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Is there ever anything in MCU that hints at how Spider-Man got his powers? I know that he first appeared in Captain America: Civil War, and he already had his powers. I was wondering if there is ever anything about how he got his powers for example if he comments on having being bitten by a spider or anything.

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  • Would you accept tie-in comics to the movies? Not sure if there's ones for Spider-Man, but they do exist for stuff like Avengers: Age of Ultron.
    – Thunderforge
    May 12, 2019 at 3:05
  • @Thunderforge tie-ins are okay. So long as its canon to the films
    – Levi C. Olson
    May 12, 2019 at 3:06
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    Are you looking for whether the Spider-Man in MCU got his powers by the established story of being bitten by a spider, or something else? I'm just curious what prompted this question as I thought the origin of Spider-Man's powers was well established? (Full disclosure: I haven't seen many of the MCU movies so maybe there's hints/suggestions that the powers are from something else?)
    – BruceWayne
    May 12, 2019 at 8:34
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    @BruceWayne - In different continuities his origin story is dramatically different. In the Andrew Garfield stories, he's already been genetically engineered by the time he was bitten by the spider. In the earliest stories, the genesis isn't genetic, it's radiation mixed with spider-blood.
    – Valorum
    May 12, 2019 at 13:49
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    @Wossname 'Spider-Verse’ Directors Discuss the Film’s Relationship to the MCU
    – Remy Lebeau
    May 13, 2019 at 3:47

3 Answers 3

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Peter was bitten by a spider and that’s what gives him his powers but not his web shooting ability.

Ned: You got bit by a spider? Can it bite me? Well, it probably would’ve hurt, right? You know what? Whatever. Even if it did hurt, I’d let it bite me. Maybe. How much did it hurt?

Peter: The spider’s dead, Ned.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

He uses web shooters rather than creating webs like some of the previous versions. We see him mixing a solution in class and Tony comments on how good the mix is at one point.

Tony Stark: Yeah. Look at you go. Wow! Nice catch. 3,000 pounds, 40 miles an hour. That's not easy. You got mad skills.

[...]

Tony Stark: You know what I think is really cool? This webbing. That tensile strength is off the charts. Who manufactured that?

Peter Parker: I did.

Tony Stark: Climbing the walls, how you doing that? Cohesive gloves.

Peter Parker: It's a long story. I was uh…

Tony Stark: Lordy! Can you even see in these?

Peter Parker: Yes. Yes, I can! I can. I can-I can see in those. Okay? It's just that… when whatever happened, happened… it's like my senses have been dialled to 11. There's way too much input, so… they just kinda help me focus.

Captain America: Civil War

It’s also worth noting however that the directors never really wanted to do an origin story again, so we’re only ever going to get hints at it.

"We never talked about showing it, because the MO was always to not show anything we've seen before," Watts said. "If anything ever felt slightly familiar, to try to figure out if there's a way to avoid it or tackle it in a different way. But that was something that definitely felt like we've seen that before."

[...]

By now, a third Uncle Ben death in cinema in less than 20 years would be redundant. "That's why," Feige said, regarding the choice to skip the scene in Spider-Man: Homecoming. "You didn't really have to ask," Pascal added.

Comicbook, Uncle Ben And The Spider Bite Were Never Considered For Spider-Man: Homecoming

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    Having a pre-murdered Uncle Ben was the best decision they made on that film.
    – user
    May 13, 2019 at 13:41
  • Agreed. That would’ve ruined it for me.
    – MissouriSpartan
    May 13, 2019 at 19:51
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    Good point about the web-shooters. MCU Spider-Man is what I call a tech augmented superhero. Like Captain America and Black Panther, he has bodily superpowers that he augments with technology (web shooters, a vibranium shield, and a vibranium catsuit, respectively). Contast this to Iron Man. Much of his "thing" is that he is just an ordinary human who uses advanced tech to do "superhero" stuff.
    – Robert Columbia
    Jun 3, 2019 at 14:48
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The Marvel Spider-Man Far From Home: Prelude comic indicates that he was "bitten by a genetically altered spider". There's no mention of radioactivity.

The quote from the comic, quoted below

Peter Parker was bitten by a genetically altered spider and gained the proportional speed, strength, and agility of a SPIDER, adhesive fingertips and toes, and the precognitive awareness of danger called "SPIDER-SENSE"!

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    That sounds like they simply copied his data sheet from another film I could mention.
    – Mr Lister
    May 12, 2019 at 12:52
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    @MrLister - Listen bud, he's not got radioactive blood.
    – Valorum
    May 12, 2019 at 13:32
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    So, that was not the film I meant.
    – Mr Lister
    May 12, 2019 at 13:37
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    Spider-Man: Far From Home is the sequel to Homecoming, it's the same continuity.
    – detuur
    May 12, 2019 at 18:21
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All we know is Peter was bit by a spider. He doesn't really discuss it more than that in the MCU

Unofficial Spider-Man: Homecoming transcript

NED: You got bit by a spider?

Ned knows Peter is Spider-Man in the movie. Peter is trying to ignore Ned in the scene. This scene appears to be the only time the spider bite is referenced.

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