Spider-Man Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Spider-Man Wiki

Spider Powers are special abilities, beyond what normal humans possess, that are usually somewhat related to Spiders. They are used by many characters in the Marvel universe.

History

Spider Powers have been a part of the Marvel universe since 1962 when Spider-Man first debuted. The most common include wall-crawling, enhanced strength, speed, agility, reflexes, stamina, durability, endurance, and healing as well as an early warning system officially dubbed the "Spider-Sense" power by Peter Parker.

How to obtain

There are many ways to get Spider Powers in the Marvel universe:

  • Radioactive Spider Bite: This seems to be the most common way. Most versions of Peter Parker that are based on the mainstream version have been bitten by a Radioactive Spider to gain their Spider Powers.
  • Spider God:As seen in an alternate version of Peter Parker's dream, after being bit by a spider, he KO'd, and dreamed a "spider god" was talking to him, and gave him the powers of a spider, and Peter became "The Spider-Man". It is unknown if the spider was radioactive, or if the Spider God gave Peter his powers in his reality.
  • Enhanced Spider Bite: This is a rare, less common way to gain Spider Powers. Peter Parker and Miles Morales of Earth-1610, the Ultimate reality have been bitten by a Spider that has been enhanced by the OZ formula to give them their powers. Miles was bitten by a different spider which gave him the same, yet extra powers such as invisibility, a Venom Strike at the expenses of a weaker Spider-Sense.
  • Gene Splicing: This is how Miguel O'Hara and most alternate versions of him got their powers. This involves the fusing and splicing of Spider DNA with human DNA often resulting in Spider Powers, except for the lack of an actual Spider-Sense. Instead, Miguel has "Accelerated Vision" which allows him to see farther, and better than a normal human. He also has fangs that contain a paralyzing, non-toxic venom to attack people with.

Wall-Crawling/Adhesive Stick

Almost all Spider Powered individuals have the ability to crawl on surfaces similar to the way a Spider does. This power also helps the user with their sense of balance since they can plant themselves on one surface and stay there.

All symbiotes grant this ability.

Original Form

Spider-Man had the first variation of wall-crawling. It's still a mystery to him as to exactly how it works, but Peter guesses that he can mentally make his molecules bond to any surface. At one time, the supervillain, Electro guessed the power was related to static electricity, and momentarily stymied Spider-Man by using his own electrical power to momentarily cancel it out. At first, when Peter gains his spider powers, he sticks to a wall without even knowing he was capable of that. Very early in the comic book years of Spider-Man, Peter can only stick with his hands and feet. Later on, it is seen that he can stick to surfaces using his back.

The bond is unbreakable, and can be used by any part of the body, including his feet, and allows him to do things, like catching a ball with one fingertip. The suit designed by Spider-Man is thin enough so that he can still stick to surfaces.

Other Ways

Scopulae Hairs

Seen in both the Spider-Man (2002 film) and The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008 TV Series), after being bitten, Peter's skin grows sharp, "barbed" like scopulae hairs that allow him to cling to surfaces.

Talons

Miguel O'Hara wall-crawling in Edge of Time

Miguel O'Hara wall-crawling in a Video Game he was featured in.

Another manner in which a person with spider-powers make crawl solid surfaces is due to talons and embedding them into surfaces. Usually, these talons are strong enough to stab through metal while also firmly holding the wielder onto the surface. For example, Miguel O'Hara uses this to wall-crawl

Weaknesses

  • An extremely slippery and or wet surface can nullify the wall-crawling ability.
    • A crumbling surface or a surface that cannot support someone's weight using the wall-crawling ability can nullify the power.
  • Some enemies are strong enough to rip someone with the wall-crawling ability right off a surface.
  • Some enemies have lubricants that can nullify the wall-crawling ability.

