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A Look At Spider-Man’s New Tech & The Power-Up It Provides

By C.T. Smith

Amazing Spider-Man #4
Amazing Spider-Man #4 /
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When Peter Parker upgraded his status from “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” to “Your Friendly Globe Spider-Man,” he also upgraded his gear. Expanding one’s super-hero coverage leads to greater threats and greater threats require the right tools. In Spidey’s case, he got many new toys to play with and each one increases his utility, which leads to greater combat capabilities. Let’s recap and take a look at all of his new gadgets and the enhanced capabilities they provide Spidey.

Spider-Man’s Utility Web-Shooters

The first thing I noticed while reading the newest run of Amazing Spider-Man is Spider-Man’s new, versatile web-shooters. From what the comics shown so far, they have reached a level that’s just below Batman’s old utility belt. Not all of the cartridges have been revealed but the ones that have are used to solve whatever problem Pete’s facing pretty handily.

Cartridge Four: First appearing in Spider-Man/Deadpool #1, Spidey didn’t quite give this one a name while using it on Hydro-Man. According to Pete, it vibrates his foe at a “Gajillion Megahertz.” We haven’t seen these webs in action much, aside from him using it to keep Hydro-Man’s liquid body from maintaining a stable form, but if the vibrations it provides are anything like Daisy/Quake’s ability to generate vibration and seismic waves then he can potentially use these to vibrate objects apart. Maybe he can shatter Mysterio’s plexiglass helmet with it, that’d be fun.

Cartridge Six: Webs made out of Micro Coiled Z-Metal –also known as Bug Zappers. These metallic webs deliver a powerful electric shock to their target(s). This is the first new web Spider-Man uses while chasing down Leo and his Zodiac goons in a high speed car chase. The applications for this are obvious: battling foes in bodies of water or adding a shocking element to the ole’ fire hydrant trick, delivering a high quantity of heat against enemies weak to the hotter side of the elements (hello Sandman and Symbiotes), supercharging any hero who uses energy or electricity to “recharge,” and honestly they can be used to simply drop any non-resistant enemy in a heartbeat. There wouldn’t be a need to use transmission towers or yanking a giant wire out of some device, he’d just switch to cartridge six and voila. This definitely would have made a lot of pre-Battleworld fights easier.

Cartridge Seven: Quick-Drying Web-Cement. Spider-Man uses this nifty web cartridge to quickly tie up a collapsing skyscraper and keep it in place. This cartridge would help in any grand scale battle that takes place in the city (and which grand scale battle doesn’t end up in Manhattan at one point or another?) as well as save Spidey the trouble of saving the masses from falling debris. Also, Spidey’s web fluid is very strong (especially after Doc Ock tweaked the formula), but for enemies of the super strength or large body persuasion (Rhino, Juggernaut, Kingpin) some quick dry cement sounds like it would hold them just as well as it would tie up a falling building.

Cartridge Eight: Expanding Web-Foam. This cartridge allows for the quick deployment of an expanding web-foam that can help cushion a fall or safely stop a speeding car, which was its first application. Spidey also uses it as a form of air bags in the Web-Jet (though he quickly makes a mental note that it needs more testing). I imagine this web would be useful in a number of combat situations. A few scenarios that come to mind are to help stop speedsters, cushion a physical rush attack, entrap an enemy in foam (sounds annoying), or even act as a quick cover (smoke bomb status). With all the tumbles and crashes Spidey and company seem to get into this one seems like it’d add a lot of utility.

Spider-Man’s Vehicles

Spider-Man’s garage has achieved a new level of vehicular awesomeness. Each of these vehicles are equipped to handle a specific terrain or mode of travel. Classic Web-Slinging will always be the go-to move for Spidey when in a city with tall buildings (or so he claims), but it’s always nice to have options. All that’s missing is Leopardon!

Spider-Mobile: Spider-Man’s new Spider-Mobile, designed and built by Peter and Parker Industries own Lian Tang, this vehicle is more than just a high speed car. Staying true to spider fashion it can drive upside down, as well as extend spider-legs out for climbing. All in all it’s an all-terrain vehicle that can drive up, down, sideways, fast, and presumably slow as well. I imagine it’s faster than swinging and we’ll be seeing it a lot more (along with other vehicles).

