Spider-Man

Petey

Tiger

Webhead

Wall-Crawler

Web Slinger

Spidey

Spandex

Spider

Benjamin Parker (uncle, deceased)

May Parker (aunt, alive)

Ben Reilly (brother/clone, deceased)

Mary Jane Watson (girlfriend, alive)

Inventor

Photographer for the Daily Bugle

### Unusual Features

Small hairs on his hands and feet that allow him to adhere to walls and most surfaces

## Origin

### Origin

Human mutateWhen high school bookworm Peter Parker was bitten by a Radioactive Spider during a science experiment, he soon found out that he had gained the proportionate powers of an arachnid. In a turn of events, Peter soon discovered that with great power comes great responsibility when his uncle died at the hands of a mugger Peter could have stopped earlier.

### Creators

Stan LeeSteve Ditko

> *The following information comes from Spider-Man*
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**Spider-Man** is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in the anthology comic book *Amazing Fantasy* #15 (Aug. 1962) in the Silver Age of Comic Books. Lee and Ditko conceived the character as an orphan being raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and as a teenager, having to deal with the normal struggles of adolescence in addition to those of a costumed crime-fighter. Spider-Man's creators gave him super strength and agility, the ability to cling to most surfaces, shoot spider-webs using wrist-mounted devices of his own invention, which he calls "web-shooters", and react to danger quickly with his "spider-sense", enabling him to combat his foes.

When Spider-Man first appeared in the early 1960s, teenagers in superhero comic books were usually relegated to the role of sidekick to the protagonist. The Spider-Man series broke ground by featuring **Peter Parker**, the high school student behind Spider-Man's secret identity and with whose "self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness" young readers could relate. While Spider-Man had all the makings of a sidekick, unlike previous teen heroes such as Bucky and Robin, Spider-Man had no superhero mentor like Captain America and Batman; he thus had to learn for himself that "with great power there must also come great responsibility"—a line included in a text box in the final panel of the first Spider-Man story but later retroactively attributed to his guardian, the late Uncle Ben.

Spider-Man is one of the most popular and commercially successful superheroes. As Marvel's flagship character and company mascot, he has appeared in countless forms of media, including several animated and live-action television series, syndicated newspaper comic strips, and in a series of films. The character was first portrayed in live action by Nicholas Hammond in the 1977 television movie *Spider-Man*. In films, Spider-Man has been portrayed by actors Tobey Maguire (2002–2007) and Andrew Garfield (2012–2014), while Tom Holland portrays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, first appearing in *Captain America: Civil War* in 2016. Reeve Carney starred as Spider-Man in the 2010 Broadway musical *Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark*. Spider-Man has been well received as a superhero and comic book character and is usually ranked as one of the greatest comic book characters of all time alongside DC Comics characters such as Batman and Superman. In The Spider-Man: My Own Worst Enemy he is portrayed by Ryan Moore.

## Biography

### Growing up

Peter was born and raised in New York by his parents Richard and Mary Parker. He went on the live with his aunt and uncle when he was orphaned by his parents. He studied at Midtown High School where he struck up a strong friendship with Harry Osborn, son of Oscorp founder Norman Osborn, as well as became the victim of bullying from Flash Thompson and ridicule from his fellow classmates because he didn't quite fit in.

### Becoming Spider-Man

During a field trip to a science centre, Peter was bitten by a spider that had become irradiated by the experiments that were being demonstrated for him and his class. Peter stumbled out of the building, hallucinating that he was mutating into a human spider because of the bite but as he staggered out he was almost hit by a car. To his astonishment, Peter had jumped out of the way and was sticking to the wall. The bite from the irradiated spider had given him not only the ability to climb any surface but a sixth sense, the proportionate speed and strength of a spider, enhanced agility and as a bonus the instinctive knowledge on how to combine the right chemicals and enzymes to create his own webbing and web shooters to shoot them. Peter used these new abilities to get into wrestling, adopting the name "Spider-Man", so as to help his aunt and uncle with their financial issues. The fight promoter was robbed to which Peter did nothing stating he was a "wrestler not a cop" and asking why he should get involved. That same night, he returned home to find his uncle had been murdered in cold blood by an armed gunman. Furious at what happened, Peter donned his costume and went after the crook but got the shock of his life when he unmasked the thug revealing him to be the mugger he failed to stop in the wrestling arena. From that point on, Peter dropped the gig as a wrestler and became a costumed vigilante going by what his uncle had taught him; "with great power comes great responsibility".

