Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

From Marvel Database

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early life 1.2 Becoming Amazing 1.3 Taking on Great Responsibility 1.4 Early Career 1.5 University Years 1.6 Post-Graduation 1.7 The Symbiote 1.8 The Clone Saga 1.9 A New Leash on Life 1.10 Civil War 1.11 One More Day & Brand New Day 1.12 Dark Reign 1.12.1 American Son 1.12.2 Red-Headed Stranger 1.12.3 Who Was Ben Reilly? 2 Powers and Abilities 2.1 Powers 2.2 Abilities 2.3 Strength level 2.4 Weaknesses 3 Paraphernalia 3.1 Equipment 3.2 Transportation 4 Notes 5 Appearances in Other Media 6 Links 6.1 Discover and Discuss

History

Early life

Peter Parker was orphaned at the age of six when his parents were killed in an airplane crash overseas. He went to live with his uncle and aunt; Ben and May Parker, in Forest Hills, New York. Parker was extremely bright and became a high honors student at Midtown High School. Parker's shyness and scholastic interest often made him a social outcast.

Becoming Amazing

One evening, Parker attended a public exhibition demonstrating the safe handling of nuclear laboratory waste materials sponsored by the General Techtronics Corporation. During the demonstration, a small common house spider happened to be in the path of a particle accelerator's beam and was massively irradiated. The stricken spider fell on to Parker's hand, broke his skin with its fangs, and died.

With his hand burning from the bite, Parker left the exhibition. Parker made his way home and passed through an unfamiliar section of the city, where he was accosted by a gang of hoodlums. Tossing the gang members aside, Parker was shocked by his own display of strength. As he fled from them, he ran into the path of a speeding car, and leaped to safety about thirty feet up onto a nearby wall. To his growing surprise, he discovered that he was able to stick to the wall with his fingertips. As he easily walked down a guy wire to the street below, he realized that he now possessed a superb sense of balance. Parker quickly associated these spider-like abilities with the bite from the irradiated spider.

Parker went home, where his Aunt May sent him on an errand to deliver clothing to a charity drive located in a nearby National Guard Armory. There, he saw a wrestling match which offered a prize for anyone who could remain in the ring for at least three minutes with a professional wrestler. Interested in testing his new-found powers, Parker decided to accept the wrestler's challenge. Wearing a mask to conceal his features to avoid embarrassment in case he lost, he easily defeated his opponent.

A television producer's talent agent spotted Parker at the wrestling match, and promised him a segment on a network variety show. Parker, calling himself "the Amazing Spider-Man", accepted the offer and decided to use it as a springboard to a show business career as a spectacular stunt performer. Over the next several evenings, Parker used equipment borrowed from his high school to fabricate a fluid that imitated a spider's silk web, and design spinneret devices to project that fluid from his wrists in the form of a web strand. He also silk screened his original design for a costume onto a body stocking and full-head mask. Thus prepared, Peter Parker appeared as Spider-Man on national television and was an immediate media sensation.

When the television show ended, a burglar, being pursued by a security guard, ran by Parker who impetuously allowed him to pass, although he could have easily stopped him. When reprimanded by the guard, Parker arrogantly replied that he was a professional performer, and that chasing criminals was the guard's job. Parker promptly forgot the incident.

A few days later, Parker returned home to find that his Uncle Ben had been murdered by a burglar. A police officer informed him that the burglar had been trailed to a nearby abandoned warehouse where the police had him trapped. Grief-stricken, Parker rushed to the warehouse to seek vengeance. At the warehouse, Parker, as Spider-Man, easily captured the burglar and realized that he was the same person that he had allowed to run past him earlier that day in the TV studio. He realized that if he had acted responsibly earlier, he might have prevented the death of his uncle. Filled with remorse, he realized that with power comes responsibility, and he vowed to never shirk that responsibility again.^[3]

Taking on Great Responsibility

Peter began to use his powers to fight crime. He also tried to join the hero team the Fantastic Four in their formative stages, but was dismissed.^[4] As a solo hero, Parker took pictures of his fights as Spider-Man using an automatic camera, and then sold the pictures to The Daily Bugle. Spider-Man rapidly became one of the most well-known citizens in New York City, although Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson soon branded him a "menace". Parker's main concern was for his Aunt May, who he feared would have a heart attack if she ever found out about his crime-fighting identity.

Early Career

Early in his career, Spider-Man fought the master of disguise, the Chameleon, the high-flying, low-down Vulture, the terrible Tinkerer, the tentacled terror Doctor Octopus, the sand-shifting Sandman, the diabolical Doctor Doom, the lethal Lizard, the electronic Living Brain, the electrical enemy Electro, the Big Man and his Enforcers, the mysterious illusion master Mysterio, the megalomaniac Green Goblin, and the predatory Kraven the Hunter. Several of these villains would form the Sinister Six, a team completely dedicated to the destruction of Spider-Man that would change its roster many times over the years.

During this time, Parker dated Betty Brant of the Daily Bugle, although Liz Allan had a crush on him. At the same time, both Aunt May and her neighbor, Anna Watson, were encouraging Parker to date Anna's niece, Mary Jane Watson, whom he would not meet until months later.

Before the graduation from his high school, Peter, ever the superhero, continued to fight off menaces, including the Circus of Crime, the sinister Scorpion, the Beetle, the Spider-Slayers, the Crime-Master, and the Molten Man.

University Years

After high school, Parker enrolled in Empire State University, and divided his time as a hero, a student, and photographer. Eventually, Parker moved into his own apartment with Harry Osborn, the son of Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin. It was Norman Osborn, in fact, who became the first super-villain, the first person even, to learn Spider-Man's secret identity. During this time, he developed a relationship with Gwen Stacy. He fought the Rhino, the second Vulture, the Shocker, the Kingpin, the Prowler, Silvermane, and Morbius the Living Vampire. Unfortunately, during Spider-Man's conflicts with Doctor Octopus and the original Green Goblin, both Captain George Stacy and Gwen were killed (albeit at different times). Some time later, Parker developed a steady relationship with Mary Jane. Parker proposed marriage, although Mary Jane declined, and soon left Parker's life for many months.

