Questions about the Spider-Sense

[Fanofthegoblins]

Does it go off even if the bad guy is not attacking you?

1.) Let's say a super villain is hiding behind a curtain in the same building as Peter. He is watching Peter, he's not planning to attack or shoot.....the villain just stands there and watches. Would Peter's spider-sense still go off?

2.) Strange how in the 90's cartoon, his spider-sense goes off when he's shaking hands with Jason Macendale, but not being near Wilson Fisk.

[TheboyinShadows]

Well in a comic I have. It's Billys birthday.
He senses the Lizard aproaching quite soon.
As I know If someone watches him his Spidey sense should kick in.
Only it's not that precise. He knows he's being watched but not form exactly where.

[sandwich eater]

1) I think his Spider-Sense would go off because it seems like it reacts to things that threaten his secret ID.

As for #2, in general I try not to overthink the Spider-Sense, it seems to behave differently under different writers. Also I always thought it was weird that Peter rigged his spider-tracers to give a signal that his Spider-Sense can detect. Like if a machine gives off a signal that he can detect than shouldn't people tuned into the right frequency be able to detect the tracers? If it were up to me it would only activate when he is a few seconds from physical harm.

[Cheesedique]

1)
As for #2, in general I try not to overthink the Spider-Sense, it seems to behave differently under different writers. Also I always thought it was weird that Peter rigged his spider-tracers to give a signal that his Spider-Sense can detect. Like if a machine gives off a signal that he can detect than shouldn't people tuned into the right frequency be able to detect the tracers? If it were up to me it would only activate when he is a few seconds from physical harm.

Chameleon honed in on the spider-sense signal in the very first issue of Amazing. As recently as Slott's "Revenge Of The Spider Slayers" arc, Alistair Smythe was able to copy it for his slayers, and of course there's Ty Stone's spider-sense jammers. I think they have shown that the sense is open to be messed with.

[Kevin Nichols]

Yeah, the limitations of the spider-sense are pretty non-specific. It changes based on the writer or by the needs of the particular story. It's probably best not to worry too much about it.

[spideybr]

Does it go off even if the bad guy is not attacking you?

1.) Let's say a super villain is hiding behind a curtain in the same building as Peter. He is watching Peter, he's not planning to attack or shoot.....the villain just stands there and watches. Would Peter's spider-sense still go off?

2.) Strange how in the 90's cartoon, his spider-sense goes off when he's shaking hands with Jason Macendale, but not being near Wilson Fisk.

Truth be told, it depended on the writer and the story he wanted to tell, from stan lee, it would warn him of dangers like attackers,and foes, later, only attacks against him, and not from people he knew (Was friend with) like how aunt may managed to hit him becouse he didnt consider her a threat. later in the 80s 90, it was almost a precognition mystic power, he could sense warning if people were a threat to him even if they didnt mean harm to him but were his foe, that's how he found out about bad guys wanting to commit crime in disguise and in their civies. But it also warned him of people getting muged (weird since the threat was not to him),and crimes happening.

[spideybr]

Chameleon honed in on the spider-sense signal in the very first issue of Amazing. As recently as Slott's "Revenge Of The Spider Slayers" arc, Alistair Smythe was able to copy it for his slayers, and of course there's Ty Stone's spider-sense jammers. I think they have shown that the sense is open to be messed with.

Don't forget dr doom.

[E. Wilson]

I prefer the idea that the spider sense is a purely physical ability to detect changes in the environment around him, as opposed to a psychic ability. But, heck, it's been written as the plot requires for decades.

[spideybr]

I prefer the idea that the spider sense is a purely physical ability to detect changes in the environment around him, as opposed to a psychic ability. But, heck, it's been written as the plot requires for decades.

i don't know if anyone though similar, but even before the totem crap, i always figure that while it had a phisical apearence the spider-sense was mystically in origin, like a webing around peter surrounding.

[Assassin Spider]

2.) Strange how in the 90's cartoon, his spider-sense goes off when he's shaking hands with Jason Macendale, but not being near Wilson Fisk.

That was because by that point, Peter was well-aware that Wilson Fisk was the Kingpin, so his spider-sense likely didn't give a noticeable signal due to Peter already recognizing Fisk as a danger without it. The spider-sense responding to Jason Macendale before Peter knew that Jason was the Hobgoblin was because Peter didn't know he was the Hobgoblin yet. In the older comics, the spider-sense reacts just as strongly to hidden dangers, including from individuals Peter might not recognize as the same foes he fights as Spider-Man due to those individuals being in their more harmless-seeming civilian guises.

Otherwise, to elaborate on the "it works exactly as the plot needs it to work" hand wave, the spider-sense reacts to any and all dangers that would pose significant harm to Spidey. If he's blinded or otherwise unable to see, his spider-sense guides his movements so he doesn't bump into or trip over objects, much like Daredevil's radar sense. If there are dangerous individuals in his vicinity that intend to cause harm to him or are capable of causing him harm, the spider-sense will detect them, too. It's pretty much an all-purpose danger radar, though the limitation is usually that he's still S.O.L. if he can't react quickly enough to evade or counter the danger in question.

[Voulge]

In a what if storyline.

His spidersense could even notice someone planning evil half a world away.

So its really what the writer wants to tell, but its not very inconsistent.

[whiteshark]

Depends of the writers and stories the limits and defenition of the Spider Sense really.

[derekakadrock]

I think the spider-sense works best just as a response to immediate personal attacks, rather than some kind of evil/potential danger detector. It's too easy otherwise.

I also hate when it's written as something Spidey subconsciously reacts to, rather than having to make a deliberate effort to avoid or counteract the danger.