Superhero films are all about cool fights and explosions. But it does make one wonder how much property damage are the heroes causing when they are throwing each other into buildings and cars.

One insurance lawyer analyzed just one scene from Spider-Man: Homecoming, where the titular webbed hero prevented a bank robbery. Turns out poor Peter Parker caused damages of more than $300,000, and what’s even more horrifying is that if it was in the real world, he would have to pay back that and more.

Insurance Lawyer Analyzes Damages Caused By Spider-Man 

Peter Parker stops a bank robbery in Spider-Man- Homecoming
Variety recently brought Stacey Giulianti, an insurance expert, who estimated the damages caused by various superheroes. He dissected several films, one of which was Spider-Man: Homecoming. He viewed the scene where Peter Parker is trying to prevent an ATM robbery. He’s a newly minted hero and still learning the ropes in this film. So when he tries to intervene, he finds that the goons aren’t ordinary robbers. In fact, they have high-tech alien machinery with them that makes the fight deadly between the hero and the robbers.
Tom Holland in Spider-Man- Homecoming
We see Spider-Man walk in and the robbers immediately use the Chitauri Blowtorch and Anti-Gravity Gun to deter him. In the ensuing fight, the hi-tech weapons destroy the bank as well as the nearby deli. Even Parker gets thrown around by them before he gains control of the situation. But how much damage would this entire sequence have caused in real life? Giulianti said the situation is interesting and also different because Spider-Man isn’t saving lives, but property. Here’s what he said:
“Now, you gotta be careful in terms of the legal issues here. He is not trying to save lives, he is trying to save property and that’s a big legal distinction that we make. The Good Samaritan Rule says if you are going to save somebody, especially someone’s life and you cause damage, say you are rescuing someone from drowning and you break their arm, you are not liable for breaking their arm because you saved their life. Here he’s not saving any lives, he is merely trying to protect property. By getting involved and not letting them leave, he causes additional damage to that bank area as well as to the building that it is in and the deli.”
This makes the webbed hero liable for the damages and the insurance company would seek reimbursement from him through a rule called Subrogation. That’s quite the penalty for someone who was only trying to help.

How Much Will Spider-Man Have To Pay In Damages?

Spider-Man
As per Giulianti, Spider-Man would have to pay way more than $300,000 for the damages he caused. The insurance expert looked at the scene and estimated that damage done to the ATM, metal framing, window, and glass will subtract an easy $50,000 from his pockets. Next up, there’s ceiling damage as well, for which Parker would have to pay out an additional $50,000. That’s not all. He will have to hand over an additional $50,000 for the damage caused to the outside of the bank. So that brings damages up to $150,000. But wait! There’s more.

The deli got smashed right through, and that alone will cost the Marvel hero about $300,000. Giulianti also says that the deli will have a BOP or Business Owner’s Policy, and within that, there’s BIC or Business Interruption Coverage. This means that any losses sustained by the business not being in operation, will be paid by the insurance company till the owners get back on their feet. The insurance expert estimates that all of this will push Spider-Man to pay over half a million in damages.

If this happened in real life, no one apart from Tony Stark would have been able to keep being a superhero.

Source: Variety