Spider-Man's Superpowers Don't Include Basketball

Marvel's Spider-Man is a pretty incredible game. It manages to tell an epic story of good vs. evil that incorporates many of Spider-Man's greatest foes and a heaping helping of pathos. But you know what? It would be pretty dope if you could play a game of basketball in it.

That's what YouTuber Reetae27 thought, anyway, when he decided to chronicle his efforts in a pretty fantastic video for his "Sling & Things" series. It all began innocently enough, when he accidentally bumped into a basketball in the game, sending it flying across the court. Once he realized that the basketballs were interactive in the slightest and not just bits of set decoration, there was no turning back. He had to know if Spidey could truly ball. After all, if the surrounding NPCs could shoot hoops, then why not the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man?

This curiosity set off a series of experiments with the game's physics engine that must be seen to be believed.

Reetae27 figured out how to take advantage of a few glitches within the game's physics, including one that creates a duplicate basketball when Spidey uses a "web-zip" maneuver on it. He also learned something important but haunting: basketballs are invincible in this game, able to withstand being run over by a truck. However, the real game-changer was discovering that some basketballs could be snagged with a web and used as projectiles against enemies.

"I was on the precipice of possibly achieving ... something. Something stupid, but kind of cool at the same time," Reetae27 explains in the video. 

He shows off just a handful of what were apparently hundreds of throws, until finally, he managed to perfectly dunk the ball. We won't spoil what happens next, but rest assured, it is exactly the perfect intersection of something stupid, but kind of cool.

The comments on the video range from amusingly perplexed to genuine awe and admiration. Some have said that they hope Insomniac's followup adds the ability to play basketball for real into the next game in the Marvel's Spider-Man series. Maybe that's how Spider-Man settles things in the sequel. No superpowers, no fists — just a good old-fashioned game of hoops.