# Spider Man : Is my memory failing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 23, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979 "2003-02-23T15:26:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/1 "2003-02-23T15:26:44Z")
I just watched the new Spider Man movie this morning. Perhaps this has been mentioned before, but it seems that they made a big break from the comic book version if my memory doesn’t fail me. IIRC, in the comics Spidey didn’t create webs out of his wrists, but Peter Parker had to develop a web fluid which he then developed the webshooters to use. I distinctly recall plotlines revolving around his running out of web fluid. To my way of thinking, this made him much more of a “human” superheo since he was using his mind more than his powers. Am I correct? Any ideas why they changed this in the movie? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/2 "2003-02-23T15:51:56Z")
You are correct sir! He did fabricate web shooters that were worn on his wrists. It’s slightly possible that they got the idea of organically created webs from the now-defunct _Spider-man 2099_ series in which Miquel O’Hara had his DNA forcibly mutated with that of a spider, therefore making him into the Spider-Man of that era. ---
**Author:** ![TVS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@TVS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVS)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/3 "2003-02-23T15:52:59Z")
This has been covered a couple of times before. Long story short? Spidey gets all of these other powers from the spider (strength, speed, wall-crawling), so why not the web too? In that context, it’s more believeable than having an 18 year old kid invent a complicated system of compressed-air based web shooters that uses a revolutionary kind of adhesive technology that even 3m is jealous of. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/4 "2003-02-23T15:55:49Z")
It was a radical change, but a sensible one. If Parker had the scientific brilliance all along to create something like the web shooters, it detracts from the “Average joe gets a lucky break” underpinning of the whole concept. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/5 "2003-02-23T16:26:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TVS \* > \*\*This has been covered a couple of times before. Long story short? Spidey gets all of these other powers from the spider (strength, speed, wall-crawling), so why not the web too? In that context, it’s more believeable than having an 18 year old kid invent a complicated system of compressed-air based web shooters that uses a revolutionary kind of adhesive technology that even 3m is jealous of. \*\* The idea of “more believeable” in this context is ludicrous. Are you telling me that if they featured Parker creating the web spinners himself, people would object? I mean if you’re asking people to believe six impossible things before breakfast, why are they suddenly going to object to the seventh? I don’t object to the change (though it _is_ more unbelieveable than the original if you considered the biology involved), but if they had stuck with the original story, there wouldn’t have been a single complaint. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/6 "2003-02-23T17:16:40Z")
Having Peter invent web shooters in the movie wouldn’t have worked because it would have been amazingly boring to watch. On the other hand, watching Toby McGuire shoot webs from the region where spiders generally have their spinnerets would have been amazingly entertaining to watch. ---
**Author:** ![da\_pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ba0ec/32.png) [@da\_pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/da_pope)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/7 "2003-02-23T17:22:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*…shoot webs from the region where spiders generally have their spinnerets would have been amazingly entertaining to watch. \*\* _chokes on coffee_ _well executed spit take_ _gets roll of paper towels_ ---
**Author:** ![Fibber\_McGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Fibber\_McGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibber_McGee)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/8 "2003-02-23T17:33:01Z")
As best I can gather, the reason movie-Spidey has organic webshooters is because once upon a time James Cameron thought it was a cool idea and Sam Raimi apparently agreed. Considering what an enormous joke Cameron’s vision for a Spider-Man film was, I’m surprised Raimi thought anything in it was worth using, but whatever. It was still a good movie. The people who complained for two years about the organica are a bunch of dolts. What a thing to get worked up about. When we start euthanising people at random to make more room on the planet, they should be among the first. ---
**Author:** ![TheeGrumpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheeGrumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheeGrumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/9 "2003-02-23T17:55:28Z")
Eventually, the “No Organic Webshooters” folks learned to complain about something else: “Goblin’s Immobile Mask.” ---
**Author:** ![Minor\_Irritant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Minor\_Irritant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minor_Irritant)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/10 "2003-02-23T17:58:40Z")
I wasn’t big on the “organics” originally, but the “Go web!” scene made it worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/11 "2003-02-23T18:09:52Z")
