- "I have a sixth sense."
- ―Peter Parker to Happy Hogan[src]
The Spider-Sense[4][5] is an extrasensory awareness of impending danger[6] felt by Spider-Man and his Variants.
History[]
Clash of the Avengers[]
Peter Parker using his sense without looking
- "Oh, God. Hey buddy, I think you lost this!"
- ―Spider-Man to Winter Soldier[src]
When Tony Stark first recruited Peter Parker, he visited his apartment where he lived with his Aunt May. He spoke privately with Peter, discussing the latter's webbing. When Stark threw a vial at Parker, the latter caught it without looking.
Spider-Man senses an upcoming attack
At Leipzig-Halle Airport, Parker suited up as Spider-Man to help Iron Man. After he stole Captain America's shield, he sensed Ant-Man's presence before the latter revealed himself. When he fought against Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he sensed the latter throwing a bench at him from behind.[7]
Infinity War[]
Attack on Greenwich Village[]
Spider-Man's sense activates
Peter Parker's Spider-Sense activated on a bus ride home from a school trip to the Museum of Modern Art. When he turned around to see the Q-Ship, he swung into action to help the fellow hero, Iron Man, in battle against Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw.[8]
Meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy[]
Spider-Man warns Iron Man and Doctor Strange
- "I'm trying to say that something is coming."
- ―Spider-Man to Iron Man and Doctor Strange[src]
After arriving on Titan, the Spider-Sense was activated, enabling Spider-Man to alert Doctor Strange and Iron Man of the threat. Moments later, the Guardians of the Galaxy, ambushed Spider-Man and the rest of the team. During his brief fight against Star-Lord, Spider-Man managed to dodge attacks from the blast of Star-Lord's Quad Blasters, as his sense alerted him of the dangers and his fast reflexes allowed him to act accordingly. Spider-Man was ultimately captured due to his inexperience with his Spider-Sense which caused him to be trapped by Star-Lord's nets.[8]
Battle of Titan[]
Spider-Man dodging several asteroids
Spider-Man used his Spider-Sense against the battle with Thanos to aid many of his allies in the battle from danger, after Thanos' assault on them after the unsuccessful removal of the Infinity Gauntlet of Thanos, through detecting the danger around them. Spider-Man also dodged several asteroids after Thanos threw a moon at him and his team.[8]
Snap[]
Spider-Man senses his impending death
- "Mr. Stark? I don't feel so good."
- ―Spider-Man to Iron Man[src]
When Spider-Man was chosen to be snapped away by Thanos' wish when using the Infinity Stones, his Spider-Sense went into overdrive as his body's atoms started destroying themselves, leading Spider-Man to feel extremely ill, left aware of his impending death despite not knowing the reason for his illness. A very scared Spider-Man then begged for Tony Stark's help, but he ultimately succumbed in his arms.[8][9]
Banana Test[]
Peter Parker's sense fails to alert him
- "I thought you could sense that with your Peter-Tingle."
"Please do not start calling it my Peter-Tingle." - ―May Parker and Peter Parker[src]
In order to start testing the Spider-Sense when she found about it, May Parker randomly threw a banana at her nephew Peter, and a distracted Parker did not respond to it as the Spider-Sense did not consider that as an actual danger.[2]
Mysterio's Masquerade[]
Battle in the Grand Canal[]
Spider-Man senses Hydro-Man coming
While on a vacation in Venice, Spider-Man's Spider-Sense was activated by the arrival of Hydro-Man. Spider-Man used his senses to detect various points of danger subconsciously to save innocents civilians from the attack near the Grand Canal, but as he trusted his other senses, he was unaware of the true nature of the Elemental, and while he still reacted against the danger provoked by the drones that were projecting the illusions, shooting webbing against some of them, he was unaware of their presence.[2]
Battle of London[]
Spider-Man embraces his Spider-Sense
- "Come on, Peter-Tingle."
- ―Spider-Man[src]
When Spider-Man reached Mysterio's location in London, Spider-Man once again faced an illusion created by Mysterio; however, unlike before, he closed his eyes and allows his Spider-Sense's instinct to help him fight through Mysterio's Stark Industries Combat Drones using his superior strength, agility and reflexes. After a tough fight, Spider-Man managed to successfully destroy all the drones in his vicinity, leaving him and Mysterio alone to deal with each other.
