Spider-Man has long been one of Marvel's foremost heroes. Spider-Man has been through a lot of changes over the years but one thing that hasn't changed is his sense of responsibility, which has spurred him on to protect those without his strength from a bevy of the most dangerous villains. Spider-Man is the type of hero who will throw himself into battle with any enemy no matter how powerful, fighting until they go down or he does.
There have been plenty of times over the years that Spider-Man has bitten off more than he can chew. There are lots of heroes and villains out there that Spider-Man has never beat for a variety of reasons.
10 Spider-Man Has Beaten A Herald Of Galactus But Never The Big Man Himself
Galactus is one of the most powerful cosmic villains in the Marvel Universe. Spider-Man doesn't often deal with cosmic beings but there have been times when he has done so. At one point, Spider-Man gained the Captain Universe powers, with granted him amazing cosmic powers. These powers let him beat Firelord, a Herald of Galactus.
Spider-Man didn't get to face Galactus at that time but he been around when Galactus has attacked. As good as Spider-Man is, Galactus is a road too far for him. He's completely ineffectual against beings like Galactus but that doesn't stop him from helping out.
9 The Beyonder Is Much Too Powerful For Spider-Man
Spider-Man was a part of both Secret Wars and Secret Wars II. In the first one, he fought on the heroes' side in the Beyonder's contest but no hero or villain but Doctor Doom actually confronted the Beyonder on his own. In Secret Wars II, the Beyonder took human form and proceeded to beat every hero he came across. Spider-Man was one of them and he did as well as the others, which is to say not very.
The Beyonder is an extremely powerful being and there was pretty much no one who could stand against him. That didn't stop Spider-Man from trying, of course, but it was futile.
8 Thanos Didn't Even Deign To Kill Spider-Man Himself
Thanos is another being that Spider-Man usually stays away from but much like the rest of the Marvel Universe, Spider-Man helped out during Infinity Gauntlet. He was able to get one good kick in before Terraxia, a woman Thanos created to love him because Death rejected him, attacked the Wall-Crawler. It didn't go well for Spider-Man, because Terraxia brained him with a rock.
The fact that Thanos wouldn't even kill Spider-Man himself says a lot. Spider-Man has never really gotten a chance to get his win back from Thanos and it probably wouldn't work out very well for him if he got a chance.
7 Spider-Man Buried Juggernaut In Concrete But He Didn't Beat Him
Spider-Man and Juggernaut have fought several times and Spider-Man has won the fights but that doesn't mean he's actually beat Juggernaut. The first time he fought Juggernaut, he was able to end the fight by dumping him in concrete. The second time he had the help of X-Force and even then, calling that a win is a bridge too far.
Spider-Man is smarter than Juggernaut, so that has helped him in the fights but he's never been able to actually beat Juggernaut. Few heroes are actually tough enough to beat Juggernaut. Spider-Man has done better than most single heroes in a battle against the unstoppable one, which is saying something.
6 Spider-Man Has Fought Hulk And It Never Went Well
The Hulk is one of the most dangerous beings on the face of the Earth. He's known for his rage-driven destructive rampages and while there have been several versions of the Hulk over the years, one thing is the same for all of them: Spider-Man hasn't been able to beat him. That hasn't stopped Spider-Man from trying, of course.
Spider-Man has been in the middle of Hulk's rampages before and has tried to help stop the Jade Giant. The keyword there is try because the Hulk is just so much stronger than Spider-Man. Even without rage-enhanced strength, Spider-Man can't hurt the Hulk. His agility and spider-sense have helped him make it out of their fights but he's never won.
5 Red Hulk Beat Everyone Including Spider-Man
Red Hulk was pretty hardcore when he first appeared and left a trail of broken bodies behind him as the heroes of the Marvel Universe tried to figure out who he was. Spider-Man and he teamed up at one point and it started with a fight. While they stopped fighting before anyone won, Red Hulk did way better in the fight than Spider-Man did.
Hulks and Spider-Man just don't go very well together. Spider-Man gave it his all against Red Hulk, but the end was kind of predictable. Red Hulk was strong enough to beat everyone he fought, including Spider-Man.
4 Professor X Was Able To Put Down Spider-Man
During the first Secret Wars, the rest of the heroes didn't exactly trust the X-Men. At one point, Spider-Man attacked them as they were leaving to join up with Magneto and took down the entire team on his own. It was an impressive history but the fight ended when Professor X got involved. Using his mental powers, Professor X shut Spider-Man down and erased his memory of what happened.
Professor X's telepathic powers allow him to win just about any fight he's in against someone with no telepathic protection. While he's not much physically, he has it where it counts and that's in his brain. Spider-Man is good but he has nothing that can help him against Professor X.
3 Sabretooth Has Always Stayed Ahead Of Spider-Man
Spider-Man and Wolverine have had an up and down relationship. Spider-Man won their first fight and the two clashed several times since then, with both getting wins. Spider-Man hasn't had the same luck against Wolverine's arch-nemesis, Sabretooth. The two haven't crossed paths very often but when they have, Sabretooth has gotten the better of Spider-Man.
Sabretooth's healing factor, strength, and sheer ferocity have allowed him to beat many over the years. Spider-Man is good but Sabretooth has been able to take advantage of him several times, keeping Spider-Man from getting the win.
2 Magik Was Too Much For Spider-Man
Spider-Man has found himself fighting the X-Men on several occasions but he's rarely fought some of the younger members of the group, especially those from the New Mutants. That changed in Avengers Vs X-Men, when he ended up going up against the Phoenix Force powered Colossus and Magik. The two beat him silly, which was all part of the plan to distract them so the Avengers could get away.
He was able to get the two of them to fight each other, turning the two powerful Rasputins against each other. That kept him from being killed by them and lessened their threat, as both lost the power of the Phoenix after this. While Spider-Man won, he didn't actually defeat Magik.
1 Spider-Man Not Only Hasn't Beat Mephisto, But He Also Did Exactly What Mephisto Wanted
One More Day is an infamous Spider-Man story and there are lots of reasons not to like it. One of them is the fact that Spider-Man, one of the most pure-hearted heroes in the Marvel Universe, actually fell for one of Mephisto's deals. Mephisto has tried for years to get one of the heroes to do that and Spider-Man gave Mephisto exactly what he wanted.
Spider-Man didn't try to fight him, just kowtowed to him. He wanted his aunt healed so badly, he traded something good and pure to Mephisto. Not only did he not beat Mephisto, and never has been able to, but he basically did Mephisto's bidding.