### Heroics

After dropping the career of being a wrestler, Peter took on the mantle of a costumed superhero putting away the various thugs of New York City while snapping pictures and earning himself a bit of cash for the Daily Bugle constantly trying to convince J Jonah Jameson of Spider-Man's role as a hero. Spidey eventually went toe to toe with his first supervillain, Doctor Otto Octavius who had four mechanical tentacles grafted to his body in a freak accident . Over time Spidey and the newly named Doctor Octopus battled multiple times, their final encounter resulting in the death of Peter's clone and Octavius' imprisonment under intensive care. Spider-Man's abilities were tested all at once when he came up against the Sinister Six, a team Doctor Octopus assembled made up of himself Sandman, Rhino, Mysterio, Electro and Vulture with the belief that Spidey would be unable to take on six villains and win which he did manage to do.

### The Vampire and the Man-Spider

Michael Morbius was to Peter what Moriarty is to Sherlock Holmes. Morbius was an exchange student from Europe that had joined a program Peter was part of at Horizon Labs with plans of becoming a brilliant scientist much to Peter's jealousy. At the time, Peter was suffering from a type of illness brought on by his radioactive blood so much of what he was doing was working on curing the illness while potentially retaining his spider powers. Morbius came across a vial of Peter's radioactive blood in the office of Dr Curt Connors and took it back to his apartment where in a strange twist of fate, a bat he had been studying ingested some of the blood then bit Morbius. Because of the radioactive nature of the blood, the bat's DNA was altered and Morbius went through a similar experience to Peter after he was bitten. Morbius' skin became pale, he gained the ability to fly, his strength and reflexes were enhanced and his senses were heightened however on the opposite end of the spectrum he craved blood and grew fangs making him a real vampire. Meanwhile in a bid to cure his illness, Peter took a serum he had worked on which instead of doing what it was intended for grew four extra arms as well as worsening his symptoms. As well as dealing with Morbius, Peter came into conflict with Frank Castle who was hunting Spider-Man after a number of incidents were reported thought to have been executed by the wall crawler. During an engagement with Castle, Peter's mutation flared up and he became the Man-Spider a grotesque mutant that was more spider than man, almost killing Castle in the process. The Man-Spider and Morbius finally met face to face with Punisher not far behind. In the battle, Morbius fed on the Man-Spider's blood which did rid Peter of his mutation and his illness but also permanently transformed Morbius into a mutant bat forcing him to flee into exile. Punisher also realised Spider-Man was not to blame for the incidents and formed an uneasy alliance with him.

### Gwen Stacy

Peter always had a crush on the beautiful blonde Gwen Stacy from the very beginning of his time at school but she often turned her nose up at the thought of getting into a relationship with Peter. This however was because of Flash Thompson's influence. After the spider bite made Peter more confident as a person, Gwen gradually started to notice him more and acknowledge him eventually leading to a relationship between them. They were head over heels for each other and she was aware of Peter's secret identity as Spider-Man but their happiness wouldn't last when she was kidnapped by the Green Goblin. Spider-Man battled the Goblin at the George Washington Bridge but during the battle, Gwen was thrown from the bridge. Spider-Man managed to catch her with his webbing but the sudden stop from her fall snapped her neck. Filled with anger, Spider-Man beat Goblin almost to death but as he left the battered villain, the Goblin sent his glider to kill Spidey which he dodged and the glider smashed straight into the Goblin killing him.

### Mary Jane Watson

While flirting and moving closer and closer to a relationship with Gwen, Aunt May had constantly tried hooking Peter up with the niece of her friend Anna Watson. Eventually Peter caved, agreeing to meet her and was left totally speechless when stood in the doorway was Mary Jane Watson. They struck up a strong friendship and even when the relationship between Peter and Gwen finally did happen they remained very close friends, even continuing to hang out on occasion. In the mean time, Mary Jane found herself a relationship with Peter's best friend Harry Osborn. When Gwen died, Peter was a broken man, filled with guilt and sadness at having lost the woman he loved by his own hand. Mary Jane had broken up with Harry when the tragedy began taking it's toll on their relationship and was there to offer support to Peter in this tough time. They did however get a lot closer together and a new romance blossomed between them both.

### Send in the Clones

After being together for a year MJ returned home to find Peter led on the floor of the sitting room unconscious. Peter then walked through the front door much to the confusion of Mary Jane. Once he had regained consciousness, the other Peter revealed his name to be Ben Reilly, where he had come from and that his DNA matched Peter's...right down to his spider powers. This forced Peter to reveal his secret identity as Spider-Man to Mary Jane. Desperate for answers, Peter and Ben travelled to a hidden location where they made the discovery of Peter's science professor Miles Warren, as the Jackal, making clones of various individuals including Gwen Stacy as well as revealing Peter was the clone. After a battle that destroyed the facility, the pair returned to Mary Jane and told her of the revelation after which Ben decided to take on his own superhero identity naming himself the Scarlet Spider and sharing responsibilities with Peter. Ben lost his life tragically in a battle with Doctor Octopus when he was impaled by one of the villain's mechanical tentacles. As he lay dying in Peter's arms, he turned to dust revealing once and for all that Peter was not the clone after all.

