Just last week, Sony Pictures released the first official image of Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) as Spider-Man in director Marc Webb‘s forthcoming, as yet Untitled Spider-Man Reboot. The picture showing a scarred and beaten Peter Parker wearing his Spidey suit, sans the mask, walking down the street drew mostly praise from fans and, as we (and others) pointed out, the photo drew questions as to whether or not Garfield’s Spider-Man would be employing mechanical web-shooters, unlike his big-screen predecessor.
Speculation about the web-shooters began after we all noticed the silver, metal discs on the insides of Garfield’s wrists [see close-up image below].
While speaking with MTV outside the Golden Globes, the film’s very own Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) reluctantly spilled that the webs do indeed come from a device on Garfield’s wrist.
When asked “Does the web stuff come out of his hands, or like a device… On the picture, it looks like it’s a device, do you know?”
Stone very skittishly replied,
“I… it’s a… it’s a device.”
Interview: Emma Stone
Shortly after getting his powers, Peter Parker develops a special synthetic polymer adhesive that has spider web-like properties, as well as wrist-worn launching devices. Spider-Man’s web-shooters are twin devices worn on his wrists which can shoot thin strands of special “web fluid” at high pressure. The web fluid is a shear-thinning liquid (virtually solid until a shearing force is applied to it, rendering it fluid) whose exact formula is as yet unknown, but is related to nylon. On contact with air, the long-chain polymer knits and forms an extremely tough, flexible fiber with extraordinary adhesive properties. The web fluid’s adhesive quality diminishes rapidly with exposure to air. (Where it does not make contact with air, such as the attachment disk of the web-shooter, it remains very adhesive.) After about one to two hours, certain imbibed esters cause the solid form of the web fluid to dissolve into a powder. Because the fluid almost instantly sublimates from solid to liquid when under shear pressure, and is not adhesive in its anaerobic liquid/solid phase transition point, there is no clogging of the web-shooter’s parts.
The spinneret mechanism in the web-shooter is machined from stainless steel, except for the turbine component which is machined out of a block of Teflon and the two turbine bearings which are made of amber and artificial sapphire. The wristlets and web fluid cartridges are mainly nickel-plated annealed brass. Spider-Man’s web cartridge belt is made out of brass and light leather and holds up to 30 cartridges. The cartridges are pressurized to 300 pounds per square inch and sealed with a bronze cap which is silver soldered closed. The wristlets have sharp steel nipples which pierce the bronze caps when the cartridges are tightly wedged into their positions. The hand-wound solenoid needle valve is actuated by a palm switch that is protected by a band of spring steel which requires a 65 pound pressure to trigger. The switch is situated high on the palm and requires a double-tap to avoid most unwanted firings. The small battery compartment is protected by a rubber seal. The effect of the very small turbine pump vanes is to compress (shear) the web fluid and then force it, under pressure, through the spinneret holes which cold-draws it (stretches it: the process wherein nylon gains a four-fold increase in tensile strength), then extrudes it through the air where it solidifies. As the web fluid exits the spinneret holes, it is attracted to itself electrostatically and thus can form complex shapes. The spinneret holes have three sets of adjustable, staggered openings around the turbine which permit a single web line, a more complex, spun web line, and a thick stream. The web line’s tensile strength is estimated to be 120 pounds per square millimeter of cross section. The 300 p.s.i. pressure in each cartridge is sufficient to force a stream of the complex web pattern an estimated 60 feet (significantly farther if shot in a ballistic parabolic arc).
The Untitled Spider-Man Reboot starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Julianne Nicholson, Chris Zylka and Annie Parisse is slated to hit theaters on July 3rd, 2012
