Origin
Ollie was an intelligent, young overweight teenager who idolized Doctor Octopus. He would make his own mechanical tentacles and run off doing some petty crime. Ollie knocked out an elderly guard and thought that he killed him. Spider-Man swung by and chased down what he thought to be ‘Doc Ock’, but realized that it was not him because he fell in a tank of water and Spider-Man easily ripped his tentacles. Ollie began to idolize Spider-Man more that Doctor Octopus, which led to Ollie changing the octopus arms into spider-legs and donning the name Spider-Kid. More often that not his adventures ended in him being saved by Spider-Man. He even formed a short-lived superhero group with Frog-Man and Toad called “the Misfits”.
After a while, Ollie gave up the idea of being a hero and went to college. There he managed to lose his overweight and sometime later got girlfriend, however, he still often fantasized about still being a hero and still made adjustments and modifications to the mechanical spider-legs he once wore. He was finally given his opportunity when his girlfriend was attacked by muggers in which he once again donned his mechanical spider-legs, however, this time he wore a black suit and took the name the Steel Spider. He then found the assailants defeated them soundly, but after this he decided that he never wants to be a vigilante and wanted to have a normal life with his girlfriend. He once said that he was one of many heroes that help fought of the invading Sentinels when Onslaught invaded New York City.
Eventually the Superhero Registration Act brought Ollie out of retirement as he began openly acting against the Act. This made him a target for the Thunderbolts who were sanctioned to arrest him. With American Eagle and Shadowoman (Sepulcher), they fought the Thunderbolts. But despite initially being able to hold his own, the battle turned against him when Venom bit off his arm and began eating it. He was later seen getting medical attention from Radioactive Man. He was last seen being taken in The Negative Zone prison.
Powers & Equipment
The Steel Spider wears a suit of high-tech armor which has four metallic arms similar to that of Dr. Octopus. The arms provides enhanced strength and contains various gadgets. When he was in college, he modified the mechanical legs with an installed grappling hook and pepper spray. During the “Planet of the Symbiotes” arc it was shown that the gauntlet on his right hand contained pepper spray and a steel mesh web net. Before he fought the Thunderbolts, he installed a gun inside one of the legs.
Other Versions
MC2 (Earth-982)
In this reality, Steel Spider was a member of the Avengers. He wore a variant of the Steel Spider costume, but became bitter after his personal life failed and took out his anger on petty thugs before Spider-Girl and the American Dream put him back on the right track. He later help defeat the terrorist group, the Sons Of The Serpent, and after that, he tried to rebuild his broken personal life.
Other Media
Ultimate Spiderman
Steel Spider appear in Ultimate Spider-Man in the episode “Spidah-Man!“. When Spider-Man comes to Boston, Ollie helps him handing him some new accessories. But after he was rejected to become to be Spider-Man’s sidekick he helps a trio of Boston Villains to destroy Spider-Man. However he helped Spider-Man and became Boston’s hero.
This version of Ollie is a teenager. He was portrayed by Jason Marsden.