Earth vs. the Spider

Quentin Kemmer is a shy security guard who spends his shifts daydreaming about becoming a superhero like his favorite character, The Arachnid Avenger. He lives next to his neighbor Stephanie Lewis, and he longs to ask her out. His world is a quiet routine punctuated by comic-book fantasies.

During a botched robbery at the research laboratory, Quentin's partner is killed, and he is fired from his job. In the wake of the trauma, he injects himself with an experimental spider-derived serum, hoping to gain powers. The next day he wakes up with a fever.

The next day Quentin suffers a severe fever and spends most of the day unconscious. After waking, he discovers surprising strength and signs that his body is mutating into something spider-like.

That night a stalker attacks Stephanie, attempting to rape her. Quentin intervenes and kills the attacker, but he escapes before Stephanie can see him. The incident leaves Stephanie shaken and unaware that her savior may be the quiet neighbor living next door.

Quentin returns to his apartment to find Stephanie being interviewed by Detective Frank Grillo, who hopes to identify her savior. Quentin is thrilled that his dream of becoming a superhero might be real. The encounter spurs him to believe he is finally stepping into the role he has long imagined.

As days pass, Quentin develops more spider-like abilities, including shooting webs from his abdomen and a growing, spider-like physique. He struggles with an insatiable hunger and difficulty eating solid food. He begins to understand that his transformation is both a gift and a curse.

At a local store, Quentin attacks a man who is attempting to rape a young woman, severely injuring him. The woman is furious because the man is her boyfriend, and when she tries to call the police, Quentin encases her in webbing.

The next day, police Officer Williams arrives and is attacked while trying to free the woman. Investigators discover the man's body drained of fluids and note spider-webbing at the scene, along with Williams's missing badge.

Horrified by his transformation and afraid of harming others, Quentin holes up in his room to prevent any more murders. He fears the animal side taking over completely.

That night, driven by hunger, he ventures out and murders two young men who used to bully him. The killings deepen the mystery and push Frank Grillo to push harder to identify the killer.

Detective Frank Grillo interviews the head of the research department, learning about attempts to transfer spider properties into humans. He theorizes that Quentin might be the killer and begins to suspect that the lab's former staff could be involved.

Grillo visits Quentin's apartment but finds no one home. He discovers the same webbing at the scene and follows it into the basement, where dozens of bodies encased in webs lie hidden.

Frank's wife Trixie, believing he is hiding Williams, follows him to Quentin's location and is attacked. Frank arrives too late and Trixie dies in his arms.

Quentin kidnaps Stephanie and takes her to an abandoned building. Frank arrives and finds Stephanie trapped in a large spider's web, facing the grotesque Quentin who begs Frank to end him. Frank opens fire, killing Quentin and saving Stephanie.

Quentin dies, and his friend Han later introduces a comic book collector to an action figure resembling him, a new superhero named Quentin Arachnid.