‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ will be true to Marvel material, but with a twist: Gregg

TORONTO – High school is tough enough without having to conceal your identity as a super-hero. But that’s the conundrum facing a certain web-slinger in “The Ultimate Spider-Man. “

The show — premiering Friday on Teletoon — features Spidey’s alter-ego Peter Parker at Midtown High. Actor Clark Gregg — who played S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson in Marvel’s “The Avengers” —is featured on the show as Principal Coulson.

The plot of “The Ultimate Spider-Man” is still under wraps, but Gregg says it will stay true to traditional Marvel material he enjoyed as a kid.

“Those fantastic super villains that we all know and love tend to show up … either looking to wipe out the next generation of S.H.I.E.L.D. superheroes, or a surprising number of them are looking to settle old scores with Principal Coulson,” Gregg said in a recent interview.

“Luckily he’s got his young protege there to have his back.”

While the show is looking to maintain historical accuracy in some ways, Gregg says it will also be a departure.

“There might be some new villains that are not ones you would traditionally associate with the Spider-Man universe who make visits to the high school,” he said.

Gregg describes the show as “a little bit like ’21 Jump Street’ meets teenage Spider-Man.”

He says Agent Coulson has grown with the different iterations of the character. Principal Coulson, he says, is particularly easy for him to identify with.

“He doesn’t have any superhero powers, and he gets to kind of be an observer and, at the same time, a man of action. So he’s got something sardonic to say whenever anybody’s out of line.”

The main departure from other versions of his character, he said, lies in the fact that those representations took form within a cinematic universe.

The age of the superheroes in “The Ultimate Spider-Man” also shakes things up.

“The new twist in this case is he is detailed to oversee and protect these young superheroes and kind of integrate them and their training into S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“The Ultimate Spider-Man” premieres Friday on Teletoon.