Additional enhancements

  • Proportionate Strength of a Spider: Most Individuals who obtain Spider Powers have increased strength. This is caused by the cross in DNA that grants them the proportional strength of a Spider. Spider-Man can lift around ten tons, but others can vary based on their own body mass and the type of Spider that bit them, or gave them powers through other means. Peter Parker does not use all of his superhuman strength, but it is shown that he has enough power to knock out a T-Rex.
  • Enhanced Speed, Agility, and Reflexes: Spiders, being very fast and agile creatures, give one with spider powers enhanced speed and agility. It is unknown just how fast a person with enhanced spider speed can travel, but it is seen that they outrun a speeding car, Along with a spider-sense for most people with spider powers, the basic reflexes and agility of a person are far enhanced that beyond a normal human's.
  • Enhanced Balance: People who have spider-powers have an enhanced sense of balance or equilibrium to stand perfectly still on almost any surface, also in helping with the wall-crawling ability. Peter is shown to balance a thin wire with one finger, balance on a moving car, stand and walk or run on walls or bend into certain positions that would normally hurt an average non-powered human.
  • Enhanced Healing Factor: Spider power enhanced an average human's healing factor, much higher than regular humans.

Spider-Sense

Several Spider Powered individuals have a "Spider-sense" which is a precognitive ability that warns them of impending danger. Although it is still mostly a mystery, it has proven effective. It works as a tingling/buzzing in the base of the skull when danger is near.

By that tingling's intensity, the severity of the threat can be judged. For instance, a happenstance passing of a potential enemy who is not interacting with the possessor of the power would trigger a slight alert to encourage some caution. By contrast, the presence of an immediate deadly threat, such as a sniper taking aim at the person, the sensation can become severe, sometimes to the point of becoming painful, and can reflexively prompt evasive action in response.

It does not identify the nature of the danger but will indicate what direction the individual needs to move in order to avoid it. It has been known to warn of all forms of danger, from bullets and lasers to tainted meat. The spider-sense power can also locate someone dangerous as Peter once did as Spider-Man to find the Vulture, or when enemies are closing in, or where they are going to jump next. Most spider-heroes integrate their fighting styles with their spider-sense, making them almost impossible to hit with any form of attacks while enabling them to remain mobile and able to choose their next actions and even carry on conversations without fear of being distracted.

This sense is also used in less dramatic situations for other reasons to ensure persons' safety. For instance, the sensor allows safe web-swinging by encouraging consistent hitting safe anchor points for web lines to prevent falls. In addition, the sense also considers serious invasions of the person's privacy as a threat, which enables the possessor to avoid being shadowed or observed changing costumes, thus preserving one's secret identity with considerable ease. Even a completely peaceful situation can set it off, such as playing poker, which makes bluffing the person impossible, and Peter Parker has been informally banned from such games with other superheroes.

In a technological aspect, Peter Parker eventually learned that he could attune his spider-tracer tracking devices to his sense and thus usually forego his receiving unit in most situations.

It is shown to be stronger and more effective then Daredevil's radar sense and can be used to outwit the entire Fantastic Four, Daredevil, the Hulk and some Avengers.

Media

Although in the comics a sound is never made, in the television series and in film, a sound or animation is shown around Peter Parker's head.

Television

Films

In the Spider-Man trilogy by Sam Raimi, this version of Peter Parker's spider-sense is so powerful, he always can tell what is going to happen, before it happens. He can also determine the whereabouts of anything and anyone anywhere, including a room from a fly, to a spitball the second Peter enters a room. In Spider-Man 3, the infamous noise that is made is not made at all.

In The Amazing Spider-Man (2012 film), no noise is made but Peter uses the power to dodge gunfire from the police after doing "80 percent of your job!".

In The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014 film), Peter's Spider-Sense seems much stronger since he could tell the danger of Electro before he started trouble, miles away from him. A slight sound similar to the sound from MTV Spider-Man is heard.

In Avengers: Infinity War, no noise is made, but while Peter is on a bus, his hair stands up straight. There was a space ship outside.

In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter's Spider-Sense seems much stronger than before. Although his hair didn't stand on end like in Infinity War, the infamous noise was made and at one point, the wavy line animation from the comics can be seen even though it is colorless.

