Hundreds of Spider-Men Discover Their Weakness: Zippers

Before hundreds of Spider-Men could test themselves against the record books, they encountered a more immediate enemy: the zips on the backs of their own costumes.

At New York Comic-Con on Thursday, circles of masked strangers found themselves asking one another, “Can you get my zipper?” Dozens of grown adults had gained the appearance of a superhero, but not the shoulder mobility required to finish getting dressed.

The gathering was organised by Jazwares, an official costume partner for Marvel’s Spider-Man, in partnership with Disney Consumer Products. Their target was an official Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Spider-Man in one place.

The number to beat was 685.

Participants were handed costumes and changed before joining a queue, where they waited for about an hour. Spirits remained high. Informal estimates rippled through the crowd, with people looking around and thinking, “Oh yeah, we are going to crush 685. There must be 1,000 people here!”

Eventually, the Spider-Men were admitted, checked in through the Guinness World Records app and filed into a giant auditorium. Jazwares president Jeremy Padawer told them that other attempts had been made in Atlanta, Honolulu and cities across Asia, but all had fallen short. He felt good about New York’s chances. So did the assembled wall-crawlers.

There were, however, anxious questions about the dress code. Could shoes be worn over the costume? Would a glimpse of skin between mask and neck invalidate an otherwise respectable Spider-Man? Nobody wanted to become the person whose missing glove brought down the entire operation.

The final authority was Guinness World Records adjudicator Michael, who took the stage to explain the rules. It was hundreds of Spider-Men against one Michael, an arrangement that seemed numerically promising until he confirmed that complete attire was compulsory: masks on, gloves on, everything in place. Shoes, mercifully, were allowed.

A countdown followed. For one full minute, everyone remained completely dressed as Spider-Man while looking around, waving and enjoying the spectacle. That was when the official count was conducted.

After another wait, Michael returned. He reminded the room that the record stood at 685, then announced New York Comic-Con’s official total: 649.

The result was met with gasps and loud groans. Despite the confident estimates, the attempt had missed the record by 36 Spider-Men. Michael remained calm as an auditorium full of superheroes discovered that arithmetic was more powerful than radioactive spider venom.

He praised them as an enthusiastic crowd, but the record remained unbroken. The 649 Spider-Men responded by chanting for a recount, ending the attempt not with a Guinness certificate, but with the traditional cry of anyone who believes the numbers have failed to recognise their greatness.