Spider-Man is the most popular superhero in the world. That's not an opinion but a fact. The wallcrawler rakes in over $2 billion+ in merchandise, much ahead of Batman, who's in second place. With great popularity comes great scrutiny. Spider-Man has been in the public's eye ever since his debut back in 1962 when the world was introduced to awkward nerdy teenager Peter Parker.

After getting bit by a radioactive spider, Peter gets the powers and proportionate strength of a human spider. He sets out to fight crime as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, with an assortment of colorful villains in his rogue's gallery who are almost as famous as he is, from Green Goblin to Doc Ock.

With multiple comic titles, novels, movies, video games and cartoons to his credit, you will never run out of Spider-Man stories to enjoy. But that doesn't mean that every Spidey story is worth reading. As with any other long-running character, Spider-Man has had many strange moments, from instances of horrifying intensity to the downright absurd.

The kid from Queens has traveled to distant planets, other dimensions, and pretty much any other world that the writer's imagination would allow. And the craziness is only further compounded when you realize that Peter is only one of the many, many Spider-Men who are a part of the Marvel multiverse, each with their own set of background characters, villains and Earths to look after.

Here we bring to you the 28 most bizarre and unexpected facts from the world of Spider-Man.

28 Releasing Radioactive Fluids

mary jane
via quirkybyte.com

Spider-Man: Reign was a four-part mini issue which dealt with a Peter Parker, who is now a senior citizen. Old Spider-Man still has enemies, however, so he must face off against foes who are younger, quicker, and stronger than him.

The most gut-wrenching part of the story is whenever Peter reminisces about his wife Mary Jane, who has passed away. Apparently, Peter's body produces radioactive... fluids. And it was because she came into contact with those fluids that Mary Jane contracted a horrible disease that eventually took her life. Does radioactive fluid also count as a superpower?

27 Sprouting Extra Arms

spiderman with extra arms
via imgur.com

For all the talk of being a Spider-man, Peter only inherited the coolest aspects of a spider. He missed out on the super hairy body, having, like, a billion eyes, and shooting web out of your behind.

One time, Peter did take on a more spider-like appearance.

When he sprouted an extra set of four arms! In typical science fiction fashion, Peter created a serum that he hoped would take away his powers. Instead, all it did was give him extra limbs. Suffice to say that Peter had to work quickly to lose all the extra appendages.

26 Behold The Spidermobile!

spidermobile
via amazon.com

Spider-Man may be able to swing across rooftops fast enough to beat the Human Torch, but that doesn't mean he can't appreciate a sweet, custom-built ride. A toy company decided to add cars to the list of toys that would sell out in a matter of minutes as long as it had Spierman's face on the packing.

Thus, the Spidermobile was created! It shot webs, could ride up walls, and let Spider-Man travel in style instead of scrambling across rooftops all the time. The toy car also made a brief appearance in comics.

25  Dissolvable Fluid

spider web
via screenrant.com

One question that fans often have about Spider-Man is what happens to all the web he spreads around the city everytime he swings into action. Considering the gallons of webbing that Spider-Man has expended while protecting the city, many areas should be covered in gooey, sticky web.

One writer finally came up with some sort of a solution.

Turns out Spider-Man's webbing dissolves into nothingness in an hour's time. Man, forget about fighting crime, Peter should just sell the rights to his magically strong and dissolvable web fluid to the highest bidder and become an overnight millionaire.

24 Accelerated Healing

injured spiderman
via comicvine.com

Marvel has a lot of heroes with accelerated healing factors, most famously Wolverine and Deadpool. Because those two can recover from almost any injury in a matter of seconds, they tend to be the first heroes people think of when discussing healing factors.

But many people forget that Spider-Man has an accelerated healing factor as well, even though nowhere near as fast as Wolvie or Deadpool. It usually takes Peter a day to recover from serious injuries like broken ribs or shredded organs. This has saved his life on countless occasions since Spidey has been on the receiving end of countless savage beatdowns over the years.

23 A Question Of Webbing

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via inverse.com

One thing that was starkly different about the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies was that they showed Peter producing webbing naturally from his body. This went against the comics, where the webbing had always been something that Peter's genius intellect came up within a lab.

