The much anticipated Spider-Man: Homecoming is currently out now in cinemas all over the world and is already proving to be a hit with fans.
The latest reboot of the blockbuster franchise is directed by Jon Watts, and sees young Peter Parker (played by Tom Holland) struggling to maintain his life as a kid in high school alongside his famous superhero alter-ego.
To celebrate the release of the film, we’re sharing our top 10 Spider-Man related Guinness World Records achievements, featuring records set by the movie and comic book franchises as well as record-breaking spiders and accomplishments by ‘real-life’ Spider-Men.
1. Highest-grossing superhero “origin” movie
According to The-Numbers.com, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man (USA, 2002) had grossed $821,706,375 (£534,235,000) as of 8 Dec 2016.
The storyline explains how student Peter Parker (played by Tobey Maguire) develops superhuman abilities after being bitten by a radioactive spider.
2. Largest gathering of people dressed as Spider-Man
On 28 Jul 2015, a charity event organized by recruitment firm Charterhouse drew 438 spider folk to the streets of Sydney, Australia.
Donations raised by the masked web-slingers went to support health charity Life Education. The organizers settled on the classic red, blue and black costume of The Amazing Spider-Man, the favourite of Spider-Man purists, shunning the myriad other costumes that Spidey has worn in his various reboots and cameo appearances.
3. Most buildings climbed
Alain Robert – aka ‘The French Spider-Man’ – started climbing towers, monuments and skyscrapers in 1994 and completed his last climb on the 306 m (1,003 ft) tall Cayan Tower in Dubai on 12 April 2015.
He is a dedicated solo urban climber (although he suffers from vertigo). He uses pipes, window frames, cables and the gaps between brickwork to scale structures and buildings as high as 800 m (2,723 ft).
Read more: How the "French Spiderman" conquered vertigo to set Most buildings climbed world record
4. First Marvel videogame
Spider-Man’s gaming debut came in 1982, in Spider-Man on the Atari 2600. The game requires players to guide Spidey up the side of a skyscraper, avoiding the Green Goblin’s bombs.
5. Strongest spider web
Discovered in Madagascar, Darwin’s bark spider (Caerostris darwini) weaves the strongest known spider silk, with a tensile strength of up to 520 MJ/m3 (megajoules per cubic metre) – making it twice as tough as any previously described silk. C. darwini also spins the largest webs – up to 2.8 m2 (30 sq ft) – which can stretch between two river banks.
6. First videogame to feature Stan Lee
Spider-Man creator Stan Lee appears as a voice artist in Activision’s Spider-Man, released in 2000. Lee’s narration promises players “more super-villains than you can shake a web at, and of course, non-stop web-slinging, wall-crawling action”.
7. Largest collection of comic books
The largest collection of comic books includes 101,822 unique items and is owned by Bob Bretall (USA) of Mission Viejo, California, USA. The achievement was verified on 6 August 2015.
8. Most successful comic book films
Spider-Man (USA, 2002) took $403,706,375 (£251,702,958) at the US box office. It passed the $200-million mark in 10 days taking $223.04 million (then £152.412 million) on 12 May 2002 - faster than any other movie.
Spider-Man 2 grossed $373,377,893 (£193,841,705), resulting in an overall gross for the two films of $777,084,268 (£445,544,663). Spider-Man 3 (USA, 2007) took $336,530,300 (£170,423,108.) at the US Box Office. Spider-Man: Homecoming will undoubtedly add to the success of the frachise.
9. Largest spider
First discovered in 1804, this heavyweight ambush hunter is native to the coastal rainforests of Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana. The record leg‑span for a male goliath bird-eating spider (Theraphosa blondi ) is 28 cm (11 in).
The specimen was collected by members of the Pablo San Martin Expedition at Rio Cavro, Venezuela, in Apr 1965, and was large enough to cover a dinner plate.
10. Human fly (Climbing)
The record for the longest climb by a ‘human fly’ was set on 25 May 1981, when Daniel Goodwin (USA) climbed 443.2 m (1,454 ft) up the outside of the Sears Tower, Chicago, Illinois, USA. For this death-defying feat, he used only a system of suction cups and metal clips for support.
