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"Spider-Man" is the theme song of the 1967 cartoon show Spider-Man, composed by Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris. The original song was recorded at RCA Studios in Toronto (where the cartoon was produced) featuring 12 CBC vocalists (members of the Billy Van Singers, and Laurie Bower Singers groups) who added to the musical backing track supplied by RCA Studios, New York. The singers were paid only for the session and have had no residuals from its use since then.
The song has since been adopted as Spider-Man's official theme, including in-universe.
Other versions
editFilm
edit- The Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man 2 (2004) film adaptations featured characters as buskers performing the song: Jayce Bartok and Elyse Dinh respectively. Both films also feature the song at the very end of the credits: the 2002 film featured the 1967 version, while the 2004 film featured a re-recording by Michael Bublé. The soundtracks to the 2002 film and 2007 film also features a cover by Aerosmith and Flaming Lips respectively. Spider-Man 3 (2007) had the song played by a marching band during a scene where Spider-Man arrives at a celebration.
- In The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), Peter has the theme song as a ringtone, and whistles the tune while defeating the Rhino.
- In Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), the theme (orchestrated by Michael Giacchino) is played during the Marvel Studios logo at the beginning of the film.[1]
- In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), the Peter Parker of Earth-1610B refers to it as his own "catchy theme song", with footage of the 1967 animated series' opening. The intro to the theme is also played during the post credits scene, when Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099 (voiced by Oscar Isaac) arrives on Earth-67, the home dimension of the animated series' events, and attempts to recruit its Spider-Man as part of his Spider-Society.[2]
- In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), an excerpt of the theme is played when Earth-67's Spider-Man (voiced by Jorma Taccone) attempts to intercept Miles Morales within the Spider-Society's headquarters, as the latter attempts to return to his home reality.[3]
Video games
editA remix by Apollo 440 is used in the 2000 action-adventure video game Spider-Man, developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. The song is used in the title screen and the credits, and an instrumental version of it plays in the main menu.
A cover by The Distillers is used in the credits of the 2004 video game Spider-Man 2, the tie-in game for the Sam Raimi film. This cover was re-released in 2019 with a single artwork titled "Spider-Bro" by Linas Garsys.[4]
Covers
editIn 1993, Canadian group Moxy Früvous recorded a version for their debut album, Bargainville. Their version includes more satirical lyrics, as Spider-Man promotes his various items of licensed merchandise.
In 1995, Ramones recorded a version of the song for the tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits. A different recording of the song appeared on the American version of their album Adios Amigos, and later as part of the compilation album Weird Tales of the Ramones.[5] This version omits the hyphen, spelling it "Spiderman".
In 2019, pianist Randy Waldman recorded a jazz version featuring vocals by a capella group Take 6 for his album Superheroes, with theme songs from superhero films and series.[6]
References
edit- ^ Dyce, Andrew (July 8, 2017). "Spider-Man: Homecoming Easter Eggs & Marvel Secrets". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ Abad-Santos, Alex (2018-12-13). "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: the movie's 2 post-credits scenes, explained". Vox. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
- ^ Eakin, Marah. "The Best Gag in 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' Was 56 Years in the Making". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
- ^ "The Distillers Unspin "Spider-Man Theme" Cover from 2004 Spider-Man 2 Video Game (Plus, Spidey Film & Covers Spotify Playlist)". The Witzard. July 26, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
- ^ "Spiderman". Spotify. 16 August 2005.
- ^ "RANDY WALDMAN - Superheroes". Archived from the original on 2022-09-26. Retrieved 2022-06-05.