Spider-Man is a legendary superhero at this point. He’s been around in comic books for ages (literally since the 1960s) and there’ve been quite a few movies made about him. Whether you think of Spidey as Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland or Shameik Moore who voiced Miles Morales in Spider-Man into the Spiderverse, you have to agree that the character is iconic. Even people who have never seen a Spider-Man movie or read a comic, still know who Spider-Man is. But today we thought we’d tell you some things about Spider-Man you probably didn’t know about.
1. He Was Inspired By A Fly
As weird as it sounds, Stan Lee wasn’t inspired by a spider to create the character of Spider-Man. He spent quite a while trying to come up with a new superhero and was inspired by a fly that flew into his office. That’s when it hit him – a superhero that could climb walls, like a fly. It was a brilliant idea, but it took quite a lot of time to come up with a catchy name. For all, we know he could’ve been stick-to-the-wall-man or fly-man, but eventually, Stanley landed on Spider-Man and the rest is history.
2. He’s Not That Nerdy
In the movies, Spider-Man is always portrayed as a nerdy guy, but in the comic book world, he ditched that nerdy vibe by the 7th issue. He got a girlfriend, he fought bullies, he stopped wearing glasses. In his college years, he was quite popular with the ladies.
3. He’s Dated Around
Another thing that’s rarely shown in movies is Spider-Man’s dating life. They always focus on one girl for the movie plot, but throughout the years Spider-Man has dated quite a lot of girls. Betty Brant, Liz Allen, Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson – he dated them all and many others. He’s quite the casanova, as it turns out.
4. He’s Actually A Genius
While Spider-Man is often seen as a nerd, we rarely get to see his intellect in action. Movies often show him as an awkward dude who works as a photographer, and occasionally gets lucky and saves the world by defeating a big bad. However, in the comic books, he grows up and starts his own company that is working on a way to cure villains by taking away their superpowers. We got to see Tom Holland portray young Spider-Man being a natural at using Tony Stark’s tech to make a new suit, and that’s just the beginning for Spider-Man.
5. He Died A Few Times
Spider-Man always comes out as a hero in movies, but in the comic book, he died a few times. Most of those were to save someone or something heroic like defeating the villain and then dying from the sustained injuries. It’s rarely explained how he comes back, but he keeps coming back alive and well in the comic books. Perhaps that’s just the superhero way, to come back from the dead to continue their mission of saving people and the world from the forces of evil.
6. His Webs Are Eco-Friendly
Have you ever wondered what happens with those spiderwebs Spider-Man uses to swing through the city? Does it just stay there forever? Who’s job is it to clean all that mess up after Spider-Man? Well turns out there’s a clever way around it. Apparently, Spider-Man’s web only works for an hour and just dissolves on its own afterwards. That’s so neat!
