According to the original story, Peter Parker was one of the least popular students attending his high school, and his interest in studying hard and reading science books did not help his social situation. While attending a science demonstration, Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider that gets caught in the middle of the experiment. After he develops his super powers, Parker tries to capitalize on his new-found abilities in show business, taking on wrestlers and appearing on TV shows in a colorful costume. His refusal to help a policeman stop an escaping criminal leads to the death of Peter's uncle. From this lesson, Peter learns "With great power comes great responsibility."
Having the proportional strength of a spider, Parker is able to bench press cars and bend steel. In reality, spiders are not as strong as ants or other insects. But their lack of body mass and relatively dense muscles give spiders great strength for their size. While a spider is able to lift itself and its victims across a spider web, Spider-Man should be able to carry thousands of pounds with his much larger body. This strength would also contribute to his agility and ability to leap effortlessly from building to building.
Spider-Man's ability to sense danger in the surrounding environment often saves him from impending doom. Real spiders, on the other hand, have specialized hairs on their bodies called "setae". These hairs are connected to the spider's nervous system and provide a mental snap shot of anything it touches in its search for food. Setae also allow the spider to sense if a potential meal is nearby and if it might be poisonous or edible. Following these facts, Spider-Man should be able to sense such dangers as gunshots and other environmental dangers with the amplified setae he would possess as a much larger organism.
Setae would also contribute to Spider-Man's ability to climb walls. The hairs on his palms and feet would adhere to even the smoothest surface at a molecular level, allowing him to ascend vertical obstacles with ease. As for web shooting, real spider webs have tensile strength like steel with one-fifth of its density, allowing it to capture struggling prey and endure extreme weather conditions. The wrist shooters Parker creates in the comic story to spin his webs apparently mimic this ability on a larger scale, though a spider does not have to worry about running out of web cartridges, as is the case for Spider-Man.