All Of Spider-Man's Powers, Explained

Since his debut in 1962, Spider-Man has become a pop culture fixture. He's the star of multiple feature films, numerous animated series, thousands of comic books, and even a Broadway musical. His simple origin story has become as well-known as that of Superman, despite his relative newness: While watching a science demonstration, an irradiated (or in certain interpretations, genetically altered) spider bites high school student Peter Parker, granting him amazing abilities. But when a decision not to act leads to personal tragedy, Peter quickly learns that with great power, there must also come great responsibility.

A major part of Spider-Man's enduring appeal is his everyman quality. Despite his superheroic identity, he still has to worry about bills, school, his  love life, and other relatable problems. This normalcy makes it all the more thrilling to see him use his spectacular spider powers to defeat supervillains and save the day. As his famous theme song says, he can do "whatever a spider can" — and we're here to take a detailed look at what that means. These are Spider-Man's powers, including the ones he rarely uses, explained.

To the average New Yorker living in the Marvel universe, it's not unusual to witness a lean, acrobatic figure performing feats of superhuman agility from street lamps, traffic lights, and rooftops. Still, such a sight probably wouldn't grow old, no matter how many times one sees it.

While other street-level superheroes like Daredevil are certainly limber in their own right, it's a safe bet that Spider-Man outclasses pretty much all of them. After all, the web-slinger is estimated to be 15 times more agile than an average human being (per the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man 2005"). Spider-Man has been seen escaping impossibly difficult predicaments innumerable times because of his extraordinary ability to twist, turn, and contort his body. According to the "Spider-Man: Back in Black Handbook," the secret to his spectacular agility is the fact that the tendons and connective tissue in his body are two times as elastic as a regular person's. This ability doesn't work against his super-strength, meaning Spider-Man's body defies both the rules of human anatomy and the laws of physics.

Spider-Man is also one of the Marvel universe's quickest non-speedster heroes. While he can't quite run like Quicksilver, he can definitely outrun someone like Usain Bolt. Amusingly, this is an ability that's easy to overlook, simply because Spider-Man doesn't really have to do much running.

Peter Parker's spider-sense is certainly remarkable, but it's only one part of the equation when it comes to his ability to avoid incoming danger. His enhanced reflexes make him almost unbeatable in combat, and act as a key component of his early-warning system. Thanks to his body's quick responses, Spider-Man can dodge threats without even seeing them, like a punch from behind or a projectile thrown from a direction not within his direct line of sight.

Over the course of Spider-Man's growth as a superhero, his reflexes, like his other abilities, have gotten a significant boost. According to the "Spider-Man: Back in Black Handbook," Peter now responds to threats faster than an ordinary human being by about 18 times, and can even evade gunfire (provided that the source is a sufficient distance away from him). 

Spider-Man's superhuman reflexes also come in handy for non-combat purposes. For instance, in the first Sam Raimi "Spider-Man" movie, Peter (Tobey Maguire) catches Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and her cafeteria tray after she slips. Amazingly enough this scene was created without CGI, meaning the "Spider-Man" production team proved this feat is possible in real life — albeit with a lot of preparation and a ton of takes.

Another signature Spider-Man power — the one that earned him the moniker "wall-crawler" — is his ability to cling to various surfaces, even those that are perpendicular to the ground, and traverse them with minimal effort.

According to the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man 2004," Spider-Man's wall-crawling ability (sometimes referred to as "biomagnetism") is possible because of the superhero's mental control over "the inter-atomic attraction between molecular boundary layers." This is essentially a fancy way of saying that he can attach himself to surfaces at will. The upper limit of his ability to stick to surfaces is estimated to be at around several tons per finger. Other individuals who have taken on the mantle of Spider-Man have demonstrated a similar ability, albeit through different methods. Spider-Man 2099, for example, is able to climb walls because of sharp talons on his fingers and toes that retract when they come in contact with his own skin.

For the longest time, this unique trait seemed to be limited to Spider-Man's hands and feet (per the "Spider-Man: Back in Black Handbook"). Over time, however, it has extended to the rest of his body. By this point, he can attach objects and even people to his back — he rescues someone from a collapsed apartment building in this manner in "Amazing Spider-Man" #528.

Spider-Man's webs enable him to pull off odd and exciting feats, from shooting web-balls at opponents to detecting vibrations from his web lines. By far, though, the most beloved, practical, and arguably exciting way Spider-Man uses his webs is to travel around the city, swinging from building to building with relative ease.

