Comic cover of police pointing guns and spotlight at Spider-Man — Ever since *Amazing Spider-Man #1*, Spider-Man has consistently been threatened over the years with the might of the US legal system to arrest and prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. But how far is that extent, exactly?

Spider-Man: A Long History with the Police

Spider-Man is the world’s most famous and beloved superhero, first created by Marvel Comics writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1965). He has been featured in numerous comic books, television shows, films, video games, novels, and plays. Spider-Man often helps subdue violent criminals and supervillains with his arachnid powers, enabling the police to safely arrest them.

Despite this help however, police officers in his comics might not love Spider-Man like comic book fans do; in fact he’s often hunted down by cops seeking to bring him to justice for his vigilante behavior.

So this begs the question: Could Spider-Man be arrested according to U.S criminal and civil law in real-life?

What are the most important laws for Spider-Man?

In the real world, many laws exist to protect the actions that an American citizen might take in order to help and/or defend oneself or another. Concerning Spider-Man, 4 major laws that are widely enforced across the United States would apply concerning his superhero activities.

Citizen’s Arrest

For your usual Spider-Man story, Spider-Man is empowered as a citizen of the United States and as a resident of New York, to make a citizen’s arrest against criminals. Under New York Law, as stated in Criminal Procedure Law 140.0 and Penal Law 33.50, Spider-Man could make a citizen’s arrest provided he satisfies a few criteria:

See a felony offense that is committed in your presence. OR otherwise be absolutely correct that the detainee has committed a felony, and that you have the right culprit for it.
You must tell the person why you are detaining them, unless it is impractical because of the person’s physical resistance or flight.
You must get the arrested person to a police officer “without unnecessary delay.”
You can use physical force (but not lethal force), unless you are witnessing a murder, manslaughter in the first degree, robbery, or forcible rape.
You may not provoke the incident or be the initial instigator.

These criteria will differ from state to state, but not by much. For example, under California Penal Code 837, Spider-Man could perform a citizen’s arrest on a perpetrator if:

the culprit commits, or attempts, a misdemeanor offense in your presence;
and/or you know, directly or indirectly that the culprit committed a felony;
and/or a felony has been committed and you have reasonable cause for believing the culprit committed the crime.

If Spider-Man caught the wrong person in this case, he may be held criminally liable for assault and battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping, or other charges. In addition, Spider-Man may also face civil liability, opening him to being sued in civil court to recover compensatory or punitive damages caused by his unlawful arrest.

Spider-Man could be sued by the detained individual without ever being criminally charged or convicted, and the reverse is true too: he could be prosecuted without anyone ever bringing a civil lawsuit against him.

Self-Defense Law

Every state in the United States of America has a version of self-defense laws, with minor variations. Overall, Spider-Man would have the right to use force to protect either himself, others, and in some cases property, from harm. His actions would be appropriate, even if in any other situation, they would constitute a crime.

New York State Law outlines the justification for self-defense under Penal Code Section 35.00, use of physical force overall under Penal Code Section 35.10, use of physical force in defense of himself or another person under Penal Code 35.15, and use of physical force in defense of premises/person during a burglary under Penal Code Section 35.20.

New York’s self-defense laws outline the following:

The justification of physical force being used can be a legal defense when:

Such conduct is required or authorized by law or judicial decree or is performed by a public servant exercising reasonable exercise of official duties, power, functions;
Conduct is necessary as emergency measure to avoid an imminent public or private injury;
Parent/guardian may use physical, but not deadly force, to maintain discipline or promote welfare for the child;
Warden or other correctional official may use physical force to maintain discipline and order;
A “common carrier” may use physical force to prevent death or serious injury;
- Editor’s note: A common carrier is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and is responsible for any possible loss of goods during transport. Examples include taxi services, trucking companies, rail freight services, waste removal services, couriers, vehicle towing services, and air freight services.
  - U.S law also classifies telecommunication services and Internet service providers as common carriers, along with many oil and gas pipeline operators, and in some states, amusement parks with roller coasters and comparable rides such as Disneyland.
A physician may use physical force for treatment purposes;
A person may use physical force in self-defense, or defense of a third party, premises, or to prevent larceny or in order to effect an arrest or prevent an escape from custody;

Lastly, New York Law generally states that, concerning use of physical force in defense of a person:

A person may use physical force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to defend himself/ herself or a third party when there is a reasonable belief of imminent use of unlawful physical force.