Hydro-Spider: An underwater/water-striding vehicle. First used to infiltrate an underwater Zodiac base belonging to Aquarius, it has the ability to project holographic images for camouflage.

Web-Jet: Every hero needs a cool jet! The Blackbird, the Quinjet, and now the Web-Jet. It comes standard with autopilot, GPS, screens broadcasting events around the world, an eject button, and even FaceTime –everything the best jets need. For offensive capabilities it packs the Web-Cannons, which rapidly fires web-balls.

Spider-Skimmer, Spider-Copter, Spider-Cycle: Spidey hasn’t taken these out for a spin quite yet but you get the idea. Having all of these vehicles let Spidey get to the action no matter where it is, and not have to hitch a ride with a flier or a long-jumping Hulk.

PI Tech and Spider-Armor

Parker Industries Nanotech/Webware: Parker Industries nanotech has proven quite capable. So far we’ve seen two uses, providing the ultimate cyber-security, and interfacing and reworking CCTV in order to steal its info (which was unintended by Pete but also sounds quite useful). His patented Webware let’s Pete and the world access the internet from anywhere with clear reception and unlimited data. In one instance it seems to be connected to his suit, giving him the ability to change his costume’s visible look into that of a suit or back to his hero suit; I imagine it can mimic any look it’s been programmed with. Nanotech seems to have a variety of uses not yet seen, and Web-Ware adds a layer of convenience to Peter’s everyday actions.

Spider-Armor: We’ve all seen the new redesign, but aside from changing up his look, his newest costume is bulletproof. It could also be resistant to other weapons/elements, but he hasn’t encountered anything notable just yet. Similar to his Spider-Armor MK II, first used against Massacre, Pete’s new suit is able to deflect bullets. Whereas getting shot at in his old Spider-Armor would still cause discomfort, Pete’s new armor protects him from bullets while still being comfy enough for Peter to jovially make “Pew! Pew! Pew!” sounds. Having this protection while still maintaining the sleek form factor of his usual costume allows Pete to fight unhindered without having to dodge everything that he’d previously have to rely on his Spider-Sense and agility to escape. More than any other gadget this seems to up his level in a fight. It’s simple, but combined with his natural strength and agility and fighting style, this bolstered defense will improve his odds greatly.

These aren’t all of his new gadgets (like his improved Spider-Tracers), but they are the most prominent ones shown thus far. Spider-Man was already an S-Tier superhero, who is always there in the big fights, but if he ever needed a new ability to defeat a tough foe it seems he always had to build a new version of his suit. This suit seems to consolidate many of those changes and leaves room for more, allotting Peter a high flexibility we’ve never seen before. Now that Peter has all of these new offensive and defensive options, it elevates his level into an even higher tier, making common thugs or some of the weaker villains (or even the more vicious ones) seem like chump change. Depending on his other cartridges, his web-shooters could one day have so many ideal uses it’ll border on ridiculousness.

I’m glad that Peter has developed this tech and applied it to Spider-Man. It makes you wonder why he didn’t do this before. Even if he has a lot more money/resources than he had previously, I’m sure he could’ve used what he had to make some of these improvements. These changes show a Spider-Man that actually seems like he is equipped to deal with anything he may encounter around the world. The caveat is that having this much utility can lead to overpowered territory, and so far we haven’t seen him in much danger if you look back on recent comic events. This upgrade means his foes will probably need some upgrades themselves.

Miles Morales taking on the title of Spider-Man and swinging around the streets of New York makes a lot of sense when viewed in this context. Some of Spider-Man’s old threats, street level thugs, and C/B-List villains wouldn’t hold a candle to Peter in his new form (considering he beats many villains with just his webs and close quarters combat), which makes Miles taking over the duty of Neighborhood Friendly Spider-Man a good move. As Spider-Man moves up a tier, Miles assumes his former position in the previous tier. The Zodiac may be more formidable than one would expect, and Mr. Negative is sure to cause trouble with his new friends Cloak and Dagger, but I’m positive Peter has a lot more to show us in the tech department. We’ll have to wait and see.

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