Spider-Man senses Mysterio's intentions
After Parker confronted Beck, the latter gestured E.D.I.T.H. to Parker through the use of his illusions. However, Parker's Spider-Sense warned him of the real Mysterio cloaked beside him with a gun to his head, with Parker immediately countering to the danger behind him, thereby trusting his Spider-Sense to the highest level. Due to this, Beck's shot missed Parker's head and broke the window adjacent to him as Mysterio died.[2]
Multiversal Crisis[]
Battle at the Alexander Hamilton Bridge[]
Peter Parker gets alerted to Doctor Octopus
When Peter Parker went to the Alexander Hamilton Bridge to convince the MIT representative to reconsider Michelle Jones' and Ned Leeds' rejected applications, Parker's sense alarmed him about the upcoming danger around him, as he noticed people running away from the bridge, and the ground around him breaking and getting dents. In response, Parker trusted his senses and told everyone to get out of the area, so he could intercept the threat, who later revealed himself to be the multiversal trespasser, Doctor Octopus, a man with powerful cybernetic limbs, looking for his Spider-Man.
Peter Parker sensing Green Goblin arriving
However, later on just after Spider-Man defeated Doctor Octopus through taking control of his arms, Spider-Man had sensed another threat coming. This prompted him to take a look at the threat ahead, which made Spider-Man see Green Goblin arrive with his Goblin Glider and Pumpkin Bombs to attack him and everyone around him, prompting him to suit up for a fight.[3]
Capture of Electro[]
Spider-Man's senses alerting him of Electro
- "Are you getting the tingle thing? Is the tingle thing happening? Is your tingle tingling?"
- ―Michelle Jones to Spider-Man[src]
During the mission to capture multiversal trespassers, on Spider-Man's mission to capture an unknown multiversal trespasser at a military research facility outside New York, his Spider-Sense went into overdrive as he was alerted of an impending danger behind him, Electro whom he promptly subdued with the help of Sandman.[3]
Battle for the Macchina di Kadavus[]
Spider-Man's astral form exudes his Spider-Sense
- "How are you doing that?"
"I have no idea." - ―Doctor Strange and Spider-Man[src]
Spider-Man's soul was knocked out of his physical form by Doctor Strange, Spider-Man's Spider-Sense allowed Spider-Man to control his body from his astral form and prevent Strange from taking the Macchina di Kadavus. During this time, Spider-Man's astral form projected white lines. The autonomous reactions of his body against Strange allowed Spider-Man's astral form to enter back into his body.[3]
Multiversal Threat[]
Spider-Man detects danger from his sense
- "That's some neat trick, that sense of yours."
- ―Green Goblin to Spider-Man[src]
While at Happy Hogan's Condominium with the group of Multiversal travelers he was attempting to save, Peter Parker's Spider-Sense was set off while working on Flint Marko's cure. Parker got up while Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius, who were in the same room with him, noticed his strange behavior, as they became concern and followed him to the living room. However, once he trusted his sense to guide him to the source, Parker realized the warning was about the Green Goblin resuming control of Osborn.[3]
Amazing Spider-Man[]
Spider-Man's sense is not set off
- "I have the tingle thing, just not for bread."
- ―Amazing Spider-Man[src]
As Amazing Spider-Man met Michelle Jones and Ned Leeds, Jones attempted to get him to prove that he truly was Spider-Man by throwing a piece of bread at him. Jones asked whether he had Spider-Sense, and Spider-Man explained that he had it, but that it did not work for bread.[3]
Battle at Liberty Island[]
Spider-Men sensing incoming danger
- "All we gotta do is focus, trust your tingle, and coordinate our attacks, okay?"
- ―Spider-Man to Spider-Man and Spider-Man[src]
During the Battle at Liberty Island, Spider-Man, along with Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and Amazing Spider-Man, used their Spider-Senses in order to subdue their enemies and to take the Macchina di Kadavus, getting alerted of their presence. They all used their senses to dodge the fast yet powerful attacks by Electro, while coordinating with each other to cure all of the multiversal travelers.
Spider-Man reacts to Green Goblin
Later on, before the spell was about to reversed by Doctor Strange with the Macchina di Kadavus, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was alerted of the presence of Green Goblin by his Spider-Sense who attacked him and his alternate counterparts with his Razor Bats. During this time, the native Spider-Man used his Spider-Sense in order to dodge the razor bats of Green Goblin, before they were intercepted by Doctor Octopus' arms. Nevertheless, they were not able to stop Goblin to take the Macchina di Kadavus.
Spider-Man detecting the Pumpkin Bomb
Moments later, after Doctor Octopus stopped Green Goblin from getting away and Doctor Strange managed to get the Macchina di Kadavus back, all three of the Spider-Men managed to detect the threat of a Pumpkin Bomb within the spell container, as they tried to warn Strange before he attempted to reverse the spell again. However, this was futile, as the bomb blasted seconds later, making the spell break open.[3]
Capabilities[]
This ability revolves around a Spider-Man's enhanced brain's ability to intake and response to stimuli at an accelerated rate, acting as a precognitive ability to sense potential or immediate danger. This power is capable of being able to judge its users' surroundings to identify and critically evaluate a potential threat at a subconscious level, alerting them of danger he may not be aware of on their own. This sense is an extrasensory ability which is shown to not depend upon visual input, thereby allowing Spider-Man to fight blind against the drones of Mysterio.
