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The Spider-Men of different eras received their powers in different ways, and as such, there are major differences in how their abilities manifest. They have a lot of the same basic suite of powers, but once you dig into each of them, there’s actually more that’s different than the same in the finer details. To clear the air and give each spider his due, we’re going to be looking at the five key differences between Spider-Man and his 2099 counterpart’s powers and breaking them down.
5) Wall-Crawling
Right off the bat, one key difference between the two Spider-Men is how they crawl up walls. Peter has the uncanny ability to stick to anything he touches through controlling electrostatic force. Miguel, meanwhile, has to make due with retractable claws on his fingers and toes. Instead of sticking to surfaces, Miguel has to dig into them.
This vastly limits his abilities compared to Peter, as the original Spidey can make any part of his body stick to anything, even using it in creative situations like having his mask stick to his face and ripping the skin right off people. Miguel’s claws are far more limited and combat-oriented, while Peter has to get creative with his much more open-ended power.
4) Organic Webbing
While there have been brief periods of exceptions, Peter generally doesn’t have organic webbing. He makes the web formula himself and fires it out of shooters on his wrists. On the other hand, Miguel has spinnerets on each of his forearms that naturally produce webbing. Miguel never has to worry about running out of webs or his web-shooters getting damaged, but webs cost him energy, and are identical to real spider silk.
Peter has to make his own web fluid and can easily run out or lose it, but he can also use entire cartridges for massive web bombs, and can adjust his own formula for much greater strength and versatility.
3) Spider-Sense
This one is a big one. One of Spidey’s most iconic powers is his precognitive danger sense, which alerts him to any threat coming his way. The Spider-Sense covers everything from assassination attempts to being bluffed at poker, and can even pick up on certain radio frequencies like his Spider-Tracers. Even though this is such a prototypical Spider-Man power, Miguel doesn’t have one at all. Where Peter can let his body instinctively leap out of the way from danger he couldn’t see coming, Miguel has to rely on his wits and five normal senses to keep himself safe.
As a note, Peter’s Spider-Sense can also be turned against him, such as the time he absorbed too much radiation, and his body tried to attack the danger. The Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #76 showed that it constantly flared to warn Peter about the danger in himself, which created a negative feedback loop of agony. Basically, the Spider-Sense can be overloaded, and once it is, it can act like the world’s most painful allergic reaction.
