The Amazing Spider-Man (formerly and simply known as Spider-Man) is a custom-bodied monster truck owned by FELD Motorsports and licensed by Marvel Comics, based on the comic book character of the same name. Spider-Man is Monster Jam’s most recurring licensed truck, having run as part of three different contracts across three separate decades; it originally debuted in 2001 with a red-and-blue 1963 Cheetah body, retiring by the end of the 2003 season. The truck would return in 2010 with an updated version of the same body, running until late 2014. It would return yet again in 2023, this time with an entirely new design. It is currently driven by Bernard Lyght; previous drivers have included Lee O'Donnell, Gary Porter, Whit Tarlton and Bari Musawwir.
History[]
Gen. 1 (2001-2003)[]
Spider-Man first debuted in Oakland, California on January 5th, 2001, with an unknown driver, who is speculated to be Lee O'Donnell. Brandon Harrington and Lee O'Donnell would drive the truck during the winter season, Charlie Pauken would drive the truck at the second Pontiac show and Gary Porter later took the truck to Monster Jam World Finals II, where they would lose in round 2 of racing and would finish 7th in freestyle with a 31. During the same season, the truck would also perform the Steel Wall stunt as Mr. Destruction on two occasions, driven by Dennis Anderson.
In 2002, Lee would temporarily stop driving in Monster Jam and he would leave the team (he'd return to the sport in 2006 driving Monster Mutt). Brandon Harrington would temporarily leave the team to drive Vette King, and Charlie Pauken and Carl Van Horn would drive the truck during the season at select events where Carl would famously get a racing win in Tampa, beating Tom Meents. The truck later makes its only video game appearance in Monster Jam: Maximum Destruction. At the World Finals, the chassis was used for Team Meents in the encore. Later in the year, Bobby Zee would drive Spider-Man in France and at the final show in Minneapolis to end the year.
In 2003, Brandon Harrington returns to Spider-Man along with rookie George Balhan where they would drive two different Spider-Man trucks during the winter season. Brandon's truck is ran on the former Sting/Vette King chassis while Balhan's was a new build. The original Spiderman chassis becomes Demolition Man, driven by Bobby Zee for three Steel Wall stunts. It also runs as Vette King on two occasions under George Balhan while Zee drove Balhan's Spiderman truck. Balhan's truck is used for Monster Jam World Finals IV, driven by Bobby Zee, and Harrington's truck returns to being Vette King that same weekend. Later that year, Monster Jam's original Marvel sponsorship expired, and Spider-Man was retired for the time. George would move to Blue Thunder, Bobby would move to Monster Mutt, and Brandon continues driving Vette King. Balhan/Zee's Spider-Man chassis goes on to become the new Demolition Man for the 2004 season. The original chassis becomes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles later in the year.
Gen. 2 (2010-2014)[]
In October 2009, it was announced that Marvel would re-join FELD Motorsports in 2010, resulting in both the return of Spider-Man and the introduction of a new Iron Man truck.[1] Spider-Man, with an updated version of the original Cheetah design, made its competition redebut the following season under Whit Tarlton, where it competed on the Freestyle Mania arena tour. Chad Tingler drove the truck at Monster Jam World Finals 11, where it would suffer a rather violent crash during freestyle while attempting to clear the double stack.[2] Gary Porter and Ryan Anderson would drive the truck in Philadelphia and Cincinnati, respectively; Ryan would win freestyle.[3] Dana Creech also drove it in Costa Rica and Panama.
In 2011, the truck competes in Freestyle Mania, once again under Tarlton. TIngler once again competes at the World Finals, getting a 4 in freestyle after breaking early in his run.[4] Dana Creech drives the truck yet again in Derby and Madrid.
In 2012, Whit would leave the Spider-Man team and move to Monster Mutt, and Bari Musawwir would take over driving duties. He would later be invited to and win the inaugural Young Guns Shootout at Monster Jam World Finals 13; however, Bari didn't receive the final spot in the main field with the premise not being incorporated yet. Instead, Tingler would drive Spider-Man in the main field for the last time. Later that year, the truck took part in the Path of Destruction Tour and the Team Marvel vs. Team Destruction competitions under Bari.
In 2013, Bari makes his World Finals debut in Spider-Man at World Finals 14. He would make history at the event as the first African-American to compete at the World Finals, making it to the semi-finals in racing. The truck later runs as For the People of Baltimore in Baltimore.