### The Black Suit and Venom

Spider-Man became involved in a rather strange three way battle between the hard headed mob boss Hammerhead and the master of illusions Mysterio over a strange small black rock that had been discovered. During the battle the rock was broken in two revealing a black tar-like substance within which Spider-Man found himself covered in upon the end of the battle. The substance had spread all over his body mimicking his costume in design but was able to produce it's own webbing eliminating the need for his webshooters and made Spidey much faster and stronger. However it also changed his personality drastically, making him more violent and moody which distressed all those around him and meant bad news for the criminals who caught him on a bad day. Peter gradually realised what the black suit was doing to him but was reluctant to get rid of it even after learning from Dr Connors that his suit was alive, a symbiote that needed a living host to survive off of however the final straw came when in a fit of rage, he struck Mary Jane unintentionally. He felt incredibly guilty and horrified at what he did that he finally made the decision to ditch the black suit, travelling to a bell tower and using the loud ringing of the bell to remove it remembering from a previous fight that the suit became weakened by loud noise. Unknown to Peter at the time, Eddie Brock was nearby attempting to expose Spider-Man as a false hero after being humiliated countless times by the wall crawler. The wounded symbiote found Brock and bonded with him forming a deadly individual that dubbed itself Venom. Peter's first encounter with Venom came when he arrived home one day to find his apartment trashed and Mary Jane missing. He tracked down MJ's location and faced off against Venom even trying to run away after failing to beat him. Eventually, during his final battle, Peter led Venom to an Oscorp factory remembering that loud noises and extreme temperatures damage the symbiote. The battle took it's toll on Peter but he was able to separate the symbiote from Eddie and breath a sigh of relief. Not too long afterwards the symbiote was found to have survived and was bonded to Flash Thompson, an old school friend of Peter's who was injured serving with the US military as part of a Stark-backed program.

### My Own Worst Enemy

The events of The Spider-Man take place a year after Peter's battle with Venom.

### The Superior Spider-Man

The events of The Superior Spider-Man take place in an as yet unspecified period of time after My Own Worst Enemy

## Powers and Abilities

### Spider-Man

**Superhuman Strength** - The spider granted Peter the proportionate strength of one. He is able to throw objects much heavier than himself such as a big rig semi truck as well as lift and hold up large structures. However, Spider-Man has to hold back ever so slightly when throwing punches or kicks as his blows can shatter bones and be fatal to an ordinary human being, he only ever uses his full strength when facing someone of similar or greater physical durability. His increased strength also allows him to run incredibly fast enough to catch up to an accelerating car but nowhere near the speeds of Quicksilver. He is able to jump several stories in a single bound and great distances first demonstrated when he got his powers initially jumping up to 30 feet to avoid an oncoming car.

**Wall-Crawling** -Peter gained the ability to adhere himself to any surface allowing him to scale the sides of skyscrapers without any climbing equipment, possible through tiny hairs all over his body though more concentrated on his hands and feet. Peter has used this ability not only to develop an incredibly strong grip but also to prevent people from removing his mask.

**Stamina and Durability:** Spider-Man can physically exert himself for much longer periods of time than even the fittest average human before he begins to tire, up to several hours at his peak. He is also physically tougher and resistant to some injuries than an average human, more resistant to impact forces, able to survive a fall from great heights and being struck by a stronger individual such as those from the Hulk and has even survived a point-blank explosion from a missile.

**Healing Factor** - While not as effective as Wolverine's, Spider-Man does possess a mild healing factor that allows him to recover from most injuries a lot quicker than a human being, injuries that would take weeks to heal take only days for Spider-Man. This ability also means he has a level of resistance to diseases, alcohol and drugs.

**Superhuman Agility and Equilibrium** - Spider-Man is enhanced well beyond that of the natural limits of even the finest human athlete. He is extraordinarily limber, agile, has great balance and bodily co-ordination, able to match and even best Olympic gymnasts. His agility even surpasses Captain America and Daredevil.

