Features of Spider-Man media

Fictional high school appearing in Marvel comics

The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. Since the introduction of Peter Parker as a character in 1962, with the superhero alter-ego, Spider-Man, a number of these locations have been prominently featured in connection with storylines specific to this character. These have then been carried over to depictions of Spider-Man in film, video games, and other media. There follows a list of those features.

Residences

• Aunt May's house: Located at 20 Ingram Street, Forest Hills, Queens,^[1] nearly every depiction of Spider-Man begins with Parker living with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben (or just his Aunt May, where Uncle Ben is already shown as being deceased). The house is sometimes depicted as being next door to the home of Mary Jane Watson. Storylines have occurred in various comic book runs and other media where Aunt May's home is attacked. In the 2018 American computer-animated film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a shed in the backyard leads to a secret underground lair where Parker (deceased in that universe) had kept a variety of costumes and technology. In the 1981 TV cartoon, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, the house serves as the Spider-Friends' headquarters, though Aunt May remains unaware of their activities.

Companies

• Daily Bugle: A newspaper headquartered in a building where Parker works as a photographer for J. Jonah Jameson.
• Oscorp: A research company headquartered in a skyscraper owned by Norman Osborn, which later became the headquarters for Alchemax.
• Parker Industries: A company that was founded and owned by Parker.

Educational institutions

Empire State University

Empire State University (ESU) is a fictional university whose alumni include Peter Parker (Spider-Man), Harry Osborn, Gwen Stacy, Brian Braddock (on an exchange program),^[2] Emma Frost, Norman Osborn, Hector Ayala, Harry Osborn, Brad Davis, Chip Martin^[3] and Johnny Storm (the Human Torch).^[4][5] Doreen Green (Squirrel Girl) is currently enrolled in its computer science undergraduate program.^[6][7] Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) and Sophie Cuckoo are enrolled in the post-Krakoan Age.^[8]

Staff included Miles Warren,^[9] Edward Lansky (aka Lightmaster),^[10] Mendel Stromm, Gregson Gilbert (creator of the Dragon Man), Clifton Shallot (the mutant Vulture),^[11] David Jude,^[12] and Curtis Connors.^[13]

Empire State University in other media

Empire State is featured in Spider-Man with students and faculty like Curt Connors, Farley Stillwell. Students included Alisa Silvermane (daughter of Silvermane), Debra Whitman, Felicia Hardy, Flash Thompson, Liz Allen, Mary Jane Watson, Michael Morbius, and Peter Parker. It appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man with members being Martha and Curt Connors, Dr. Miles Warren and Max Dillon. Students included Eddie Brock, Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker.

ESU is seen in Spider-Man set in the Spider-Man Insomniac Universe, where it resembles New York University.^[14]

ESU is alluded in Spider-Man 3 and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Midtown High School

Midtown High School (also known as Midtown Science High School or the Midtown School of Science and Technology) is a fictional school appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The school is depicted as being located in Queens, NYC. It is commonly depicted as the high school of Peter Parker, Flash Thompson, Liz Allan, Cindy Moon, and others in comic books and other media.

In live-action films, the Midtown School of Science and Technology appears in the Sony Pictures films Spider-Man (2002), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).

History

The fictional school is located in Forest Hills in New York City, New York.^[15] The school first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.^[16][17] According to comic book historian Peter Sanderson, Lee based the fictional school on Forest Hills High School in New York City.^[15] In the Tom Holland Spider-Man films, the Midtown High School closely resembles an actual elite NYC public high school: the Bronx High School of Science.^[18] Director Jon Favreau is an alumnus of Bronx Science.^[19]

Faculty

Students

Other versions

Midtown High School appears in Ultimate Spider-Man. Just like the mainstream comics, it depicts Peter, Flash and Liz Allan as students. Unlike the mainstream comic book, characters such as Gwen Stacy, Eddie Brock, Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn also debut in the high school instead of the Empire State University. X-Men member Kitty Pryde is also depicted as attending the high school. The comic also depicts a new character called Kenny "King Kong" McFarlane, who is depicted as best friend of Flash in high school. Mark Raxton is also depicted as a student who attends Midtown High school.