Post-Graduation

Eventually, Parker graduated from ESU, and pursued his career as a hero and photographer. As he continued to live on his own, his Aunt May decided to transform her home into a senior citizens' boarding house. At one point Parker began a romantic relationship and heroic partnership with the Black Cat, although Parker later broke it off due to the Black Cat's disdain for Parker's life apart from being Spider-Man.

The Symbiote

Prior to this, Spider-Man was among the heroes kidnapped by the powerful Beyonder to fight in his so-called "Secret Wars". When his costume was damaged, Parker tried using the futuristic technology on the Beyonder's planet to repair it, and instead, replaced it with an alien "symbiote" which transformed into a black version of Spider-Man's costume, perhaps based on the newly appeared Spider-Woman. Parker used the symbiote for his costume, which was capable of transforming into street clothing as well as generating webs. When the costume behaved strangely, Parker sought help from the Fantastic Four's Mister Fantastic, who discovered the costume was a living organism. He helped remove the costume by force, and kept it at the Fantastic Four's headquarters in captivity. The symbiote would later escape, plaguing the life of Parker again and ultimately merging with one of Spider-Man's critics, Eddie Brock, creating the villain Venom.

As Spider-Man, Parker met and fought alongside nearly every hero in Manhattan, if not the world. Although he fought with the Avengers many previous times, he tried to join their number when he learned of the financial stipend their members received. Parker helped them stop an invasion and subsequent breakout of the energy research and villain internment facility, Project Pegasus. Spider-Man was deemed, however, to disrupt the team's cohesiveness, and was denied membership. Later, however, Spider-Man met the international mercenary Silver Sable, often working on her behalf.

Later still, Mary Jane returned to Parker's life, and, after a battle between Spider-Man and the Puma, she revealed that she had known (or at least suspected) Peter Parker's secret identity from almost the beginning of his career. Soon after, the two were married.

Peter's old friend Harry Osborn leased the couple a loft in the condo that Harry and his family were also living in. Mary Jane's cousin Kristy also temporarily moved in with the Parkers at one point. Eventually, however, the Parkers had to move into a room in Aunt May's house due to financial problems.

At this time, Spider-Man once again allied with the Avengers to stop the alien Nebula from destroying reality with her Infinity Union. An increasingly unnerved Spider-Man, unaccustomed to dealing with cosmic-scale menaces, accidentally allowed Nebula to absorb the power of the Infinity Union, although the Avengers, Spider-Man, and the alien Stranger thwarted her regardless. Parker was told again that Spider-Man may not be suited for Avengers membership, although later he was inducted into their number on a provisional basis.

Parker later returned to his studies and postgraduate work as a lab assistant at Empire State University. During this time, Parker was briefly endowed with the powers of Captain Universe, in order to stop a series of robots, including the mutant-killing Sentinels. Once the menace was defeated, the extra powers left him.

The Clone Saga

Aunt May supposedly suffered a debilitating heart attack and died shortly after, revealing she knew Parker's secret. This also led to the Parkers meeting Ben Reilly, whom he had fought earlier as a clone of himself. Reilly created a similar spider-costume, dubbed the Scarlet Spider by the Daily Bugle, and helped Spider-Man in his adventures. Shortly afterward, Mary Jane became pregnant. Peter and Mary Jane briefly moved to Portland, as Parker considered retiring from being Spider-Man in order to start a family.

Reilly eventually assumed the identity of Spider-Man himself, since the second villain by the name of Doctor Octopus tarnished the reputation of the Scarlet Spider. Mary Jane, meanwhile, was to give birth to baby May Parker, but was rushed to the hospital under the pretense of a medical emergency. The baby was stolen by the original Green Goblin, unknown to the Parkers, who were told the baby died in miscarriage. When the Green Goblin tried to kill Peter Parker, Ben Reilly jumped in front of the Goblin's glider, sacrificing himself to save Parker.

After many more months of adventuring, Spider-Man was framed for murder and increased pressure was placed on capturing him. In order to continue his crime-fighting career and investigate the fraudulent claims, Parker relinquished his Spider-Man identity while creating four unique and separate ones: Dusk, Hornet, Prodigy, and Ricochet. As Dusk, Parker was able to investigate the villain Trapster and publicly exonerate Spider-Man, at which point he resumed his Spider-Man identity. Later, the golden age hero Black Marvel acquired the four costumes and gave them to four teenagers, forming a team he named the Slingers.

When the Avengers were attempting to reform their number after disbanding for a year after the crisis known as Onslaught, Spider-Man was contacted due to his past affiliation with them. However, by his own choice, Parker decided to dissolve ties with the Avengers.

Aunt May was later discovered to be alive; the woman who seemingly died was in actuality a genetically modified actress. Parker, Mary Jane, and Aunt May moved to an apartment in Manhattan. Parker had promised Mary Jane to give up his Spider-Man identity, but he would continually sneak out at night as Spider-Man. Their marriage began to strain, in part because of Mary Jane's new modeling career and in part because Parker's secret was rediscovered by her. Before they could reconcile, however, Mary Jane was supposedly killed when her airplane exploded. For a long time, Parker refused to believe her dead, but eventually grew to accept it.

Parker discovered Mary Jane was alive, captured by a villain who had been stalking her prior to her airplane flight. After a brief reconciliation, Mary Jane requested to leave Parker once more, saying that she needed time to adjust by herself.

A New Leash on Life

Peter soon took a job as a teacher at his somewhat beloved Midtown High. After getting this job, he encountered a strange old man named Ezekiel who possessed powers very similar to his. He knew Peter's secret identity and talked to him about things about his powers he had never thought of, like, "Did the radiation enable the spider to give you these powers? Or was the spider trying to give you those powers before it died?" After many questions, telling Spidey his powers were 'totemistic' in nature, and showing Peter what he could have done had he stayed in showbiz, Ezekiel warned Peter about a totemistic predator named Morlun, who would try to kill him. After ignoring the warnings of Ezekiel, and being defeated by Morlun, Spidey attempted to get Ezekiel to help him. Refusing to do so, Spidey went after Morlun again after Spidey found him terrorizing innocent people.

