The heroes of the Marvel universe have crossed over into countless parallel worlds, timelines, and dimensions, and Spider-Man is no stranger to multi-versal shenanigans. With Spider-Man: No Way Home dominating movie theaters the world over and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness debuting later this year, it seems like wild crossovers are a safe bet for Marvel. But there was once a cross-over event that was so weird and ridiculous that it must never make an appearance in the MCU.
The Ren & Stimpy Show premiered in 1991 on Nickelodeon and was quickly established as one of the wildest and grossest cartoons of all time. Following the adventures and exploits of Ren the chihuahua and Stimpy the cat, the animated series was a cavalcade of content that in all likelihood was ill-suited for children. In 1992 Marvel published The Ren & Stimpy Show, a comic book adaptation of the series.
In The Ren & Stimpy Show #6 (by Dan Slott and Mike Kazaleh) Ren and Stimpy call for the help of their favorite superhero, Powdered Toast Man, when they discover that they are all out of toast. Their hero is not available, so Spider-Man shows up instead to save the day.
Spider-Man makes the duo toast using his web shooters and then swings away after receiving a distress call from the pair of elasti-shorts he borrowed from Powdered Toast Man. The commissioner from the hero's headquarters informs Spider-Man that the living piece of toast has been injected with a yeast infection by his arch-nemesis, the evil Dr. Dough-Naught. Spider-Man then swings off to stop Dr. Dough-Naught and save the day.
Powdered Toast Man, trapped by mind-control, has taken to destroying the city by the time Spider-Man arrives. Dr. Dough-Naught increases the controlled hero's toastosterone levels and makes him attack Spider-Man. The two heroes engage in pitched battle with both landing heavy (and sometimes disgusting) blows against each other. Spider-Man finally emerges victorious when he used a nearby milk truck to douse his opponent.
Dr. Dough-Naught attacks Spider-Man and incapacitates him but is ultimately defeated when Powdered Toast Man chugs a can of Powdered Toast and re-energizes himself. Spider-Man and his new ally then team up to save the city. The issue ends with Spider-Man bragging about being able to beat Powdered Toast Man in a fair fight and then getting punched through a wall by the powerful piece of bread.
Spider-Man wasn’t the only Marvel character to make an appearance in Ren and Stimpy’s world, as many other heroes are mentioned throughout the comic. Spider-Man ponders if he would have an easier time with Powdered Toast Man if he teamed up with Venom and wore spider-armor. The wall-crawler later rallies his strength by thinking about Aunt May, Mary-Jane Watson, and even Stan Lee, who the web-slinger claims is his bowling partner. Ren dresses up as The Punisher and Stimpy wears Wolverine’s uniform when they offer to team-up with Spider-Man.
Ren and Stimpy’s heyday was the early to mid 90’s and it’s probably for the best that they stay there. While the excitement and surprise of seeing so many different characters converge in the MCU is incredibly fun, watching Spider-Man talk about Muddy Mudskipper and rubber nipples with Red and Stimpy is something audiences probably aren't very interested in seeing.