But Spider-Man director Sam Raimi decided organic webbing made more sense for the movie. So popular was the concept that the idea eventually filtered over into the comics as well. After been bitten by a villain known as The Queen, comic Spider-Man found he could produce webbing naturally from his forearms.

22 Clone Wars

ben rielly
via reddit.com

One of, if not the most hated storylines in Spider-Man was the Clone Saga. In it, we find that the Peter Parker that we had known since forever, the Peter Parker who was the one and only definitive Spider-Man... has been a clone all along.

The 'real' Spider-Man showed up as one named Ben Reilly.

He briefly took over as the wallcrawler while Peter retired to raise a family with MJ. But fans weren't having it. So great was the fury over what many saw as a cheap publicity trick that the writers were forced to bring back Peter and denounce Rielly as the actual clone.

21 It Takes A Lot To Get Spider-Man Woozy

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One of Spidey's more obscure abilities is his super metabolism. What this means is that his body breaks down food at a much faster rate than normal, similar to what happens with The Flash. An interesting side-effect of his super-metabolism is that Peter can't really have too much to drink.

It takes an exceptionally powerful dose of sedatives to have any effect on Peter. And that... doesn't really help Peter's social life. One of the joys of high school and college is doing this (safely) with friends.

20 The Brains Behind The Brawn

peter and tony
via geeks media

Most fans see Spider-Man as the nerd with the smart mouth. He does well in school, and he's always making clever quips in the middle of fights, so the kid must have a decent brain behind that mask.

But Peter's brain isn't just decent, it's phenomenal.

He developed his own web fluid and various other cutting-edge gadgets in the comics all on his own. Not to mention the fact that Tony Stark and Reed Richards, the two smartest men in Marvel, regard Peter as their peer. Basically, even without his powers, Peter would go down in history as one of the smartest men who ever lived.

19 The Lamest Costume Ever

via reddit.com

Spider-Man has one of the coolest costume designs in comics, and what's even cooler is that he designed and created his suit on his own. But that doesn't mean every piece of superhero clothing he owned was a slam dunk.

Case in point, one time Peter was alternating between superhero identities since there was a price on Spider-Man's head. In this instance, Peter had to move quickly to rescue two kids playing at being superheroes. Without the Spider-Man costume, Peter was forced to improvise. What he came up with was a paper bag over his head and... that's it. To add a further touch of lunacy to the "Outfit," he also decided to forego his shirt.

18 Starring In A Musical

spiderman musical
via abcnews.com

You may have heard whispers in the darkest corners of the Spidey fandom of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark. That's not a comic storyline, but a musical based on the wall-crawler that debuted on Broadway and ran for three years.

The music was scored by Bono, Spider-Man's origins were tweaked so he now received his powers from a mythical Greco-roman character called Arachne (What?) and the whole thing was just so much... why? To top it all, on the play's opening night, three cast members were injured doing stunts they definitely should not have been trying.

17 Birthed From A Spider

via fumetto-online.it

We're sorry to say the title for this entry isn't metaphorical but entirely literal. We talked before about comic book Spider-Man temporarily getting organic web shooting powers. But the backstory for how he got them is even more bizarrely fascinating.

After the supervillain Queen kissed Peter, he transformed into a giant spider.

And then he passed away. Except, not really. Apparently, the real Peter had been nesting inside the spider, which was acting like a cocoon. The story ends with Peter bursting out of the spider, we assume to rapturous cries of 'Congratulations! It's a boy!'

16 Early Adventures In India

via deviantart.com/tnperkins

Before Marvel came up with an officially licensed alternate version of Spider-Man in India, there was that time Spider-Man showed up in an Indian superhero comic book alongside Batman and Superman.

Proving how much more awesome comics would be without copyright laws, the issue sees Spidey teaming up with the other heroes, and India's very own savior Nagraj, to battle beloved WWF wrestler Lou Albano, now a crazed giant thanks to the magical trickery of alien dwarf Shakoora. Spider-Man does his bit to help by blowing Albano up with a bomb.

