Anansi (Marvel Comics)

In Marvel Comics Anansi is presented as an adaptation of the Akan folktale character. According to Marvel sources (as recounted by Ezekiel Sims and Ashanti lore), Anansi was the first Spider-Man who used his powers to travel through Africa; he made a deal with the Sky God Nyame, offering his eternal service in exchange for more enlightenment, and after transmitting his power and knowledge to the Great Web he vanished. He is described in-universe as a member of the Vodu, "deities worshipped by the tribes of Africa," and functions as an origin/ancestor figure within Marvel's spider-totem cosmology.

Marvel portrayals of Anansi vary across titles. He is recurrently associated with spiders and the cosmic "Great Web" and is described in some accounts as the "first Spider-Man." In one storyline he appears in disguise as a pest specialist named "A. Nancy." Alternate-universe and mythic retellings (Spider-Man: Fairy Tales, Spider-Verse stories) and a separate use of the name for a spider-like Originators race in Wakanda indicate multiple visual interpretations rather than a single canonical form.

Within Marvel continuity Anansi functions as a totemic spider-ancestor: he transmitted his power and knowledge to the Great Web and is cited as the original Spider-Man figure in Ashanti/Ezekiel Sims accounts, tying him to spider-totem powers and legacy. He has interacted directly with living characters (for example appearing disguised as "A. Nancy" during a Manhattan infestation storyline and later meeting Miles Morales during the Blood Hunt event, where he offers to cure him). Beyond these narrative functions the supplied sources summarize his mythic acts (deal with Nyame; transmission to the Great Web) but do not provide explicit power lists or mechanical limits.