Ah, Spider-Man. Who doesn’t know Spider-Man? He’s the hero that forever changed our perception of arachnids. He’s the one that made us look at spiders in a different way. Instead of dread or disgust, we wonder if it’s not, by any chance, radioactive. With great power comes great responsibility, sure, but, theoretically, that power seems like a pretty cool thing to have.
Peter Parker appeared in a multitude of media, such as movies, comics, cartoons, movies, video games, and movies again (third time is a charm, right?), so we’re no stranger to the things he can and can’t do. However, Spider-Man is capable of doing more things than climb walls and shoot web at his opponents. We’ll show you what this is all about, by letting you in on 10 Spider-Man Powers You Had No Idea About.
1. Super Metabolism
Do you ever wonder how Spider-Man manages to keep his slender figure? Me neither, but it’s actually because of a really interesting reason. He has a highly accelerated metabolism. We know that, but what we still have to figure out is exactly how it works. Sure, he can eat as much chipotle as he wants without fearing that all of it will later be deposited on his hips. But this super metabolism doesn’t seem to keep him from getting intoxicated, as proven by his dizzy fight moves after he’d unknowingly drank a spiked punch.
2. Mystic Powers
The origin of Spider-Man’s powers hasn’t always been made as obvious as in the movies, for example. In many other adaptations, Peter is on an endless quest to find out what exactly it was that gave him his power… and responsibility (I can’t make any promises that I’ll stop). One rather peculiar explanation comes from Dr. Strange, who claims that this was all the work of destiny, respectively a prophecy. The two supreme cosmic forces Lord Order and Master Chaos allegedly had this all planned out and were the ones that made the spider bite Peter.
3. Super Healing
While not on par with those of the likes of Deadpool and Wolverine, Spider-Man is perfectly capable of recovering from serious injuries that normal people would have trouble with. Although a slightly enhanced healing factor has always been part of his arsenal, the events of the 2005 “The Other” storyline left Peter Parker with quite a spectacular healing ability. What’s more, it seems that his body has been restructured from head to toe in order to help him better sustain damage: bones were hardened, muscular and nervous systems enhanced.
4. Super Strength
Let’s just all agree that many of Spider-Man’s powers are “super.” He may not be able to lift tanks or save planes from crashing with his bare hands, Superman style, but he can definitely lift. Proportionally to how much weight a spider can pick up, he was able to sustain up to 10 pounds, a limit doubled after “The Queen” story arc. Still not convinced? Well, this might sound a bit ridiculous, but think about the fact that he knocked a T-Rex over with a punch. But perhaps the example that would hit closest to home is his leaping. Surely his backflips are awesome looking, but it takes a great amount of force to be able to do it across a whole street or up to two stories high.
5. Spider Communication
When Peter received his infamous spider bite, he more or less became one of them. This is why it doesn’t come as a surprise that he is also able to communicate with other spiders. This power was only used once, though, since it happened to come in handy during the “The Queen” storyline. It doesn’t exactly reach an Ant-Man level of interspecies connection, so this ability remains, for the most part, hardly talked about and pretty useless.
6. Spider Transformation
People with arachnophobia, beware. If you’re thinking this sounds strange, I have bad news for you. Don’t think that Peter Parker is able to turn into a naturally sized spider: he can turn into a human sized “Man Spider.” This happened during the “The Other” plotline when he triggered the transformation from the confinement of a web cocoon. It was a way for him to basically come back from the brink of death, by “resetting his odometer,” as Tony Stark explained it.
7. Spider Stingers
If there’s anything that “The Other” storyline has taught us, it’s that Spider-Man really has many more things in common with spiders than we thought. Driven by rage, Peter allowed his arachnid genes to overtake his human ones, resulting in a few appearance and power upgrades. One of them was the appearance of a pair of stingers, which protruded from his wrists, and were coated in dangerous venom.
8. Utility Belt
Not all the aces up a superhero’s sleeve have to be of mystical or radioactive origins. Peter wears a utility belt underneath his suit. It may not be full of loaded guns and dangerous weapons, but it’s where he keeps a very prized possession: the camera he uses to take the photos he brings on J. Jonah Jameson’s desk at the Daily Bugle.
9. Spider-Mobile
If you’ve never heard about this, it’s because all fans have chosen to forget it ever happened. Spider-Man agreed to the design of the car since he was very tempted by the endorsement fees that came with the company that made the offer. There were too many problems with this: why would Spider-Man need a car? He can swing above the horrible New York traffic. Why did the design have to be so questionable looking? And why did a genius of Peter Parker’s caliber agree to get a car, when he doesn’t even know how to drive? All these questions were thankfully left behind, given that the Spider-Mobile had a premature death.
10. Iron-Spider Armor
Being on Tony’s Stark side in the Civil War definitely has its perks. For starters, he will make you an incredible armor packed with numerous advanced features. A trademark red and gold costume, it was worn by Spider-Man in the already infamous “The Other” story. Some of its features include bullet proofing, emergency scanners, and the ability to shift appearance so that it would resemble Peter’s previous costumes or street clothes.
Why didn’t we see more of this suit, you wonder? That’s because Tony made it so that he could deactivate the armor, should Spider-Man decide to join Captain America’s cause in the Civil War.
If you’re a comic book fan, these may be very familiar to you. And if you’re not, I’m sure that some of the entries must be extremely confusing. They probably make more sense in context, though. Either way, the important thing is that, now, you hopefully know more things about the popular superhero, thanks to the 10 Spider-Man Powers You Had No Idea About.
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