15 The Tray Trick Wasn't CGI

via factswt.com

One of the coolest scenes in 2000's Spider-Man had nothing to do with Spider-Man or The Green Goblin. After recently getting bitten by the radioactive spider, Peter discovers his new superhuman reflexes when Mary Jane trips next to him in the school cafeteria and he saves not only her but also her food tray without dropping a single item.

While many assumed the scene must have used special effects, Tobey Maguire actually did the stunt himself!

The tray was glued to his hand, it took 16 hours and more than a hundred takes. But the end result was worth all the effort put into the scene.

14 Spider-Man Fathered The Power Rangers

supaidaman
via peru.com

In 1978, Marvel collaborated with Japanese entertainment powerhouse Toei to create Supaidaman, a Japanese version of Spider-Man where the wallcrawler is a motorcycle racer who gets injected with alien blood which gives him spider powers. The hero uses his abilities to battle outlandish villains with armies of faceless henchmen using a giant robot called Leopardon.

While the show received a mixed response, it did become one of the major inspirations for Saban's Power Rangers series. They took many cues from Supaidaman's colorful costume, his giant sword fighting robot-buddy and the army of faceless henchmen he regularly defeated.

13 Yet Another Awful Decision

peter's family
via kotaku.com

In yet another instance of Peter failing to keep his mask on, his enemies discover his true identity and as a result, Aunt May is shot. Maddened with grief, Peter makes a deal with the literal devil, Mephisto, to bring back Aunt May in return for wiping out his marriage to Mary Jane and their unborn child from reality.

In any other medium, such a momentous decision would have been lauded for adding unimaginable emotional complexity to Peter's life, but this being comics, the effects of that deal were only valid until the next inevitable reboot.

12 Venom Was Never Intended To Be In The Movie

venom
via cinemablend.com

One of the biggest complaints that fans have about the third Spider-Man movie was that it tries to stuff too many villains and storylines into the narrative. And that ended up shortchanging a great character like Venom, who deserves his own movie (and is finally getting one).

Director Sam Raimi agrees with the critics on this point.

He never wanted to add Venom to the mix and had intended for Sandman to be the main villain. But studio execs insisted that he add the more popular character of Venom to the movie.

11 Turkish Spidey Is Crazy Awesome

via deviantart.com/infinitebadness

Considering how popular Spider-Man is across the globe, it's inevitable that his likeness is used to sell tickets even without Marvel's approval. Among the most memorable things this practice gave us is Turkish Spider-Man! In 1973's 3 Dev Adam, Istanbul is in the clutches of the villainous mob boss Spider-Man and his sinister Spider-gang.

Establishing his credentials as a Grade-A Turkish Badass and also a giant jerk, Spider-Man harms people using motorboats and guinea pigs, and canoodles with his girlfriend right in front of several puppets that look disturbingly like Mr. Rogers. Can we please make this Spider-Man a part of the Marvel Multiverse?

10 His Spider Also Created A Supervillain

the herd
via comicvine.com

Everyone knows that Peter Parker became Spider-Man after getting bitten by a radioactive spider. But what fewer people know is that the same spider later became responsible for creating a truly disturbing villain: The Hive.

Carl King was a school tough guy who attacked Peter while growing up and later discovered that Parker is really Spider-Man. Eager to gain his powers, King revisited the site of Peter's radioactive accident and ate the spider that had bitten him. A horrible misfire occurred, and King was transformed into an army of spiders linked together by his consciousness.

9 He Beat Wolverine ... Badly

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Spider-Man and Wolverine are as different as day and night. Spider-Man is all lighthearted jokes and webbing criminals up, while Wolverine is a slaughter machine who mows down his enemies while in animal rage mode. In most comics starring the two together, Wolverine always comes off as the gruff badass who Spider-Man is careful not to antagonize.

But a few times the two have fought each other when Spider-Man wasn't feeling too quippy.

In one of those fights, Spidey was actually feeling very, very angry. And he destroyed Wolverine. The fight proved to show that beneath the light-hearted exterior of Spider-Man is a frighteningly powerful superhuman who can be a great menace to the world if not for his rigid set of morals.