After being nearly beaten again, Ezekiel helped Spidey, but seemingly perished. Spidey then injected himself with radiation at a nuclear plant, which hurt Morlun, thus enabling Spider-Man to defeat him. However, after the brutal battle, Spider-Man returned to his apartment, and fell deep asleep. Aunt May came by, only to find that Peter had severe wounds and scars, and a tattered Spider-Man costume on the floor.

After a day of coming to grips with the fact that her nephew was Spider-Man, Aunt May revealed that she knew. Now their relationship was stronger than ever, and eventually, Mary Jane and Peter reunited for good. Later still, after a breakout at the Raft Security Prison, Spider-Man joined the New Avengers. May, Peter, and Mary Jane moved into Avengers Tower after an enemy destroyed both Peter's and May's places.

Changes resulting from a confrontation with Morlun^[5] caused Peter to try and reconcile 'the man and the spider' within himself. He then gained greater speed, poisonous, razor-sharp stingers located within his arms, night vision, increased sensory awareness via vibratory patterns transmitted through the hairs on his body and through his weblines, a greater clinging ability, and equal superhuman strength in order to carry heavy objects on his back.

Civil War

Main article: Civil War

Tony Stark used his knowledge and highest-tech equipment to tailor Peter a new and, in many ways, extraordinary suit. It was based on nano-fiber and controlled by Peter himself by thinking of what he wanted it to do. In its appearance and function, it quite resembled Iron Man´s armor and since Spider-Man effectively became Tony's right hand man, Spider-Man was dubbed "Iron Spidey."

When the Civil War began, Spider-Man was conflicted over which side to choose. He was originally set against revealing his identity, though noncompliance would have made him an outlaw. Peter was prepared to liquidate his assets and flee the country with his wife and aunt to avoid revealing his identity and putting them in jeopardy. On one hand, Iron Man wanted him to be in favor of the Superhero Registration Act. However, having had a secret identity, Spider-Man would've rather been with Captain America, against the act. Aunt May and Mary Jane, on the other hand, were supportive of the idea, and felt it was time for Peter to finally get some much-deserved recognition for all of his good work. Spider-Man revealed his secret identity at a press conference held by Iron Man to an entire room of stunned media. This was Peter's show of commitment to the cause and a show of solidarity with his mentor, Tony Stark. Peter went above and beyond the requirements of the SRA when he outed himself.

Exposing himself to the attention of the main public had caused several emotions, ranging from extreme enthusiasm to anger, and straining his relationship with J.J. Jameson, who felt betrayed by Peter. Jameson filed a suit on Peter Parker, asking him for the restitution of all the money he paid him during the years for his Spider-Man photos plus punitive damages. Tony Stark drafted Spider-Man in a task-force to hunt the rebel heroes and bring them to justice - severely upsetting Peter as he felt blindsided by such a decision, perhaps most agitated about the possibility of having to confront Captain America.

Peter still intended to teach at Midtown High and thanks to a holographic projector given to him by the X-Men's Beast, he was able to do so under a new identity of 'Ben Reilly', using the name of one of his clone's aliases. He also used the device to impersonate the Punisher and Wolverine, in order to scare off would-be bounty hunters who would use the students as hostages to draw Spider-Man out for the reward.

After the second fight with Captain America, Peter became doubtful that he was on the right side. He asked Iron Man to allow him to visit the prison which was built in the Negative Zone for unregistered superheroes. When he saw how the prisoners were being treated, he decided to change sides and asked May and Mary Jane to escape from Stark Tower. He was then attacked by Iron Man, who found out that Spider-Man had made a decision to betray him.

Revolting against Iron Man and his Pro-Registration Campaign, Spider-Man fled Stark Tower, and rushed into the sewers for temporary cover, where he was ambushed by the Jester and Jack O'Lantern, two of the super villains enlisted by S.H.I.E.L.D to hunt down the anti-registration superheroes. They were both shot dead by the Punisher, who rescued Spider-Man and brought him to the headquarters of the Secret Avengers for medical treatment. As of now, Spider-Man had again gone public on television, formally announcing his reversal of support for the Registration Act and revealing the existence of the prison within the Negative Zone. Tony Stark now considered him a traitor and ordered his forces to hunt him down.

Spider-Man took part in the final battle of the Civil War, supporting Captain America. The final battle culminated in the streets of New York City, and was all but won when Captain America was taken down by the people of New York. Captain America realized he lost sight of the American ideals and let himself be arrested as Steve Rogers. The Civil War wrapped up with a majority of the Secret Avengers accepting general amnesty. Spider-Man remained underground with Luke Cage's Avengers.

The Kingpin, meanwhile, put out a hit on Spider-Man, and an assassin was targeting Mary Jane and Aunt May. Spider-Man disappeared after the battle and made his way to the motel room where he, Mary Jane, and Aunt May were living. As he was welcomed by his loved ones, his spider-sense rang and he quickly hit the floor with Mary Jane. Unfortunately, in the act of saving one, he lost the other, and Aunt May was severely wounded by shot to the chest. Spider-Man donned the black suit and tracked down those who were responsible.

The Scarlet Spiders, a type of covert ops team with abilities similar to Spider-Man's and suit-morphing capabilities, helped restore Peter Parker's secret identity. The group asked Spider-Man for help in capturing a gang called the Vulturions. In return, in front of a public crowd, one of them changed his appearance so that he looked like Peter Parker. The Scarlet Spiders lied to the crowd and said that Peter Parker was a member of the group, but was fired for bad behavior. Even J. Jonah Jameson wasn't sure if Peter Parker was really Spider-Man, thus, Peter Parker had gained his secret identity back.^[6][7]

One More Day & Brand New Day

Peter grew increasingly desperate to save the life of his Aunt May. He sought the help of Dr. Strange, finding that even magic couldn't help him save Aunt May's life. After appealing to Tony Stark, Jarvis was sent with $2 million to pay the hospital fees and give her the best care possible. At one point, Eddie Brock was found in Aunt May's room, who attempted to commit suicide by jumping out of the window.