In 2014, Spider-Man debuts a brand-new chassis. Bari takes the truck to another World Finals appearance at World Finals 15, where he'd finish dead last in freestyle after crashing in one hit.[5] Scott Liddycoat later drives the truck in Costa Rica, while John Seasock drives the truck for the Team Marvel vs. Team Destruction shows in Arnhem, as well as Stockholm. This would be Spider-Man's final year in Monster Jam before the second Marvel sponsorship expired. Bari would move to Zombie, which would go on to become his signature truck.
In 2016, two years after its retirement, the Spider-Man body is seen yet again on a live stream held at the Monster Jam Headquarters in Florida.[6] In 2018, photos revealed that it was merely the Marvel Monster Trucks Live display chassis from 2012. The chassis would later run as Megalodon Fire. The truck was also mentioned in a YouTube poll, asking fans what their favorite discontinued truck is. Spider-Man led the poll with 41 percent of votes.[7]
Gen. 3 (2023-present)[]
On September 12, 2022, Monster Jam premiered the 2023 Schedule Announcement Show, where Scott Jordan announced the third renewal of the Marvel contract, and that the Spider-Man truck would make yet another return.[8] Seven months later, the truck's entirely new design would be revealed on April 25th, 2023, via a 3D render.[9] On June 13th, the completed body was unveiled at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, as part of a licensing expo.[10] Spider-Man, now officially known as "The Amazing Spider-Man" and driven by Bernard Lyght, would make its second competition redebut in London on July 15th, 2023, alongside new versions of Iron Man and Thor, as well as the brand-new Black Panther truck.[11] Though the truck did not win any of the competitions, Lyght got the biggest air of the whole event.[12] In Frankfurt, the truck would win both racing competitions. The truck "would" make it's US Debut in Lakeland Florida at the RP Funding Center for testing to showcase Monster Jam's new Monstergon for international events that don't allow dirt in certain arenas. [13][14] In 2024, Bernard will continue driving the truck for international events.
Drivers[]
Gen. 1[]
- Lee O'Donnell (2001)
- Brandon Harrington (2001; 2003)
- Gary Porter (World Finals II)
- Charlie Pauken (Pontiac 2001 (Show 2); Pontiac 2002)
- Carl Van Horn (2002)
- George Balhan (2003)
- Bobby Zee (2002-03)
Gen. 2[]
- Whit Tarlton (2010-11)
- Frank Krmel (2010 European Tour)
- Ryan Anderson (Cincinnati & Mexico City 2010 & Guadalajara 2010)
- Gary Porter (Philadelphia 2010)
- Chad Tingler (World Finals XI, XII, & XIII)
- Dana Creech (Costa Rica & Panama 2010; Derby, England & Madrid 2011)
- Dustin Brown (Barcelona & Madrid 2011)
- Bari Musawwir (2012-14)
- John Seasock (Arnhem & Stockholm 2014)
- Scott Liddycoat (Costa Rica 2014)
Gen. 3[]
- Bernard Lyght (2023-Present)
Designs[]
| Design | Description | Picture |
|---|---|---|
| 2001-2003 / 1963 Cheetah | The original Spider-Man design, introduced in 2001 until its initial retirement in 2003. This design featured a light web pattern, a blue spider logo on the roof, a silver web net on the back, and Spider-Man himself on the hood.
An alternate version of this design was run in 2003, lacking many of its usual details aside from Spidey on the hood.[15] |
|
| 2010-2014 | The second Spider-Man design, essentially an updated version of the 2001 design. Spider-Man was repositioned onto the truck's back, while his eyes resided on the hood. Additionaly, a large red spider logo is present on the back, several blue spider logos are scattered throughout, and the blue section is outlined with a web strand. | |
| 2023 / 3D | The current Spider-Man design, introduced in July 2023. Unlike the previous two, this one is a completely custom concept, featuring Spider-Man's eyes on the fenders, a 3D spider logo on the roof, metallic blue accents, red lights, and 3D web-patterned hubcaps. It also has a unique "web-shooting" feature, achieved with a net gun built into the chassis.[16] |
World Finals appearances[]
2000s[]
| World Finals | Year | Driver(s) | Appearance | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monster Jam World Finals II | 2001 | Gary Porter | Main field |
|
| Monster Jam World Finals III | 2002 | N/A | Display only |
|
| Monster Jam World Finals IV | 2003 | Bobby Zee | Main field |
|
2010s[]
| World Finals | Year | Driver(s) | Appearance | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monster Jam World Finals XI | 2010 | Chad Tingler | Main field |
|
| Monster Jam World Finals XII | 2011 | Chad Tingler | Main field |
|
| Monster Jam World Finals XIII | 2012 |
|
Musawwir:
Tingler:
| |
| Monster Jam World Finals XIV | 2013 | Bari Musawwir | Main field |
|
| Monster Jam World Finals XV | 2014 | Bari Musawwir | Main field |
|
Video game appearances[]
- Monster Jam: Maximum Destruction
- Monster 4X4: Masters of Metal (Planned, but cancelled)
Trivia[]
- Spider-Man is currently the only truck to have been apart of all three contracts with Marvel. It is also the only truck to have its name changed.
