Toei’s Spider-Man initially premiered in 1978 when Amazing Spider-Man had been going for about a decade and a half. How do you think the TV show would be different if it were made in 2020?
It really does feel like the show is “What if Japan decided to adapt Power Rangers first?”, as much of the cast and plot is similar to Spider-Man in name only. In fact, many of the names and characters are often completely different. If it were made today, would the show be stricter in adhering to Spider-Man lore or would it still be the same?
The origins of our main character, Takuya, are very different from Peter’s. He’s a young adult with two younger siblings. His father was killed discovering the Iron Cross Army, and he was injured discovering his father’s body. He stumbled upon a space ship containing an ancient warrior named Garia whose blood gave him his powers. Very different from most adaptations of Spider-Man.
Spider-Man’s gadgets and modus oprendi are overall different. He transforms into Spider-Man with the use of a device, something that was actually uncommon at the time. Said device, the Spider-Tector, would also function as his web-shooters in the show. He’s never really seen fighting normal street criminals as Spider-Man does.
The villains are also very different. Interestingly, the main antagonist, Professor Monster, seems to more be based on Doctor Doom than any notable Spider-Villain. He sends down monsters-of-the-week as you’d expect of a Tokusatsu villain, Spidey kills them, they return big, and then Spidey kills them for good with his giant mecha.
What would be different today? I believe he’d mostly function as a Metal Hero. He wouldn’t get his powers randomly like in his original origin. He’d likely be a high school student that stumbles on to Garia or some scientist building weapons to fight off against some secret society of supervillains which would most likely be based on the Sinister Six. I think overall they’d include more bits of his original mythos but still making an obvious Toku production.
Considering how merchandise driven children’s Toku tends to be, he’ll likely get continuous upgrades in his equipment (that can be marketed as toys) throughout a typical 50 episode run. He may get special movies that are crossovers with other Toei productions like Super Sentai and Kamen Rider.