12 Spider-Man Questions That Always Confused You

Although he's one of the most beloved heroes, there's a lot people don't know about Peter Parker.

By James Egan /

Since his debut in 1962, Spider-Man has never been out of the spotlight. After nearly 60 years, fans are more excited than ever to hear more stories about the wall-crawler.

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He is so popular, there are film companies that are literally fighting over him at this exact moment. It was a nightmare to get him into the MCU and it's even harder to keep him in it. The reason why is simple - people just can't get enough of Spidey.

Since the character is universally loved, you'd assume comic fans know everything there is to know about him; the first supervillain he faced, his lesser-known stories, what Sam Raimi would have done if made Spider-Man 4, and so forth.

However, there are some really basic questions about Spider-Man that the biggest fans can't tell you. If you ask a hundred Marvel fans who Peter Parker's first love was, I guarantee 99% of them will get it wrong. (Nope, not her either). Even if you've seen every movie and love the games, you might be oblivious to just how freakishly strong Spider-Man is. Also, did you ever wonder what happened to the arachnid that gave Peter Parker his spiderpowers?

All these questions and more will be answered in this list.

12. Why Are His Villains Animal-Themed?

Over the years, Spider-Man has regularly fought the Chameleon, Doctor Octopus, Lizard, Beetle, Rhino, Scorpion, and Vulture. What are the odds that so many of his supervillains would be animal-themed?

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At first, you would assume it's simply a gimmick. The X-Men fight mutants, Wonder Woman battles mythical creatures, and so on and so forth. Since each rogue gallery tends to have a theme, it was decided that Spider-Man would fight animal-based villains. No need to overanalyse it, right?

However, there is an actual answer and it's way more complicated than you would imagine. A man with spider-powers called Ezekiel Sims informed Peter Parker that he is a Totem. In Native American mythology, tribesman built totem poles made of a stack of animals to draw power from them. The poles are stacked so the animal at the top is the strongest and the one at the bottom is the weakest.

Since Spider-Man is one of the world's greatest superheroes, he is considered a top Totem. Lower Totems like Rhino, Scorpion, and Vulture are instinctively drawn to the web-slinger to knock him off his pedestal so they can become the highest in the totemic hierarchy.

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