When Spider-Man releases webbing from his wrist shooters, they can travel up to approximately 60 feet (more if they're expelled in a ballistic parabolic arc). This allows him to simply leap into the air, sling a web, and perform gravity-defying feats of web-swinging. With this ability, Spider-Man doesn't need vehicles to get around, and can respond to emergency calls very quickly. He can even hitch a ride on moving aircraft in this manner.

In case you were curious about how web-swinging would work in real life, the team that worked on 2012's "The Amazing Spider-Man" has answers for you. In an interview with Popular Mechanics, stunt coordinator Andy Armstrong revealed that they studied slowed-down footage of a gymnast performing acrobatics on high bars to understand Spidey's web-swinging. "In reality, the gymnast is driving himself down with his feet and he pulls this enormous force at the bottom of the arc," Armstrong said. "Then he slows until, at the top of the swing, he's absolutely weightless. And then he starts the next swing." Armstrong's team built a rig that actor Andrew Garfield used to "swing" like Spider-Man at an estimated speed of 40 mph.

Just as DC Comics' Gotham City has a Bat-Signal that Commissioner Gordon uses to summon Batman, the Marvel universe has a similar device for Spider-Man — although it doesn't start out that way. In "Amazing Spider-Man" #3, Spider-Man apprehends a group of criminals by shocking them with a high-powered spotlight that resembles his mask. The Spider-Signal is effectively Spider-Man's flashlight, integrated into his belt buckle to help him navigate low-light areas and scare his enemies into surrendering (which typically works on small-time crooks). Per the "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man 2004," the rest of Spider-Man's belt holds his web fluid refills, with enough space for 30 cartridges.

The one time that an actual Spider-Signal akin to Gotham's Bat-Signal is built, it doesn't last very long. In "Superior Spider-Man" #3, New York City mayor J. Jonah Jameson proudly unveils the large signal, which is pointed at the night sky. He switches it on in an attempt to summon Spider-Man, but unfortunately, the Spider-Man who shows up is secretly Doc Ock in control of Spider-Man's body — and he's a man with limited patience for such frivolities. The self-christened "Superior Spider-Man" promptly deactivates the signal, and later destroys it completely in a violent battle against the Vulture.

For most of his costumed career, Spider-Man has been able to see in the dark just about as well as most other heroes can. This never really bothers the wall-crawler much, as he learns to use his spider-sense to guide him through total darkness. While obviously not as good as Daredevil's radar sense, it certainly works in a pinch. This is why his discovery of a new ability in "Amazing Spider-Man" #528 comes as a complete shock to him.

Peter emerges from his cocoon, following his death at the hands of Morlun. While he's still getting used to being back in the land of the living, a news report about a collapsed apartment building jolts him into action. Arriving at the scene, Spider-Man responds without hesitation, attempting to save as many lives from the wreckage as possible. However, when he ventures deeper into the ruins, he is surprised to discover that he can see in the dark, just as if he were wearing a pair of night-vision goggles.

One would think that such an ability would see increased use in the comics. Curiously, Spider-Man's night vision capabilities are rarely brought up and sometimes even ignored, just like many of the other upgrades he received before the "Brand New Day" storyline revamped the status quo.

When the mysterious Spider-person known as Ezekiel Sims enters Spider-Man's life in "Amazing Spider-Man" #30, he introduces a new idea:  The circumstances that gave Peter Parker his powers may not have been solely scientific in nature. In later appearances, Ezekiel tells Peter about the Great Web, a metaphysical construct spun by mystical forces eons ago. This idea is further developed in later comics, especially the massive "Spider-Verse" storyline, which reveals the Web to be the source from which Spider-Man and his multiversal counterparts derive their unique abilities, particularly their spider-sense.

The Web of Life and Destiny serves as a multi-pronged "bridge" that connects all realities across the Marvel multiverse. Guarded by the Great Weaver, the Web enables Spider-people from different realities to travel to different Earths by means of a Dimensional Travel Watch. Spider-Man and his counterparts first use this to stop Morlun and his family of Inheritors from consuming the life forces of all Spider-people across the multiverse. 

While the Web itself hardly plays a role in Spider-Man's everyday adventures, it does get brought up fairly frequently, especially when the hero has to deal with interdimensional threats that require the assistance of other Spider-types.