How many stitches or staples does a typical c-section require?

Depends: It simply takes what it takes. It would depend on the surgeons size of incison, his/her technique on closing the incision and other medical factors. He/she wouldn't even have to use stitches (external) or staples. The wound could be closed with a running stitch under the skin. Personally, i wold not worry about this and would trust the surgeon to do the best and place trust for your best!

Lots!: You won't see any of the stitches (sutures) used to close up your insides, eg uterus, bladder flap, etc. Even then, you may need several layers of stitches just to bring your skin & underlying tissue together - and you better not see any of these stitches! the only ones you're likely to see are the staples used to keep everything together superficially while you heal on the inside.