Good Samaritan Law

Typically, Good Samaritan Laws are cited when someone is providing aid in a medical emergency, usually off-duty doctors or other individuals. All 50 states as well as Washington D.C. have a Good Samaritan Law in place, as well as added federal law for certain circumstances, to provide protection from claims of negligence for individuals who provide care without expectation of compensation or payment.

Note that while Good Samaritan Laws do not establish an initial Duty to Act for those who volunteer to assist (except for healthcare workers and other emergency responders), they may establish a Duty to Remain, leaving the helping person civilly liable if they abandon their care or rescue attempt before they call for additional medical assistance, they recognize that continuing to provide care, or an equally / more qualified rescuer comes to assist.

However, prior case law establishes a legal precedent for Good Samaritan Laws to extend their protection to anyone who assist in providing overall emergency care, rather than being limited only to medical care. Consider, for example, Carter v. Reese, which was decided by the Supreme Court of Ohio in 2012. After further interpretation of Ohio’s Good Samaritan Law, Larry Reese Jr. was ultimately found not civilly liable for breaking Dennis Carter’s stuck leg and ultimately making it necessary to amputate while trying to operate a truck that Reese had no experience in driving.

From that precedent, Spider-Man could be reasonably argued to be a Good Samaritan when assisting others in any emergency, such as rescuing people from a burning building, and therefore protected from civil liability for negligence.

In addition, New York’s Good Samaritan Law, under Article 30 of the Public Health Law and recently expanded in 2016, provides immunity from civil liability for any person who, in good faith, renders emergency medical assistance or treatment to someone who is unconscious, incapacitated, or in need of medical attention due to an injury or medical condition.

Any individual who acts in good faith, without expectation of compensation or reward, and does not display gross negligence (reckless or intentional behavior that shows extreme indifference or disregard for the safety of others or their property) will not be held liable for any injury or death that may result from their actions. Notably, New York’s Good Samaritan Law does not provide immunity for individuals who act outside the scope of their training or expertise.

Stand Your Ground Law (and Castle Doctrine) vs. Duty to Retreat

Stand-your ground laws, also known as “no duty to retreat” laws, allows people to use deadly force and not retreat from a dangerous situation when they reasonably believe deadly force will be necessary to defend against certain violent crimes, typically if the person is facing deadly force themselves. For example, if someone brandishes a firearm and begins to attack you, you are not required to retreat and can arm yourself and fight back so long as you think it’s necessary to defend yourself from the deadly force wielded by your attacker. All 50 states of America allow deadly force against prior deadly force, great bodily injury, and likely kidnapping or rape.

Unfortunately in the New York jurisdiction, there are no stand-your-ground laws to protect Spider-Man. Instead, New York employs the alternative “duty to retreat” doctrine, which stipulate that even a person who is unlawfully attacked (or who is defending someone that is being unlawfully attacked) may not use deadly force if it is possible to instead avoid the danger with complete safety by retreating. However, the “duty to retreat” law does not obligate you to retreat if the situation allows you to do so with complete safety, but only when you know for certain that you can do so.

Even in states that employ a duty to retreat law, such as New York, they also generally follow the “castle doctrine” which allows people to use deadly force to defend their homes from intruders. This is different from stand-your-ground laws, as this justification only ensures that you have no obligation to run away from your home when defending it against home invaders, as your home is your “castle” or safe refuge. Some places also impose the castle doctrine for a person’s vehicle or workplace. Thus, in most situations outside of your own home, you will have a limited duty to retreat.

New York Law also outlines that you may use deadly force against someone who is in the process of committing the crimes of kidnapping, forcible rape, robbery, arson, or burglary of a residence or occupied building. Thus you may shoot or club the offender to save the victim(s) from serious injury or death.

While perhaps restrictive, the duty to retreat laws in New York do not significantly impede Spider-Man’s typical M.O. of capturing bad guys with physical but non-lethal force in the name of defending others. This holds especially true if most of Spider-Man’s detainment of suspects are considered citizen’s arrests, though it is important to note for citizen’s arrests that it is not enough for Spider-Man to reasonably believe that his detained suspect committed the crime; Spider-Man must be correct and cannot use justification as a defense against prosecution in court.