Peter was approached by Mephisto, offering to take away the love that he and Mary Jane shared, claiming that their unconditional love only occurred once a millennium. Mephisto would get one over on God and he would enjoy listening to the small part of Peter and Mary Jane's souls that did remember the love. Mary Jane whispered some conditions to Mephisto before agreeing, such as demanding everyone forget that Peter Parker was Spider-Man. Much to his own dismay, Peter agreed also.

“The cycle of life is essential to the very core of existence, to the survival of the universe. To fight that cycle... is to fight the very forces of creation itself. And that power... is not within my grasp. Or yours... We all die, Peter. You, me, and those we love most dearly. All we can do is whether or not those we love die alone. I do not regret that I loved them, only that, in so many cases, I was not there to do what is perhaps the most important thing of all. I was not there to say goodbye”. - Doctor Strange to Peter Parker in One More Day

In a flash, Peter woke up, realizing he was late for a "Welcome Home" party. He sped out of Aunt May's house, jumped onto his bicycle and headed for the venue. Upon arriving, Flash mentioned his tardiness - but he was just in time. Also back from five years in a European rehab center was Harry Osborn.

After months of no one but Peter himself knowing the identity of Spider-Man, he unmasked to his teammates on the New Avengers at the request of Ronin, the team's new leader, in order to implicitly earn the team's trust^[8].

Dark Reign

Main article: Dark Reign

Still with the New Avengers, Spider-Man helped in looking for the Skrull-Jarvis who had Luke Cage's child^[9]. Norman Osborn gave Mac Gargan a medication that reset the symbiote to the size it was when it possessed Spider-Man originally so that Mac Gargan could be the Dark Avengers' version of Spider-Man.^[10] Spider-Man revealed his secret identity to the New Avengers upon their insistence.^[11]

Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four journeyed to a macroverse they had once before visited and saved, during which Spider-Man spent the whole trip unmasked. Due to Mephisto's magic, the Fantastic Four's recollection of these events had been altered, so that they did not remember what Spider-Man's unmasked face looked like. On their return, the group discovered a stone monument of them, built by the grateful denizens of the macroverse. While the Fantastic Four's likenesses showed slight signs of age, Peter's face had been worn down to the point where it was unrecognizable. This prompted Johnny to begin asking questions, even going as far as to attempt to burn Spider-Man's mask off. At the end of their adventure, Spider-Man was convinced to unmask in front of the Fantastic Four, restoring their trust in him, and all their memories of his identity. The group returned from the macroverse, which had been two months later, and when he wondered what had been going on since he left, Spider-Man was shocked and surprised about the mayoral poll result and to find that the new mayor of New York was J. Jonah Jameson.^[12]

After the battle against the new Vulture and with most of the citizens of New York hating him once more, Spider-Man realized that his fury was on Osborn instead of Jameson and made plans to face him in battle.^[13] Spider-Man confronted and fought Osborn, who had made plans to recruit Harry and was about to deliver the final blow, when all of a sudden Harry phoned his dad and told him that he accepted, which had angered and disappointed Spider-Man.

American Son

Main article: American Son

With the help of the Invisible Woman, Spider-Man kidnapped and imprisoned the Dark Spider-Man and posed as him to infiltrate Avengers Tower, where Norman revealed to his Avengers the plans for Harry, entitled "American Son".^[14] Osborn revealed the armor and formula (an amalgam of the Goblin Formula & Super Soldier Serum) that Harry would be given. When Spider-Man was sent to level 25, he was ambushed and fought with Daken, who he defeated. He was later encountered by Harry, who revealed to Norman that this Spider-Man was not his Spider-Man, prompting Bullseye to shoot both of his legs. Spider-Man pleaded with Harry not to trust his father, but Norman brutally punched him. To everyone's shock, Norman then took out his gun and shot Spidey in the head.^[15] However, Spider-Man managed to take the impact due to the material of his new suit, so he was held captive and repeatedly tortured by Bullseye. Norman revealed he knew Harry joined him because of Lily Hollister, who was pregnant, but revealed that the child she was carrying was really his [Norman's]. Full of anger Spider-Man broke free and ripped some skin off of Norman's face after he threw Bullseye out of a window.

After Spider-Man tried to find Harry and tell him everything, he was brutally beaten by an outraged Norman. He was saved by a guilt-ridden and angry Harry, who now knew the truth about his father's relationship with Lily, and began attacking his own father using the American Son armor.^[16] Peter watched the Osborns fight as his mask disappeared, but Norman was shot out of the building Harry confronted Spider-Man as to why he was involved in their dispute. Spider-Man replied that he didn't want him to be alone, and while Harry still hated Spider-Man, he told him not to be involved and left him. Harry and Norman resumed their battle with Menace now involved, and Peter intervenes despite Harry's words by incapacitating Menace. Spider-man watched as Harry was about to deliver the final blow, but convinced him that if he killed Norman he would become the son he always wanted. This made Harry finally let go of his terms with his father by taking off the American Son armor. They went their separate ways, pleasing Spider-Man and leaving Norman beaten.^[17]

Red-Headed Stranger

It is revealed that both Mary Jane and Peter agreed to meet with each other the following day. However a drunk Peter doesn't remember when or where and is further delayed due to his activities as Spider-Man. M.J. as it turns out was also drunk (while waiting for Peter to muster his courage in order to talk to her) and while she recalls their meeting she has sadly overslept it. As she turns on the TV, wondering how Peter spent his night, she sees Spider-Man rescuing people and she comments: "Guess you did, nice work Tiger" hinting that she is aware of Peter's dual identity^[18] which is confirmed more later In issue 605 flashbacks MJ recalls a fight with Peter while he was dressed as Spider-Man, stating that she didn't care where he was, and that he had a responsibility to their relationship. Peter begins to explain about his uncle Ben, but Mary Jane interrupts him to say that he can't let a single moment define his life.^[19]

Who Was Ben Reilly?

