10 Ridiculous Extra Superpowers That Were Phased Out Of The Comics

Ah, Spider-man’s web-shooters, forever toying with the laws of physics, firing straight webs for Spidey to swing from, or creating giant nets to safely catch falling civilians or ensnare criminals. The web-shooters’ multifunctionality has followed Spider-man through all multimedia appearances, and there seems to be an unspoken competition between tech-whiz YouTubers, to see who can recreate them most accurately.

Stan Lee enjoyed playing particularly fast and loose with their capabilities during his original run. He had Peter construct a flail to fight Doctor Doom, a giant model bat to prank the Human Torch, and a huge tarantula to terrorise a crook working for the Enforcers.

Peter Parker has always been a science kid, not an art student, so while fans can buy the idea of him developing a synthetic web and a device to project it from, it’s a little harder to imagine him using that web to create intricate, large-scale art installations and military grade weaponry.

Charming though it is, this use of webbing is a product of its time, and would feel out of place if used by any film version of Spider-man, or any recent comic rendition, for that matter.