Would web-swinging and wall-crawling be illegal?

Even outside of fighting crime, Spider-Man may still be arrested for other charges. If Spider-Man isn’t careful while wall-crawling or web-swinging from the skyscrapers of New York to get around quickly, he may end up also being arrested for many charges, such as:

Spider-Man sees a henchman who is webbed to a skyscraper's exterior

Property Damage / Vandalism

Spider-Man’s webs are strong enough to handle swinging at high speeds, and Spider-Man’s hands are sticky enough to hold his entire body weight. But the same may not be true for the buildings he swings from, or the walls he sticks onto, especially if he accidentally swings from a weak point like a window or a gargoyle.

It’s also lucky that Spider-Man’s webs are designed to dissolve harmlessly after only a few hours; if Spider-Man’s webs were permanent, his webs may attract animals or cause erosion and other damage to the buildings he swings from, based on the chemical formula he creates his webs with.

Most likely, Spider-Man would first be charged with vandalism if anyone were to report that he left his webs hanging around for hours or that he damaged their property while web-swinging and wall-crawling. New York’s Criminal Code specifies two charges under Title I that make up its overall “vandalism” laws: Criminal Mischief and Criminal Tampering.

For criminal mischief via web-swinging and wall-crawling, Spider-Man may be charged up to second-degree criminal mischief if he damages another person’s property for over $1,500 worth of damage, which would be a Class D non-violent felony punishable up to 7 years in jail.
For criminal tampering, Spider-Man may be charged up to second degree criminal tampering if, without having any right or reasonable belief in possessing such right to do so, Spider-Man tampers or makes connection with the property of a public utility or public service provider (such as a gas, electric, sewer, water, phone, etc. company). This is a class A misdemeanor, punishable up to 1 year in prison.
- Even if the property under consideration was not damaged, prosecutors would only need to prove intent to cause substantial inconvenience; this would apply to all degrees of criminal tampering.
- Furthermore, if for example, Spider-Man’s web accidentally cuts a power line or a telephone line and causes “substantial interruption or impairment of service”, then he could even be charged with first-degree criminal tampering, which would be a class D felony punishable with up to 7 years in prison. However, prosecutors must still prove intent in order to convict Spider-Man.

In fact, if Spider-Man were to be arrested today for his wall-crawling, surprisingly he would not be the first. Consider the case of Maison Des Champs, better known as the “Pro-Life Spider-Man”, who climbed the Las Vegas Sphere on Wednesday, February 7, 2024 and caused over $100,000 worth of damage to the sphere. After descending, he was ultimately arrested and booked for two misdemeanor counts of “destroying property of another greater than $5000” and “conspiracy to destroy private property.”

Not to mention that Spider-Man could also be sued for property damage, on top of his criminal liability. However, the New York statute of limitations usually only allows you up to 3 years from the date of your property damage to file your lawsuit to the appropriate court. Anyone with a grudge against Spider-Man’s web-swinging and wall-crawling would likely lose their right to compensation after then.

Criminal Trespassing / Burglary

Spider-Man may also be arrested for criminal trespass and burglary charges while wall-crawling on buildings that are not his property.

If Spider-Man remains only on the outside of a building, he would most likely face charges of only third-degree trespassing, which means to knowingly enter or remain unlawfully in a certain building or upon its premises. Prosecutors may argue that Spider-Man is trespassing by wall-crawling on the exterior of a building, which would either count as him being in the building or at least on the premises.

The most common type of building Spider-Man might trespass onto while wall-crawling would be defined by New York Penal Law Section 140.10 as one “which is fenced or otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders.” Arguably, this would mean any building that is not usually open to the public, such as an office building, inactive event venue, or so on.
Third-degree criminal trespassing would be a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 3 months in jail and a fine of up to $500. The court may order you to serve 1 year of probation instead of jail time.

However, if Spider-Man enters the property at any point, like for example if he were investigating something on his own, police officers may feel compelled to arrest him on one of New York’s burglary charges, likely in the third or even the second degree, depending on what kind of property he entered.

