Spider-Man’s 5 Most Brutal Fights Of All Time, Ranked

Spider-Man is all but the face of Marvel Comics, having one of the strongest casts of villains and side characters of all time and having starred in some of Marvel’s most renowned stories. Of course, beyond just the story, one of the big draws of comic books is the action they are incredibly capable of producing. Spider-Man has a unique fighting style that combines insane acrobatics with unbelievable strength, and each of his villains offers a wide range of abilities to challenge the Web-Slinger. Although he’s known for his quips and flips, Spider-Man has been at the center of some of Marvel’s bloodiest fights.

Videos by ComicBook.com

Today, we’re going to look at five of the most brutal, dirty, merciless brawls that the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man ever found himself trapped in. There are plenty of incredible options to choose from in Spidey’s long career, so narrowing this list was difficult. Some honorable mentions include “Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaught,” Spider-Man’s various brawls with Tombstone in Zeb Wells’s run, and the final fight against Carnage in Maximum Carnage. There are endless fights that have pushed Spider-Man to his limits, but these five are the most downright savage and make the average Spidey fight look like a stroll through a pillow factory.

5) Peter Parker: Spider-Man #25 — “Trick of the Light”

Practically all of Spider-Man’s fights against the Green Goblin could qualify for this list, but I chose this underrated number because of how far Peter was pushed mentally and physically. He’d been captured by Norman and tortured for weeks. The villain wanted to shatter Peter’s spirit and make him choose darkness, become his one true successor, but Spider-Man refused, no matter how much pain he was in. Eventually, Norman decided to cut his losses and said he would target his grandson Normie instead, which set Peter off enough to take the Green Goblin down.

There was no strategy, quips, or goals in this fight. It was just a slugfest between two men with about equivalent strength, beating the tar out of each other to the boom of thunder. In the end, Spider-Man ruthlessly beat down the Goblin, but he taunted Peter by saying he broke him, even if just for a moment. Norman escaped, leaving Peter sobbing on the floor, ending this in what truly feels like a loss for both men.

4) The Amazing Spider-Man #637 — “The Grim Hunt” Part 4

Spider-Man is a character who exemplifies mercy and compassion, but even he has limits that he can be pushed passed. The “Kraven’s Last Hunt” storyline saw the titular hunter bury Spider-Man alive and parade around in his costume before taking his own life. “The Grim Hunt’ followed the Kravinoff family reviving him by capturing and torturing the ones they deemed responsible for his death; the Spider-Family. They sacrificed Kaine, Spidey’s unstable clone, to bring back Kraven, and that finally broke Spider-Man.

Donning his black suit, Peter hunted the Kravinoffs like an animal. He strung them up in giant web cocoons, surrounded by an army of spiders. He even used his sticking powers to rip the skin off Sasha Kravinoff’s face, and fully intended to murder the entire Kravinoff line. Thankfully, Araña talked him down, but this was the closest Spider-Man has ever been to butchering someone. You know that when Spider-Man stops laughing that everything is about to go down the drain.

3) The Amazing Spider-Man #543 — “Back in Black” Part 4

If there’s one thing that nobody should ever do if they value their life, it’s threaten Spider-Man’s family. After revealing his secret identity in the midst of Civil War, Kingpin hired a hit on Spider-Man, which wound up fatally wounding Aunt May. More mad than he’s ever been before, Peter once again donned his black suit, his de facto color for enacting untold violence, and went on a tear through New York for the man behind it all. He eventually found out it was Fist, and broke into prison to challenge him to a one-on-one in front of the entire place. It wasn’t a fight. It was a decimation.

Peter picked Kingpin apart with surgical precision, taunting him by never letting the massive man land even a single hit. Peter even took off his costume, saying that Spider-Man wouldn’t kill Kingpin, but Peter Parker would. He emasculated the villain, holding him by his excess skin and slapping him on repeat. In the end, he told Kingpin that he could kill him in three seconds by filling his lungs with webbing, and promised to do just that if Aunt May really died. Instead, he left the man to wallow in his failure and broken pride. This is Spider-Man at his cruelest and deadliest, and without a doubt is the most intense beatdown he’s ever dished out. However, the fact that it was so one-sided keeps it from scoring in either of our top slots.

2) The Amazing Spider-Man #526 — “The Other – Act Two” Part 3

Nobody has pushed Spider-Man farther and harder than Morlun, the interdimensional Totem-hunter. “The Other” saw his mysterious return from the grave just as Spider-Man contracted an unexplainable disease that was killing him. With no time left, Spider-Man fought Morlun with everything he had, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough. Even when going against heavyweights like the Rhino, Spider-Man’s strength is at least comparable, if not outright greater than his opponents’. That wasn’t the case with Morlun, who took everything Peter dished out and dealt it back tenfold.

Peter did everything from smashing trucks against the vampire to punching him until his hands shattered. Spider-Man finally thought he had pulled ahead, only to realize that he hadn’t even hurt the monster, and Morlun ripped out one of Peter’s eyes as an appetizer. He beat Spider-Man within an inch of his life, only stopping to savor the meal later. Spider-Man’s been killed before, and even then, nothing comes close to the beating he received here. He was shattered beyond repair, to the point that he only survived because his Spider-Totem side restored him in a new body. This is easily Peter’s worst loss and one of his hardest-fought battles of all.

1) The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #33-35 — “All Fall Down,” “Meltdown,” and “Coming Out”

While their second fight was all the more painful for Peter, nothing can top the insanity and destruction the first fight between Spider-Man and Morlun caused. The unstoppable energy vampire appeared from nowhere and promised Spider-Man would die. Peter hit him with everything he had, but he could barely slow the man down. After hours of fighting, he tried to get away, only to find that Morlun could track him to the ends of the Earth. Their fight raged on for over twelve hours, and every time Peter gained some distance, Morlun would drag him back in by endangering innocents.

Spider-Man thought he was going to die, and even said his final goodbye to Aunt May before charging back. In the end, Spider-Man was saved by Ezekiel’s sacrifice, which gave him the time he needed to discover that Morlun was weak to radiation. Still, this fight took everything Spider-Man had and more, and hurt both opponents more than they’ve ever been hurt before. Spider-Man had to give his all for this brutal victory. He was bloodied, broken, and lost, but he found the power to keep charging forward and save the day. That’s exactly what being a hero is all about.

So there we have the five most brutal Spider-Man fights of all time. Do you agree with this list, or would you rather see another classic bout like the hero fight in Spider-Man vs. Wolverine take the crown? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!