Summary

  • Spider-Boy, a new member of Spider-Man canon, has a unique and rare power - he doesn't trigger Spider-Man's spider-sense, making him a worthy challenger.
  • Spider-Boy's history was erased by a multiversal villain, but he is making a comeback and is trying to convince Spider-Man of their past partnership.
  • Spider-Boy's power of not triggering Spider-Man's spider-sense is extremely rare, with only one other character, Venom, having this ability in the Marvel universe.

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man #11 one of Spider-Boy’s superpowers is actually one of Marvel’s rarest, as the only other character to have it is Venom.

Bailey Briggs aka Spider-Boy is a new member of Spider-Man canon, though apparently, his inclusion to the wider lore isn’t nearly that simple. Spider-Man and other Spider-heroes from across the multiverse just defeated the ancient wasp totem, Shathra, who had a weapon that could eliminate Spider-heroes from the Web of Life and Destiny. In essence, this multiversal villain could effectively delete Spider-heroes from history by stabbing them with a mystical dagger - which is exactly what happened to Spider-Boy. When Shathra was beaten, all the Spider-heroes who were lost came back, including Spider-Boy. Apparently, Spider-Boy had been with Spider-Man for some time as his sidekick, and the only reason fans (and Spider-Man) don’t him is because of his essentially fatal encounter with Shathra. But now, Spider-Boy is back and ready for action, with one particular ability that makes him a worthy challenger of even Spider-Man himself: Spider-Boy doesn’t trigger Spider-Man’s spider-sense.

Spider-Boy Is Immune To Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense, Just Like Venom

Spider-Boy beats Spider-Man's spider-sense.

In Spider-Man #11 by Dan Slott and Luciano Vecchio, Spider-Boy is trying to convince Spider-Man that they do have a history, even though Shathra deleted that history from the mind of Spider-Man, and - in fact - the entire world. In that effort, Spider-Boy is telling Spider-Man all about the origins of their partnership, how Spidey introduced him to Daredevil who trained Spider-Boy to control his powers, and how Spider-Boy was even responsible for saving Aunt May’s life during one of their missions together. Throughout this time, Spider-Man had Spider-Boy webbed to the wall of a building, as he initially couldn’t be certain that Spider-Boy wasn’t a villain-in-disguise. However, Spider-Boy covertly freed himself from Spidey’s webs and pinned Spider-Man down using a sneak attack - which is something Spider-Man isn’t exactly used to falling victim to. Usually, Spider-Man’s spider-sense would have picked up on someone’s incoming attack, but as Spider-Boy explains when Spider-Man brings up that very point, “I don’t trigger your spider-sense”.

This is an incredibly rare ability, as literally only one other person has this power: Venom. Back when Venom was a grisly and brutal Spider-Man villain during the early days of his comic book career, one of the scariest parts about Spider-Man fighting him was that his spider-sense didn’t work against him. The reason being that the Venom symbiote that was first on Spider-Man absorbed some of Spider-Man’s abilities and ed them along to its next host, which resulted in Eddie Brock being immune to triggering Spider-Man’s spider-sense. Now, Spider-Boy has officially been added to the short list of people with this particular superpower (assuredly much to Spider-Man’s dismay).

Thankfully, with Venom becoming an ally soon after his stint as a villain and Spider-Boy being a loyal sidekick, Spider-Man doesn’t have to watch his back too closely for fear of one of these characters attacking him in any serious way. However, just because they aren’t serious threats doesn’t mean Spider-Man appreciates the fact that they don’t trigger his spider-sense, as that’s one power that has saved his life more times than he can count. But, whether he likes it or not, that’s the reality of the situation, as Spider-Man’s new sidekick, Spider-Boy, is just like Venom in that he doesn’t trigger Spider-Man’s spider-sense, giving him one of Marvel’s rarest powers.

Spider-Man #11 by Marvel Comics is available now.