AI Creates A Spider-Man Series Set In The '60s - The Results Are Far Out
Despite debuting in 1962, it's been a long while since Marvel fans have seen a prominent "Spider-Man" story heavily rooted in the Swinging '60s. One fan, with the help of AI, attempted to remedy this, but the results are not exactly amazing.
In early 2023, YouTuber Aye Train asked Midjourney to generate images of a "Spider-Man" television series set in the '60s. Apparently, this leads to a Doctor Octopus who looks like a confused Peter Griffin, an Eddie Brock who's wearing clothes that are definitely not of the decade ('90s at best), a Green Goblin who looks like a Power Rangers villain, a Norman Osborn cosplaying as a red-haired Saul Goodman, and a literal rhino for Rhino.
While the wallcrawler's villains have seen far better days, the series of AI-generated clips managed to produce some on-the-mark images of Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, Uncle Ben, and Aunt May. At first glance, the Spidey suit itself looks to be passable enough; that is until you realize in most images that the black spider emblem is actually just an incomprehensible dark glob. (Also, whatever you do, don't look at Spider-Man's hands. The longer you do, the more messed up they become.)
While AI's interpretation of a '60s Spider-Man is far from spectacular, it does lead to the question: when the heck are we going to see Marvel's most famous hero take a jump back into the decade of his birth?
A new '60s Spider-Man tale does sound swell
To be fair, getting a live-action "Spider-Man" story set in an earlier decade sounds like a real good time. And with a live-action "Spider-Man: Noir" series in the works, maybe Sony is starting to think so as well — come on, Peter Parker punching Nazis and prohibition gangsters with a Great Depression backdrop, what's not to love?
It would be nice to see everyone's favorite wallcrawler also go back to his '60s roots. Marvel's flagship hero fighting and swinging around in his original suit, surrounded by vintage New York architecture, and going against some of his simpler foes (not everything needs to be related to the Multiverse, you know) could make for a terrific project. And, of course, as the "Spider-Verse" franchise has taught us, viewers don't need every superhero project to be live-action; sometimes, animation is king. Another animated "Spider-Man" series — maybe one just a tad bit less hokey — that follows Peter Parker's first days as New York City's most hated superhero set in the '60s could lead to an amazing viewer experience. What kind of Marvel fan wouldn't want to see Steve Ditko-inspired art paired up with modern-day streaming animation?