The Amazing Spider-Man is one of the most beloved superheroes of all time. He is a face of Marvel Comics, and he has helped other heroes such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four save the world on countless occasions, even going so far as to join both teams for a time.
Despite all of this, Peter Parker has had low points in his life and career as well. Not every fight can be a victory, and there are some times when villains and even other heroes reminded Spider-Man that he isn’t the strongest being in the universe or even on Earth.
10 Spider-Man’s Origin Was A Sobering Experience For Peter Parker
As crass and harsh as it may sound, the death of Uncle Ben was the original “Spider-Man being put in his place.” The entire experience only came about because Peter refused to stop an armed robber because he was ticked at the people the man robbed. Consequently, the man went on to shoot Peter’s Uncle Ben.
This experience shaped Peter Parker into Spider-Man, and it is the basis for one of the most famous lines in comic book history, “With great power must also come great responsibility.”
9 Flash Thompson Showed Spider-Man That He Can’t Judge A Venom By Its Cover
When Flash Thompson was given the symbiote and became Agent Venom, he was running covert missions for the United States military. As shady as the whole operation was, Thompson’s missions largely had him doing the right thing.
Despite that, Spider-Man immediately attacked Agent Venom upon first meeting Flash like this. Peter had bad experiences with Eddie Brock and Mac Gargan as Venom, so this was somewhat understandable. Despite that, Flash was able to convince Spidey that they were on the same side, and the duo went on to save Betty Brant from the Crime-Master.
8 Kraven’s Last Hunt Showed Spidey That Even Old Villains Can Pose New Threats
Kraven’s last hunt had the villain attempting to show Spider-Man that Kraven could be a better hero than the Web-Slinger had ever been. It began with Sergei Kravinoff, an enemy that Spider-Man had beaten many times before, conquering Spider-Man and burying him alive in a grave.
It took Spider-Man two weeks to escape, and he escaped only to find Kraven and Vermin waiting for him. Spidey managed to beat them both before Kraven explained the reason for this whole exercise before killing himself.
7 Morlun Reminded Spider-Man That There Are Greater Forces Stalking Him
Morlun first ambushed Spider-Man at a time when his powers were malfunctioning. Spider-Man believed that he was dying, but, in reality, he was becoming something… Other. Despite this, Morlun nearly beat Spider-Man to death and ripped out one of his eyes.
This left Spider-Man hospitalized, and Morlun was able to sneak into his room while Peter was vulnerable. In retaliation, Spider-Man sprouted stingers from his wrist and ripped out Morlun’s throat. Soon afterward, Peter would web himself up in a cocoon and complete his metamorphosis.
6 Spider-Man Faced True Might When He Tried To Stop The Juggernaut
When the Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy received a bounty for Madame Web, Cain Marko began his path of destruction across Manhattan. Madame Web informed Spider-Man of the coming danger, and the Web-Head tried to put a stop to Marko.
Unfortunately, the Juggernaut proved, well, unstoppable. Every attack and impediment that Spider-Man threw at the Juggernaut only irritated the behemoth. In the end, the Juggernaut nearly killed Madame Web before returning to Black Tom’s boat. Spider-Man kept trying to beat the Juggernaut to the point where Cain almost killed him. However, Spidey lucked out, and the Juggernaut found himself in wet cement. The cement swallowed Cain, and Spidey lived to tell the tale.
5 Cap Showed Spider-Man Who The Better Fighter Was During Civil War
In the early stages of the Superhuman Civil War, Spider-Man confronted Captain America with the intent of arresting the hero by himself. Peter was armed with his new Iron Spider suit, made personally by Tony Stark. While Spider-Man seemed to have the upper hand at first and even webbed up Cap’s shield, Steve Rogers wasn’t down yet.
Captain America kept fighting Spider-Man and eventually managed to escape back to his hideout, leaving Spider-Man baffled and bruised.
4 Spider-Man Is One Of The Many Heroes Who Fell To Thanos With The Infinity Gauntlet
During the legendary Infinity Gauntlet tale by Jim Starlin and George Perez, Adam Warlock rallied many of the heroes of Earth for a wave attack on the Mad Titan Thanos armed with the Infinity Gauntlet.
Many heroes experienced gruesome deaths during this confrontation. Spider-Man was among those who perished, with Thanos smashing his skull with a stone. Thankfully, this would all be undone later by Nebula with the Infinity Gauntlet.
3 Losing Parker Industries Was A Very Humbling Moment For Peter
For a time, Spider-Man had his very own technology and research company named Parker Industries. He even formed a romantic relationship with Mockingbird, who was S.H.I.E.L.D.’s liaison to Parker Industries, during this time.
Unfortunately, Parker Industries was actually the brainchild of Doctor Octopus during his time as the Superior Spider-Man in Peter’s body, and Otto wanted it back when he returned as the Superior Octopus. Peter had to destroy Parker Industries to keep Otto and Hydra from getting their resources. Penniless and homeless, Peter had to move in with Mockingbird, but that relationship fizzled out too.
2 The Superior Spider-Man Was Kicked Off The Avengers For His Aggression
When Otto Octavius was in Peter’s body as the Superior Spider-Man, the Avengers reformed to become a far larger team than it had ever been before. Spider-Man was invited onto that team as well, but Otto’s methods and personality clashed with the other Avengers.
After a few spats with Captain America and Iron Man about his approach to superheroing, the Superior Spider-Man was kicked off the Avengers and left to work solo.
1 Spider-Man Was Nearly Killed By Phoenix-Fueled X-Men
One of the worst and most humbling beatings that Spider-Man has ever received came at the flaming hands of Colossus and Magik during the war between the Avengers and the X-Men. Colossus and Magik were both possessed by shards of the Phoenix Force at this time, and Spider-Man’s squad had all been taken out already while trying to subdue them.
This just left Spider-Man to take on two Phoenix-powered X-Men, and they beat him savagely. Peter only narrowly survived by convincing Magik and Colossus to turn on one another, and the two knocked each other out, expelling the Phoenix Force from them.
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