Spider-man might be the world’s most-loved superhero who spans multiple generations. His deeds and actions have inspired others to take up the spider-brand, and while there as many Spider-men as I have had broken bones, these four specific, badass women stand among the upper echelon of Spider-vigilantes: Spider-Gwen, Spider-Girl, Silk, and Spider-Woman.
Spider-Gwen
Image from Univers des Comics
Starting with the most obviously named of these powerhouse women, Spider-Gwen's real name is Gwen Stacy and has the same song and dance of how she got her powers as the original Spider-man: gets bitten by a radioactive spider, gets all the powers, a better looking costume in my opinion, and does the whole vigilante side job while balancing a normal life. However, she exists in a universe where the moon is daytime and the sun is night. That is an exaggeration of course, but just know that universe is really messed up.
For instance she is responsible for the death of Peter Parker. Through events too long to explain here this causes her to be seen as a menace to society and allows for every form of hell to break loose. However, this doesn’t stop her from being Spider-Gwen. Instead, she has a stronger conviction to help people and even gets help from her policeman father in her fight.
Now while she doesn’t join any of the top name groups of the Marvel Universe, because in this universe left is up and right is sideways, she does inspire hope in the people of New York. She’s always out there fighting the good fight and protecting the people which is the literal idea of being a Spider-man.
Spider-Girl
Image from Marvel
Spider-Girl’s real name is May Parker and is the child of Peter Parker and Mary Jane. This child is the literal definition of Mary Jane and Peter Parker having a child: she has all the charisma, beauty, talent, athleticism, and intelligence of Mary Jane. Combine that with Peter’s hate for injustice and half-spider DNA and wham! The Spider-man legacy lives on.
She has all the powers of her old man, not to the skill and power that Peter has, but she more than makes it up by being a millennial and using technology to give her an edge in a fight. Another thing that she has inherited from her father is known as “Parker Luck,” which is the power to win the lottery every time she buys a ticket. That’s actually not true, what it actually is a little jab that putting on the mask turns your social life to poop. However, at the age of 15 she has already done so much.
She is an official member of the Avengers, has stopped countless crimes both small time and world ending, and has parental support for being a vigilante. Which is totally not fair because when I wanted to be a vigilante my parents put their foot down right quick. Overall though she proves that just because she’s a Parker by blood, it's her actions that make her a Spider-Girl.
Silk
Image from Marvel
Cindy Moon, aka Silk, is a Korean-American who was at the same place and time of Peter Parker, got bitten by the same spider as Peter, and got all the powers and more of Spider-man. I can dig.
Besides the usual powers of Spider-man she’s got a few more tricks up her sleeve. Silk is faster than Peter, has a longer range on her spider-sense thus sensing danger and having more time to react, and she has a photographic memory on steroids. She also has the ability to shoot organic web, which is different from Spider-man since he uses artificial web. Organic web is stronger and puts the artificial web to shame, the only difference is that this web shoots from her fingers. That must make nail clipping a pain.
Her reason for taking up the mantle and pursuing crime fighting is a bit more selfish than the other web crawlers, but still noble. She’s looking for her family who have been missing for 10 years. While this was initially her one and only goal, she recognized that she could use her powers for more than finding her family and stood up for the little guy.
Spider-Woman
Image from the Marvel Wikia
Alright, so I know all the other Spider-Females are on point, but won’t lie they have nothing on Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman. This is the literal god-form of not only all female Spider-superheroes, but of all Spider-based superheroes to come! In my opinion.
Her origins start when she was still in the womb. Her mother was exposed to radiation that contained the DNA of all the spiders known to man which affected Jessica’s DNA. This change in her DNA makes her superhuman in every way shape and form.
All of her powers are turned up to 11 with top-tier strength, speed, agility, and so much more. One power she possesses is the ability to generate and shoot the excess amount of bio-energy that she emits into what she calls “venom blasts.” Venom blasts' power varies from a knockout blast to the equivalent of a frickin' lightning bolt. Another out-of-nowhere power is her ability to release different pheromones at will. She could make the whole world love of hate her just by a smell. She’s too OP! I’m calling it now!
However, following the whole mantra of being a Spider-based superhero she has protected the innocent, defeated the entire villains roster of Marvel at least two times over, and loses all ability to have a personal life. But, that didn’t stop her from getting pregnant and instead of taking time off like any sane mother, she continued to do her superhero work. If you can’t tell she is a top tier Spider-superhero, there's your hint.
Images: Marvel, Marvel Wikia, Univers des Comics
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