Top 10 Worst Things Spider-Man Has Ever Done

This happened as part of the widely despised Sins Past storyline, in which Gwen Stacy is retroactively made to have had an affair with Norman Osborn, which apparently resulted in twins. As if that isn’t bad enough already, the writer went ahead and established this weird sexual tension between Peter and Sarah, Gwen’s lookalike daughter. Pete seems surprised by the kiss, but the dude was also sending off some seriously mixed messages. You can claim to love her like a daughter, but your actions say otherwise Parker, and it’s both disappointing and weird.

Fake news… it’s not befitting of a regular journalist, let alone a superhero. To be fair, when photographer Peter Parker took it upon himself to stage some Spider-Man pics, he was doing so before the era of fake news as we know it. But still, even in 1963, there was a little thing called journalistic ethics, and, try as you might to justify yourself, Parker, but throwing regular old sand in the air to recreate a fight with Sandman is dishonest - even if it actually happened just minutes earlier. At the end of the day, it all boils down to the same thing - you lied to your employers and the public in the name of profit.

This sounds like the sort of thing that Otto Octavius’ arrogant Superior Spider-Man would do, but Peter Parker? That’s out of character. Then again, his long and complicated history with Norman Osborn has made Spidey a little hot-headed. So when Osborn began exploiting the eastern European nation of Symkaria, Spidey saw fit to insert himself into the foreign independent nation’s politics via subterfuge. As is usually the case, he’s doing it with the best intentions, but using corporate espionage to undermine a democratically elected leader? That’s not the Spider-Man we know and love... that’s some morally gray CIA stuff. Oh, and it literally could’ve started a war, which is probably why Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. severed all ties with Spidey and Parker Industries as a result.

#7: Had an Affair with a Married Woman

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We’ll level with you. Though Spider-Man has often been written as a moral paragon in the world of comics, Parker’s track record with women isn’t exactly the greatest. Generally speaking, his superheroics and tendency towards being scatterbrained make him a nightmare to date. Then there was the aforementioned kiss. But this… this was more than a confused kiss. Having just been dumped, Parker finds consolation with his first love, Betty Brant, who is now married but is seemingly separated from her husband. The two make out, and then we get a “several hours later” time skip that has been debated ever since. Sure, her and Ned were fighting, but still… not cool Parker!

Euthanasia is a complex issue, but Spider-Man’s refusal to take Mendel Stromm’s life was an act of cruelty. He put his own values over the wishes of a man suffering as a disembodied head - a slave to a machine. Desperate, Stromm puts aside his past grudges and pleads with Spider-Man to end his life before the A.I. takes over entirely. The two have a lengthy conversation about the moral and philosophical ramifications, but in the end, rather than give the man what he wants, Spidey “rescues” him by locking him into a virtual reality loop. Spider-Man promises to find a proper cure, but he instead leaves Mendel trapped there for years.

#5: He Didn't Stop the Robber who Killed Uncle Ben

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A superhero’s life is full of tough choices - one split-second decision after another that can make the difference between life and death, both for the hero and others around them. It’s impossible to consistently make the right one, and there’s no point dwelling on what could have been. At least… that’s the general rule. But Spider-Man didn’t have a tough choice to make in this 1962 issue of Amazing Fantasy - it was an easy one, and his decision to stand by and do nothing was rooted in selfishness and a newly inflated ego. Had he done the right thing and stopped the thief that night, his Uncle Ben would still be alive.

Don’t let all the jokes fool you… underneath Spider-Man’s mask of good humor and charm is a fiery temper just waiting to rear its ugly head should someone close to him get hurt. So when Detective Stan Carter threatened the life of his ex-girlfriend Betty Brant as the villainous Sin Eater and also pretended to be Peter’s friend, Spider-Man seemingly snapped, attacking so furiously that Daredevil had to intervene - only to find Spidey’s rage turn on him. Spidey actually punches his ally out a window! Now, in hindsight, we could chalk this up to the influence of the alien suit, but ultimately, Peter let his emotions get the best of him.

Believe it or not, Spider-Man has actually killed multiple people over the years. There is no act more shocking, however than when he accidentally killed a woman, Charlemagne, by punching her in the face. The irony? He was actually fighting Wolverine at the time, and the reason he was tangling with Logan was to stop him from killing Charlemagne in the first place. In his exhaustion and paranoia fighting Wolverine, however, he misjudged who was behind him and wound up throwing a fatal punch to her face.

#2: He Hit Mary Jane

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It’s interesting how two characters can do the same horrible thing and wind up with very different results. For Hank Pym, the decision to have him hit his wife has gone on to define the character for decades. But when Peter Parker similarly struck his wife, Mary-Jane, fans by and large collectively forgot about it. Maybe’s it a difference in popularity between the characters. Or perhaps it’s because this occurred during the often-criticized clone saga, and so readers dismissed it as bad writing. Regardless, like Hank Pym, in a moment of frustration, Peter Parker committed an act of domestic violence, and that’s inexcusable. Even worse… he then ran away as Mary Jane pleaded with him to stay.

#1: Made a Deal with the Devil

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That’s not a metaphor or a poetic turn of phrase. Peter Parker made an actual deal, with a literal devil - Mephisto. What sort of superhero does that?! Spider-Man apparently. In order to save his dying Aunt May, who Peter had put in harm’s way when he revealed his identity during Civil War, he makes a pact with this all-powerful villain. The cost? His marriage with Mary Jane, and their future together, including the child they had yet to have. But it’s not just his own life that Parker changed by making this deal; he’s basically rewriting history - as you can’t change your own past without changing the lives of others in countless little ways.