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Spider-Man is a highly popular hero, and as such, it might seem like there's nothing the audience doesn't already know about him. However, that's not quite the case. Spider-Man has been in the comics since 1962, and as such, he has changed a lot during the decades. His established character remains mostly the same but as Peter Parker evolved both as a superhero and a person, his skills changed as well.
All fans of Spider-Man will know his most iconic powers, such as heightened strength, speed, agility, and, of course, the power to swing around. But Spider-Man also had some more obscure powers in the comics or the movies he no longer uses.
7 Additional Limbs
One of the most bizarre moments in the comics is when Peter Parker grows additional limbs. It happens in 1971 The Six Arms Saga thanks to an experimental formula that's supposed to rid Peter of his powers. Instead, it gives him extra arms.
While Spider-Man with six arms and two legs is more like an actual spider, Peter isn't thrilled about his new limbs. He soon gets rid of them by using an antidote that Curt Connors aka the Lizard helps him with.
6 Talking To Spiders
Spider-Man is one of the more talkative superheroes. He likes to chat and joke even when he's fighting his enemies and he makes fun of them. However, the comic book fans no longer see him chatting with spiders even though he could have at one point. In the storyline, The Other, Peter gets the power to talk to spiders after he comes out of a cocoon. It's hard to see many situations where this power might come in handy so the comics let go of it soon.
5 Organic Webs
Every Spider-Man fan knows that Peter likes to move around New York city by shooting his webs. In the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, Tobey Maguire's Peter has organic webbing coming out of his arms. However, that has since changed in the movies.
Both Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man as well as Tom Holland in the MCU has to make their own artificial webbing. That can then lead to some dangerous moments, such as when Spider-Man runs out of the webs in the middle of a fight or while he's just swinging around the city.
4 Vampire Powers
Spider-Man usually has enough on his plate even without having to deal with vampire powers. Some of his most dangerous enemies, such as Morbius or Morlun, are vampires. However, Spider-Man isn't one of them... for the most part.
But in the story Spider-Man vs. Vampires, a vampire bites Spider-Man during a fight. Peter transforms into a vampire and has to fight Blade who hates vampires! Luckily for Spider-Man, the change as well as his vampire powers didn't stick in the comics, and he's back to his human self.
3 Not Being Able To Die
It's not a habit to kill superheroes in the comics, at least not for good. Yet in the Ultimate Spider-Man series, Peter Parker dies and Miles Morales goes on to become the new Spider-Man. However, there's another version of Spider-Man that can't die. While that might sound like a dream come true, the significant downside is that this Spider-Man is a zombie!
It happens in Marvel Zombies where Peter transforms and he spends his day roaming around, looking for people to eat, able to withstand even life-threatening injuries. He still remembers who he once was but can't stop his thirst for human flesh. As a result, he ends up eating both Mary Jane Watson and Aunt May. Fortunately, this particular zombie-related power never made it into the main storyline, so Peter can still get hurt and die but at least he isn't a zombie.
2 The Venom-Related Abilities
The alien symbiote Venom is now one of the most famous Spider-Man antiheroes but when he first appeared, it was only a black suit with some unique abilities. His true origin was only revealed later in the comics, during the event of Secret Wars. When Spider-Man wore the symbiote suit, he got several additional powers. Not only was he even stronger and faster than usual, but his suit could also shapeshift to a certain degree.
Peter could create his own webbing because of the suit and even camouflage it as everyday clothes. Unfortunately, it had a negative impact on Spider-Man's mind and behavior. So when Peter realized something was wrong, he cast the suit away. That gave Venom the chance to latch on to other hosts (such as Eddie Brock or later Flash Thompson).
1 Controlling Sand
Some of the most interesting temporary abilities that Spider-Man has either happen in alternate universes or in one-off storylines. One of Spider-Man's most iconic enemies is Sandman. Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #309, Spider-Man, and Sandman were on the same side, though, so they teamed up.
Sandman was able to give his powers to Peter who then used them to take on an evil version of his old enemy. Once again, Spider-Man didn't have these powers for long but they made for an interesting update.