Spider-Man Characters: The Main Heroes, Allies and Rivals Across Every Film

The main Spider-Man characters are the hero himself in his several versions, the family and friends who keep him grounded, and the rivals whose stories became as large as his own. Across the Sam Raimi trilogy, the Marc Webb pair, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films and the animated Spider-Verse series, the same names keep returning with new faces, so the characters fall into groups by who they are and which universe they belong to. For the villains in depth, see Spider-Man villains, and for the performers behind each role, see Spider-Man actors.

The current live action Spider-Man is Tom Holland's Peter Parker, and the current animated Spider-Man is Miles Morales. Holland leads Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026), directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and released in the US on July 31, 2026. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is set for June 18, 2027, after Sony moved it one week earlier. Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield also returned as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which is why the question comes up so often.

In the films Spider-Man is credited under the hero name itself, usually paired with Peter Parker, and the nicknames come from the other Spider-people who share the title. Spider-Man Noir is Nicolas Cage's version, Spider-Ham is voiced by John Mulaney, Spider-Man 2099 is Miguel O'Hara, Spider-Gwen is Gwen Stacy of Earth-65, and Spider-Byte is the credit for Margo Kess. Jake Johnson's Peter B. Parker is tagged by his middle initial to separate him from Miles's universe. Mysterio is a nickname too, but it belongs to Quentin Beck in Spider-Man: Far From Home, not to Peter.

Peter Parker has been played in live action by Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland, and voiced by Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker. In Spider-Man (2002), directed by Sam Raimi, Maguire plays a shy Queens high school student who lives with Uncle Ben (Ben Parker) and Aunt May (May Parker) and has a crush on his neighbor Mary Jane Watson. A carjacker he chose not to stop kills Ben, and that guilt turns a stunt for cash into a vow to protect others. Maguire played the role again in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007).

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), directed by Marc Webb, gives Andrew Garfield a bullied, awkward Peter who likes photography and is haunted by his parents' disappearance, a thread that runs into The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), directed by Jon Watts, introduces Tom Holland as a teenager told by Tony Stark that he is not ready to be a full time Avenger, so he drops his school academic team to fight street crime. Full detail is on the Peter Parker profile.

The animated films add another version. Jake Johnson voices Peter B. Parker, an older and worn out Peter from another dimension who reluctantly trains Miles in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. If you are new to the series, the Spider-Man movies in order guide shows where each Peter fits.

Miles Morales is the Brooklyn teenager voiced by Shameik Moore who becomes Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). The film, directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman, finds him newly arrived at a boarding school and feeling out of place, though he is close to his uncle Aaron. Aaron takes him to paint graffiti in an abandoned subway tunnel, where a radioactive spider bites him. Brian Tyree Henry voices his father and Luna Lauren Vélez voices his mother, Rio Morales.

In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), directed by Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson and Joaquim Dos Santos, Earth-1610 Miles struggles to balance Spider-Man duties with life at home with his parents. Jharrel Jerome voices a character credited as Miles G. Morales in the same film. The Miles Morales profile covers his arc, and the Spider-Verse characters page covers the wider multiverse cast.

Gwen Stacy is Peter Parker's classmate and love interest in live action, and Spider-Gwen is the animated Spider-Woman of Earth-65 voiced by Hailee Steinfeld. In Spider-Man 3 (2007), Bryce Dallas Howard plays Gwen, and in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), Emma Stone plays her as an Oscorp intern whose father, Captain George Stacy, wants the vigilante caught. In the Spider-Verse films, Steinfeld's Gwen is isolated from her friends and hunted by her police captain father.

That second version is Spider-Gwen (Gwen Stacy), and the original is covered on the Gwen Stacy profile. Keeping the two apart is the simplest way to avoid confusion when the name comes up in conversation.

Mary Jane Watson is Kirsten Dunst's character in the Raimi films, while Michelle Jones, credited as Michelle and then MJ, is Zendaya's character in the MCU films. By Spider-Man 2 (2004) Mary Jane is a working actress, and in Spider-Man 3 (2007) she is preparing a Broadway debut. Zoë Kravitz also voices a Mary Jane in Into the Spider-Verse. The Mary Jane Watson profile follows her through the trilogy.

Zendaya is credited as Michelle in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and as MJ in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Spider-Man: No Way Home and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is why she has her own Michelle Jones profile. In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter hopes to confess his feelings to her during a school trip to Europe.

May Parker is Peter's aunt, played by Rosemary Harris, Sally Field and Marisa Tomei. Harris is credited as May Parker in the Raimi films, Field as Aunt May in both Webb films, and Tomei as May Parker in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Lily Tomlin voices an Aunt May in Into the Spider-Verse. See the May Parker profile for the full detail.

Ben Parker is Peter's uncle, played by Cliff Robertson in Spider-Man (2002) and Martin Sheen in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), where he is credited as Uncle Ben. His death drives the origin in the Raimi film, where Peter remembers his uncle's advice about power and responsibility. Uncle Ben is not profiled separately, but he is covered inside the Peter Parker and May Parker pages.

Harry Osborn, Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius are the Osborn and Octavius characters played by James Franco, Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina in the Raimi films. Harry is Peter's friend and the son of Norman, who runs the weapons company Oscorp. Franco plays Harry in Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007), and Dane DeHaan plays him in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), where he returns to the city to be with his dying father. The Harry Osborn profile traces both versions.

