appearance: March 2006 - Ultimate Spider-Man #91
Arachne (Earth-61211)
Main Alias: Arachne
First Appearance: December 2006 - Amazing Spider-Girl #1
Jennifer Justice (Earth-61211)
Main Alias: Spider-Girl
First Appearance: December 2006 - Amazing Spider-Girl #1
Ashley Barton (Earth-807128)
Main Alias: Spider-Woman
First Appearance: December 2008 - Wolverine #67
Nell Ruggles (Earth-31916)
Main Alias: Arachnophilia
First Appearance: September 2008 - Squadron Supreme #1
Natalia Romanova (Earth-TRN425)
Main Alias: Black Spider
First Appearance: June 2009 - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #47
Spider-Girl (Earth-616)
Main Aliases: Spider-Girl, The Spider
First Appearance: January 2013 - Avenging Spider-Man #16
Spider-Storm (Earth-231013)
Main Alias: Spider-Storm
First Appearance: October 2013 - Marvel: Now What! #1
Petra Parker (Earth-TRN454)
Main Alias: Spider-Girl
First Appearance: Ultimate Spider-Man Season 3, Episode 9
Penelope Parker (Earth-11)
Main Alias: Spider-Girl
First Appearance: November 2014 - Spider-Verse #1
Erin Hasko (Earth-1036)
Main Alias: Spider-Woman
First Appearance: August 2016 - Web Warriors #10
Susan Mary (Earth-616)
Main Alias: Itsy Bitsy
First Appearance: August 2016 - Spider-Man/Deadpool #8
Kravinoff (Earth-8)
Main Alias: Spider-Woman
First Appearance: March 2017 - Spider-Gwen #18
Charlotte Morales-Stacy (Earth-8)
Main Alias: Spider-Girl
First Appearance: March 2017 - Spider-Gwen #18
Poison Spider-Woman (Earth-17952)
Main Alias: Poison Spider-Woman
First Appearance: October 2017 - Venomverse #5
Claire Parker (Earth-19529)
Main Alias: None
First Appearance: May 2019 - Spider-Man: Life Story #3
Diane Jenkins (Earth-616)
Main Alias: Spider-Woman
First Appearance: August 2019 - Marvel Comics Presents #8
Polymnia Swan (Earth-98117)*
Main Alias: Spider-Requiem
First Appearance: October 2019 - Spider-Verse #1
Spider-Zero (Earth-19166)*
Main Alias: Spider-Zero
First Appearance: October 2019 - Spider-Verse #1
Spinster (Earth-93191)*
Main Alias: Spinster
First Appearance: October 2019 - Spider-Verse #1
Petunia Parker (Earth-71925)*
Main Alias: Garden-Spider
First Appearance: December 2019 - Spider-Verse #3
Sun-Spider (Earth-20023)*
Main Alias: Sun-Spider
First Appearance: December 2019 - Spider-Verse #3
Venice Doadi (Earth-23233)*
Main Alias: White Widow
First Appearance: December 2019 - Spider-Verse #3
Hida Haraka (Earth-TRN800)
Main Alias: Sakura-Spider
First Appearance: December 2020 - Deadpool: Samurai #2
*Fan-made characters that appeared in the Spider-Verse comics in late 2019.
Sources: Marvel, Fandom, Wikipedia
Wow, that was a lot of characters! How many of these Spider-Women are you familiar with? Who has the coolest uniform? Is there a character you'd love to see more in movies and TV shows? Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments below, and don't forget to share with all your favorite Spidey fans! You can also check out some of our favorite Spider-Man costumes to find a few famous Spider-Women to share with family and friends.