**Spider-Sense and** **Enhanced Reflexes** - One of his greatest abilities is his Spider-Sense, a sixth sense that alerts him to immediate danger and thus enabling him to react quicker, however it doesn't pinpoint the exact source of the danger just the general direction of it. The severity of the danger is also determined by the intensity of the reaction. The Spider-Sense also reacts when someone is lying and alerts him when Aunt May is around helping to hide his secret identity. The symbiote or anyone with it such as Venom do not set off his Spider-Sense. His reflexes are also 40 times greater than an ordinary human and work hand in hand with his Spider-Sense, allowing him to dodge anything from a simple punch to a speeding bullet and even Quicksilver's high speed attacks

**Hand to hand combat**- Though not as well trained as some of his fellow superheroes, Spider-Man is a capable hand to hand combatant having trained with Captain America and the Iron Fist.

**Intelligence** - Peter is one of the smartest superheroes with an IQ just over 250, he is on par with the likes of Tony Stark and Hank McCoy which allowed him to create his own gadgets and develop his own web fluid. His extensive scientific knowledge has aided him in his battles multiple times.

### Equipment

**Webshooters** - The spider did not give Peter the ability to produce his own webbing from his body however it did pass on an instinctive knowledge on how to combine specific enzymes to create a strong, sticky web-like substance loaded into small cartridges the size of an SD card. The devices themselves are mounted on his wrists with a trigger that extends to the middle of his palms and require exact pressure from the middle and ring finger to fire a web. A small dial on the device allows Spider-Man to fire different kinds of weblines and web-based projectiles.

**Utility Belt** - Peter wears a special belt under his suit that contains spare web cartridges, Spider-Tracers, his Spider-Signal, his camera and an accompanying sensor.

**Spider-Tracers** - Spider-Man makes small electronic devices that attach themselves to a target after being attached by hand, thrown or fired from the webshooters. He designed them so they could be followed using his Spider-Sense or with an electronic receiver for individuals without a Spider-Sense.

**Spider-Signal** - The small light located in the middle of Spider-Man's belt serves no real purpose other than to startle criminals sending them into a panic or forcing them to surrender immediately. For that reason, he very rarely ever uses it.

**Avengers ID Card** - Though he isn't a full member of the superhero team, Spider-Man possesses an Avengers ID Card which allows him access to Avengers bases and safehouses and gives him some immunity from authorities if/when interrogated.

### Superior Spider-Man

**Spider Bots** - Octavius built a whole army of small robotic spiders that serve multiple functions from producing shields, banding together to increase a surface's density and as a simple network of eyes that monitor everything happening within New York

**Mask** **HUD** - While in control of Peter's body, Octavius upgraded the suit by adding a heads up display or HUD into the mask. Working similarly to Iron Man's, the suit provides information on temperature, height, speed and direct feeds from the Spider Bots

**Improved Web Fluid** - Octavius altered the formula of Peter's web fluid to make it last longer and much stronger, able to hold the strongest of opponents for longer periods of time

**Web Arsenal** - Though he may never have a use for all of them, Octavius developed different kinds of webbing for any situation, webbing that freezes on contact, taser webbing, web grenades, ricochet webbing and many others. As well as all this, the shooters are connected to advanced gauntlets that have different functions themselves including a laser cutter, wireless hacking device and a miniaturised sonic pulse cannon

## Behind The Scenes

Moore was the one and only choice to play the character, a mutual decision amongst the cast and crew with many citing his similarities in terms of personality and appearance to the character being what cemented his being in the role. "I didn't want anyone else wearing my suit" joked Moore. "The suit was made by me for me but I would've let another wear it as long as they were of a similar height and build but it was just easier to say 'yes I'll be Spider-Man' despite my lack of acrobatic ability".

## Trivia

* The suit Spider-Man wears in My Own Worst Enemy is based on the suit from Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming. In some of the flashbacks to his past, he also wears the homemade suit from those movies. For the Superior suit, the design is based off the concept art for the MCU suit from Ryan Meinerding. Moore has teased another suit will be used in the finale of The Superior Spider-Man as Octavius' gift to Peter when he regains control of his body
* In the original concept of the movie, the suit Spider-Man would wear was based off the 2018 PlayStation 4 video game design which has a big white spider on the chest and back as well as white bands around the wrists, patches on the back of the hands and knuckles. It was decided the character would use the MCU suit because it "looked so much cooler"
* Spider-Man in this movie is in his early to mid 20s, making him an experienced superhero since he first started. As such, many of the character's most important life events have already occurred which Moore has promised will be hinted at and mentioned as well as influencing the person Spider-Man has become
* Moore found writing for Superior Spider-Man to be trickier than writing the script in general, citing how the character is much darker and less of a joking character than normal Spider-Man and having to put forward a different side with arrogance and brutality