Dafoe plays Norman Osborn, who becomes the Green Goblin, in Spider-Man (2002) and returns in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). His story is covered on the Norman Osborn profile. Molina plays Otto Octavius, the scientist Peter admires, who becomes Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2 (2004), and he also returns in No Way Home. Kathryn Hahn is credited as Doc Ock in Into the Spider-Verse. His profile is Otto Octavius. Green Goblin and Doc Ock are villains, but they are written as full characters, so they sit here and not only on the villains page.

Ned Leeds is Peter's best friend in the MCU, played by Jacob Batalon, and J. Jonah Jameson is the Daily Bugle editor played by J.K. Simmons. Ned learns Peter's secret early in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), where he is credited as Ned, and he is credited as Ned Leeds in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Spider-Man: No Way Home and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The Ned Leeds profile has the detail.

Jameson runs a paper that treats Spider-Man as a menace in the Raimi trilogy, and Simmons plays him in all three films. The J. Jonah Jameson profile has the full detail on the role.

Miguel O'Hara, also called Spider-Man 2099, is voiced by Oscar Isaac in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023). He is a Spider-Man from a 2099 future who first appears in a post-credits scene of Into the Spider-Verse, and in Across the Spider-Verse he leads the Spider-Society, a multiversal group that insists certain canon events must happen. The Miguel O'Hara profile explains his place in the multiverse and why he clashes with Miles.

The female Spider-Man characters are Spider-Gwen (Gwen Stacy), Peni Parker, Jessica Drew and Margo Kess, and all four are in the animated films. Gwen Stacy is the Spider-Woman of Earth-65. Kimiko Glenn voices Peni Parker, one of the Spider-people Miles meets in Into the Spider-Verse (2018). In Across the Spider-Verse (2023), Issa Rae voices Jessica Drew and Amandla Stenberg voices Margo Kess, who is credited as Spider-Byte. Mary Jane Watson and Michelle Jones are important women in the live action films, but neither wears the suit. The Spider-Verse characters page covers the rest of the multiverse roster, including Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage) and Spider-Ham (John Mulaney).

Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker, with Zendaya as MJ, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds and Sadie Sink as Jean Grey. Jon Bernthal plays Frank Castle / Punisher, Mark Ruffalo plays Bruce Banner / Hulk, and Florence Pugh plays Yelena Belova / Black Widow. Tramell Tillman plays William 'Bill' Metzger, Liza Colón-Zayas plays Detective Jean DeWolff, Michael Mando plays Mac Gargan / Scorpion and Marvin Jones III plays Tombstone.

The setup is that Peter keeps his distance from MJ and Ned to keep them safe, and he stops Castle from causing collateral damage during a tank chase. For the full run of films, see Spider-Man movies and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

The same character is written differently in each era, and the clearest way to see it is to compare the key scenes.

The Osborn story shows the gap most plainly. In Spider-Man (2002), Norman becomes the Green Goblin after testing a performance-enhancing formula on himself under pressure from his board, and he dies on the Queensboro Bridge when his own glider kills him. Peter hides the evidence, and Harry finds the body and swears revenge. Spider-Man 2 then pays that off when Harry sees Peter's identity and finds his father's Green Goblin gear, and Spider-Man 3 ends the thread with Harry's death while saving Peter. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, DeHaan's Harry goes the other way: he is a dying man's son who injects himself with a venom-like serum after Peter refuses him Spider-Man's blood. In my opinion, Franco's Harry is the better tragedy because it is built over three films, while DeHaan's is compressed into one.

The love interests follow the same split. Raimi's Mary Jane is often the one in danger, as when the Goblin takes her to the Queensboro Bridge and Octavius kidnaps her in Spider-Man 2, but she also leaves her own wedding to choose Peter. Webb's Gwen Stacy is Peter's partner in the work: in The Amazing Spider-Man she helps Peter work out the antidote that he spreads from the top of Oscorp Tower. Her death at the clock tower in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the hinge of that film, and Peter withdraws for months until her recorded graduation speech brings him back. The MCU's MJ stands apart again, because in Far From Home she is the one who works out that something is wrong with Beck's story.

Mentors and fathers show how the tone shifts. Peter's guidance comes from his uncle's advice about power and responsibility in the Raimi film, and in No Way Home May fatally wounded by the Goblin repeats that line to him. In the MCU it comes from Tony Stark, who in Homecoming takes Peter's suit as punishment after the Staten Island Ferry splits in two, and then gives it back. In Into the Spider-Verse it comes from an older Peter B. Parker, who stays behind to hold off the enemy so the others can reach the collider.

Production choices shape how these characters read on screen. Homecoming used Atlanta as a stand-in for New York, shooting at Pinewood Atlanta Studios and building the Staten Island Ferry set on gimbals, according to Screen Global Production. Into the Spider-Verse was animated mostly on twos, meaning a new drawing every second frame, with 3D line work for the stereo version, according to Cartoon Brew. That choice is part of why Miles moves with a rougher, comic panel rhythm than the smoother Peter of the live action films.

The two Peters who return in No Way Home are the best single comparison. Maguire's Peter helps cure the villains at the Statue of Liberty with the other Spider-Men, and Garfield's Peter appears alongside him. Holland's Peter then gives up his own life to protect everyone, asking Doctor Strange for a spell that makes the world forget him, including MJ and Ned. Brand New Day picks up that isolation four years later, and its closing beat, where Peter reintroduces himself to Ned and they share their old handshake, is the first sign that he does not have to carry everything alone. Far From Home had already shown the other side of his growth: hunted by Beck's drones in London, Peter learns to trust his spider-sense instead of his sight.