Across The Spider-Verse Had To Cut One Spider-Man Over Legal Issues - Here's Why
The critically acclaimed animated superhero film "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" introduces fans to hundreds of different Spider-Man variants from countless parallel universes, with many of those variants originating in the Marvel Comics multiverse.
A few of the most prolific Spider-People who appeared in Marvel Comics and "Across the Spider-Verse" include the Scarlet Spider, Ben Reilly (Andy Samberg), the guitar wielding Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), and the mass murdering Spidercide. Although the film includes a plethora of iconic Spider-Man variants from across the comics, one particular Spider-Person actually had to be cut from the film due to legal issues with Marvel's main competitor, DC Comics.
"Across the Spider-Verse" character designer Kris Anka confirmed that the film's creative team had initially planned to include a cameo of Peter Ross, aka "Spider-Boy" — a hybrid of Spider-Man and DC Comics' Superboy, whose first appearance came in the third issue of 1996's "Marvel Versus DC" crossover event" – Anka even created artwork of Spider-Boy for the film, but it was never usable due to "legal law reasons," with comic writer Dan Slott explaining in a separate tweet that they couldn't use the character due to him being co-owned by DC.
Spider-Boy was a failed clone of a Captain America/Superman hybrid
As previously mentioned, Spider-Boy's first appearance came during 1996's "Marvel Versus DC" crossover which introduced readers to the hybrid superheroes of Earth-9602, each of whom combine the powers of famous Marvel and DC heroes.
Within the lore of Earth-9602, Spider-Boy was created by Project Cadmus after they attempted to clone the Captain America/Superman hybrid "Super-Soldier" and augment him with powers of gravity manipulation. The project was sabotaged and the machine ended up cloning a young researcher named Peter Parker, with the original Peter dying in the wreckage. Adopted by Thunderbolt Ross, the clone "Peter Ross" was granted superhuman strength and speed, as well as gravity manipulation powers that allowed him to walk on walls in a manner not unlike a spider.
Taking on the name "Spider-Boy" in order to fight crime, Peter Ross was a major part of the "Marvel vs DC" crossover series, and recently made a cameo during the "End of the Spider-Verse" comic book event –- where his arm was ripped off by the multidimensional vampire Morlun in "Spider-Man #4" Vol 2. Unfortunately, despite being one of the more easily recognizable Spider-Man variants, it seems like these legal issues will keep Spider-Boy off the big screen for the time being.