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Spider-Man Star Andrew Garfield Visits Natural History Museum

By Emily Frost | June 28, 2012 9:10am
Many young children were swept away by the chance to see Spider-Man in action.
Many young children were swept away by the chance to see Spider-Man in action.
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DNAinfo/ Emily Frost

UPPER WEST SIDE — Andrew Garfield, the star of the new "Spider-Man" movie, got up close and personal with a tarantula at the American Museum of Natural History Wednesday  — as a movie stuntman soared down the eastern facade of the building to the delight of hundreds of fans. 

The jaw-dropping stunt was part of New York City's Spider-Man Week, a slew of events celebrating the release of "The Amazing Spider-Man", the latest instalment in the film franchise. The movie's leading man Andrew Garfield was at the museum to stare down his live, six-legged counterparts at a preview of the upcoming Spiders Alive! exhibit.

Garfield greeted his screaming fans, some of them dressed in full Spider-Man suits, and posed for photos, signed their comic books, and signed autographs.

Chris Chow held his 4-year-old daughter Adelaide aloft on his shoulders for an hour, waiting for a chance to see the latest Spider-Man. Adelaide was awestruck by the stuntman, her dad said, but was too excited to speak, being a huge fan, he explained. 

Norman Platnick, the exhibition curator, chatted up director Marc Webb and Garfield — who appeared in jeans, a white t-shirt and a white 1950s style nylon jacket — about the wonders of the arachnid, of which there are 43,000 species recorded so far.

"Spider's silk is a remarkable material," said Platnick. "It's stronger than steel at the same diameter, and can expand and contract."