Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1, Episode 4, “Hitting the Big Time.”
Wondering how Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man‘s creative team came up with the various alternate outfits Spidey sports in the show’s latest three-episode drop? They didn’t: every crime-fighting costume Peter Parker wears in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1, Episode 4 comes from the comics!
Read on for the full lowdown on each of these looks, including who created them, when they first appeared, and what special properties they possess.
Prodigy
The first three Oscorp-produced costumes Peter Parker test runs in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man all come from the same 1998 comics crossover, “Identity Crisis.”
Here, Spider-Man is accused of murder, forcing Peter to adopt multiple new superhero personas to continue fighting crime until he clears his name. This includes Prodigy: a stereotypical “upstanding do-gooder” type, who first appeared in Spectacular Spider-Man #256 by writer/artist team J.M. DeMatteis and Luke Ross.
The Prodigy suit – created without Norman Osborn’s involvement, like the other “Identity Crisis” costumes – improves Pete’s resistance to gunfire and lets him glide (kinda), but is otherwise unremarkable. That is, until Spidey hands over the cape-and-tights ensemble to rookie superhero Ritchie Gilmore, who gets it mystically enhanced to enhance his strength, speed, and durability.
Hornet
Peter Parker’s second Oscorp suit takes its cues from his Hornet persona in the “Identity Crisis” crossover. As its name (and chest emblem) suggests, this purple, black, and blue kit trades Pete’s usual arachnid schtick for a wasp-inspired gimmick. This includes a working wing harness, built by Parker’s pal, Hobie Brown (AKA the Prowler). The hornet gear also replicates its namesake’s sting via its gauntlets, which shoot bio-electric darts originally devised by Spider-Man clone Ben Reilly.
Peter first suits up as Hornet in Sensational Spider-Man #27 by Todd DeZago and Mike Wieringo. The Hornet identity and costume later pass to college student Eddie McDonough. Eddie’s niece, Melinda McDonough, also christens herself the “Red Hornet,” although she doesn’t reuse his suit.
Dusk
The last of the rejected Oscorp costumes in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is modeled on Peter Parker’s Dusk alter-ego in the comics.
Debuting in Spider-Man #90 by Howard Mackie and John Romita Jr., this get-up is the most unique – and arguably, most impressive – of the bunch. It’s originally from an anti-matter alternate dimension, the Negative Zone, and as a result, it has otherworldly properties. While wearing the Dusk suit, Peter is completely invisible so long as he sticks to the shadows. Plus, he can glide short distances (much farther than in the Prodigy costume, which was more of “falling, with style” scenario).
And the Dusk mantle’s current holder, student Cassie St. Commons, has unlocked additional functionality: teleportation, clairvoyance, and negative energy manipulation. That said, it’s unclear whether these extras are part of the costume or Cassie herself, following her death and resurrection.
Future Foundation
Finally, there’s the white costume Peter Parker gives the thumbs up to in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1, Episode 4. This is a near exact match for Pete’s Future Foundation outfit introduced in 2011’s FF #1, by Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting.
As with the “Identity Crisis” alt attire, this white-and-blue (or black) spandex has nothing to do with Oscorp in the comics. However, it wasn’t made by Peter or anyone in his supporting cast, either. Instead, it’s a creation of the Fantastic Four, who gifted it to Spidey after he joined the Foundation. As such, it’s woven out of unstable molecules: a tough, highly adaptive material invented by the FF’s leader, Reed Richards.
The upshot? Peter’s Future Foundation suit is self-repairing, doesn’t get dirty, and (best of all), can switch between superhero and civilian looks with just a thought!
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is currently streaming on Disney, with new episodes dropping Wednesdays.