When Spider-Man is bitten by a genetically altered spider while on a field trip in the 2002 film "Spider-Man," a display monitor picks up a bit of his DNA and detects a new species.
Similarly, says Adam Palmer, co-author of the new book "The Soul of Spider-Man: Unexpected Spiritual Insights Found in the Legendary Super-Hero Series," if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, according to 2 Corinthians 5:17.
That display monitor moment, he said, sparked the authors' look at the three Spider-Man movies.
"Just like Peter Parker," said Palmer, 34, "life [as a Christian] is never the same."
As in the movie, he said, when Uncle Ben tells his nephew that "with great power comes great responsibility," life for the man who has decided to walk with Christ has changed.
"Life is not your own," Palmer said. "You have a great responsibility to the world around you. It's [about] the practicality of walking out your faith."
The Oklahoma resident said he and his co-author, Jeff Dunn, decided to concentrate on the three recent movies for their Spidey tie-ins because the body of Marvel comic books was too massive.
"There are so many iterations of the comics, so many story lines," he said. "[The movies] are an easier thing to reference."
Palmer said he read the comics as a child but didn't see or look for the parallels until he was older.
The way he viewed the Spider-Man movies for the book, he said, is the same way he views all media now.
"It's all storytelling," Palmer said. "I'm always looking for some new metaphor or some new view of the multifaceted story of God. Even some [characters] who are not Christian or anti-Christian can shed light on God's truth."
Among other insights to be gathered from the films, he said, are the double-mindedness of Dr.
Octopus in "Spider-Man 2," Peter Parker's need of humility in "Spider-Man 3" and Uncle Ben's unconditional love in all three films.
The third movie, Palmer said, makes a good catalyst to talk about the nature of sin.
"It's the idea," he said, "that sin is not really deciding purposely to be evil or anti-God but to be self-oriented."
When an extra-terrestrial symbiote attaches itself to Peter in "Spider-Man 3," an already more confident Peter Parker becomes more vengeful, selfish and arrogant.
Similarly Christians, according to the author, decide they know what's best for themselves and determine if something simply feels right -- not considering the consequences -- they should do it.
Palmer, a married father of four with a fifth child on the way, said comic book characters, in general, can be good practice for the ultimate in good guys.
"There is this desire within us even as young children [to emulate the] stories we take in," Palmer said. "The ultimate person we're called to emulate is Christ. So they're good practice for the life we're called to in Christ."