Cindy Moon aka Silk is one of the many web-slingers in the pantheon of Marvel Comics. While the character had a brief appearance in Spider-Man: Homecoming, she is all set to star in her own television series that would be a part of Sony's Spider-Man universe.
In the light of such developments, it only makes sense for comic book fans to brush up their history on this character. A member of teams like Spider-Army and Agents of Atlas Champions, Silk shares most of Spider-Man's powers and has even taken the aliases of Spider-Woman and Spider-Girl.
Some Of Her Powers Are More Enhanced Than Spider-Man’s
When compared to the superpowers of Spider-Man, her “Silk-Sense” (the equivalent of Spider-Sense) is more advanced and reliable. Her strength might not be as much as Peter’s but she is much faster. Additionally, she is also gifted with exceptional photographic memory.
Even though no specific reason is offered but as Silk, Cindy can shoot organic webs right from her fingertips. This runs in contrast with Peter’s webbing as he relies on web-shooters that he has to constantly replenish to spin his signature webs.
Cindy Interned At Fact Channel News
After his tenure as a Mayor, Spider-Man's former boss and rival J. Jonah Jameson served as a television personality on the New York-based news channel Fact Channel. Determined to add some meaning to her life and to find her parents, she enrolls as a journalist intern in the channel and works in the information center.
Jameson starts appreciating her work later on and even prompts her to get him photos of the web-slinger known as Silk. This is a clear nod to the time when Peter Parker clicked photos of Spider-Man for Jameson’s Daily Bugle newspaper.
Cindy Was Bitten By A Spider Around The Same Time As Peter
As seen in The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 3 #1, the radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker and gave him his powers also ended up biting his classmate Cindy Moon. She develops similar powers like a “Spider-Sense” and enhanced physical strength.
In most of Spider-Man’s origin stories, the spider is accidentally exposed to radiation in a science exhibit and instantly dies after biting Peter. However, this comic alters the story with the spider continuing to bite Cindy.
Cindy Initially Appeared As A Faceless Cameo
Cindy appeared in the debut issue of The Amazing Spider-Man’s third volume. Even before she got bit by the spider, she was mostly depicted as a faceless background character in Peter’s school.
It is only in The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 3 #4 that she got her first speaking part and her superhero origin story commenced from there. Since then, she has appeared in the crossover series Original Sin, the 2010s Spider-Man mega comic event Spider-Verse, and her own standalone series Silk.
Ezekiel Captured Her From A Young Age
Unlike Peter, Cindy didn’t start off with her crimefighting career right after the bite. Unable to control her powers, Ezekiel Sims convinced the Moon family to train her. Cindy spent six years mastering her abilities under Ezekiel’s guidance.
But when the inter-dimensional villain Morlun set out to hunt down all “Spider-Totems” (one of whom is Cindy herself), Ezekiel decided to lock her up in an underground bunker. Ezekiel’s decision is definitely questionable but he justified it by saying it is for Cindy’s own safety. This moment left a traumatizing impact on Cindy and distanced her from her family.
She Has Had Anxiety Issues
The period of captivity in the bunker has had an immense impact on Cindy’s mental health. This is evident from the paranoia she experiences in the outside world, especially with the mention of villains like Morlun.
She grows angry when Spider-Man consults members of the Fantastic Four (of which he was briefly a part of) to check up on her mental state. Later, she does agree to see a therapist whom she visits regularly. Around this time, she also goes out on friendly dates with the Human Torch as they fight crime together. This activity turns out to be a much-needed break for her.
Cindy And Peter Were Temporarily Attracted To Each Other
When Spider-Man and Silk cross paths, they feel a strong sense of attraction towards each other. Even though they haven’t interacted much before, their shared Spider-Sense is so strong that they instantly connect.
Once she is out of the bunker, she vows to find and kill Morlun (one of Spider-Man's weirder villains). Peter calms her down by saying that Morlun is already dead. However, she grows suspicious and even attacks Peter. The fight is short-lived as it eventually ends in a kiss. But when Cindy is about to remove his mask, Peter stops her, implying that he is still not ready to reveal his secret identity to her.
Cindy Was There All Along In The MCU
Even though Cindy Moon is getting her own live-action series, only dedicated comic-book fans would have spotted her presence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a character in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Played by actress Tiffany Espensen, Cindy appeared as one of Peter’s classmates in Midtown School. She is also a member of the decathlon team that Peter leaves in Homecoming to focus on crime-fighting. She also has a brief appearance in Avengers: Infinity War. While Peter’s Spider-Sense starts acting up, he decides to make a move while Ned creates a distraction for the other students on the school bus.
The Creators Have Experience In Spider-Man Comics
Cindy Moon was created by writer Dan Slott and artist Humberto Ramos. While both creatives have dabbled in multiple comic book properties, they have also been a part of some iconic Spider-Man comic books.
Slott has not only worked in The Amazing Spider-Man but he also contributed to The Superior Spider-Man that dealt with an antiheroic version of Spider-Man whose consciousness is taken by Doctor Octopus. Ramos, on the other hand, has worked on multiple issues of Peter Parker: Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, and the aforementioned The Superior Spider-Man.
Cindy Runs A Spy Organization And Dates Kingpin In Earth-65
Spider-Gwen’s Earth-65 is quite a bizarre alternate dimension. One of the most surprising revelations here is that Matt Murdock is the Kingpin in this universe instead of Wilson Fisk. If this weren’t enough, the crossover event Spider-Women finds Cindy of this dimension in a more villainous avatar.
This version of Cindy Moon runs an infamous spy organization aptly named S.I.L.K. In fact, she could have been the Silk in this dimension too if her school teacher wouldn’t have swatted away the radioactive spider. Later, Cindy joined SHIELD and worked on similar spiders, one of which bit Gwen and turned her into a web-slinger.