Spider-Bitch (Ashley Barton)

Not to be confused with Spider-Bitch (Lolth).
"Black Spider-Woman" redirects here. For the African-American adaptation of the first Spider-Woman, see Jess Drew.
Ashley Barton
Spider-Bitch
Ashley Barton as Spider-Bitch by Steve McNiven, Dexter Vines, and Morry Hollowell.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearance
  • As Ashley:
  • Wolverine #67 (September 2008)
  • As Spider-Bitch:
  • Wolverine #68 (October 2008)
Created by
In-story information
Alter egoAshley Parker Barton
SpeciesHuman
Place of originThe Wastelands, Earth-807128/21923
Team affiliationsSpider-Army/Amazing Arachnids/Spider-Force
Partnerships
Notable aliases
  • Spider-Bitch
  • Spider-Woman
  • Spider-Girl
  • Spider-Lady
  • Spider-Kingpin
  • Kingpin of the Wastelands
  • Kingpin of Crime
  • Lady Barton
  • Ash Barton-Morse
  • King Zemo
Abilities
  • Peak human strength, speed, and agility
  • Use of interdimensional travel

Spider-Bitch (Ashley Barton) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven, the character first appeared in Wolverine #67 (September 2008). She is the estranged daughter of Peter Parker / Spider-Man's youngest daughter Tonya and Clint Barton / Hawkeye, and the stepdaughter of Tonya's husband Ultron 8, from the alternate-future of Earth-807128/21923, in which the supervillains overthrew the superheroes three decades earlier.[1] Having no superpowers, after being saved from execution by her estranged father and Old Man Logan in 2008's Old Man Logan storyline, Spider-Bitch kills the current Kingpin of Crime, succeeding him as the Kingpin of the Wastelands, revealing her true villainous nature, before unsuccessfully attempting to kill her father and Logan.[2]

While usually portrayed as a supervillain, Spider-Bitch has also been occasionally depicted as a conflicted antihero. In the 2014–15 "Spider-Verse" storyline, set after Old Man Logan, Spider-Bitch is among the first recruited to a resistance movement against the Inheritors' consumption of Spider-People across the Spider-Verse by the Superior Spider-Man, Otto Octavius, to devise a plan to kill them all; in the aftermath of the conflict, Spider-Bitch continues to explore the multiverse, assisting various teams of Spider-People while funnelling resources back to her home dimension until the 2018 Spider-Geddon storyline and Spider-Force miniseries, following which she returns to her reality, seven years having passed, and reclaims her throne from Taskmaster in 2019's Old Man Quill storyline, continuing her plans to take over the world.

Receiving a generally positive critical reception, the character was adapted to the 2021 radio drama podcast series Marvel's Wastelanders as Ash Morse / King Zemo, voiced by Sasha Lane, and made her cinematic debut in the 2023 feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, referred to as Ashley / Spider-Kingpin, a member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Society.[3][4]

  1. ^ Collins, Hannah (December 14, 2018). "40 Alternate Spider-Man Costumes, Ranked". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  2. ^ Jung, Michael (April 27, 2020). "10 Spider-Men (& Women) With Racially Diverse Backgrounds". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Spider-Verse was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Spider-Verse:2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).