Spider-Man is one of Marvel Comics' greatest and most popular heroes. Peter Parker was a member of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, and he's been an X-Men ally as well. He also has one of the greatest rogues' galleries in comics, with the likes of Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Kraven the Hunter, and Venom counting themselves among that number.
But despite all the memorable fights Spider-Man got into over the decades, there are a few characters—both hero and villain alike—that even the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has been unable to beat. At times this was simply because Spider-Man was overwhelmed by his opponent's sheer power, while in others he lost on an ideological level.
Updated on July 5, 2023 by Angelo Delos Trinos: In light of Spider-Man's newest comics and especially the multiverse-breaking Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, there's been newfound interest in seeing which Marvel characters Spider-Man could beat in a fight and those he'd lose to. Luckily, Spider-Man's comics put many of these questions to rest. This list was updated to include more characters Spider-Man could only dream of defeating.
15 Paul Rabin
Created by Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr.
It goes without saying that Paul is the most controversial Marvel Comics character of recent memory. He debuted in Spider-Man's 2022 run. Paul seemingly only existed to show how bad and pathetic both Spider-Man and Peter were. No matter what Peter did as himself or as Spider-Man, Paul was there to beat him at his own game.
To top it all off, Paul even started a relationship and family with Mary Jane Watson. This was the last straw for many infuriated readers, who accused Paul of unjustly stealing Peter's spotlight and life. Peter's attempts to beat Paul only ruined his personal life. He's since conceded to Paul, and left him alone to pick up the pieces.
14 Shang-Chi
Created by Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin
Spider-Man and Shang-Chi have had few reasons to clash. The two worked together before, but it has been hinted that Peter would not win if they ever had a showdown. In addition to Shang-Chi (whose father was once the controversial Fu Manchu) teaching Spider-Man his own fighting style, there was also the time Shang-Chi effortlessly knocked out the Wall-Crawler.
Recently, Spider-Man interfered in an operation by Shang-Chi's Five Weapons Society. While Shang-Chi stopped his Society from fighting Spidey, it was made clear that Shang wouldn't let Spider-Man attack them either. Spider-Man just had to accept that fact that he couldn't beat his mentor, let alone Marvel's legendary martial artist himself.
13 Hercules
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Hercules, the Prince of Power, and Spider-Man have come to blows more than once. The time that he and Hercules fought one-on-one found Hercules knocking Spider-Man around like a ragdoll. Despite his best efforts and host of abilities, the Web-Head was simply unable to slow down Hercules.
The second time they fought, Spider-Man had the Avengers backing him up. This time around, Spider-Man was at least able to restrain Hercules, but it was far from a true decisive victory. Since Hercules was a literal god who lived only for the fight, it's highly unlikely that Spider-Man would ever beat him in a fair, one-on-one brawl.
12 Baron Helmut Zemo
Created by Roy Thomas, Tony Isabella, and Sal Buscema
Baron Zemo is an integral Captain America villain, and he rarely had reason to fight Spider-Man. But in one of the few times they clashed, Baron Zemo won easily. When Spider-Man tried to stop Baron Zemo's plan of disposing of intelligent individuals with a minority background by giving them a drug that shut down their nervous system, he found himself wanting.
It should be noted that Zemo was backed up by Herr Wulf, and Spider-Man was without webbing. He was also weakened after being injected with the drug Zemo used to destroy people's lives. Spider-Man only won when he became the monstrous Savage Spider-Man, which is saying something given how Baron Zemo is an otherwise powerless villain.
11 The Hulk
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Spider-Man and the groundbreaking Incredible Hulk had a few bouts over the years. There was an instance in which Spider-Man won, but it was only thanks to the power of Captain Universe. Every other fight between Spider-Man and Hulk has been Spidey merely trying to hold off The Hulk until reinforcements arrived, or him just trying to escape.
Hulk is among the strongest beings in existence. Spider-Man, though strong and fast, doesn't stand a chance against the Jade Giant. It doesn't help that The Hulk is a being of pure anger and destruction who's also empowered by supernatural forces beyond anyone's comprehension. Peter could handle Bruce Banner, but never Hulk.
10 Thor
Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby
Spider-Man and the admirably courageous Thor don't often meet, and there is little reason for them to fight even when they do. However, there have been a couple of notable instances where readers get to see how it would go if the Web Slinger and the God of Thunder clashed. Long story short, things wouldn't go great for Spider-Man.
At best, Spider-Man could dodge Thor's lightning and thunder until the two come to an agreement. At worst, he would get tied to Mjolnir and be launched into space, or beaten down by an overpowered Thor. Even Spider-Man's bottomless determination and assortment of spider powers were simply no match for a literal god.
9 Captain America
Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Civil War (written by Mark Millar, penciled by Steve McNiven, inked by Dexter Vines, colored by Morry Hollowell, and lettered by Chris Eliopoulos) initially had Spider-Man on Iron Man's side. Spider-Man tried to arrest the greatly popular Captain America under Tony's orders. Spider-Man was equipped with the Iron Spider, but even this wasn't enough to stop Cap.
