Contains spoilers for Edge of Spider-Verse #4!
A classic joke from the sitcom Spider-Man's superhero codename is now accurate, despite Chandler's mockery back in 1997 when the episode in question first aired.
In season 3, episode 19's 'The One with the Tiny T-Shirt,' Phoebe and Chandler discuss Marvel's wall-crawling hero, with Phoebe asking why Spider-Man isn't pronounced without a hyphen like the names 'Goldman' and 'Silverman.' To her surprise, Chandler explains, "It's not his last name... It's not like 'Phil Spiderman.' He's a spider man." At the time, Chandler Bing was totally correct, but as of September 2022, Phoebe is right - at least if you count Marvel's vast multiverse.
That's because Jordan Blum and Michael Shelfer's 'The Last Laugh' - from Edge of Spider-Verse #4 - introduces the character Pete Spiderman. Pete is a deliberately disappointing superhero whose last name really is "Spiderman." Marvel's multiverse is made up of many different realities, each connected by the Web of Life. As a result, every reality has a version of Spider-Man, with Pete Spiderman being a certified public ant who works alongside the neighborhood watch, fighting off supervillains including the Green Lawn Goblin and Kraven the Homeflipper.
A Friends Joke Come to Life
While Pete Spiderman is pretty disappointing as an action-focused superhero, the story makes it clear that his real strength is being there for people in hard times and cracking terrible jokes to help them cope with tragedy - not a million miles away from Chandler's own MO. The joke ends with Chandler agreeing that there should be a Gold-Man superhero, and while Marvel doesn't have a prominent character of that name, it gets close. Spider-Man's old enemy the Molten Man is a gleaming gold superhuman, while the villainous Doctor Midas possesses Phoebe's suggested power of turning whatever he touches into the precious metal.
Weirdly, this is likely a circumstance that the mainstream Spider-Man could enjoy, as Friends has been confirmed to exist in the Marvel Universe, and Courteney Cox is even a friend of Tony Stark's Iron Man (at least according to Iron Man vol. 3 #13, where she gets a cameo appearance.) That means Peter Parker is likely aware of the Spider-Man/Spiderman misunderstanding, and will get a kick when the Spidey-grapevine es down the news that in one Marvel reality, Phoebe's version of the beloved hero is out there doing good.
Sadly, Peter Spiderman may not last long past his introduction, as the wasp goddess Shathra is currently hunting versions of Spider-Man across the multiverse. Hopefully, Pete Spiderman can keep his head down and live to fight, and joke, another day, if only so this presumably accidental Friends reference can remain a part of Spider-Man's official comic lore.
Edge of Spider-Verse #4 is available now from Marvel Comics.
