Peni Parker is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by Marvel Comics. She is an alternative version of Spider-Man. The character is depicted as a 14-year-old high school student who was adopted by Aunt May and Uncle Ben following the death of her father/caretaker. She pilots a psychically-powered mech suit built by her father known as the SP//dr, which is partially controlled by a radioactive spider that also shares a psychic link with her.[1]
Peni Parker | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | Edge of Spider-Verse #5 (October 2014) |
Created by | Gerard Way Jake Wyatt |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Peni Parker |
Species | |
Place of origin | Earth-14512 |
Team affiliations | Spider-Army/Web-Warriors |
Abilities |
SP//dr:
|
Altered in-story information for adaptations to other media | |
Partnerships |
Both Peni Parker and SP//dr have made scant appearances in media, with their most prominent being the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, in which the former is voiced by Kimiko Glenn.
Publication history
Peni Parker and SP//dr were created by writer Gerard Way and artist Jake Wyatt, and first appeared in the Spider-Verse comic book Edge of Spider-Verse #5 in October 2014. According to Way, SP//dr "is comprised of three vital components: a pilot, a machine, and a radioactive sentient spider acting as one half of the brain that makes it all work."[2][3] SP//dr’s story was continued in the Spider-Geddon comic book, Edge of Spider-Geddon #2 by Alberto Albuquerque.[4]
Fictional character biography
Peni's father acted as the original pilot of the SP//dr mecha, in which he protected New York from crime and other dangers. After his mysterious death, Peni is approached by her Aunt May and Uncle Ben to become the new pilot of the SP//dr. In order to do so however, she has to be bitten by the sentient radioactive spider which controls part of the suit. Soon after being bitten, Peni becomes the new protector of the city. Five years later, she battles her universe’s version of Mysterio - an obsessed fanboy of hers. Peni eventually teams up with her universe's version of Daredevil – who had known her father – to battle a group of criminals before being approached by Spider-Ham and Old Man Spider to join the Spider-Army to fight the Inheritors.
After the events of "Spider-Verse", Peni is approached by a girl named Addy Brock, who wonders if she was really the SP//dr pilot. Peni ignores her, but Addy retorts by saying she is not as special as she thinks. At home, Peni tries to talk to Ben and May about being special, but she gets ignored. While improving the SP//dr's web shooters, she notices Addy walking in the base and follows her; only to find another mech-suit similar to the SP//dr, only in black and powered by a sym-engine called VEN#m, with Addy as its pilot. Peni becomes furious at her aunt and uncle for not telling her about this. When a kaiju-like creature named M.O.R.B.I.U.S. starts to drain the city's electrical energy, SP//dr goes after it, but is quickly defeated. In order to defeat M.O.R.B.I.U.S., Peni's aunt and uncle send VEN#m to defeat the creature. It is successful, but the creature causes VEN#m to malfunction; causing the mech suit to attain sentience and consume Addy. When May flies in to fix the problem manually, it consumes her as well. SP//dr confronts VEN#m, but the black mech suit overpowers her until she uses her improved web shooters to defeat it. However, she is too late to save her Aunt May and Addy, who have vanished from inside the suit. Following the battle, Peni and Ben have a heart to heart, but Spider-Ham re-appears to recruit Peni to help defeat the Inheritors once more during the events of Spider-Geddon.
In other media
- SP//dr makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Ultimate Spider-Man vs. the Sinister 6 animated television series episode, "Return to the Spider-Verse" Pt. 4, as one of several alternate reality Spider-Men that the villainous Wolf Spider took hostage in order to siphon their powers before the "prime" Spider-Man, Kid Arachnid, and Spider-Gwen arrive to save them.[5]
- Peni Parker and SP//dr appear in the 2018 computer-animated superhero film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, with Kimiko Glenn voicing the former.[6][7] This version of Peni takes on an anime aesthetic, is incredibly perky, and is shown eating numerous candies and snacks in her robot. SP//dr itself is a one-piece capsule cockpit topped with a dome-shaped one-way visor, with the inside providing Peni with a view to the world around her and the outside displaying various electronic faces, uses magnetically manipulated appendages for versatility, and its fingers hold various tools. They arrive in Miles Morales's universe along with Spider-Ham and Spider-Man Noir due to the Kingpin's machinations and join forces with them, among other "Spider-People", to return to their respective home dimensions. During the climax, SP//dr is severely damaged by the Scorpion, but Peni manages to rescue the radioactive spider within it before returning to her dimension to rebuild SP//dr.
- SP//dr appears as a playable character in the video game Spider-Man Unlimited.
- Hasbro released a Build-A-Figure of the comics' and film version of SP//dr in the Marvel Legends toy line.[8]
References
- ^ Edge of Spider-Verse #5 (2014)
- ^ "Gerard Way Makes his Marvel Debut with Edge of Spider-Verse #5 | News | Marvel". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ "Gerard Way Discusses His Marvel Debut with "Edge of Spider-Verse"". CBR. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ "Jake Wyatt Departs Sp//dr-Focused Edge of Spider-Geddon #2". CBR. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ "Return to the Spider-Verse Pt. 4". Ultimate Spider-Man. Season 4. Episode 19. September 17, 2016. Disney XD.
- ^ Freeman, Molly (20 July 2018). "Into the Spider-Verse: Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Ham & Peni Parker Confirmed". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
- ^ Peters, Megan (2 October 2018). "'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' Debuts Its Anime Heroine". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ "Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse SP//Dr and Peni Parker 6"-Scale Super Hero Figure Toy Amazon.com
External links
- Peni Parker at Marvel Wiki