Spider-Man may be one of the strongest Marvel heroes around, but Captain America was still the best soldier alive. Cap's experience always beat Spider-Man's raw strength. One of the few times Peter bested Steve Rogers was when he merely pushed him aside instead of knocking him out during his most recent (and controversial) run.
8 Black Panther
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Black Panther and Spider-Man don't often cross paths, and they are usually cordial with one another when they do. But in Marvel Team-Up #87 (written by Steven Grant, penciled by Gene Colan, inked by Frank Springer, colored by Glynis Wein, lettered by Clem Robins, and edited by Al Milgrom) found them at odds on how to deal with a Roxxon executive.
This led to a brief fight between Spider-Man and the often unappreciated Black Panther, which T'Challa won handily. What made Spider-Man's loss noteworthy was that Black Panther didn't have superpowers. At most, his suit enhanced his strength. The best Spider-Man could hope for was a draw, since his last fight with T'Challa was cut short by Hawkeye.
7 Iron Man
Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko
When Spider-Man finally defected from Iron Man's faction during the Civil War, he first had to escape Tony Stark Jr. Tony had bugged Spider-Man's suit, and was expecting Peter to defect based on his recent behavior. This led to a brief and brutal fight where the morally suspect Iron Man badly injured Spider-Man.
Besides Iron Man's armor, Peter couldn't match the resources his former mentor commanded. Peter would have been killed by Jack O'Lantern and the Jester (who were working for Tony's side) had Punisher not killed both rogues. The best Peter could do was stop Iron Man with his webbing, which Tony then easily burned through.
6 Anti-Venom (Eddie Brock)
Created by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr.
During Eddie Brock's brief time as Anti-Venom, Spider-Man found himself completely outmatched by this new and improved Symbiote created by Mister Negative. Like the original Venom, the Anti-Venom negated Spider-Man's Spider Sense. However, what made Anti-Venom really dangerous was that he could also negate Spider-Man's powers.
Anti-Venom tried to cleanse Spider-Man of any traces of the Venom Symbiote. This, instead, resulted in Anti-Venom almost eradicating the radiation that gave Peter his powers. Spider-Man never stood a chance against this monster. Flash Thompson is now Anti-Venom, and he thankfully has no interest in going after Spider-Man.
5 Carnage
Created by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley
The monstrous Carnage has consistently proven to be a threat that Spider-Man cannot defeat alone. Spider-Man needed Venom's help in his first showdown with Carnage, and even that was a close call. It should be noted that Venom is already one of Spider-Man's strongest enemies, and even he couldn't beat Carnage by himself.
In every instance since then, Carnage pushed Spider-Man to his limits. It always took Peter all the help he could get to subdue the deadly villain. When Norman Osborn put on the Carnage Symbiote (then going by Red Goblin), it took several allies and tricking Norman into taking off the Symbiote for Spider-Man to actually take him down.
4 Professor Charles Xavier
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
A testament to Spider-Man's strength was the time he easily overpowered the entire X-Men line-up during the first Secret War. Thanks to his agility and senses, Spider-Man made quick work of heavy hitters like Colossus and Wolverine. Spider-Man was only stopped when Professor X blanked out his mind and gave him temporary amnesia.
Although Spider-Man easily pushed a surprised Prof. X aside, he couldn't do anything against the Omega-level telepath's psychic attack because he didn't even sense it. Prof. X defeated Spider-Man before the latter even knew what was happening. A head-on fight between the two would end in similarly quick fashion.
3 Judas Traveller
Created by Terry Kavanaugh and Steven Butler
To be fair to Spider-Man, the only real reason he couldn't beat Judas Traveller was because he vanished before they could have a fair fight. However, in the few scuffles they got into, Judas Traveller always overwhelmed Spider-Man. This was due to the fact that he was a mysterious otherworldly entity.
The true extent and nature of Judas Traveller's abilities have yet to be revealed. As such, it's currently impossible to determine whether Peter could really defeat him, or if he stood a chance at all. The best either he or Ben Reilly could do was land a few punches on Judas Traveller's face before he dissolved into the abyss he came from.
2 Mephisto
Created by Stan Lee and John Buscema
Mephisto is literally Marvel Comics' answer to Satan. Not only was Mephisto the lord of Hell, but he was evil incarnate. Despite being a street-level hero, Spider-Man fought Mephisto more than once. Although Spider-Man could punch Mephisto and live to tell about it, he could never hope to permanently defeat the devil.
What's more, Mephisto turned Peter's life into a nightmare, and there was nothing the hero could do about it. Mephisto did this to ensure that May Parker would never be born, thus averting the prophecy where she took up her father's mask and killed him. A Spider-Person could one day defeat Mephisto, but it won't be Peter.
1 J. Jonah Jameson & The Daily Bugle
Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Spider-Man's greatest nemesis wasn't a supervillain, but an ordinary (if very vindictive) newspaper editor-in-chief and his boss. Ever since Peter became Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson used his position as The Daily Bugle's boss to discredit the hero. Things only got worse when Jameson became New York City's mayor.
No matter what Peter did, Jameson was always there to brand Spider-Man as a menace. Worse, neither Peter nor Spider-Man could confront Jameson about this without risking his job and secret identity. The only times Spider-Man "won" against Jameson was when Jameson willingly stopped trying to destroy the hero's public image.