6. Nicholas Hammond
Nicholas Hammond was the very first actor to ever play Peter Parker in a live-action project. He was the star of CBS’ The Amazing Spider-Man TV series, which ran for two seasons between 1977 and 1979, and was an incredibly popular show for the network until its untimely cancellation.
The show itself hasn’t exactly aged well, and it isn’t held in quite as high regard today as the likes of the classic Batman or Wonder Woman TV series, but it is a nostalgic piece of history that proved to be pivotal in bringing Spider-Man onto the screen. One aspect that has aged pretty well, however, is Hammond’s performance as Peter.
While the effects of the time limited what he could as Spider-Man, his Peter was pretty accurate to the character. Hammond nailed the nervous, eccentric qualities that the young man is perhaps best known for in the beginning, stumbling over his words in heated moments and doing his best to balance his dual life as Peter and Spider-Man. It was all very, well, Peter Parker.
He also approached the role with a maturity and confidence that made us long to journey with Peter on his adventures of growth, which made the show’s cancellation all the more disappointing as we didn’t get to see as much of it as we would have liked.
Nevertheless, Hammond did a great job with what he had and introduced us to a memorable, lovable Peter Parker.