Other powers

Mark of Kaine

Dubbed the "Mark of Kaine", a power first used by Peter Parker's clone, Kaine Parker, is a power used where the user enhanced the fingers and entire hand to burn scars or rip off someone's skin. This is seen used mostly by Kaine.

Stingers

Peter Parker had once developed retractable, razor-sharp stingers that were located within his arms below his wrists. They release and are coated in a polyamine venom, which when shot, caused minor paralysis. Kaine Parker currently has stingers.

Night Vision

After the Spider-Man: The Other storyline, Peter Parker developed the ability to see in the dark much better than an average human. This may or may not be apart of Spider Powers.

Hibernation Healing

Used only once as a part of Peter's enhanced powers, Peter Parker was able to recover from a fatal beating by webbing himself up in his own cocoon, and hibernating inside of it to heal completely by shedding his skin.

Five Senses Boost

As a result of Spider powers, anyone that has them has their five human senses boosted that beyond a normal human.

Fangs

During the Spider-Man: The Other Storyline, Peter grew a full mouth of razor-sharp fangs that he used to bite Morlun.

Miguel O'Hara also has fangs as a result of his spider DNA splicing, and he is also venomous.

Venom Blast

Currently, this is an ability that only Jessica Drew and Miles Morales possess, the ability to generate bursts of bioelectric energy through their fingertips that can stun anyone they hit.

Organic Webbing

In the "Avengers: Disassembled" crossover storyline, Peter underwent a transformation that allowed his body to produce webs from his forearms and shoot them as he pleases.

Peter had grown spinnerets in his forearms that terminate in small pores at the junction of his wrists. By pressing down with his middle and ring fingers to his palm, he causes the pores to open and the spinnerets eject the organic spider-silk with a force greater than that of his original web-shooters.

Miguel O’Hara has spinnerets in his forearms that release webs from the tops of his wrists (similar to how Peter Parker fired his webbing while wearing the Venom symbiote).

The effectiveness and amount of organic webbing is depended on a person's health and nutrition. However, in the Spider-Man: The New Animated Series episode The Party, Peter spun organic webs from in front of both his wrists below his hands at Electro's hands, temporary blocking his ability to fire electricity, and in the Spider-Man 3 video game, it completely wraped around and smothered the Mad Bomber's small bombs to prevent an explosion from increasing, and only a little bit of the webbing was torn, in the 616 universe where it had so much power that the webbing was able to wrap and completely cover one of Iron Man's armors, catch a crashing helicopter, and was so insulated that it blocked an electrical current attack from Electro. The organic webbing takes a week to dissolve, instead of an hour. Kaine Parker is also seen to have this ability.

Control of Spiders

Similar to how Henry Pym's Ant-Man identity had him controlling and speaking to ants through his helmet, Kaine has the power to communicate with spiders and control them.

Camouflage

As only seen with Miles Morales, this ability allows Miles to blend in with his surroundings and become almost invisible.

Weaknesses

At first, there were to direct weaknesses to Spider Powers, however over the years, weaknesses have been discovered.

  • Spider-Sense Disruption: The spider-sense power can lose it's a function if it is disrupted by special drugs or chemicals. Also, if the spider-sense has not registered something that is clearly dangerous, the user will not be warned. Such things as all and any of Peter Parker's clones, the Venom symbiote, and all of its offspring has as Carnage, Toxin, and so on.
  • Anti-Venom: Due to Eddie Brock not being able to rid the poison that is the radiation in Peter's blood that gives him his powers, whenever Peter got close to Anti-Venom, his spider powers would weaken. This probably goes for anyone who gets close to Anti-Venom if Eddie tried the same thing.
  • Ethyl Chloride: All people with spider powers are weak to the chemical known as Ethyl Chloride. This chemical is often used by Spider-Slayers.

Notable people who have spider-powers

Mainstream universe

Notable Symbiotes that give, enhance or have Spider Powers

Trivia

  • 2767399-scarletspider 1 thegroup 019

    Kaine dodging gunfire without the use of a Spider-Sense

Advertisement