Spider-Man's Spider-Sense in combination with his incredible strength, agility, speed, dexterity and reflexes, enable him to intercept against all sorts of danger spontaneously, giving him an omnipresent sense of direction, which allows him to swing without looking with incredible ease. They allow him to dodge or counter any attacks against him with incredible ease, from punches, bullets, drone attacks, knives, lasers, to even lighting shot at incredible speed by Electro, if he places his full focus on his Spider-Sense. This ability makes Spider-Man an incredibly formidable enemy against the likes of many of his enemies from Mysterio's illusions to Green Goblin's super strength.
This ability allows Spider-Man to view events precognitively even before they occur, which can vary between a few seconds, to a higher span of time. This is shown multiple times when Spider-Man: dodges objects before they come to him, knew that Iron Man was in danger before he was, and he was able to judge Doctor Octopus' presence even before he began his attack against him and the civilians around him. Eventually, Spider-Man honed his abilities to such a level that he and his Spider-Sense were able to judge that Green Goblin was going to eventually target him and act as a danger to his Aunt May, whom Goblin killed a few minutes later with his glider, with the sense's prediction being proven correct. He and his Variants were also able to later sense Green Goblin's pumpkin bomb seconds before it even activated.
Despite, the powerful intelligence of the Spider-Sense to calculate threats from small to large, it cannot predict the exact type of danger that the user of the sense is in, only being able to give very specific amounts of information, such as the direction of how the user can avoid the danger, and who the danger is to, not other information such as how they are dangerous to the user, or what is going to happen in the future. Further, Spider-Man's Spider-Sense, as noted by the Amazing Spider-Man, only works against real threats that pose a danger to him, not harmless objects such as bread which pose no danger to him, owing to his superhuman durability.
The Spider-Sense has the ability to be on par with Matt Murdock's radar sense which enabled him to have the same reaction time, if not quicker, to a brick that was being hurled at him. The Spider-Sense is an always acting guiding force deep-seated within Spider-Man's body that will continue to alert the user against threats even if they try to suppress it. This was evidenced best even when Spider-Man trusted Mysterio, his sense continued to warn him against the threat he posed to him, seeing through all of his illusions with ease.
It is to be noted that Spider-Man's emotions are the greatest limitation to his Spider-Sense, as they can prevent Spider-Man's Spider-Sense to work to his full potential, as evidenced by how Mysterio used his manipulative machinations to add a sense of fear, to Spider-Man to limit his Spider-Sense which allowed him to ultimately defeat Spider-Man, how he was shot by an FBI agent at his shoulder, and how Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's vulnerability against his variant allowed Green Goblin to stab him. Hence, Spider-Man has to deviate away from his emotions in order to fully embrace the true power of his Spider-Sense. Spider-Man's visual input can hinder his Spider-Sense from fully working. Also, despite his powerful senses Spider-Man is also susceptible to attacks if he does not have sufficient time to evade the attack as shown when he was not able to save himself from Ant-Man's attack during the Clash of the Avengers.
However, with enough training, Spider-Man can eventually overcome this obstacle and use his Spider-Sense to its full potential, through blocking any thought or feelings of emotion in order to just focus on his sense to avoid danger. While his senses are at work to their full potential, they go into overdrive, causing the user to hear everyone's heartbeats, drowning all other voices out to allow them analyze, focus upon the incoming threat, and then respond against the threat to subdue it, as witnessed within the Escape from Spider-Man. The complete trust of the Spider-Sense makes Spider-Man an incredibly formidable opponent as it allows them to react against any threat before it even comes to subdue the threat.
Trivia[]
- In the Jessica Jones episode AKA Freak Accident, Griffin Sinclair says he knows Trish Walker is in trouble because his "balls are tingling," and Jessica Jones describes it as his "scroti-sense." Both are references to Spider-Man and his power and catchphrase, "My Spidey-Sense is tingling."
References[]
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- ↑ Spider-Man: No Way Home Promotional Photo
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Spider-Man: Far From Home
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Spider-Man: No Way Home
- ↑ Marvel Studios: Character Encyclopedia
- ↑ Spider-Man: Homecoming Prelude
- ↑ Marvel.com - Spider-Man
- ↑ Captain America: Civil War
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Avengers: Infinity War
- ↑ 'Avengers: Infinity War' Directors Confirm Why It Took One Character Longer to Die
