'There goes Spider-Man': Arunachal man casts web of cosplay

He dashes and jumps off terraces, flips, and vaults on the streets wearing a cape, leaving people in absolute awe. Who is he? Arunachal’s own friendly, neighbourhood Spider-Man!

Takam Todo, 22, has slowly but surely aced the cosplay of his favourite comic superhero - Spider-Man, imitating stunts of the caped crusader at will.

A resident of Itanagar, Todo started parkouring, which involves running, jumping, swinging, vaulting and climbing, around 2014.

“I sense action and opportunity everywhere. If there is a wall, it’s just a wall for others. But for us, we can land on it and jump from it,” he told PTI.

Todo’s Spider-Man antics began two years ago in Pune, where he was pursuing a diploma in civil engineering. He bought the costumes online and got into the act, posting a video of him vaulting over two motorcycles, on social media.

Initially, the video garnered only around 500 views, but after the coronavirus lockdowns, “it suddenly got viral”, Todo said.

Titled ‘Spider-Man Jumping in Pune’, it has over 25 million views so far on YouTube, where he has over 77,000 subscribers.

He also uploaded a new video of parkour moves a day before the teaser of ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ released on August 24.

Todo’s cosplay videos of the comic superhero are typically filled with stunts atop terraces and dancing moves, but he remains nonchalant about the dangers associated with the acts.

“There are lots of deaths due to road accidents. Still, people ride vehicles,” he said. “We progress through training. We just go for the basics at first and slowly develop.” The young man claimed that despite his daredevil stunts, he was yet to suffer any serious injury. “It looks painful, but it’s not much of a pain for us,” Todo quipped.

Authorities, too, have never objected to any of his antics yet, he said, adding, security guards of buildings aren’t too amused more often than not.

Todo also took part in a donation drive for a cancer patient recently, posting messages for help on YouTube.