Years after Reilly's death, a super-powered Damon Ryder (going by the name "Raptor") appears during Aunt May's engagement party in Boston. Having stalked the Reillys for some time to find Ben, he instead sees Peter and attacks him. Peter is able to sneak off and change into his costume. The two battle and Raptor claims to be after Ben Reilly, who murdered his family. The news shocks Peter and Raptor escapes. Later investigating by Peter reveals that Ryder's entire family was killed in a fire started by an arsonist, and that he gave a police sketch of the arsonist that looks exactly like Peter and Ben.^[20]

Ryder then appears in New York City and confronts Peter, still believing him to be Ben Reilly and repeatedly calling him "Ben". The two fight in the middle of the office of Frontline after Raptor threatens to target Peter's family. Ryder gains the upperhand before Peter's coworkers get in the way, then leaves after handing over the article on the arsonist, with Ben Urich noting that it appears to be Peter in the sketch. Ryder ditches his jacket not knowing a spider-tracer was on it, and heads to Peter's apartment to seemingly attack his roommate.^[21] After a scuffle with Kaine, Peter returns to his apartment and finds his roommate unharmed, though she gave him the address of Aunt May's home. Peter heads there, only to find Raptor holding Harry Osborn and his cousins hostage at gunpoint. As Raptor announces his plans to kill his friends and family right in front of him after he admits his "true identity" as Ben Reilly, Peter decides he'll have to expose himself as Spider-Man to stop him.^[22]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Spider-Man possesses the proportionate powers of a spider, granted to him from an irradiated Common House Spider (Achaearanea tepidariorum) which bit Peter Parker that was apparently already mutated from prior exposure to certain frequencies of radiation and received a final, lethal dose during Parker's attendance of the exhibition. The radioactive, complex mutagenic enzymes in the spider's blood that were transferred at the time of the bite triggered numerous body-wide mutagenic changes within Parker, granting him Superhuman strength, speed, toughened flesh, and numerous arachnid-like abilities. Like many superhuman powers, the effectiveness of Spider-Man's abilities varies based on the author and the needs of the story.

Original and Current Powers

• Spider-Sense: Spider-Man possesses an extrasensory "danger" or "spider" sense which warns him of potential immediate danger by the manifestation of a tingling sensation in the back of his skull, and links with his superhuman kinesthetics, enabling him to evade most any injuries, unless he cognitively overrides his automatic reflexes. The precise nature of this sense is unknown. It appears to be a simultaneous clairvoyant response to a wide variety of phenomena (everything from falling safes to speeding bullets to thrown punches), which has given several hundredths of a second warning, which is sufficient time for his reflexes to allow him to avoid injury. The sense also can create a general response on the order of several minutes: he cannot discern the nature of the threat by the sensation. He can, however, discern the severity of the danger by the strength of his response to it. Spider-Man's spider-sense is directional and can guide him to or away from hidden weapons and enemies.

Sudden and extreme threats can cause his spider-sense to react with painful intensity. Spider-Man can also sense and dodge attacks directed randomly or by a computer. Using his spider-sense to time his enhanced reflexes, Spider-Man can casually dodge attacks up to and including automatic-weapons fire, provided there is sufficient distance. His spider-sense is sufficiently well-linked to his reflexes to the point that a threat can trigger them even when Spider-Man is asleep or stunned. His spider-sense has helped him preserve his secret identity since it alerts him to observers or cameras when changing into or out of his costume. The spider-sense does react to those who Peter does not consider to be a threat, such as Aunt May. Spider-Man can choose to ignore his spider-sense, and distraction or fatigue diminish its effectiveness. Spider-Man's fighting style incorporates the advantage that his "spider-sense" provides him. His body begins to produce more adrenaline after the sense is triggered, an extension of the 'fight or flight syndrome.'

• Superhuman Strength: Spider-Man possesses superhuman strength enabling him to press lift approximately 10 tons. Spider-Man's physical strength is sufficient to lift and throw objects as heavy such as a semi truck with ease. He must also pull his punches and kicks unless fighting someone of similar or greater physical durability. Otherwise, his blows would prove fatal to a normal human being. He has demonstrated that he strong enough enable him to knock out people with normal durability with as little as a tap to the head. Also during the Secret Invasion, Spider-Man was shown to able to knock a Tyrannosaurus Rex into unconsciousness in one punch. Spider-Man's physical strength also extends into his legs, enabling him to be able to jump to a height of several stories in a single bound. Spider-Man demonstrated this when he leaped over 30 ft vertically into the air when he first leaped out of the way of an oncoming car; it should also be noted that when he first discovered his powers as a teenager, they hadn't developed to that of his prime.

• Superhuman Speed: Spider-Man is capable of running and moving at speeds that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. Spider-Man has showed to be fast enough to catch up to an accelerating car while on foot, but prefers to travel by webs ^[23].

• Superhuman Stamina: Spider-Man's advanced musculature produces less fatigue toxins during physical activity than an ordinary human. This allows him to exert himself physically for much longer periods of time before fatigue begins to impair him. At his peak, Spider-Man can physically exert himself at his peak capacity for several hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood begins to impair him. Several accounts depict Spider-Man as able to hold his breath for eight minutes or more.

• Superhuman Durability: Spider-Man's body is physically tougher and more resistant to some types of injury than the body of a normal human. His body is more resistant to impact forces than anything else. He can withstand great impacts, such as falling from a height of several stories or being struck by an opponent with super strength, that would severely injure or kill a normal human with little to no discomfort. Spider-Man's body is durable to the point where tensing his super-strong muscles while being punched in the torso by a trained heavyweight boxer caused the attacker's wrists to break; also, Spider-Man has stated that he must roll with punches thrown by people without similar strength or durability to avoid breaking their wrists.

• Superhuman Agility: Spider-Man's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are all enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. Spider-Man is extraordinarily limber and his tendons and connective tissues are twice as elastic as the average human being's, despite their enhanced strength. He has the combined agility and acrobatic prowess of the most accomplished circus aerialists and acrobats. He can also perform any complicated sequence of gymnastic stunts such as flips, rolls, and springs. He can easily match or top any Olympic record at gymnastics apparatus such as flying rings, climbing ropes, horizontal bars, trampolines.

