Today I’ll be examining three iconic Spider Man scenes from an orthopedic perspective.
BROLL you can’t save everyone
And yes, I’m excited for No Way Home.
Stop a random person on the street and ask them who their favorite superhero is and 48%
of the time, you’ll hear Spider Man– at least according to a recent study conducted by GAME.
BROLL map
Admittedly, Spidey is very easy to love: a teenage science wiz with unshakeable morals
and a heart of gold. Like any young man suddenly endowed with incredible superhuman powers, Peter
Parker struggles to balance his personal life and his newfound responsibility as a superhero.
BROLL wiki
Since 2002, there have been 8 live action Spider Man films with different production teams and
casts– not including animated features, appearances in other Marvel films, or
earlier made for TV movies. There is something about this young man that
captivates audiences around the world. At his core, he’s just a guy trying to do the right
thing… Trying to save the people he loves… Trying not to let anyone die… The thing is,
when you’re up against villains as sinister as Norman Osbourne’s Green Goblin,
that might not be possible. Sometimes things just don’t go as planned.
BROLL Grenade to the face
After taking a pumpkin bomb to the face– which is basically a grenade,
any normal human would be toast.
When the blast sends you crashing into a brick wall, double toast. In reality, a blast of this
strength would: likely be deadly as a result of the concussive force of t shockwave of the blast.
Let’s ignore for a second, the shrapnel from the grenade itself, or the burns associated
the combustion of the explosive charge, both of which are themselves deadly. But, the ignition
of the grenade would create a small explosion whose pressure wave from the compression of the
air around the explosive, would be sufficient to cause an energetic transfer of energy to the body.
What wasn’t broken, lacerated, or burnt, would be shaken violently with irrevocable disruption
of tissues at a cellular level. Extensive soft tissue damage would result with a generally poor
outcome. The subsequent collision with the brick wall woud: Add salt to this proverbial wound.
As if the soft tissue damage caused by the blast weren’t enough, there would be extensive
damage to the skeleton as a result of the initial blast and then the subsequent collision with the
wall. The initial blast would cause frontal fractures of the chest cavity and pressure
injuries to the hollow organs contained within, primarily the lungs. The collision with the wall
would cause fractures to the back of the skull, the posterior chest wall, the pelvis, and
possibly even the long bones of the extremities as they struck, correction, as they were splatted
against the wall. But this, interns, is why we study superhumans… More bang for our buck!
In the following sequence, good ol’ Norm uses Peter as punching bag, delivering brick-crushing
blow after brick-crushing blow, in an attempt to pulverize spider-man’s bones down into a powder.
These last two connections are especially painful, first rotating Peter’s neck sharply and then
knocking it into extension with enough force to send him flying through the air. The first
punch would impart a significant rotatory force to the cervical spine. This could result in a
serious rotatory cervical spine injury such as a unilateral or even bilateral facet dislocation.
This is an unstable injury in and of itself. However, adding a forcible extension force to
the already dislocated and unstable cervical spine would be a great way to ensure that Peter Parker
performed his friendly neighbourhood spider duties from a wheelchair.
We must also take note that the Green Goblin’s armour is made of some type
of metal – bonus points if you can tell me what material was used down in the comments.
Peter yelps like an injured puppy as he collides with the ground.
In a non-super human, I wouldn’t be surprised to find: additional posterior rib fractures
and pelvic to the pelvic wings, or the iliai, or the sacrum itself.
Looking back, this scene is quite intense… No music, no beating around the bush. Just blow
after blow. And it really seems like Norman has it out for Peter’s neck. Just look at that rotation…
BROLL second neck rotation punch
The neck is definitely not built to withstand recurring rotational forces of this magnitude.
Spidey tries to escape, shooting his web to safety but Norm has obviously been watching
a fair share of WWE and delivers a twisting corkscrew clothes line. The Green Goblin
is ready for Monday Night Raw… Another blow to the neck and another collision with the ground.
If Peter isn’t feeling it in the chest, head, or neck by now, then I don’t know up from down.
Unfortunately for Norm, this is the difference between a man in a goblin-suit and a man who
has inherited accelerated healing abilities and the proportional strength of a spider. If your
genetically altered body is capable of lifting 10 tons, you can probably take a few punches.
I really don’t think Norm likes spider webs that sound like rebar when bent. You can tell by this
Liu Kang inspired flying kick followed by the lengthy villainous diatribe. Film yourself
like you’re waiting around… And then–
BROLL stab attempt
For some reason, Spidey doesn’t want to have his face skewered by an electrified trident and shows
a little bit of his true strength. He throws Norm backwards across the arena,
and uses his webs to pull a brick wall down – flat – on top of him.