Of, course biggest problem with the organic system is that once he shoots them, it’s 15 to 20 minutes before he can shoot them again. And it’s going to get worse as he gets older… ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/12 "2003-02-23T18:23:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Revtim \* > \*\*Of, course biggest problem with the organic system is that once he shoots them, it’s 15 to 20 minutes before he can shoot them again. And it’s going to get worse as he gets older… \*\* You know **Revtim** , not all of us have that problem. Maybe you should go see a doctor about. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/13 "2003-02-23T18:33:47Z")
Kurt Busiek discussed this once saying essentially, for a comic-book movie to work you can get away with one “gimme”. “Peter gets bitten by radioactive/genegineered spider and gets Spider-powers”=1 gimme. “Peter is a super-scientific genius able to cobble together a super power (the webs) in his aunt’s basement AND Peter gets bitten by radioactive/genegineered spider and gets Spider-powers” = broken suspension of disbelief for non-comic fans. This was in the context of why there’d NEVER be an Avengers movie. To paraphrase: [ul] [li]Guy gets hit by nuke and becomes Giant Green rampaging monster. [/li][li]Guy invents shrinking formula…then invents growing formula…then invents shrinking AND growing formula. Then invents a killer robot. Then gets wings and zap-bolts. [/li][li]Guy who invents shrinking formula meets look-alike of dead (or captured by evil Ruskies) wife and A) gives her shrinking formula but also gives her zap bolts and gengineered wings that let her fly. [/li][li]Guy in a war-zone in “South-east Asia” steps on booby trap and gets shrapnel near heart, gets captured by warlord who just happens to have all the equipment necessary to make A) a new energy source (“transistor powered”!), B) microcircuits, C) a Starship-trooper level battle-suit…with "transistor powered magnetic roller-skates!). [/li][li]Mythological deity with psychological issues traps son (also mythological god) in a crippled human form which discovers mythological weapon and becomes god again. [/li][li]Super-Soldier from WWII is frozen in an iceberg and just now thawed. [/li][li]2 mutants (super fast one and one who breaks things by pointing at them). [/li][li]One carnival archer who was tempted into a life of crime by wiley Ruskie spy who now wants to make good.[/ul][/li] By the time you got through the origins, the movie would be 2/3ds over and the non-comics fans would be rolling their eyes. Busiek said that that’s why the X-Men movie was a natural. The origin? They were born that way. (I don’t much care about the web-shooter issue, but I haveta say that the carjacking was perhaps the ONLY time I’ve ever seen a movie improve on a comic. The idea that of ALL the houses in the world, the burgler jes’ happens to stumble into Peter’s always bugged me. And all the retcons in the world (Uncle Ben had met the thief earlier, their house used to be a speakeasy and there’s hidden money in it, the AWFUL idea that never got past the dumb-idea stage that Ben was a fence known to the thief, etc) haven’t improved things. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/14 "2003-02-23T21:02:17Z")
> [@](#): > > watching Toby McGuire shoot webs from the region where spiders generally have their spinnerets would have been amazingly entertaining to watch. He’d have to put together a [drop-seat](http://www.vintageskivvies.com/art/archives/glossary/a-i/dropseat.jpg) costume and they’d lose the PG rating. Aiming the webs would be another problem. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/15 "2003-02-23T21:07:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jack@ss \* > \*\*He’d have to put together a [drop-seat](http://www.vintageskivvies.com/art/archives/glossary/a-i/dropseat.jpg) costume and they’d lose the PG rating. Aiming the webs would be another problem. \*\* Or, conceivably, he could have arranged a pneumatic tube catheter system to re-direct the webs from his, errr, nether regions to someplace a bit more convenient. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/16 "2003-02-23T21:14:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*On the other hand, watching Toby McGuire shoot webs from the region where spiders generally have their spinnerets would have been amazingly entertaining to watch. \*\* [http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache:qwJ-pfGWGCwC:www.crackedmag.com/358peek.htm+site:www.crackedmag.com+spider&hl=en&ie=UTF-8](http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache:qwJ-pfGWGCwC:www.crackedmag.com/358peek.htm+site:www.crackedmag.com+spider&hl=en&ie=UTF-8) ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/17 "2003-02-23T21:18:43Z")
You know one thing that always bugged me? The Green Goblin’s “glider”… It doesn’t actually glide, it’s jet-propelled. I mean, why lie about a thing like that? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/18 "2003-02-23T21:19:25Z")
lemme try that link again: [http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache:qwJ-pfGWGCwC:www.crackedmag.com/358peek.htm+site:www.crackedmag.com+spider&hl=en&ie=UTF-8](http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache:qwJ-pfGWGCwC:www.crackedmag.com/358peek.htm+site:www.crackedmag.com+spider&hl=en&ie=UTF-8) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/19 "2003-02-23T21:20:53Z")
Oh dammit. It worked fine in preview, I swear. I give up. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979/20 "2003-02-23T21:37:58Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Fibber McGee_ > The people who complained for two years about the organica are a bunch of dolts. What a thing to get worked up about. When we start euthanising people at random to make more room on the planet, they should be among the first. But, if we go after these people first, it won’t exactly be random, will it? Besides which, they need to get in line behind all the fanboys who got bent out of shape over Wolverine’s claws coming out of his knuckes instead of the back of his hand. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spider-man-is-my-memory-failing/156979.md?page=2)