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The Sam Raimi Spider-Man films took a different approach. Although 2002’s Spider-Man largely played the origin story straight, it skipped the web-shooters in favor of organic webbing. Raimi felt that Peter Parker is the traditional everyman hero, a guy just like us, so he didn’t really like the idea that Peter was also a mechanical genius able to create unparalleled technology. It was a controversial decision… but now it’s becoming part of the MCU.
Spider-Man is Developing Organic Webbing in the MCU Too
The new Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer reveals Peter Parker’s DNA is mutating, and he’s becoming more spider-like than ever before. In one striking shot, his senses are so acute that he’s overwhelmed by a mere drip of water. But most striking of all, though, is the fact he now has organic webbing. He’s initially doing so on an unconscious level, with his apartment filled with cobwebs and another chilling shot in which he awakens inside a sort of cocoon. But it will surely only be a matter of time before he begins to create it consciously.
To be fair, Peter knows this kind of mutation is a possibility. He encountered Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man in No Way Home, and was struck by the fact his other-dimensional counterpart has organic webbing. But the MCU’s version of Peter Parker is experiencing this as part of a traumatic event, one in which he appears to be losing his humanity. In the words of Bruce Banner, he is becoming something… dangerous.
Raimi’s organic webbing was incredibly controversial; decades later, he still faces accusations that he fundamentally mishandled the character in this respect. Ironically, it wasn’t his own idea; it was a holdover from a James Cameron Spider-Man script, one that Raimi quite liked. But the MCU isn’t pivoting to organic webbing to restore the everyman theme. Instead, it’s achieving the opposite.
Spider-Man is Losing His Humanity in Brand New Day
Spider-Man is losing his humanity in Brand New Day. He’s already cut himself off from all his loved ones after No Way Home, realizing people are at risk if they get too close to a superhero. Now, though, his DNA is mutating and stripping him of his humanity. We’re moving straight into body-horror territory, specifically to a comic book story famously adapted in the ’90s Spider-Man: The Animated Series Season 2. There, the story was simply called “Neogenic Nightmare,” in which Spider-Man ultimately mutated into a horrific Man-Spider form.
Many elements of “Neogenic Nightmare” have been integrated into Brand New Day. That story featured the Punisher, for example; and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher is making his big-screen debut in this film. Spider-Man fought multiple villains, his powers flared out of control, and he even wound up seeking experts on genetic mutation. This led him to the X-Men, making it so very appropriate that Sadie Sink is believed to be playing Jean Grey in Brand New Day. All the “Neogenic Nightmare” pieces are in play.
But there’s far more to the film than “Neogenic Nightmare.” The web cocoon is reminiscent of scenes in “The Other,” an epic 2005-2006 crossover in which Spider-Man’s body began to mutate at an accelerated rate. Believing this to be triggered by radiation, Spider-Man went to the world’s preeminent scientist on radioactively-triggered mutation – one Bruce Banner (just as in Brand New Day). There’s a prominent theme of death and rebirth in “The Other,” matching with dialogue in the new trailer.
“The Other” became pretty controversial as well, because it established a mystical side to Spider-Man’s powers rather than just a radioactive one. It eventually evolved into the idea that each dimension has a so-called “spider-totem,” a being mystically chosen as its defender, and Peter is the totem of Earth-616. Dan Slott built on this mythology when he launched the epic “Spider-Verse” story – and it seems quite appropriate for Marvel to integrate it into the MCU in the buildup to Avengers: Doomsday, the climax of the Multiverse Saga.
Don’t Expect Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s Organic Webbing to be Controversial
Organic webbing has always tended to be controversial. What’s more, this time round, the MCU’s nods to “The Other” are deliberately referencing a particularly divisive story; many readers disliked the pivot away from science towards the supernatural. The trailer features ninjas from the Hand, who likewise serve as agents of mystical death and rebirth, a hint that Brand New Day will take the same kind of approach. But, that said, this time… don’t expect it to be controversial.
There’s a sense in which Marvel is “having its cake and eating it.” Unlike Raimi’s Spider-Man, this version has already demonstrated his genius by creating web-shooters and artificial webbing. The organic replacement is not simply hand-waved away, but rather is a core part of the story, and the “Neogenic Nightmare” nods are calling back to one of the most popular stories from Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Marvel has clearly figured out how to make this webbing work.
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