Entry of a building is defined to have occurred when a person intrudes within a building, no matter how slightly, with any part of his or her body.
However, notably, New York’s burglary laws only constitute a crime if the perpetrator entered with the specific intent to commit a crime in a building. So if, for example, Spider-Man enters the building for the purpose of snooping for information not privy to the public, then he can be prosecuted as a burglar.
Third degree burglary. under New York Penal Law Section 140.20, is defined simply as when someone knowingly trespasses and enters a building with the intent to commit a crime. This is a class D felony, punishable by 1 to 7 years in prison and with a fine of up to $5,000.
Second degree burglary, under New York Penal Law Section 140.25, has occurred when you unlawfully enter a dwelling, i.e. a house, apartment, or other type of building where people stay overnight. This is a class C violent felony, punishable by 3.5 years minimum to 15 years maximum in prison, along with a fine of up to $5,000.
Second degree burglary also has occurred if you unlawfully enter or remain in a building and you or an accomplice:
- are armed with explosives or a deadly weapon;
- injure someone;
- use of threaten to use a dangerous instrument;
- display a gun.

Reckless Endangerment of Property

Lastly, for web-swinging and wall-crawling, Spider-Man would likely be charged with reckless endangerment of property under Penal Law Section 145.25. This is defined as someone engaging in conduct that creates a substantial risk of damage to another person’s property exceeding $250 worth of damage. A prosecutor could argue that regardless of damage or lack thereof, Spider-Man still risked causing over $250 worth of damage to New York buildings by web-swinging, wall-crawling, and leaving his webs on them.

Common cases for reckless endangerment of property charges are related to car thefts and overall reckless driving, i.e. driving someone else’s car without their permission and driving at reckless speeds; see People v. Swart, 709 N.Y.S.2d 653 (2000), or setting someone else’s property on fire; see People v. Skinner, 556 N.Y.S.2d 172 (1990) and People v. Hameed, 558 N.Y.S.2d 330 (1990).
Reckless endangerment of property is punishable up to a max of 3 months in jail and 1 year of probation, along with a fine not to exceed $500.

So, how can we defend our favorite superhero’s web-swinging and wall-crawling?

The most immediately helpful defense against the above charges would be to establish that Spider-Man was given permission for his iconic web-swinging and wall-crawling. However, the defense becomes trickier if Spider-Man was not given “consent” to swing from, crawl onto, and leave his webs stuck on the property for a few hours.

For criminal mischief charges, Spider-Man’s attorney could establish an effective defense by showing lack of intent, as in they could show that Spider-Man did not intentionally damage the property and that only accidental or unintentional damages occurred.

Additionally, it could be argued that no crime was committed at all if the property was abandoned (no owner means it isn’t the property of “another person”) or already damaged (the property’s pre-existing damage was not worsened by the actions).

For criminal tampering charges, the defense attorney could similarly disprove the prosecution’s argued intent for Spider-Man’s alleged tampering and establish that any impact on public services was an accident.

Additionally, the defense could argue that the involved company is not one of the types of companies designated in the New York Penal Law section defining first and second-degree criminal tampering. For second-degree tampering only, Spider-Man’s lawyer could argue that Spider-Man was merely unaware of the tampering happening at all due to his actions.

For trespassing, Spider-Man must establish that he had consent from someone representing the property or he otherwise had the right to be on the property and/or its premises.

For example, if the property is a government building that is open to the public for the majority of time, or if the property was hosting an event at the time that would demonstrate a reasonable belief of being open to the public.
Another effective defense would be to establish that Spider-Man only unknowingly entered the property/premises and can argue he has the legal right to be on the property as he remained outside of the building on its exterior, rather than ever entering its interior. This defense could be supported if no one ever warned Spider-Man and requested that he leave, thereby leaving him unaware that his entry onto the premise was unlawful at all.

For burglary, Spider-Man’s defense counsel can show that there was a lack of intent for Spider-Man to trespass into the building.

The defense can also demonstrate an additional lack of intent for Spider-Man to commit a crime within the building after he committed the initial trespassing onto the property.
Note that for burglary charges, “claim of right" is not a defense.
- “Claim of right means a reasonable basis for the belief that the property belongs to the adverse possessor or property owner.” - New York’s Real Property Actions and Proceedings Laws, Section 501 (or RPA Section 501 for short)
  - In other words, a claim of right is a defense stating that the defendant had a good faith belief, even if that belief was mistakenly held, that they had a right or claim to the property they took from another person, thereby negating the felonious intent necessary to convict the defendant of theft or robbery.
- Claim of right defenses are only applicable to larceny cases.