• Superhuman Equilibrium: Spider-Man possesses the ability to achieve a state of perfect equilibrium in any position imaginable. He seems able to adjust his position by instinct, which enables him to balance himself on virtually any object, no matter how small or narrow. He has developed a unique fighting style that made full use of his agility, strength, and equilibrium.

• Superhuman Reflexes: Spider-Man's reflexes are similarly enhanced and are currently about 40 times greater than those of an ordinary human. In combination with his spider-sense, the speed of his reflexes allows him to dodge almost any attack, or even gunfire, if he is far enough away. Spider-Man has even been shown in some cases, to be able to dodge gunfire using just his reflexes without his Spider-Sense.

• Regenerative Healing Factor: Spider-Man has a limited healing factor; while not on Wolverine's level, it is sufficiently powerful enough to recover from severe injuries from broken bones and large amounts of tissue damage in a matter of hours. After getting his powers, he soon discovers that he no longer needs glasses and his vision is more acute without them. His eyesight has since been 20/20. During a battle with a villain called the Masked Marauder, Spider-Man is rendered completely blind. However, during a visit to an eye specialist, it is revealed that Spider-Man is already healing only after mere hours of being blasted. After about 2 days, Spider-Man's eyes are healed to perfection and his 20/20 vision is restored, although they are sensitive for about a day after. His accelerated metabolism increases his tolerance to drugs, meaning a larger dose is needed to cause the usual effect, and he can recover from the effects rapidly. During an encounter with the bee-based villain Swarm, Spider-Man is incapacitated by thousands of bee stings, but fully recovers in less than 24 hours. His resistance to other toxins varies, but is typically significantly higher than normal. Although he is still affected by disease and infection, his recovery time is typically shorter than that of an ordinary human. Spider-Man's unique physiology even allows him to recover from the effects of vampirism^[24]. Spider-Man was also recently able to recover completely from acid being spat into his eye by the new Vulture; the extent of the damage may have been restricted due to his superhuman durability.

• Wall-Crawling: Spider-Man's exposure to the mutated spider venom induced a mutagenic, cerebellum-wide alteration of his engrams resulting in the ability to mentally control the flux of inter-atomic attraction (electrostatic force) between molecular boundary layers. This overcomes the outer electron shell's normal behavior of mutual repulsion with other outer electron shells and permits the tremendous potential for electron attraction to prevail. The mentally controlled sub-atomic particle responsible for this has yet to be identified. This ability to affect the attraction between surfaces is so far limited to Spider-Man's body (especially concentrated in his hands and feet) and another object, with an upper limit of several tons per finger. Limits to this ability seem to be psychosomatic, and the full nature of this ability has yet to be established.

Powers after "Brand New Day": Although not technically Spider-Man's power, the worldwide mindwipe of Spider-Man's identity as Peter Parker was part of Mephisto's deal to save Aunt May in "Brand New Day". Spider-Man is aware that the whole world has forgotten his secret identity, and describes it to Mister Fantastic as a "psychic blind spot," where any evidence which could lead to Spider-Man being Peter Parker, people would not be able to connect the dots, or they would come up with the wrong solution, but would accept it as the right one regardless. If Spider-Man was to unmask himself - or be unmasked, then any related people witnessing the incident, would have their memories returned. Mister Fantastic claims to be able to duplicate the "firewalls" for himself and the Fantastic Four, allowing Spider-Man to safely tell them his identity without fear of compromising his secret.

Former Powers:

Following the events of "The Queen" and "The Other", some of Spider-Man's traditional powers, and most of his physical limits were increased to levels beyond their original range while others remained the same. He also gained a variety of new, spider-like abilities due to these further mutations. However, with reality itself being altered after the events of "One More Day", Spider-Man's powers have all returned to their original levels and he has lost his new superhuman abilities. The following is a list of those increased and newly gained powers.

The super villain Plantman infected the mutant Synch with a mutagenic pollen, as revenge for a previous defeat by Generation X. The pollen transformed Synch into a giant, misshapen beast. When Spider-Man confronted Synch, he was also trapped by Plantman and transformed. Fortunately, although he was a monster, Spider-Man kept his intelligence. Spider-Man exposed Plantman to the same pollen that had transformed him and Synch, and was able to get the antidote.

• Superhuman Strength: Originally able to lift 10 tons but following an encounter with an enemy known as the Queen, Spider-Man's strength was increased to the point that he could lift about 15 tons. Following the events of "The Other", his strength was further increased so that he could lift 20 tons.

• Superhuman Durability: In a fight against Mysterio after "The Other" arc, Spider-Man stated that he had become more durable than before.

• Superhuman Speed: In a fight against Mysterio after "The Other" arc, Spider-Man stated that he had become faster than before.

• Superhuman Agility: In a fight against Mysterio after "The Other" arc, Spider-Man stated that he had become more agile than before.

• Superhuman Reflexes: Spider-Man's reflexes were enhanced along with his physical strength.

• Psychological Awareness of Environment: Spider-Man's spider-sense could be used to psychologically see his surrounding environment, even when blinded or in extremely dark conditions, allowing him to navigate without worry. Even under normal conditions, his spider-sense helps him navigate darkened rooms, instinctively avoiding obstacles or hazards, or potentially noisy or unstable floorboards, walls or ceilings that may betray his presence. With his spider sense, Spider-Man can ascertain non-threatening information, such as detecting the concealed presence of loved ones.

• Radio Frequency Detection: Spider-Man's spider-sense could also be used to detect certain radio frequencies. Spider-Man's technical skill was such that he had designed spider-tracers that broadcast a signal detectable by his spider-sense.

• Psychic Alignment with Arthropods: Thanks to the genetic manipulations of the Queen, Spider-Man's spider-sense improved dramatically, creating a psychic alignment with his environment, especially with other arachnids and insects, and a more empathic and sympathetic relationship with spiders and insects. He was particularly connected to the populations of spiders, though unable to communicate with them directly or command them. In one instance, spiders voluntarily covered his unconscious body, concealing him from Shathra's predation.

• Night Vision: Spider-Man's vision had been enhanced to the point that he is able to see clearly at night, or at least in very dim lighting.

• Vibration and Air Current Sense via Hair and Webbing: Spider-Man also possessed the ability to sense vibrations and currents of air transmitted on the hairs on his arm or on his web lines.