Midtown High School appears in Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. Student faculty includes Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, Liz Allan, Flash Thompson, Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy. Felicia Hardy appears as a tough transfer student. Jessica Jones was a former friend of Mary Jane's who, surprisingly became a goth girl. Luke Cage has a surprising and brief cameo where he flirts with Mary Jane. Ned Leeds and Betty Brant are older students with the former being Mary Jane's ex-boyfriend. A new character named Lindsay Leighton is the school's drama queen who envies Mary Jane's acting ability.

Midtown High School in other media

Television

• Midtown High School is a major recurring setting in The Spectacular Spider-Man. Unlike most other depictions, this version of the school appeared to be located in Midtown Manhattan judging from Spider-Man's commute in an earlier episode. The series debuts both Principal Davis (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) and Aaron Warren (voiced by Brian George) in other media. Other staff included are the class's coach Coach Smith (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson), and the theater teacher St. John Devereaux (voiced by Jeff Bennett). The recurring students depicted in the series are Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, Flash Thompson, Liz Allan, Sally Avril, Kenny "King Kong", Hobie Brown, Rand Robertson, Glory Grant, Harry Osborn, Mary Jane Watson, Sha Shan Nguyen and Mark Allan. Eddie Brock was also a graduate of the school before attending Empire State University. The series also debuts students from the comics Seymour O'Reilly (voiced by Steve Blum) and "Tiny" McKeever.
• Midtown High School appears in Ultimate Spider-Man. S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury appointed S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson to be the Acting Principal. Another notable staff member is a janitor named Stan (voiced by Stan Lee) who is one of the original S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents. During Season Three, Stan becomes the Acting Principal at the time when Phil Coulson was away on a special mission.
• Midtown High School is featured in Marvel's Spider-Man. Its known teachers include assistant chemistry teacher Anna Maria Marconi and science teacher Sal Salerno (voiced by Sean Schemmel in season one,^[31] Phil LaMarr in season two^[32]).

Film

Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man film series

• Midtown High School appears in the 2002 feature film Spider-Man, where Parker is depicted as a high school senior until graduation. Both he and Harry Osborn appear as best friends while Flash Thompson is depicted as the class bully. Instead of Liz Allan, Mary Jane Watson is depicted as Peter's high school crush and once girlfriend of Flash. Allan does appear in the film, but is only named in the novelization. It is mentioned that Harry had to go there after flunking out of many private schools.
• Midtown Science High School appears in The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 along with the viral marketing of the films. The students in the film are Peter Parker, Flash Thompson, Gwen Stacy, Sally Avril and a shy student named Missy Kallenback (portrayed by Hannah Marks).