For reckless endangerment of property, while there is no standard defense outlined in the New York Criminal Code, an experienced attorney could find it worthwhile to establish that Spider-Man’s webs and web-swinging are of little risk to the property based on Spider-Man’s good track record.

After all, Spider-Man has deployed his webs very safely against humans for both subduing criminals and rescuing civilians without any injuries caused by the webs’ chemical composition or distribution of force.
As for Spider-Man’s web-swinging: while his maximum speed isn’t fully agreed upon by fans of the web-head, it is generally accepted that Spider-Man can reach a maximum of 60 miles per hour, which is hardly faster than the thousands of average motor vehicles driving past the involved property on a daily basis. Spider-Man, at a body weight of around 170 pounds, would deliver less force than a 2-ton car.
Lastly, the defense could show that Spider-Man is simply engaging in a method of transportation, not unlike walking for the average person, so no crime has occurred at all by Spider-Man merely passing by the public facing exteriors of properties. After all, a pedestrian poses extremely little risk to causing over $250 worth of damages to a property just by walking past it.

For all of the above charges and more, if Spider-Man was acting during an emergency situation at the time where other people’s lives were in danger, Spider-Man’s best defense aside from consent is to establish that he was providing aid to others at risk.

This would protect him under the Good Samaritan Law, so long as he was acting in good faith and without expectation of reward.
It could be therefore argued for all the above charges (except burglary) that Spider-Man indeed has the right to be on the property temporarily to patrol and remain prepared to respond quickly to any emergency he encounters.

Although it would certainly pose unique challenges, Spider-Man’s case for web-swinging and wall-crawling related charges can be defended against very effectively, as long as he is represented by an experienced criminal defense attorney that is well-versed in the New York Criminal Code and relevant case law.

More laws that could help Spider-Man (or hurt him)

Intentional torts.

A “tort” is a personal injury caused by a civil wrong, rather than a criminal offense. Criminals may be able to sue Spider-Man for committing an “intentional tort” such as a punch or kick to the face, which constitutes a purposeful act of physical force that results in bodily harm. The burden of proof in a civil personal injury case is based on a “preponderance of the evidence,” meaning that the plaintiff in a tort case must prove their allegations to be more likely to have occurred than not.
- Intentional torts that someone may claim against Spider-Man are:
  - battery (offensive contact causing injury),
  - assault (threat or attempt of harm),
  - false imprisonment (unlawful restraint of a person),
  - or intentional infliction of emotional distress (placing someone under emotional stress).
- However, self-defense and defense of others can be cited as a defense against an intentional tort claim, though only reasonable and proportionate force can be used for your defensive actions. For defending others in particular, you must have physically witnessed the attack yourself rather than merely working off of hearsay.
However, given Spider-Man’s non-lethal methods of detaining criminals via his webs, as well as his long history of intervening against violent crimes in progress, Spider-Man likely would have a very strong defense against an intentional tort claim in civil litigation.

