Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter)
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Julia Carpenter née Cornwall is the true identity of the second Spider-Woman, a fictional character and a retired superheroine in the Marvel Comics universe. The character first appeared in Secret Wars #6 (in the shadows).
Character biography
A secretive government group called The Commission decided to use Julia Carpenter as a test subject in their experiments. The experiments were a success and Julia was granted powers very similar to those of Spider-Man. Not long after adopting the identity of Spider-Woman, she was drawn into the Secret Wars. After returning to Earth, Julia joined Freedom Force but, much like her predecessor, found herself on the wrong side of the law.She then found her place with the West Coast Avengers and once they disbanded, joined their spin-off team Force Works. Julia's main enemies were the arachnid-based team called Death Web, which consisted of three super villains who were created by The Commission using a variation of the same serum which transformed Julia. Eventually Julia walked away from the superhero business to concentrate on raising her daughter Rachel. Like Jessica Drew (the original Spider-Woman), Julia was also attacked by Charlotte Witter and had her powers stolen. After the loss of her superpowers, Julia has returned to the life of a normal mother.
Julia is set to appear in a story arc of the current Ms. Marvel series, and some fans are speculating that this may lead to her regaining her lost powers or perhaps gaining new ones. She will be getting a new codename (the one she originally wanted to use when she was given her powers), Arachne. This will coincide with her role in Civil War, as she is one of the many superheroes who support the Superhuman Registration Act.
Powers and abilities
Julie Carpenter currently has no superhuman powers.She formerly possessed abilities similar to that of Spider-Man including superhuman strength, enhanced speed, enhanced reflexes, and enhanced agility. Her endurance and stamina were heightened as well, though to a lesser degree. She also had the ability to cling to vertical surfaces (though, unlike Spider-Man, her ability was psionic-based).
Julia also had an ability that Spider-Man did not possess: the ability to utilize psionic-based webbing, although it required a lot of concentration to manifest. This webbing could be controlled in ways Spider-Man's webbing never could.
In addition to her natural superhuman advantages, she was extensively trained by the Commission on Superhuman Activities, presumably in espionage and hand-to-hand combat.
Depictions in other media
Julia Carpenter appeared regularly, both in and out of costume, in the 1994 Iron Man animated series as part of the team loosely based on the comic and super team, Force Works. In the cartoon, Julia Carpenter eventually married Tony Stark. However, this remains out of continuity with the regular Marvel Universe. She was voiced by Jennifer HaleNotes
When Spider-man first tried on the Black Costume that would eventually become the symbiote-assisted villain known as Venom, he realized that his costume design had been subconsciously influenced by that of Julia.
Links
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