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Batman and Superman are always spelt as all one word but Spider-Man is separated into two words.

Is there any reason behind or is it just the way it is?

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  • 12
    DC versus Marvel?
    – Xantec
    Jul 3, 2012 at 19:11
  • 1
    That would make sense as Superman is also all one word. Jul 3, 2012 at 19:15
  • 2
    Apples to oranges. Jul 3, 2012 at 20:42
  • Maybe this should have been migrated to the English language site, rather than here?
    – sbi
    Jul 5, 2012 at 13:44

1 Answer 1

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Stan Lee has claimed (e.g., in the set of Twitter posts quoted here) that the hyphen is to stop people from confusing Spider-Man with Superman:

Spidey's official name has a hyphen: "Spider-Man." Know why? When I dreamed him up, I didn't want anyone confusing him with Superman!

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