There’s no shortage of insect-based heroes in the Marvel Universe. However, besides Ant-Man and a few other characters, none of those heroes can communicate directly with the creatures that inspire their personas. It begs the question, can Spider-Man actually talk to spiders?
Peter Parker’s spider-based powers didn’t originally come with the ability to talk to Spiders. He did gain spider-sense, the ability to climb and cling onto walls, as well as superhuman strength and durability. But, missing from his powers was the ability to control and communicate with arachnids. However, there are examples where Spider-Man was given powers (or transformed into a different realm) which made talking with spiders possible.
In ‘The Other’ crossover storyline from 2005 to 2006, Spider-Man was experiencing unknown issues with his skin shedding. While that was happening, he was killed by the villainous Morlun. However, Peter didn’t fully die in the fight, as he transformed into a cocoon where a spider-deity called the Great Weaver told him he needs to embrace his spider-side more. When he was reborn from the cocoon, Spider-Man has new powers more closely resembling a spider. Among them, is the ability to communicate with spiders, which he used to save thousands of people from a collapsing building. His new abilities were soon retconned in the controversial Spider-Man: One More Day crossover storyline. More recently, Spider-Man convinced Doctor Strange to let him talk to an actual Spider in Donny Cates and Chip Zdarsky’s “Peter Talks to a Spider” mini-story from Doctor Strange #390. In that hilarious story, an inquisitive spider asks Spider-Man about his powers. Peter finds out about spider’s short life span, while he’s told by the giant spider that it “sounds like you got bit by a magician.”
While it’s not the Peter Parker version of Spider-Man, one of his clones, Kaine Parker, aka the Scarlet Spider, actually has the ability to communicate with spiders. In Scarlet Spider #5 by Christopher Yost and Neil Edwards and Karl Kesel, Kaine has the realization that one of his powers is the ability to talk to spiders. He quickly teams up with the spiders to find a nuclear bomb, which he soon stops from detonating. Kaine shows just how useful spider control can be, as they can access places he can’t quite get to.
So yes, Spider-Man has talked with spiders before. Is it one of his powers? That’s a trickier question, as they have been – but not for a prolonged period of time. Spider-Man’s powers are spider-based, but that doesn’t give him a direct line to spiders when he wants to talk with them.
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