Spider-man: A Black Suit Primer, From Secret Wars to Silver Screen

Note: This article mentions events that give away some the plot of Spider-Man 3. If you don't want to know anything about the movie before seeing it, you might not want to read this until after viewing the film.

With Spider-Man 3 posters and trailers popping up everywhere in anticipation of the movie's May 4th release, non-comic-book geeks maybe wondering, "Hey, what's the deal with the black suit?" Nope, Peter Parker didn't ditch his photography gig at the Daily Bugle to enroll in New York City's Parsons School of Design--Spidey's black suit, like the Cure-inspired goth look and other unusual fashion statements, actually dates back to the mid-1980s.

In 1984, Marvel Comics launched a massive crossover campaign with many of its superhero titles called Secret Wars. A 12-issue limited series that overlapped somewhat into ongoing comics, the story involved most of Marvel's key heroes--including the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Spider-Man, and the X-Men--getting whisked away to a remote planet by a strange, seemingly omnipotent being called the Beyonder to do battle with many of their main foes--Dr. Doom, Dr. Octopus, the Lizard, etc.

While on this planet, Spider-Man comes into contact with an amorphous alien creature (sort of like the "black oil" from the X-Files) that literally latches on to him, and becomes his stylish new black-and-white suit. (In the comic, unlike the film, Spidey's eyes and chest emblem are white.) Although Peter Parker is justifiably freaked out by his new "friend," he is thrilled by the additional power it gives him, since it bolsters his regular abilities, and allows him to have an endless supply of extra-strong webs.

Eventually, after Secret Wars ends and Spider-Man is returned to Earth, he realizes that the creature, what Fantastic Four's Reed Richards calls a "symbiote," is done being nice, and wants to permanently fuse with Parker. After an agonizing battle with the exceedingly stubborn and malevolent suit, Spidey manages to separate himself from it. Unfortunately, the symbiote quickly finds a new home with the mentally unhinged Eddie Brock, and a new supervillain, Venom, is born.

While Secret Wars was designed, in part, to breathe new life into Marvel's main characters (and sell a bunch of action figures), nobody could have predicted that the Spider-Man costume upgrade would have such a lasting effect. In fact, many Spidey fans were outraged that Marvel would radically alter his classic red-and-blue look, and, sure enough, he got his old duds back after Venom's debut. Even though there's no Secret Wars back-story with Spider-Man 3, it's clear that the black suit--and its defection to Brock-- is a major part of the movie, and fans will undoubtedly enjoy seeing the dark side of their favorite web-slinging hero.