Spider-Man is one of Marvel's most respected heroes. Battling some of the most dangerous villains New York City has to offer, he has earned his place as one of the best heroes around. His life as a hero hasn't been easy, and he's been through a lot of changes. One that thing that hasn't changed is the mania with which he guards his secret identity.
There are few Marvel heroes as serious about their identities as Spider-Man is, and he takes his responsibilities seriously. Even though he makes mistakes, protecting his secret identity is one of the most important things.
10 He Keeps Extra Costumes Stashed Throughout The City
As one of the premiere street-level heroes, Spider-Man fights a lot, and his costumes get damaged. For this reason, he keeps many spares stashed throughout the city in case his costume gets damaged enough to show too much of his face.
It's a smart solution. Although he isn't made of money, he makes sure he has extra costumes so his foes can't get any inkling of who he really is.
9 He Changes His Costumes In Places Only He Can Get To
Superman used to change his costumes in phone booths and run down the street, which wasn't very smart. Spider-Man is smarter about this sort of thing now, however. He hides his costumes on top of buildings and changes there.
Spider-Man is a rather mobile hero, and he can get to places where others can't. This isn't foolproof in a world where enemies can fly, but it's worked for him.
8 He Fixes Damaged Costumes Himself
While Spider-Man keeps extra costumes around, he can't always afford to replace them as often as they should be—so he has mastered the art of sewing. He is known for being able to repair his own costumes and make his own if it comes down to it.
He gets into many situations where his costume can get damaged, and he can't always replace it. Mastering sewing is just one way of making sure he can keep his costume on.
7 His Gloves Hide His Fingerprints
Fingerprints are an easy way of identification. While it doesn't really seem like villains would have access to fingerprint registries, Spider-Man's villains are intelligent and resourceful. Someone like Kingpin could almost definitely get his hands on that sort of thing, and for this reason, he wears gloves.
Gloves are a good choice in general for his line of work, but their biggest utility to him is the fact that they hide his fingerprints. While fingerless gloves may look cool, he isn't about to risk his family's lives just for the sake of looking fashionable.
6 The Clothes He Wears In His Civilian Identity Hide His Body
Spider-Man is pretty fit, and it's a result of the radioactive spider bite. However, others wouldn't expect the mild-mannered Peter Parker to have an athletic body type. In his civilian identity, he doesn't wear anything that shows off his awesome physique.
While recognizing someone based on musculature is a long shot, it's not out of the realm of possibility.
5 He's Usually The One That Takes All Of Spider-Man's Pictures
Taking pictures of himself as Spider-Man was both a great way of making money and a way for him to choose how Spider-Man would be portrayed in pictures.
By doing this, he was able to take pictures that would make it harder for someone to figure out Spider-Man's identity. It's a shrewd move on so many levels—he made money that he needed and was able to have a say in how Spider-Man was seen, even if he couldn't control the kind of articles that were written.
4 He's Careful About Which Heroes He Reveals His True Identity To
For years, Spider-Man was on the outskirts of the superhero community. Everyone respected him and knew who he was as Spider-Man, but they didn't know who he was under the mask. This was a calculated move for him as he didn't want too many people to know who he was.
Even though that's changed over the years, Spider-Man still has heroes he likes to team up with more than others because he trusts them more. In this way, as few heroes as possible know who he is, which protects his identity because fewer people can blab about it.
3 He Had Reality Changed To Protect His Identity
One More Day received a lot of flack, but it shows just how far he will go to protect his secret identity. One way he protects it is that he will literally change reality to keep his secret, giving up one of the things he held most dear—his marriage. Few out there would go to that length or take that step.
He may not be able to do it himself, but he will literally change everything to make sure no one knows who he is. At this point, if it ever happened again, he'd probably get Scarlet Witch to do it or talk Wolverine into getting Xavier to perform a worldwide mindwipe.
2 His Civilian Identity Is Calculated To Keep People From Figuring Out Who He Is
Spider-Man is an over-the-top, mile-a-minute talker. He can be a bit insufferable in a lot of ways because of this. He's supremely confident, always ready with a joke, and an outgoing person. This is completely different from Peter Parker, who is more cerebral and introspective.
When Peter Parker puts on the mask, he changes his personality. He does everything he can to make sure that someone can't tell who he is by the way he acts. Spider-Man and Peter Parker don't act alike at all, and that is one of the most important ways that Peter protects his identity.
1 The Design Of His Costumes Is All About Protecting His Identity
Spider-Man has had many different costumes over the years, but they all have some design choices in common—they all help protect his identity. His full-face mask is one of the biggest protections he has, and a great example of this is the mask's eyes. Many heroes have eyeholes that show off their eyes, but he completely covers his eyes.
While it looks cool, it also protects his retinal patterns from being scanned, which could be used to identify him. On top of that, it also keeps his enemies from not knowing his eye color. It's little design choices like this that show just how much Spider-Man values protecting his identity.