• Regenerative Healing Factor: Originally, Spider-Man was just a moderately fast healer, but after the events in "The Other", he gained the ability to rapidly recover from severe injuries from broken bones and large amounts of tissue damage in a matter of hours. During the recent unmasking of Spider-Man in "Civil War," Spidey was ambushed by the Rhino, receiving heavy bodily damage, only to heal before the issue was over, without medical attention. He even mentioned to Aunt May that 'he knows he has always been a fast healer, but lately it seems even more so.' Also when Spidey was heavily beaten and drugged, suffering multiple fractures and blood loss by the Jack O' Lantern and Jester in "Civil War," he was almost completely healed in the next issue. Spider-Man was also recently able to recover completely from acid being spat into his eye by the new Vulture; the extent of the damage may have been restricted due to his superhuman durability.

• Biological/Organic Webbing Generation: After the "Disassembled" saga, Spider-Man was also gifted with the ability to organically produce his own silk webbing from glands within his forearms, limited by his body's health and nutrition. These organic webs had many of the same properties as Spider-Man's artificial webbing, though they required a week to decay rather than decomposing within two hours. Thanks to its similar properties, it appeared Spider-Man could utilize his organic webbing in any way he could with his artificial webbing. The silk was released through a spinneret near each wrist containing a central web spigot orifice used for web-slinging and drag lines, supplemented by several radial minor spigots for other types of webs connected to specialized glands.

• Vibration Sensation via Webbing: After his evolution in "The Other: Evolve or Die", Spider-Man's senses evolved to the point that he was now able to sense vibrations transmitted from his webbing. Spider-Man could utilize this to find beings or objects within buildings or other places by the vibrations they emit when moving.

• Hibernation Healing: It was revealed in the story arc "Evolve or Die" that Spider-Man entered a state of dormancy and shed his skin and outer tissues, just like an actual spider, at least once in his life time. Spider-Man's recent intermittent black outs and loss of superpowers were the result of the involuntary attempt of his body to enter this dormant state. The symptoms manifested themselves because Parker was simply too stubborn to allow himself to hibernate; he finally did so as a result of a near-death experience.

• Stingers: Spider-Man developed retractable, poisonous, razor-sharp stingers that were located within his arms that released a polyamine venom, causing direct trauma and/or flaccid paralysis via interference with nerve impulse transmission. While a typical injection could paralyze a normal adult human for several hours, the impalement proved fatal to the nigh-invulnerable Morlun. How it pierced Morlun's skin is yet unknown, and may have involved mystical factors. Parker had subconsciously extended his stingers in response to stress and was learning greater control.

Phoenix Force:

In yet another one of Spider-Man's transformations, he turned into Phoenix after she was apparently killed. Soon after he turned into Spider-Phoenix, all of his deadliest foes began to attack him. It turned out that it was merely a sophisticated illusion created by Arcade, with technology he had won in a trade with a visiting off-world soldier.^[25]

Abilities

• Indomitable Will: Spider-Man has a strong Force of Will. For years, he has struggle to balance his life as a student and his superhero duties. He is able to emerge from defeat even stronger. His mental strength is also shown when he successfully wrestles control of nanobots from Doctor Octopus.
• Gifted Intellect: Academically gifted, Peter displayed an uncanny affinity for science that was nothing short of genius ^[26].
• Science Major: He is a brilliant individual, with exceptional skill in practically every field of science, and is an excellent inventor ^[27]. He is an accomplished chemist and physicist ^[28].
• Skilled Photographer: Peter is a very skilled photographer ^[29].
• Master Acrobat: Thanks to his great strength and phenomenal equilibrium, Peter is an excellent athlete, excelling in all gymnastic fields and being able to perform every acrobatic stunt ever performed, including others that can never be performed by even an Olympic acrobat.
• Expert Combatant: Thanks to Peter's amazing superhuman physiology, acrobatic powers and spider sense, he is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, with a fighting style derived from his spider-like attributes, which utilizes various techniques such as those used in boxing and wrestling, as well as ground fighting and tricking.

  Strength level

Peter is capable of lifting approximately 10 tons. He was formerly able to lift up to 20 tons, prior to Mephisto's alteration of reality.

Weaknesses

Spider-Man's Spider Sense can lose its effectiveness if it is blocked or temporarily weakened by specialized equipment or certain drugs. It also won't trigger if it detects something that isn't registered as a threat like the Spider-Man clones or the Symbiotes.

Additionally Anti-Venom's failed attempt to cure Spider-Man of his radioactive blood resulted in Spider-Man's powers slowly canceling out whenever Anti-Venom is too close to him.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Current Equipment

Main article: Spider-Man's Web-Shooters

• Web-Shooters: Parker's brilliance at physical science allowed him to create web-shooters for use when he became Spider-Man ^[30]. The twin devices worn on his wrists were able to shoot thin strands of a special "web fluid" at high pressure.

• Web Fluid: A shear-thinning liquid, virtually solid until a shearing force is applied to it, rendering it fluid, whose exact formula remains unknown, but is rumored to be related to nylon. On contact with air, the long-chain polymer knits and forms an extremely tough, flexible fiber with extraordinary adhesive properties. The web fluid’s adhesive quality diminishes rapidly with exposure to air. Where it does not make contact with air, such as the attachment disk of the web-shooter, it remains very adhesive. After approximately 2 hours, imbibed ether causes the solid form of the web fluid to dissolve into a powder. Because the fluid almost instantly melts from solid to liquid when under shear pressure, and is not adhesive in its anaerobic liquid/solid phase transition point, there is no clogging of the web-shooter’s parts.

