When the Marvel Cinematic Universe introduced their version of Peter Parker aka Spider-Man, they took a very interesting approach with the beloved character. Specifically, they chose to skip past most of his origin story altogether. As such, fans aren’t really sure what went down when he first got bit by the radioactive spider which gave him superpowers. As a result, various fan theories have surfaced to try and fill the gaps. Now it’s being theorized that none other than Iron Man himself, Tony Stark, created the spider that bit Peter Parker.
We first saw the character within the MCU when Tony Stark recruited Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War. This instantly created a bond between the two characters which has been felt in their various appearances together, and even with Tony’s absence following the events of Avengers: Endgame. As such, there is a certain sort of poetry in having Tony Stark be the one responsible for the spider that started it all as well.
One clue for this starts by looking at the Multiverse, which No Way Home formally introduced. Specifically, the film made canon the events of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and Marc Webb’s Spider-Man duology by setting them in separate universes. Both versions of Peter Parker from these films were bit by radioactive spiders. While Tobey Maguire’s Peter was bitten by a spider from a university he was touring, Andrew Garfield’s Peter was bitten by one from Oscorp. What’s more, Oscorp is very much a corporate entity in both of these universes. However, it doesn’t exist in the MCU. Therefore, it stands to reason that Tony Stark’s own Stark Industries is the only comparable company for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker to be associated with. And thus it makes sense that it was his company which produced the radioactive spider.
Tony Stark has already helped produce many of the MCU’s villains, so it wouldn’t be much of a stretch for him to have helped produce Spider-Man as well. This was pointed out by Just The Nobody on TikTok, who explained that Peter Parker was a kid when he’d visit Stark Expo. This was retroactively confirmed when the kid in Iron Man 2, who wore an Iron Man helmet, was revealed to have been young Peter Parker all along. So now it becomes even more likely that on one of these Stark Expo visits, he was bitten by the legendary spider which gave him his superpowers.
It’s unknown if the real origin will ever be confirmed. But at this point, it seems very reasonable that Stark Industries produced the radioactive spider that fans have been so curious about. It also creates another bridge between Tony Stark and Peter Parker, which makes their bond that much more special. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see if there’s ever any real confirmation in the future.
Meanwhile, fans can currently still see the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: No Way Home in theaters.