# Doc Ock throwing a car. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144 "2017-05-21T14:27:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/1 "2017-05-21T14:27:23Z")
A Spider-man movie trivia question: Peter Parker is having lunch with somebody. Outside, Dr Octopus picks up a car and throws it through the restaurant window. Is he standing on his two human legs when he picks up the car? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/2 "2017-05-21T14:41:29Z")
Corolary: if Ock is standing on his metal legs and tossing the auto with his other metal legs, wouldn’t his spine rip right out? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/3 "2017-05-21T14:49:00Z")
We used to ask this about Steve Austin… Using one set of arms to brace himself? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/4 "2017-05-21T14:53:49Z")
In comic books physics only exists when it becomes a plot point. Same for all the other sciences. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/5 "2017-05-21T15:02:27Z")
Curiously, this is something the Spider-Man 2 did at least passing reference to. Take a look at [this fight scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyOdcfyo7_M) between Doc Ock and Spidey. When Doc is throwing or handling large objects at least one or two of his arms anchor on something solid. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/6 "2017-05-21T15:25:51Z")
Pretty much no superhuman antics via bionics are really practical when they’re attached to a flesh and blood host. A guy with a bionic arm trying the catch a car will just have a bloody stump of a shoulder where his robot arm ripped out. Heck, I’d assume Doc Ock can’t even walk with all that metal on his back unless his legs were somehow reinforced. No idea if that point is ever referenced in the comics though. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/7 "2017-05-21T15:33:53Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > We used to ask this about Steve Austin… Using one set of arms to brace himself? I was just going to say the Six Million Dollar Man has it worse. Without some sort of infrastructure between his bionic arm and legs he is in for a world of hurt from lifting anything really heavy. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/8 "2017-05-21T15:54:43Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > I was just going to say the Six Million Dollar Man has it worse. Without some sort of infrastructure between his bionic arm and legs he is in for a world of hurt from lifting anything really heavy. Yeah, I still remember an early scene from the pilot, where he just sort of braces himself with his meat arm, then bends a 2-inch pipe (for a dune buggy frame, IIRC) with the other. _Riiiggggghhht_. I mean, _Riiiiiipppp_… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/9 "2017-05-21T16:36:47Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Corolary: if Ock is standing on his metal legs and tossing the auto with his other metal legs, wouldn’t his spine rip right out? :eek: No, because his legs and his arms were connected to each other. He’s basically a headless robot with a human strapped to its chest like a Baby Bjorn. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/10 "2017-05-21T16:38:32Z")
I noticed the reverse problem with Kevin Sorbo as Hercules: he can lift immense weights…but he struggles, just like anyone else, when climbing a cliff. The first couple of Christopher Reeves Superman movies were bad with heavy things, showing people lifting large weights without regard for balance. They got better with time. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/11 "2017-05-21T17:44:02Z")
I remember watching an episode of the Hulk TV series. A helicopter was trying to take off. The Hulk reached up, grabbed the landing skid with both hands, and pulled the helicopter back down to the ground. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/12 "2017-05-21T17:57:12Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > The first couple of Christopher Reeves Superman movies were bad with heavy things, showing people lifting large weights without regard for balance. They got better with time. Well, they got better physics-wise. Plot-wise, on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/13 "2017-05-21T18:06:18Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Pretty much no superhuman antics via bionics are really practical when they’re attached to a flesh and blood host. A guy with a bionic arm trying the catch a car will just have a bloody stump of a shoulder where his robot arm ripped out. I prefer to think that the arm now has a clean, mechanical shoulder where the useless meatbag has been mercifully stripped away. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/14 "2017-05-21T18:31:05Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I prefer to think that the arm now has a clean, mechanical shoulder where the useless meatbag has been mercifully stripped away. OBSERVATION : But there is still some useless meatbag left to amputate in there. STATEMENT : This is an unoptimized and quite revolting design. GLEEFUL ANTICIPATION : Would you like me to help improve it, Master ? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/15 "2017-05-21T18:54:02Z")
Maybe Hercules and the Hulk are both a lot denser than an ordinary human. This could account for their strength when handling things like mere boulders, but still leave them just as hard-pressed to climb as anyone else, because their super-strength must lift their super-weight. And really, helicopters in general don’t have very much weight capacity, and are usually designed with a maximum load fairly close to their typical load. It’s not hard to imagine the weight of the Hulk being enough to put a copter over its limit. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/16 "2017-05-21T18:54:50Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I noticed the reverse problem with Kevin Sorbo as Hercules: he can lift immense weights…but he struggles, just like anyone else, when climbing a cliff. Maybe he’s just very, very dense. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/17 "2017-05-21T18:56:57Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > No, because his legs and his arms were connected to each other. He’s basically a headless robot with a human strapped to its chest like a Baby Bjorn. Apropos of nothing, the one little throwaway scene where his arms take off his hat and hang it up while lighting his cigarette was… just beautiful in showing the man-machine relationship. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/18 "2017-05-21T19:56:42Z")
It’s kind of like the question: Why doesn’t Cyclops of the X-Men break his neck every time he fires his optic blast? Or, how does the superhero catch the person who’s falling from a plane or a tall building just an inch before they hit the ground, and they’re not injured at all? (Gwen Stacey being the notable exception.) The answer, I suppose, is “because comics”. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/19 "2017-05-21T22:36:33Z")
The real question is how can Ock take a single 1/10th power punch from Spider-Man? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144/20 "2017-05-22T03:21:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And really, helicopters in general don’t have very much weight capacity, and are usually designed with a maximum load fairly close to their typical load. It’s not hard to imagine the weight of the Hulk being enough to put a copter over its limit. This was the Lou Ferrigno Hulk. He was a normal sized human not a thousand pound CGI effect. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-ock-throwing-a-car/787144.md?page=2)