Peni Parker, the Spider-Hero of an alternate future, bears a striking number of similarities to the heroes of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Within the multiverse, all worlds are possible, including ones where the Marvel Universe intersects with the world of anime. Neon Genesis Evangelion, one of the most influential anime ever released, so it comes as little surprise that this is the one that crosses over with Marvel in the form of Peni Parker, an anime-inspired alternate universe version of Spider-Man.
While many might be familiar with Peni thanks to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the film’s version of Peni is more cartoonish than she is in the world of comics. Hailing from Earth-14512, the comic book iteration of the character takes inspiration from tropes commonly seen in anime. This connection is only further solidified by the continuous references made to Neon Genesis Evangelion, from the designs of the various mecha to appearances from the anime’s cast.
Similarities Between Mecha Spiders and Evangelions?
In Gerard Way and Jakye Wyatt’s Edge of Spider-Verse #5 and Way, Lonnie Nadler, Zac Thompson and Alberto Alburquerque‘s Edge of Spider-Geddon #2, we are given glimpses into Peni Parker’s world, seeing a world where giant robots confront one another. Peni and her fellow pilot Addy don plugsuits in order to pilot their respective mecha, the SP//dr and Ven#m. Both plug suits bear a strong resemblance to the plugsuits worn by the Evangelion pilots in the anime.
Despite being an alternate version of Spider-Man, Peni Parker doesn’t don a spider-like suit, but rather controls a colossal giant robot. The SP//dr and Ven#m mecha both bear a strong resemblance to Evangelion Unit-01, down to its shoulder fins, animalistic snouts, eyes, and thin, limber build. Both suits have a soul inside of them, and Peni’s SP//dr CPU has a spider trapped inside of it. By biting Peni, it completes the bond between machine and pilot. This is similar to how the Evangelions contain the souls of the pilots’ mothers inside them — or, at least, part of their souls, in the case of Evangelion Unit-02.
Adding to this, the Ven#m suit later enters into a rage, much like the Berserker State of the Evangelions. Ven#m takes control of its pilot, Abby, assimilating her into its being after taking command. When the suit is opened up, Peni finds that Ven#m has merged with Abby. This is similar to what happens to Shinji during the fight with the Angel Zeruel. After Evangelion enters into a Berserker rage and reaches a synch rate of 400%, Shinji’s becomes one with the machine.
In this sense, SP//dr and Ven#m exist as an alternate version of the Evangelion units, existing within the Marvel Multiverse