The spinneret mechanism in the web-shooter is machined from stainless steel, except for the turbine component, which is machined out of a block of Teflon and the two turbine bearings, which are made of amber and artificial sapphire. The wristlet and web fluid cartridges are mainly nickel-plated annealed brass. Spider-Man’s web cartridge belt is made out of brass and light leather and holds up to 30 cartridges. The cartridges are pressurized to 300 pounds per square inch and sealed with a bronze cap which is silver soldered closed. The wristlets have sharp steel nipples, which pierce the bronze cap when the cartridges are tightly wedged into their positions. A palm switch that is protected by a band of spring steel, which requires a 65 pounds pressure to trigger, actuates the hand-wound solenoid needle valve. The switch is situated high on the palm to avoid most unwanted firings. A rubber seal protects the small battery compartment. The effect of the very small turbine pump vanes is to compress (share) the web fluid and then force it, under pressure, through the spinneret holes which cold-draws it (stretches it: the process wherein nylon gains a four-fold increase in tensile strength), then extrudes it through the air where it solidifies. As the web fluid exits the spinneret holes, it is attracted to itself electrostatically and thus can form complex shapes. The spinneret holes have three sets of adjustable, staggered openings around the turbine, which permit a single line, a more complex, spun web line, and a thick stream. The web line’s tensile strength is estimated to be 120 pounds per square millimeter of cross section. The 300 pounds per square inch of pressure in each cartridge is sufficient to force a stream of the complex web pattern an estimated 60 feet (significantly farther if shot in a ballistic parabolic arc).

The web formula has been altered as needed, including an insulated version for Electro and asbestos webbing for fighting the Human Torch or a similarly-powered foe.

Former Equipment

• Spare Fantastic Costume: When Reed Richards first examined the alien symbiote and separated it from Peter, he was left without a costume and could not simply go web-slinging undisguised as it could reveal his identity. At the mercy of the Human Torch, he was given a spare Fantastic Four costume and a paper bag as a mask, temporarily becoming what Johnny dubbed: "The Bombastic Bagman!"

The suit itself was made of unstable molecules, insulated the wearer from electrical assaults and performed all other functions any of the Fantastic Four's own suits would.

• Steel-Plated Costume: In order to fight the New Enforcers, who were heavily armed, Peter developed a steel-plated version of his costume; The "steel plates" were actually derived from a pseudo-metallic composition that Peter created while in the laboratory of Empire State University.^[31] Unfortunately it was destroyed by acid, and was never recreated or duplicated again.^[32]

• Iron Spider Armor: Tony Stark developed an armored suit for Spider-Man in light of events. Supported by a system similar to that of Stark's classic Iron Man design, it featured many gadgets, including:

• Waldoes: The Iron Spider Armor possessed three mechanical spider-arms, or "waldoes," that could be used to see around corners (via cameras in the tips) and to manipulate objects indirectly. Stark described them as too delicate to use in combat, yet Spider-Man shortly afterward used them to smash through the sensors in the Titanium Man's helmet. He also used them briefly while fighting Captain America, scratching the Cap's face as a distraction.

• Lockdown Code: When developing the armor, Iron Man installed an emergency code that would freeze up the suit, making Spiderman helpless. This was done in case Spiderman ever changed sides. When Peter did defect to the Anti-Registration forces, he fought Iron Man, who used the passcode against him. However, this turned out to be an advantage, as it caused Iron Man to let his guard down long enough for Spider-Man, who had built in a counter code that negated the lockdown, to blind Tony and escape.

• Liquid Metal Nano-Fiber: The armor was composed of a liquid metal nano-fiber and could more or less disappear when not needed. It responded to neuro-chemical impulses, as well as blend into a variety of backgrounds. He could give it the shapes and colors of his classic costumes for instance.

• Gliding: The armor incorporated mesh webbing that granted the suit mid-range gliding capabilities on wind currents.

• Bulletproof and Heatproof: The armor was both bulletproof and heatproof, thanks to it being composed of a heat-resistant Kevlar micro-fiber that could resist small-caliber bullets.

• Built-in Emergency Scanner: The armor possessed a built-in police, fire, and emergency scanner that allowed Spider-Man to listen to police, fire, and/or emergency broadcasts through radio waves.

• Audio/Visual Amplification: The armor possessed audio and visual amplification, enabling him to see in the infrared and ultraviolet portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

• Carbon-Filtering System: The armor possessed a carbon-filtering system in the mouth area that enabled Spider-Man to breathe in toxic environments by filtering out toxic particles in the air. It also granted the ability to breathe underwater.

• Short-Range GPS Microwave Communication System: The suit possessed a short-range GPS microwave communication system that enabled Spider-Man to communicate with others over short distances.

• Costume Detachment: Part of the costume could detach itself from Spider-Man to cover an object too dangerous to touch, such as a radioactive asteroid.

• Nano Technology: Peter's suit was able to blend in with environments, change color and was able to hide under his clothes.

All these features were controlled by a computer system in the chest piece, and the suit itself responded to mental control.^[33] The armor also had a secret override that could be activated by Iron Man in case of emergencies or if Spider-Man ever switched sides (which he eventually did). However, unknown to Stark, Peter was already aware of the safety measure and had bypassed it with his own override, Password Surprise.

Transportation

• Spider-Man's main form of transportation is "web slinging" with the aid of his spider-webs.
• Spider Mobile (no longer used).
  

Notes

• Spider Man has been parodied as the character Spider-Ham in the Marvel Tales and What the-?! series.

• Spider-Man is one of the few people to have become Captain Universe, chosen by the Uni-Power. Although it was only for a short time, Cosmic Spider-Man could manipulate his webbing into different shapes, generate energy blasts, fly and had all of his 5 senses superhumanly enhanced. Before he defeated the Tri-Sentinel, he even managed to take on the likes of Magneto and Dr. Doom.^[34]
  

Appearances in Other Media

• Spider-Man from the Spider-Man Live-action TV Show (1977)
• Spider-Man from the Spider-Man Cartoon (1967)
• Spider-Man from Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994)
• Spider-Man from Spider-Man Unlimited (1999)
• Spider-Man from the Spider-Man films (2000)
• Spider-Man from Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003)
• Spider-Man from Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006)
• Spider-Man from The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008)

Links

• Appearances of Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
• Character Gallery: Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
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• Spider-Man (Peter Parker) at Wikipedia.org 
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• Spider-man's powers, abilities and equipment
• Amazing Spider-Man.Info
• Spider-Fan
• SPYDER-25
• Spiderman Movie Wikia
• The Best Spider-man Stories

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