Spider-Man: Movie or Comics? Trivia Quiz

Answer: only the movie

Ben Parker (Cliff Robertson) is killed by a carjacker outside of the New York Public Library in "Spider-Man," the movie. In the comics ("Amazing Fantasy" no. 15, to be exact), Ben is killed by a burglar who breaks into the Parker home in Queens while Peter is out. Peter doesn't even find out about his uncle's death until hours later, after Ben's body has presumably been loaded onto an ambulance, so there's no tearful goodbye scene for the two characters.

Answer: only the comics

In the comics of the 1960's, radioactive exposure was frequently used as an excuse for numerous superhuman alterations and mutations, and Spider-Man's origin was no exception. Peter was attending "an exhibit on radiation" when a spider was accidentally irradiated.

As it was dying, it bit Peter, and transferred its abilities to him. In the movie, Peter (Tobey Maguire) is bitten by a "genetically altered super-spider." Genetic engineering, rather than the vague catch-all term "radiation," is responsible for Peter's powers.

Answer: both

In the movie, MJ (Kirsten Dunst) dates Harry (James Franco) for a while, but admits her love for Peter by film's end. In the comics, she dated Harry in college, but eventually broke it off. She and Peter were on-again-off-again for many years, but they finally got married in 1987. (As of November 2002, Peter and MJ are separated in the comics.)

Answer: only the movie

Mary Jane is dating Flash (Joe Manganiello) at the start of the film -- she dumps him at their high school graduation -- but she never really dated him in the comics. There were definitely some flirtatious moments once MJ and Flash were in college (much to Peter's chagrin), but that was it.

In the comics, Flash and Peter actually became very close friends after high school ended. Will the same thing happen in the movie sequels? Time will tell, but I tend to doubt it.

Answer: neither

In the movie, Ben's killer (Michael Papajohn) is credited merely as "Carjacker." In the comics, he was known only as "The Burglar." Said burglar made a surprise re-appearance in "The Amazing Spider-Man" no. 200 (January 1980), but he died of a heart attack before Peter could learn his name.

Answer: both

In the movie, Peter sees an opportunity for some quick cash, and challenges Bone Saw McGraw (Randy "Macho Man Savage" Poffo) in a hastily-assembled costume. In the comics, Peter steps into the ring with a wrestler named Crusher Hogan, but wears street clothes, adding only a simple stocking mask to hide his identity.

Answer: only the comics

In the comic, Peter is slightly disoriented after the spider bite. While woozy, he wanders from the sidewalk into the street, and is about to get hit by a car. At the last second, he feels a tingling in his skull warning him of imminent danger, and leaps out of the way -- several stories in the air! No such scene exists in the movie; in fact, Peter's "transformation" takes place over the course of many hours, while he sleeps the night away, as opposed to the virtually immediate enhancements seen in the comics.

Answer: neither

From day one, Spider-Man's costume has been cape-free. Appropriately, the costume in the movie does not include a cape. One of Peter's sketches suggests that he was *considering* a cape, but Spider-Man never wears one. (And no, the "underarm webbing" that Spider-Man sports in the comics does not count as a "cape.")

Answer: both

In both the comics and the movie, no one knows that Peter is Spider-Man when he first begins his super-heroics, so he was more or less forced to make his costume on his own.

Answer: only the comics

In the comics, Peter spent quite a few years earning his B.S. and a graduate degree or two at the fictional ESU...but in the movie, it's never specified where Peter attends college. Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) says, while in the hospital, that Peter is taking on too much, "with work and college," but we never *see* Peter at any college, and we certainly never hear the words "Empire State University" in the film.

Answer: only the movie

Most of Peter's "family" -- official and otherwise -- sit down for a Thanksgiving dinner in the movie. (Norman's sudden departure presumably ruins the occasion, but they *were* all sitting together briefly!) No such scene involving those five characters on Thanksgiving ever took place in the comics.

Answer: neither

Peter's financial woes, even (especially?) as a college student, have been a major subplot in the comics since 1962, and the movie followed suit. Besides, if Peter didn't need money for college, why would he have to take a job as a photographer for the DAILY BUGLE?

Answer: only the movie

In the movie, Peter tells the wrestling announcer (Bruce Campbell) that his name is "The Human Spider." The announcer thinks this is a stupid name, and introduces Peter as "The Amazing Spider-Man." In the comics, Peter calls himself "Spider-Man" from the get-go.

Answer: both

Peter's improved eyesight is one of the many physical enhancements caused by the spider bite. In the movie, his glasses become superfluous the morning after the spider bite, but in the comics, it took considerably longer for Peter to toss his glasses aside -- almost a year in "real time."

Answer: only the movie

In the movie, the Goblin is Spidey's very first costumed adversary, but the comics didn't work that way. Spider-Man's first appearance, "Amazing Fantasy" no. 15, contained no costumed super-villains -- just the burglar who killed his uncle -- but in his second appearance, "The Amazing Spider-Man" no. 1, he squared off against a costumed master of disguise called the Chameleon.

In fact, by the time the Green Goblin first appeared in "ASM" no. 14, Spider-Man had already been challenged by the Vulture, the Tinkerer, Doctor Octopus, the Sandman, Doctor Doom, the Lizard, the Enforcers, Electro, and Mysterio.