Some comic fans’ emotional investment in a character stretches back decades, so translating the characters to the screen can be a sticky situation.

Quick — organic or artificial webbing?

If the very question makes your shoulders hunch in preparation for an argument, then you know that the road from comic book to movie is never an easy one.

The question, of course, refers to one of Spider-Man's prime attributes. Like the song says, he "spins a web, any size." Everybody agrees on that. But how exactly does he spin that web?

In the comics, Peter Parker, high school science nerd supreme, augments his new-found spider-powers by creating a fluid that, when shot through mechanical web-shooters (of his own design), becomes Spidey's webbing, dispensable in all manner of shapes and consistencies, from wide angle web-spray to narrow focused web-ropes, to pretty much anything Peter (or the writers and artists crafting his adventures) can think of. And that's not to mention that, depending on the needs of the situation, the webbing can be sticky as glue or smooth as silk.

Now, examined closely, the idea that even the most brilliant high school student should be able, in the confines of his bedroom, to design and execute such a chemical and mechanical feat seems rather far-fetched. On the other hand, we are talking about a character that everyone accepts can leap a hundred feet in the air and stick to walls. So maybe inventing web-fluid and web-shooters isn't so tough to believe.

But somewhere along the line, the Hollywood powers-that-be decided that, no, it was too incredible that a teenaged kid could invent such a fluid and delivery system. And if he did invent them, wouldn't he become rich from the patents on the stuff, thus losing the everyman financial straits Spider-Man inevitably finds him self in. Still, webbing is part of the Spider-Man mystique. He wouldn't be Spider-Man without it. The solution?

Organic webbing. That's right. Organic webbing.

Because, the theory goes, it's more believable that a character can eject web-fluid from holes in his wrists and somehow will them to the length and shape and consistency needed for whatever the situation. Okay. Whatever.

Purists will never be satisfied with any change even if it’s only organic versus artificial webbing. ™ & © 2004 Marvel Characters Inc. © 2004 Sony Pictures Digital. All rights reserved.

Looked at logically, the solution is no more credible than the problem. And the ultimate bottom line is that we're talking about a science-fantasy character who lives in a world where the laws of physics and biology can be bent and twisted as needed. But along the way to the creation of the Spider-Man movies, someone decided to change the nature of the webbing. Clearly, this did not impact on the popularity of the Spider-Man films or the character. But it was a risk and, in certain comic fan circles, highly controversial.

It was passionately debated online. Purists, of course, would never be happy with any change in their beloved character's powers and abilities. But for other folks it wasn't a matter of credibility, but of relatability. Would "organic" web-shooters make Spider-Man more of a horror-genre character than a superhero one? Would he be closer to a man-spider than a spider-man? And if he were a monster, would audiences have a harder time relating to him?

Clearly, the answer was that, organic or mechanical webs, people the world over love Spider-Man. People relate to Peter Parker no matter what kind of webbing he uses. Spidey's journey from page to screen was a translation that worked like a charm, and not once, but in a sequel — a sequel many people feel was even truer to the source material than the first movie.