Spider-Man’s Guardians of the Galaxy Reveal His Biggest Strength

Spider-Man has undergone a whole lot of changes recently. After his disastrous beating at the hands of Hellgate, the Wall-Crawler was left for dead on an alien wasteland. Thankfully, he was rescued by the space-faring scientist Xantos, only to discover that the geneticist had kidnapped dozens of people for his twisted experiments. After freeing everyone and getting a fancy new Technarch suit, Spidey convinced some of the rescued aliens to be his very own version of the Guardians of the Galaxy. He even recruited Rocket Raccoon! Spider-Man traveled the cosmos with his ragtag team of morally questionable vigilantes, and in doing so, revealed his biggest strength.

Spider-Man’s entire space odyssey has been underscored by a desire to grow stronger. Hellgate left Peter a broken mess and promised that if he ever returned to Earth, he would destroy him and everything he loved. He’s done everything from using his new suit to undergoing Xantos’s experiments. While he was focused on attaining more power at any cost, his team actually revealed the real strength that lies at Spider-Man’s core. Amazing Spider-Man (2025) #19 showed that Spider-Man’s biggest strength is his heart, and that his team is all the better for it.

The Power to Handle Responsibility

The issue started with Rocket going over the plan to finally get Spider-Man back home. The universe was still in chaos after the events of Imperial, so the team would need to hijack a stargate. They decided to celebrate their mission almost being complete, and drank themselves into a stupor. After a heart-to-heart with Raelith where they promised to be there for each other, Peter snuck off with Xantos. The evil scientist finally finished his genetic re-coder, which would alter Spidey’s DNA to make him far stronger. However, Xantos asked Peter not to use it, saying that he would likely lose his personality. Xantos was evil, but he respected Peter and didn’t want to lose him.

Despite Xantos’s warning, Spider-Man pocketed the re-coder and snuck off. He knew that Hellgate would be waiting for him at the stargate, and didn’t want to endanger anyone else. Glitch convinced Spider-Man that, if he was going to throw his life away like this, he should wear his Technarch suit. With what he planned to be a final goodbye, Spider-Man launched to the stargate. He found all the warring factions slaughtered, with Hellgate and Nikodimu waiting for him. 

Spider-Man tried the peaceful approach, casting aside his fear to tell Hellgate that he was willing to teach him to protect the innocent. Hellgate, however, rejected Spider-Man because he saw the Web-Slinger as weak. Their rematch began, and Spider-Man was immediately put on the back foot by Hellgate’s strength and portal-creating ax. Just when Peter was about to use the re-coder, his team arrived and offered the choice of dying against Hellgate or sticking to the plan and getting him home. Spider-Man took his friends’ hands and escaped after throwing a ship at Hellgate, showing his real greatest strength isn’t his power, but his heart.

The Strength to Be Kind

When Spider-Man first met the rest of his team, they were all in a bad place, physically and mentally. They were prisoners of their situations and their mentalities, drowning their hurt by cutting off care for people other than themselves. They were all rude, careless people who put themselves above everything else, but that changed when they met Spider-Man. He had countless chances to abandon everyone and focus on his goal of getting stronger, but he never compromised his beliefs. From convincing everyone to let Xantos live, to returning the kidnapped victims to their families, to sacrificing his new suit to help Glitch, Peter continuously gave up everything he wanted for others’ sake.

Even though Spider-Man never noticed, his actions had a profound impact on his friends. Rocket opened his heart again. Raelith let herself feel vulnerable for the first time. Xantos respected someone other than himself. Even Glitch, the suicidal Technarch, opened himself to living again after seeing Peter’s mind. Peter has chased greater strength all this time, never noticing that by simply being his unabashedly vulnerable self, he was changing everyone’s lives for the better. Spider-Man survived Hellgate not because of his power, but because his friends chose to stand by him as he stood by others. Spider-Man’s greatest strength is his heroic choices, and that has saved him once again. Next time he fights Hellgate, it’ll be what saves the day.

Amazing Spider-Man #19 is on sale now!

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