Movies News Talk

Spider-Man Webs vs. the Thing: An Amazing Spider-Man Cover Art Debate

The incredible web-slinging hero, Spider-Man, is well known for his awesome powers! However, one major component is always a fan favorite. Those strong web-slingers, which can hold so much! Well, it seems the web has met its match!

The Amazing Spider-Man Cover Art:

The awesome art from Aaron Kuder and Marvel gave fans the most compelling image, a real shock that gives us an image that is worthy of a discussion for those that enjoy comics!

The variant cover from The Amazing Spider-Man issue number 61 which was released on November 13th, 2024, was the best way to start off the cover art of one of the Fantastic Four's most well-known members, "The Thing", or Ben Grimm!

In the Marvel Universe, Ben Grimm is one of the more well-known superheroes and a powerful being that may just surprise Spider-Man, He takes on this big task, attempting to web sling as if he's the original, but that fails to really live up to his expectations.

What really shocked us? We are shown this web and it's truly at its limits.

Why was there such a break in a hero's most powerful asset? Let's break it down!

Centrifugal Force Explained

Comic book cover: the Thing crashes to the ground, dress as Spider-Man and unable to use a websling. Image

The power behind Spider-Man is his awesome, well loved webs! His ability to sling these, means we have to get some science and take it a step further! What can make these webs snap is something you may not even know exists.

  • The moment Spider-Man goes through the motion of swinging through the air "centrifugal force" comes into play.

So when it comes to the cover, we have "The Thing", as this force exerts upon him, there's this big problem as he slings.

For those that may not remember.

How to Calculate this force. You'll need this formula!

Centrifugal Force = mass x velocity^2 / the radius of the swing (or F= mv^2/r )

There's even more we'll look into for The Thing's strength and the calculations to determine just how strong, or how fragile the webbing is. Spider-Man uses. The most well-known is the calculation for his mass in "The Thing's" suit is about 500 lbs. It's pretty amazing to think about. You see it will help us determine this whole "centrifugal force." We also can't forget gravity so for this calculation we need 9.8 m/s2. We then have to convert those figures and then you have "The Thing" in his awesome Spider-Man suit. It seems as if it was about 227 kg. You may be a fan but you are now also a little scientist!

How Much Force Before A Web Snaps:

Spider-Man Venom War #1 featuring Peter Parker in black symbiote suit costume (Feature Image) Image

To get the big numbers, we use these figures!

  • Terminal Velocity for "The Thing is a wild 53 meters per second
  • That also helps to explain the radius for The Thing in this cover art.
  • It's around 3 times his size. He is pretty big and so that makes it 5.4 meters
  • If we follow the calculations

We end up with a whopping 118,082 Newtons!

It doesn't really make sense if you're looking for Spider-Man to try and swing a "Thing!" It really seems as if it should have snapped before it had the chance. However, when Spider-Man uses his webs they are a lot more flexible, than a rigid material that we would imagine a web would be.

While those webs can hold cars or a few other things! The calculations show why this wasn't really possible!

Even when we look to other parts of the comic book universe where Spider-Man is doing this! There have been a few notable moments where this wasn't really a possibility, either. A perfect example is the version "Ben Reilly" who, because of his limitations couldn't use the webs, but his Spider-Strength helped. We are left with so many amazing elements and characters. For now, it doesn't look as if this power is something that should ever be underestimated!

Fans can keep learning new aspects of this web-slinging hero. This is an amazing take on one of those big, important heroes, but those details bring the power of "The Thing's weight and the laws of science!

You might get more of this kind of knowledge if you check out these other articles from the Marvel Universe!

And make sure to check out "The Amazing Spider-Man" issue number "61" when you get a chance. It's filled with incredible action from Marvel Comics and all those classic heroes and villains that make up one of the most compelling series! The only real way to learn more about these stories is to jump in!

Even more is waiting to be explored in the world of comics and a chance to experience so many fantastic moments in an unforgettable world full of endless storytelling. You should definitely go on a search for more cool facts, details about the series and make your journey through this epic universe!

You should definitely go on a search for more cool facts, details about the series and make your journey through this epic universe!

Related Articles