Marvel’s ongoing comic book series Amazing Spider-Man has just fixed a major plot hole in the long-running franchise. Specifically, it’s given an explanation for the iconic web-shooters used by Spider-Man since his conception.
As shared over at ScreenRant, Amazing Spider-Man #19 answers some interesting questions held by fans over the years which include the aforementioned plot hole. After all, how could Peter Parker create those rather advanced web-shooters? It seemed as though “compressed gas” was the answer that many fans went with.
Of course, compressed gas doesn’t really make sense, and Peter Parker acknowledges this when he’s asked if he works with “hyper-compressed fluorocarbons.” Interestingly, he explains that if he did, then the web-shooters would either weigh more than a thousand pounds – or they’d be blocks of ice.
Now, in an equally-complex answer, Peter Parker explains that his web-shooters use “compressed chain molecules that expand directionally based on the introduction of hydrogen.” Now we have our answer. Of course, it’s still not very scientific, but it is something that explains away the theories that Peter Parker somehow used compressed gas instead.
Spider-Man’s web-shooters have been a major topic of discussion for years now. And, as a result, the many different variations of Spider-Man works have taken different approaches with the concept. One wildly unique approach can be seen in Sam Raimi’s fan-favorite live-action Spider-Man film. It, rather controversially at the time, erased Peter Parker’s web-shooters altogether. Rather, it gave Peter the addition of organic web-shooters as a result of his genetic mutations. It’s an interesting change that Marvel had some fun with in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Perhaps we’ll see other changes made to these web-shooters and their inner-workings in a later Spider-Man tale. For now, however, Amazing Spider-Man does a decent enough job at explaining how they work for the time being. And, of course, the ingredients of the actual webbing fluid remain a secret.
Fans can currently purchase Amazing Spider-Man #19 from Marvel Comics. The new issue comes from Joe Kelly, Terry Dodson, and Rachel Dodson.