Both Marvel and DC were struggling in the 90s, with the former even facing bankruptcy at one stage. That goes some way in explaining why the two companies embarked on a crossover with 1996's Marvel Versus DC, an event which mashed characters together from both words to create new heroes and villains.
In that reality, Peter Parker was a scientist at Project Cadmus. While attempting to create a Super Soldier, he was killed in an explosion after his clone awakened.
General Thunderbolt Ross discovered the boy and subsequently adopted him, naming the teenager Peter Ross. However, when "Uncle Gen" was killed by a mugger, this part-Spider-Man, part-Superboy hybrid became the hero known as Spider-Boy.
Now, it's been revealed that this web-slinger was among the many Spider-Man Variants considered for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's Spider-Society scenes. However, as character designer Kris Anka explains, legal issues with DC Comics made this an impossibility.
It's a shame, and a little surprising, that there was no way to sneak Spider-Boy into the sequel, but a blurry look at this scrapped web-slinger can be seen below.
Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar-winning Spider-Verse saga, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn's full-time, friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence.
But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.
The movie stars Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Daniel Kaluuya, Karan Soni, Jason Schwartzman, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Greta Lee, Rachel Dratch, Jorma Taccone, Shea Whigham, and Oscar Isaac.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse arrives on Digital on August 8 and hits Blu-ray on September 5.