Marvel Cinematic Universe

• In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Midtown School of Science and Technology is introduced. Peter Parker is a sophomore and his classmates include Ned Leeds, Flash Thompson, Betty Brant, Jason Ionello, Liz Toomes, Cindy Moon, Seymour O'Reilly, Tiny McKeever, Charles Murphy, Abe Brown, Sally Avril, and a new character named Michelle (portrayed by Zendaya) whose nickname is revealed to be MJ. The school is a STEM school with many of Peter's classmates, who are usually depicted as being unenthusiastic about science, being depicted as science graduates. Faculty includes Roger Harrington (portrayed by Martin Starr; same character was seen in a brief cameo in The Incredible Hulk^[33]); Coach Wilson (portrayed by Hannibal Buress), Mr. Cobbwell (portrayed by Tunde Adebimpe), Monica Warren (portrayed by Selenis Leyva) and Barry Hapgood (portrayed by John Penick), the shop class teacher. The school's principal is Principal Morita (portrayed by Kenneth Choi), who is shown to be a descendant of Howling Commandos member Jim Morita, also portrayed by Choi in previous MCU media.^[34]
• In Avengers: Endgame, the school is seen when Parker and Leeds return from the Blip and have an emotional reunion.
• In Spider-Man: Far From Home, the school's daily news footage shows students returning from the Blip while recognizing the Avengers and those who died for their actions. A new teacher named Julius Dell (portrayed by J. B. Smoove) is introduced as well as new students Brad Davis (portrayed by Remy Hii), Zach Cooper (portrayed by Zach Barack), and Josh Scarino (portrayed by Joshua Sinclair-Evans). Other students include Zoha Rahman, Yasmin Mwanza, Tyler Luke Cunningham, and Sebastian Viveros whose characters are named after them. It is revealed that a majority of Parker's classmates from Spider-Man: Homecoming survived the Blip and had already graduated with only Parker himself, Ned Leeds, MJ, Flash Thompson, Betty Brant and Jason Ionello among main characters having been blipped and then brought back.
• In Spider-Man: No Way Home, the school addresses Parker's identity as Spider-Man as the teachers created a shrine dedicated to him, presenting it to Parker on his return to school. After the first day back, Parker, Leeds, and Jones meet on the school’s rooftop and discuss colleges together. Later, Parker goes to the school to mourn the death of his aunt at the hands of the Green Goblin, and is visited by Leeds and Jones, who introduce him to alternate variants of himself, who had arrived through the fractured multiverse. He and his variants work in the school’s laboratory to concoct cures for the other universe-displaced before leaving, while Leeds and Jones remain with the mystical Macchina de Kadavus. Leeds uses a Sling Ring to open an inter-dimensional portal, which accidentally allows the universe-displaced Lizard to come through and attack them in the school. Parker arrives to fight the Lizard off, as Leeds and Jones flee the school through another portal, followed by the Lizard and Parker.
• An alternate version of Midtown High will be a recurring setting in the upcoming animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and its second season Sophomore Year. Alongside Parker himself, the student body will comprise characters such as Harry Osborn, Nico Minoru, and Amadeus Cho.^[35]

In video games

• Midtown High appears in the 2005 Ultimate Spider-Man video game as a location.
• Midtown High appears as a location in the 2023 game Marvel's Spider-Man 2.^[36] The interior appears in a flashback where students Peter and Harry sneak through to find an item Peter left in his locker, and later where Harry learns his mother Emily has died; in the present day, the school is destroyed in a battle between Peter, now Spider-Man, and Harry, who has bonded to the Venom symbiote.^[37]

Institutions

Ravencroft

Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane was a maximum-security asylum for the mentally ill. Many insane murderers and supervillains were kept at Ravencroft.

The institute was first mentioned in Web of Spider-Man #112, written by Terry Kavanagh.

The institute is officially opened in Web of Spider-Man Annual #10 (1994). The institute is featured in a number of Spider-Man storylines. Dr. Ashley Kafka was the founder and first director of Ravencroft. John Jameson was head of security. Both were fired in The Spectacular Spider-Man #246 and Dr. Leonard Samson became Ravencroft's new director. In Leonard Samson's next appearance, he owned a private practice instead of running the institute.

The institute reappeared in Vengeance of the Moon Knight. In this incarnation, it housed mostly non-superpowered psychopaths and had an imposing metal front gate with a Gothic facade similar to DC's Arkham Asylum.

Known patients at Ravencroft include Carnage, Chameleon, D.K., Doctor Octopus, Electro, Green Goblin, Gale, Jackal, Massacre, Mayhem, Mysterio, Prism, Pyromania, Ramon Grant, Shriek, Venom, Vulture, and Webber.

The storyline after Absolute Carnage, Ruins of Ravencroft eventually explains its true origin. It turns out that the institute is more than just for the criminally insane. It used to act as a staging area for superhuman experiments, particularly supernaturals such as for Dracula in centuries ago prior to being raided by Captain America-Steve Rogers and Bucky (now a Winter Soldier in the present) during World War II in the 20th century.

