The 1978 Japanese live-action incarnation of Spider-Man will appear in Into the Spider-Verse 2, according to a tweet from producer Phil Lord.

Lord responded to a fan who originally asked that, if the movie contained the Japanese Spider-Man, if he could help design the Into the Spider-Verse 2 version of the character. Lord responded simply enough: “He’s designed!”



He’s designed! — Phil Lord (@philiplord) November 5, 2019

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Here's an official trailer Marvel released in 2009 for the Japanese Spider-Man.Japanese Spider-Man originally premiered in 1978, running for 41 episodes until early 1979, and was produced by Toei, the company responsible for Japanese animated classics like Sailor Moon, Digimon, and Dragon Ball. The series featured a lot of similar Spider-Man iconography, with some pretty major plot differences. Rather than Peter Parker or Miles Morales, it featured motorcycle racer Takuya Yamashiro, who witnesses the crash of a UFO named the Marveller. Takuya ends up gaining the familiar spider powers from the UFO’s last survivor, plus a bracelet that can transform the Marveller into, what else, a giant robot that helps Spider-Man defend earth from a villain named Professor Monster and his evil army.The series featured a lot of tropes familiar to sentai genre fans (think Power Rangers), including tons of generic masked henchmen, martial arts fights, and enemies who eventually transform into colossal versions of themselves and fight Spider-Man’s mecha. He also shoots a literal gun at one point. You can check out a couple of such clips here . Marvel used to host at least a couple episodes of the show on their official site, but it appears that those may have been removed at some point in the last few years.

Sony Animation only just recently confirmed the existence of Into the Spider-Man: Spider-Verse 2 this past week. Sony also confirmed a release date of April 8, 2022. A teaser video Sony posted appears to flash multiple versions of Miles Morales’ Spider-Man logo. An all-female character spinoff is also reportedly in development, although Sony has remained quiet about details thus far.

Every Spider-Man Movie Spin-Off in Development 15 IMAGES

Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Tony Vinciquerra has said the studio has a seven-year plan for its Spider-Man properties , so expect more in the future. In the meantime, check out every Spider-Man movie spinoff currently in development

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.