- Alongside Wolverine, Iron Man, Thor, and Superman, it is also one of the few Monster Jam sponsorship trucks to have been revived after its retirement while still retaining its sponsorship. Coincidentally, all five of these trucks are based on superheroes.
- Currently, Spider-Man is also the only Monster Jam sponsorship truck that has been revived more than once.
- The 2001 version of Spider-Man was planned to have a custom concept body, with the character's eyes as the side windows.[17] Later on, the body was changed to that of the 1963 Cheetah after the cancellation of the Hitman Bret Hart truck.
- In 2012, Spider-Man, along with all other existing Marvel trucks at the time, was scheduled to compete at a unique, scripted event called "Marvel Monster Trucks Live". The event, however, was eventually cancelled a year before it was meant to take place, likely because of the show being too complicated and expensive to create.
- Gary Porter is the only driver known to have driven both the first and second iterations of the Spider-Man truck.
- Bari and the truck were the only Showdown/Young Guns Shootout champion to not receive the final invite into the World Finals main field, since the idea of the winner competing in the main event hadn't been incorporated yet.
- Prior to becoming the truck's driver, Bernard was the stunt actor for Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe Live! arena show, which is also operated by Feld Entertainment. He's also a self-admitted fan of the character.[19]
- Despite the truck's multiple drivers being from different hometowns and locations, the truck would often be billed as being from New York City, NY, the site of Marvel's headquarters and Spider-Man's hometown.[20]
- The crawling Spider-Man art on the 2001-03 version's hood was originally drawn by comic artist Mark Bagley for Ultimate Spider-Man #3 (Nov. 2000), while the 2010-14 version was created by Scott Johnson, whose art was used for many Marvel products at the time.[21]
Gallery[]
Generation 1[]
Generation 2[]
Generation 3[]
Merchandise/miscellaneous[]
.jpg "2011 55-Spiderman (2).jpg (411 KB)")
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160919152226/https://adage.com/article/media/marvel-teams-harley-davidson-orange-county-chopper/139852
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFkMRuLslZM
- ↑ Ryan and Porter's freestyles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdYc-S60Qc0
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d6WN5HuqQ0
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnXPeckOLeE
- ↑ Livestream screenshot: File:Spider.jpg
- ↑ Screenshot of the Youtube poll: File:Image-0.png
- ↑ https://youtu.be/s9T8yYJXEWg?t=1920
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9P2Mf3tbio
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CtcU4xOvxnA/?hl=en
- ↑ Spider-Man's introduction: https://youtu.be/k9b873ECsQ4?t=231
- ↑ https://youtu.be/EKXXi7lQCcI?t=249
- ↑ Frankfurt show 1 final race: https://youtu.be/FKD8ccNQ2Xo?t=395
- ↑ Frankfurt show 2 final race: https://youtu.be/hlESfg6PJq0?t=309
- ↑ File:368932518 e2f1965488 o.jpg
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKD8ccNQ2Xo
- ↑ File:Spiderman concept.png
- ↑ File:20170828 205254-1.jpg
- ↑ Inside Monster Jam episode with Bernard: https://youtu.be/nlaWs_NZ7YQ?list=PLaSx_lF7AsqxaUOlii0xT_7T9opKm_lLA&t=888
- ↑ File:HpDlbIfKNiM-00-04-43.png
- ↑ Ultimate Spider-Man #3 cover: https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/File:Ultimate_Spider-Man_Vol_1_3.jpg
