Spider-Tracer: The Many Deaths of Spider-Man

I just want to preface this article by saying that if you’re behind on your Spider-Man comics and movies, then you may want stop reading.  I would, at the very least, suggest catching up on the comic story-line “Spider-Verse”, and all of your Spidey appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Having said that, feel free to read on… at Spider-Man’s peril, of course.

 

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can… and apparently, that includes being squashed, or in this case, killed. Over the years, while he’s been very lucky to have survived so many near-death experiences, there have been instances where his luck ran out, both in the regular Marvel Universe, as well as in many of the alternate universes.

 

As some readers will recall, at the end of the original Secret Wars in issue #11, Spider-Man is killed by a blast from out of the blue by an all-powerful Doctor Doom. Spider-Man, in his then-new black costume, died along with many other Marvel heroes, including Captain America, Thor, Wolverine, and even the Incredible Hulk. Fortunately, the heroic acts of an alien healer and Battleworld’s technology manage to bring Spidey and the gang back to life which leads to the inevitable defeat of Doom, thus costing him the powers of the mighty Beyonder. If you’ll look below, I highlighted Spider-Man’s death in green.

 

 

Years later in Adjectiveless Spider-Man #17, Spider-Man attempts to save the life of a woman and her young daughter when an accident causes Freon to burst forth; not only does he fail to protect the little girl, but he himself is exposed to the toxic chemical. Spider-Man’s heart stops completely and he has an out of body experience in which he is confronted by Mistress Death and Thanos, the later of whom is in possession of all six Infinity Gems. Peter sees that the girl was also exposed to the Freon, and is in need of medical attention; she’s dying and slowly appearing in Death’s realm. Peter fights Thanos for their freedom until Death ends the skirmish, agreeing to send Peter back. Alive again, Peter gets her to the nearest hospital.

 

 

Speaking of Thanos and the Infinity Gems, Spidey gets beaten to death by his creation Terraxia in “Infinity Gauntlet” #4… with nothing more than a rock! Thankfully, Spider-Man’s death, along with the other heroes, were undone by the end of the limited series.

 

 

This wouldn’t be the last time Spider-Man’s heart stopped, effectively classifying him as dead. During the early days of the Clone Saga, Peter’s heart gives out thanks to a poison given to him by Daredevil villain, the Owl… that is, until he’s revived by Doctor Octopus of all people. But in the time he’s out of it and on Death’s door, Peter has another out of body experience, running into several dead characters over the years, including Uncle Ben and Harry Osborn, though the latter seemed to have gotten better since then. Poor Uncle Ben…

 

 

Ironically, towards the end of the Clone Saga, Peter died again, flat-lining in a hospital bed and powerless (he’d lost them during “The (not so) Final Adventure”), at that… until he woke up with his powers restored yet again.

 

 

Sometime later during “The Other”, a cross-over spanning several Spider-titles, Spider-Man meets his end battling Morlun. He loses his eye in the process and the human side of him soon dies before the “spider” side of him wakes up and stops Morlun by seemingly killing the supernatural predator. Eventually, through unknown mystical means, the “spider” within Peter makes a cocoon to heal him, and when he emerges, he’s alive and well again, as well as granted new powers, including stingers that spring from his wrists. Of course, those powers new powers didn’t last long. If that all sounds more than just a little confusing… that’s because it is!

 

 

Spider-Man died yet again in Amazing Spider-Man #700, but not in the way many people would think. Doc Ock, ever the master planner (see what I did there?), found a way to switch bodies with Spider-Man and trapped the Wall-Crawler’s mind in his dying body. And then he dies, leaving Otto to take his place!

 

 

However, Peter still resides hidden in his mind in an attempt to influence Ock’s actions, until in Superior Spider-Man #9, Otto finally does away with Peter by mindwipe.

 

 

Peter, however, was more isolated than mindwiped, and when Otto became overwhelmed by the ruthlessness of the original Green Goblin, Norman Osborn, Otto was forced to give up being Spider-Man and allowed Peter to resume control of his body. This all occurred in Superior Spider-Man #30.

 

You’d think that was the last time Spider-Man died, but you’d be wrong.  In Spider-Man/Deadpool #4, Deadpool shoots Peter Parker square in the forehead after being hired to kill him. Deadpool had no qualms about the deed, believing Parker to be evil… until he realizes he’s not.

 

 

So he has his then-wife, Shiklah, bring Peter back to life… only to shoot him again…

 

 

Now totally and completely sure that Peter wasn’t a bad guy (it only took killing him twice), Deadpool calls in some help from his ex, Mistress Death (she sure gets around, doesn’t she?), and brings Peter back a second time.

 

While that may be the end of the deaths for the main Marvel Universe Spider-Man (Earth-616, for those of you keeping track), let’s take a look at some other Spider-Man deaths over the years. A few years ago, the Marvel cross-over event “Spider-Verse” saw a great many Spider-Men and Women band together against Morlun and his spider-totem craving family. Along the way, a lot of alternate universe Spiders were lost, including:

 

House of M Spider-Man, Civil War Spider-Man, and Spider-Armor Spider-Man

 

 

“Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends” Spider-Man

 

 

Hostess Ad Spider-Man

 

 

Six-Armed Spider-Man

 

 

Captain Universe/Cosmic Spider-Man

 

 

1602 Spider-Man

 

 

Peter Parker (aka Spider-Girl’s dad)

 

 

Fantastic Five Spider-Man

 

 

Spider-Man Unlimited

 

 

And that’s just a few of them. There were plenty more, and these didn’t include the non-Peter Parker Spider-Men and Women, either.

 

In issue #4 of What If…?, Volume 2, Spider-Man is drained by the Venom symbiote (an early story to depict the black costume as more parasitic than symbiotic), leaving him an old man, who soon succumbs to his age.

 

 

What If…? #58 shows what would have happened had the Punisher successfully killed Spider-Man…

 

 

But the fun(erals) doesn’t stop there. In the video game “Spider-Man: Edge of Time”, Spider-Man is killed by Anti-Venom, but fortunately for him, Spider-Man 2099 is able to save him thanks to some time travel shenanigans.

 

 

Ultimate Spider-Man dies in final battle with the Ultimate Green Goblin in Ultimate Spider-Man #160, which set the stage for Miles Morales to take over. Sometime later, Ultimate Peter shows up inexplicably well with no reason or explanation given. Maybe he was another clone? With writer Brian Michael Bendis gone from Marvel, it’s unlikely that an answer will be forthcoming, but you never know…

 

 

One thing Spider-Man fans of the 90’s may remember is Spider-Man’s 90’s animated series. While the show had many restrictions placed upon it, the last episode of the series, “Farewell, Spider-Man”, featured the villainous Spider-Carnage, and his last act was to jump into his own Time Dilation Accelerator-generated portal; having created an imbalance that would cause anything that got sucked into it to cease to exist, Spider-Carnage/Peter effectively committed suicide!

 

 

Now, let’s talk about not only a very recent example, but one that made a bunch of fans around the world tear and choke up a bit. Remember those Spoiler Warnings from earlier? Well, here’s the big one… In “Avengers: Infinity War” Thanos, with a completed Infinity Gauntlet, snaps his fingers, and half the universe dies! That’s right, the bad guy won! And in the process, several heroes lost their lives, including Tom Holland’s Spider-Man! In seconds, the young hero becomes nothing more than ashes before Tony Stark’s eyes!

 

 

And there you have it, the many deaths of Spider-Man! Which one was your favorite/least favorite? Did I miss a good one? Let me know in the comments section below!