In Forest Hills, Queens, New York , high school student Peter Parker is a science-whiz orphan living with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. He is bitten by a radioactive spider at a science exhibit and acquires the agility and proportionate strength of an arachnid. Along with super strength, Peter gains the ability to stick to walls and ceilings. Through his native knack for science, he creates a gadget that lets him shoot adhesive webbing of his own through small, wrist-mounted barrels. Initially seeking to capitalize on his new abilities, Parker dons a costume and, as "Spider-Man", becomes a novelty tv star. However, he ignores the chance to stop a fleeing thief, and his indifference ironically catches up with him when the same criminal later robs and kills his Uncle Ben. Spider-Man tracks and subdues the killer and learns, "With great power there must also come—great responsibility!"
Despite his superpowers, Parker struggles to help his widowed aunt pay the rent, is mocked by his peers—particularly football jock Flash Thompson —and, as Spider-Man, encounters the editorial wrath of newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson. As he battles his enemies for the first time, Parker finds juggling his personal life and costumed adventures difficult.