Ravencroft in other media

• Ravencroft appears in Spider-Man, run by Dr. Kafka and fills a similar role in the comics with Eddie Brock reuniting with Venom and Kasady getting the Carnage symbiote, here by Baron Mordo and Dormammu.
• Ravencroft appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man, with Electro, Doctor Octopus, Cletus Kasady, John Jameson, and Venom as known patients.
• Ravencroft appears in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, with Dr. Ashley Kafka as a leading scientist and Electro as a patient until Harry Osborn breaks him out.^[38]
  • Ravencroft also appears in the tie-in video game of the same name, in which Oscorp uses it to conduct secret experiments.
• Ravencroft appears in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, with Shriek as a prominent inmate. It was torn down by Carnage/Kasady.

References

1. Barron, James (2023-02-07). "Spider-Man, We Know Where You Live". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
2. Excalibur #53
3. Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #36
4. Fantastic Four #371
5. Sanderson, Peter (2007). The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City. New York City: Pocket Books. pp. 30–33. ISBN 978-1-4165-3141-8.
6. Ultimate Marvel. Penguin. 2017. p. 166. ISBN 9781465495372. Seeking to improve her education, she enrolls at Empire State University, studying computer science
7. Maas, Jennifer (2022-04-18). "Marvel Launches 'Squirrel Girl' Scripted Podcast From Writer Ryan North (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
8. Dudas-Larmondin, Austin (July 23, 2024). "X-Men Redefines the Traditional Superhero Team as NYX Officially Debuts". ScreenRant. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
9. The Amazing Spider-Man #31
10. Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #1
11. The Amazing Spider-Man #127
12. All-New X-Men Special #1
13. The Amazing Spider-Man #7
14. "A Critical and Serious Analysis of NYU Locations in Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4". 9 November 2018.
15. Sanderson, P. (2007). The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City. Gallery Books. p. 30. ISBN 9781416531418. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
16. Saffel, Steve. Spider-Man the Icon: The Life and Times of a Pop Culture Phenomenon (Titan Books, 2007) ISBN 978-1-84576-324-4, p. 21.
17. Lee, Stan (w), Ditko, Steve (a). Amazing Fantasy, no. 15 (Aug. 1962). New York City, New York: Marvel Comics.
18. "Spider-Man's high school's resemblance to a certain NYC STEM school is uncanny". theverge.com. 13 July 2017.
19. "Alumni Hall of Fame". bxscience.edu.
20. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #33
21. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4
22. The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 3 #1.1
23. Reece, Gregory L. (18 June 2015). "It's Time to Hear the Truth After Growing Up Spidey". PopMatters. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
24. Untold Tales of Spider-Man #13
25. Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #7
26. Web of Spider-Man #36
27. Spider-Man's Tangled Web #3
28. The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 3 #4
29. The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 3 #5.5
30. The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 3 #4.5–5.5
31. "Venom". Spider-Man. Season 1. Episode 13. October 21, 2017. Disney XD.
32. "The Road to Goblin War". Spider-Man. Season 2. Episode 47. November 3, 2019. Disney XD.
33. Houghton, Rianne (May 17, 2019). "Spider-Man: Homecoming and Incredible Hulk crossover confirmed by Marvel boss Kevin Feige". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
34. Bryant, Jacob (July 17, 2017). "10 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed". Variety. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
35. Fleming, Ryan (2022-07-22). "Marvel Shows Off First Looks Of 'Spider-Man: Freshman Year', 'What If…?' Season 2, 'Marvel Zombies', 'X-Men '97' And 'I Am Groot' – Comic-Con". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
36. Benfell, Grace (September 14, 2023). "The Open World In Spider-Man 2 Features A Revamped Map And A New Activities System". GameSpot. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
37. Insomniac Games (2023). Spider-Man 2. Sony Interactive Entertainment.
38. "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Welcomes You to Ravencroft". SuperHeroHype. March 18, 2013.

External links

• Midtown High School at Marvel.com
• Midtown High School at Marvel Wiki
• Midtown High School at Comic Vine