Qualified Immunity and Deputizing

Qualified immunity is a legal principle of federal constitutional law which protects state and local government officials from being held civilly liable for damages when they act reasonably in their official capacity. Thus, it protects government actors from lawsuits alleging that they have violated someone’s rights so long as the government official acted reasonably, and any alleged rights which were violated were not clearly established at the time of the alleged violation. Qualified immunity may be granted even if an officer’s actions were actually illegal, so long as the illegality was not clearly established at the time of action.
- Notably, qualified immunity does not protect government officials from criminal prosecution, if it is found that the government official violated a clearly established natural, legal, or constitutional right. Nor does it protect the government itself from being found liable for the official’s actions.
  - Qualified immunity originated from many common laws enacted at the local level to allow government officials like law enforcement officers to not have to worry about frivolous lawsuits and other financial liability while they act in good faith during unclear legal situations.
  - While states cannot alter qualified immunity at the federal level, they are able to make laws about qualified immunity in the context of state level rights. For example, Colardo’s Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity Act creates a civil pathway for action against law enforcement officers who violate state constitutional rights, effectively removing qualified immunity as a defense. However, most states typically allow government agents to assert qualified immunity as a defense in such lawsuits.
  - The U.S Supreme Court first introduced qualified immunity in Pierson v. Ray (1967) during the height of the Civil Rights Movement.
  - Federal government officials such as judges, prosectors, and legislators will not receive qualified immunity, but most are protected by the similar doctrine of absolute immunity.
Depending on the state, law enforcement officers and officials are generally authorized to “deputize” a civilian and grant them similar authority to act in enforcing the law. For New York, in accordance with Article 2 of the Appointment and Qualification of Public Officers, Section 3-B, a sheriff in most counties of New York can appoint anyone, even non-residents of New York, to be an emergency special deputy sheriff when the sheriff declares a state of special emergency in accordance with General Municipal Law Section 209-F.
- In addition, the sheriff or police officer can appoint someone who is both a U.S citizen and resident of New York to be a special deputy sheriff or police officer so long as they provide the appointment in writing for situations where temporary additional assistance may be needed.
Thus, Spider-Man could be deputized by New York law enforcement to serve as an officer of the law, which would entitle him to qualified immunity. However, Spider-Man must be careful to not violate any state constitutional, federal constitutional, or natural rights clearly established for the suspects he arrests, as he will likely face criminal prosecution which qualified immunity does not protect against.
- In some areas, such as in Pennsylvania’s Clearfield County, the Sheriff can established a volunteer “posse,” a force of deputies who can help uphold the law. The deputies must arm themselves with their own firearms, however, as the sheriff’s department cannot arm the individuals. So theoretically, after proper background checks are conducted, Spider-Man could be accepted into a volunteer county sheriff’s posse and become deputized by the sheriff, empowering him to use his web-shooters as a law enforcement officer.
  - While rare now, wild-west style posses were mainly formed in the past for crowd control, manhunts, or for generally watching over large influxes of people that entered the jurisdiction temporarily which knocked the officer-to-civilian ratio off balance.
- This doesn’t mean Spider-Man is fully off-the hook while acting as a police officer, however. Prior precedent has been established for qualified immunity to be reversed, as in the case of Rosales v. Bradshaw where David Bradshaw, an off-duty police officer, was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and child abuse for holding Mario Rosales at gunpoint with Bradshaw’s child seated in the line of fire between Bradshaw and Rosales. After the conviction, Rosales was able to sue Bradshaw and the sheriff’s department for violating his constitutional rights, though the suit was eventually dismissed in November 2021.

Spider-Man breaking through a window shooting webs at the camera

Exigent Circumstance

Under United States criminal procedure law, exigent circumstances allow law enforcement to enter a structure without a search warrant or without needing to knock on the door and wait for permission to enter under a “knock and announce” warrant, if they have reason to believe an emergency is occurring inside.

An exigent circumstance is an emergency situation that requires quick action to prevent imminent danger to life or serious damage to property. The circumstance may also be to interrupt the imminent escape of a suspect, destruction of evidence, or some other consequence that would improperly impede legitimate law enforcement efforts. Though general factors have been identified and all states agrees that emergency situations exist which require urgent action, they have struggled to define exactly what constitutes those emergency situations. As such, it’s likely that courts will need to decide on a case-by-case basis whether exigent circumstances truly existed at time of entry.

If Spider-Man is appointed as a deputy sheriff, he would have further legal protection to enter residences or buildings due to exigent circumstances, seeing as he is no stranger to dangerous situations. Even in non-medical emergencies, if the police have arrived at a dwelling with reasonable cause that the person inside is committing a crime, then the imminent destruction of evidence or the imminent escape of the suspect would allow Spider-Man to act urgently and serve justice.

Spider-Man: Guilty or Not Guilty?

So, after a proper analysis of United States and New York Law, the verdict seems to be that, while Spider-Man is not immune to liability as a superhero, he would have a lot of legal protection and precedent to defend himself in the real life American judicial system.

Any experienced attorney, such as the attorneys of the Win Nguyen Law Firm, should be able to form a powerful defense in Spider-Man’s favor and shield him from both civil litigation as well as criminal prosecution.