Many of comics’ most popular male heroes inspired female counterparts. Marvel Comics‘ Spider-Woman is a different story. The only reason Marvel created a Spider-Woman was to protect their brand.
Stan Lee confirmed, in an October 1978 interview with The Comics Journal, that “we just batted one quickly, and that’s exactly what happened.” This may explain why several characters adopted the name in a bid to find a concept as popular as Spider-Man. This has led to considerable confusion, particularly in regard to the Madame Web movie.
While the films’ heroes are based on different “spider-women,” most are obscure even to devout Marvel readers. To further complicate matters, none of these characters are directly connected to Spider-Man. Most also have radically different powers than Peter Parker.
Jessica Drew – The First Spider-Woman
First appearing in Marvel Spotlight #32 in 1977, Jessica Drew was the first Spider-Woman. Initially, she was intended to be a spider who evolved into a human woman. This idea was changed almost immediately, with her new background finding her developing powers thanks to her scientist father’s experiments.
Confusion defines Jessica’s backstory, which has been further complicated by repeated retcons following her death in Spider-Woman #50. Her father, for instance, was revealed as a research partner of the High Evolutionary. Jessica also had a secret history as an agent of HYDRA, and was replaced by a Skrull during the Secret Invasion.
Jessica has the proportionate speed, strength, and durability of a spider, but most of her powers are nothing like Spider-Man. First, she has pheromone control abilities that can inspire fear or lust in others. Next, she has the ability to generate bio-electrical “venom blasts” capable of stunning her enemies. Lastly, she has the ability to glide short distances but is incapable of true flight.
Julia Carpenter – The Second Spider-Woman
The need for a new Spider-Woman arose when Jessica Drew died in the final issue of her solo series. Enter Julia Carpenter, who was introduced as part of the 1984 Secret Wars event. Born Julia Cornwall, she married Larry Carpenter but ended their marriage after he cheated on her.
Desperate for money to care for her daughter, Rachel, Julia agreed to take part in a government “athletic study.” In truth, the study was a front for the experiments of a shadowy group called The Commission, who wanted to create their own superheroes. They were successful with Julia, who went on to join several teams, including West Coast Avengers and Force Works.
Julia has enhanced strength, speed, stamina, agility, and reflexes similar to Spider-Man. The serum that empowered her also gave her the ability to generate psionic webbing. She could also use this webbing to replicate Spider-Man’s wall-crawling power. Recently, Julia inherited the powers and name of Madame Web following the elder psychic’s death.
Mattie Franklin – The Third Spider-Woman
A niece of J. Jonah Jameson, teenager Mattie Franklin was introduced in 1998’s Amazing Spider-Man #441, several months before she became Spider-Woman. This occurred during the Gathering of Five storyline, where Norman Osborn sought to gain powers through a magic ritual. Instead, the power went to Mattie, who adopted the Spider-Woman name to replace a then-retired Peter Parker.
Mattie’s career was brief and tragic. She was largely forgotten after her solo series ended in December 2000. Mattie returned in an Alias storyline that revealed she’d been trafficked by a small-time drug dealer. She retired from heroism to become a private eye like Jessica Jones. Unfortunately, she was later killed by the daughter of Kraven the Hunter.
Originally, Mattie possessed superhuman speed, strength, durability, and the power of flight. However, she temporarily gained the powers of Jessica Drew and Julia Carpenter. This occurred after Mattie battled the fourth woman and first villain to use the Spider-Woman name.
Charlotte Witter – The Evil Spider-Woman
The granddaughter of the original Madame Web, Charlotte Witter became a test subject of Doctor Octopus. Abused and altered by experiments intended to awaken her latent psychic powers, she became a blood-drinking spider-human hybrid. She was then given a compulsion to hunt the other Spider-Women and take their powers, before killing Spider-Man. However, Mattie Franklin somehow countered this and claimed all the powers Charlotte stole.
Charlotte’s hybrid form gave her the same strength, speed, and wall-crawling powers as Spider-Man. Her psychic powers apparently allow her to steal the powers of other people. The limits of this ability are unclear, however, as she only used it on other Spider-Women. It’s possible she can only steal the powers of other mutates, or can steal any superpower, like Rogue.
The question is still open, as Charlotte Witter has had only a single appearance since Mattie Franklin’s comic was canceled. This came in 2019’s Marvel Comics Presents #8. It was here that Jessica Drew fought Charlotte Witter to protect a student claiming to be Spider-Woman in a viral video.
Anya Corazon – The Current Spider-Girl
First appearing in 2004’s Amazing Fantasy #1, Anya Corazon never adopted the Spider-Woman name. However, she is the heir apparent to the Spider-Woman legacy. She’s currently going by Spider-Girl and being mentored by Julia Carpenter, who gifted Anya her original costume.
Anya gained her powers after getting caught in a fight between two mystic orders: the Spider Society and the Sisterhood of the Wasp. A Spider Society mage healed Anya and gave her a tattoo that gave her a connection to the spider totem. Anya originally fought crime under the name Araña and joined several teams. This included the Young Allies and Avengers Academy.
Anya lost her connection to the totem but later regained her powers during the Spider-Island event. She now has the same enhanced strength, speed, stamina, reflexes, and wall-crawling as Spider-Man. However, unlike Peter Parker, she can generate her own organic webbing.