Either our Goblin is consumed by the wall, consumed by the ground, or literally flattened
the thinness of a crepe. None of the above bode well for Norm as he is still a human
in a costume. In similar accidents of this type, when a person is crushed by falling rubble
there are several injurious mechanisms to be aware of including fractures of the skull, fractures of
the thorax, and extremity fractures. Although potentially catastrophic, compressive extremity
fractures are generally survivable, however the same is not true for compression of the skull or
the thorax. Both contain organs that are extremely important to survivable, namely the brain,
the heart, and the lungs. If any one of these structures is compressed to a significant degree
then it becomes really difficult for the body to continue to function normally,
if at all. The brain is basically electrified jello. Squish it, and all the lights go
out….permanently regardless of what else might be ailing you. The heart and lungs,
on the other hand, are both pumps that move blood and air respectively. Compress the chest
and you impair the ability of the pumps to move their contents. And last I heard, if you can’t
circulate blood or air around the body…well, you can’t really do much of anything…ever.
But it isn’t over just yet. Norm climbs out of the rubble just in time for Spider-man to
administer a flying football tackle… wait, is that even possible? Maybe it’s more Quidditch?
BROLL landing and punch followup sequence
We already know what can happen from a backbreaking throw and several unblocked
punches to the face. In this case however, we can imagine the possibility of Peter’s 10 ton strength
bending the Goblin armour which may complicate Norman’s injuries somewhat:
the repetitive blows to the face would result in injuries to the facial bones including maxilla,
mandible, or orbital fractures. With the forces that Spiderman can generate, Norman’s face could
be expected to be “well mash up.” Depending on the the tensile strength of the Goblin’s armour
and its resistance to bending, his face might also be extensively lacerated by the bent metal.
After another villainous monologue, Norm launches a glider sneak attack
in an attempt to finish Spidey for good. But… the fool ends up finishing himself.
Norman is impaled in the abdomen by two sharp blades that protrude from the front of the glider.
Now, getting stabbed in the abdomen once is not any fun and I am pretty sure that getting
stabbed in the abdomen twice at the same time is not any better. If you thought that Jang Deok-su
stabbing his henchmen in the abdomen was bad news, well this is en worse. While Jany Deok-su
stabbed his henchmen with a straight blade, here Norman is stabbed with two scimitar-like blades.
Your abdomen is jam packed full of gastrointestinal organs,
namely the stomach, the liver, the and the large and small bowel.
Laceration of any of these organs with a knife will offer a pathway for food contents to spill
out of the GI tract, into the periotoneum. This is a potential source of peritoneal contamination,
either with food contents and digestive enzymes, or with poop in various stages of formation and
bacteria. Neither of these is good for you and both require immediate medical attention.
But since Norman is stuck to a wall in a dilapidated building somewhere,
his access to urgent medical care is, shall we say, limited. Normally, this type of injury is
assessed and treated with a diagnostic laparotomy where they open up your belly and “run the bowel”,
looking for evidence of injury. Of course, if you find food or poop in the peritoneal cavity,
that needs to be removed and the peritoneal cavity thoroughly cleaned. Of course, since the bowel was
dirty at the time of laceration, you can’t just repair the laceration and then close it up because
extensive fulminant infection would be likely to occur. Consequently, bowel surgery in this
context is going to result in a temporary stoma of some sort unless the Goblin had the foresight
to clear out his bowels with a bowel prep before his fateful encounter with Peter.
A stoma is a hole where the bowel is brought out of the belly through the skin.
The stoma would empty into a bag and would be kept in place until the intra-abdominal
injuries healed. But Norman will not need to worry about this as it appears that he quickly perishes
from intra-abdominal bleeding. This would occur if one of the blades lacerated the aorta,
the vena cava, or one of e major vascular branches off of these vessels. With a large enough
laceration, the peritoneum would fill quickly with blood leaving little to return to the heart to be
pumped elsewhere around the body. Bad news. The pump is no longer primed and that’s a problem.
And thus ends the Green Goblin. If you are gonna pick a fight with the spiderman,
you better be prepared. I feel like there is a lot that these scenes can
teach us about injuries and the human body under more realistic conditions.
What othemovie breakdowns do you guys want to see next? Be sure to let me know in the comments.
As always, that’s been a word from Dr. Chris, not your everyday ortho.
OPTION to let Goblin Scene stand alone and make the next one into a shorter…
This next scene is heartbreaking. Being close to a superhero might have some perks,
but it also has its drawbacks. When a superhero’s identity is revealed,
the supervillain will not hesitate to exploit the safety of the people close
to them. Hang around a superhero long enough and you’re bound to find yourself
in harm's way… In The Amazing Spider Man Gwen Stacy learned this the hard way.
BROLL dangling
Dangling from a web near the top of a clock tower, Gwen watches as her beloved does battle
with Harry Osbourne. Like father, like son. I’ll spare you the medical details of this
battle… but we must examine its ending as it culminates in Gwen’s accidental
fall, and possibly the hardest moment of this version of Spider-Man's life…
This clock tower looks to be over 100 feet tall. Although Spidey catches
Gwen before she collides with the ground, she does not survive the fall.
In depth medical analysis.
BROLL Spider ham quote… “the hardest part about this job is that you can’t save everybody”
You said it Spider Ham. And as a physician I can relate. Though I may not have super strength,
I strive to do everything in my power to help people. When you fall short of that mark, it
can be heartbreaking… I didn’t plan to leave it on this note, but here we are. Hug your loved ones!