Top 10 Worst Things that Happened to Spider-Man

This one is a doozy. Morlun is a powerful Spidey villain created by writer J. Michael Straczynski in 2001 and has served as a formidable foe to the web-slinger ever since. In a 2005 storyline titled The Other, Morlun returns from the dead to hunt down and kill a weakened Spider-Man. When Morlun catches up with Spidey, a gruesome beatdown ensues that ends with Morlun tearing out and devouring Peter’s left eye in front of him. From there, Morlun continues his attack, leaving Spider-Man broken and nearly dead.

When his long-dead parents make a sudden and unexpected appearance, Peter is led to believe that his whole life they’d been held captive in Algeria by the Red Skull. Over time, Spider-Man comes to terms with the fact that his parents are indeed alive before the rug is pulled out from under him when it is revealed the pair were actually androids created by The Chameleon in a plot orchestrated by Harry Osborn. The event caused some significant damage to Spidey’s mental well-being, culminating in Aunt May finding out the truth about Peter’s identity as Spider-Man.

In 2004’s Sins Past storyline, it is revealed that Gwen Stacy and Norman Osborn had an affair that resulted in the birth of twins. When Gwen wouldn’t allow Norman to raise the children, he retaliated, resulting in her tragic death - more on that later. Norman raised the twins, who carried blood enhanced with Norman’s Goblin serum and aged rapidly because of it. The two were raised to believe Peter was their father, and that he was the one who killed Gwen, and sought revenge on him because of it. Perhaps the worst part is that Mary Jane knew of the affair and twins, but kept it hidden from Peter all along as part of a promise to Gwen. Yikes.

The lead-up to writer Dan Slott’s acclaimed series The Superior Spider-Man begins with a cancer-ridden Doc Ock switching bodies with Spider-Man. Otto’s body soon dies, leaving Octavius in control of Spider-Man, swearing to be a better hero than Peter Parker ever was. Otto would operate as Spider-Man for over a year before relinquishing control back to Peter, who survived within his subconscious. Over the course of his time as Spider-Man, Doc Ock ruined Peter’s relationship with MJ, got kicked out of The Avengers and garnered a nasty reputation for being brutally violent.

In the renowned 80’s storyline Kraven’s Last Hunt, the villain shoots and seemingly kills Spider-Man, burying him on the grounds of his mansion, creepy tombstone included. After 2 weeks of Kraven dressing up as the web-slinger and terrorizing New York as a more violent vigilante (including the murder of some criminals), it’s revealed Spidey was actually only unconscious due to Kraven using a tranquilizer. After some disturbing visions, Spider-Man breaks out of his grave and goes on to take the Hunter down, but Kraven had done some real damage to Spider-Man’s reputation.

Marvel’s Ultimate line was launched in 2000 largely on the back of Brian Michael Bendis’ phenomenal new Spider-Man series. For more than 10 years and 160 issues, Ultimate Peter Parker grew up and learned how to be a hero before his untimely death in an intense struggle against that universe’s Green Goblin. Bendis’ Peter was given a fitting and emotional ending as he tearfully said goodbye to Aunt May and Mary Jane. Ultimate Peter Parker was just a teenager when he was killed, making it all the more tragic. Peter’s death left a Spider-Man-sized hole in the Ultimate universe - one that was quickly filled by Miles Morales.

Aunt May’s been the subject of a number of death fakeouts, but this has to be the biggest. After suffering a stroke, May spent time in a coma, and when she came out of it, she and Peter spent some quality time together. May admitted she’d known Peter was Spider-Man for some time in a truly touching scene. May died soon after in a landmark moment for Spider-Man… which was later undone. Turns out, the woman who died was actually an actress hired by Norman Osborn, and the real Aunt May had been his prisoner for months.

In what has to be one of the darkest moments in Spider-Man history, Mary Jane’s pregnancy seemingly ends in a miscarriage, only for it to be revealed that the baby was stolen in a plot by (you guessed it) Norman Osborn. Peter was occupied fighting crime when Mary Jane’s labor developed complications, due to being poisoned by a woman working for Osborn. Mary Jane awakened only to be told her baby did not make it. This event would be another large factor that would lead to the rocky decline of Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage.

The tragedy that started it all. The origin of Spider-Man, depicted time and time again, culminates in the murder of Peter’s uncle Ben by a criminal who Peter decided not to stop just a few days before. Ben was a father figure to Peter, raising him after the death of his parents. Ben’s murder is another tragedy in a long tradition of Peter losing the people that are closest to him. Following Ben’s death, Peter adopts the famous saying spoken to him by his uncle, “with great power comes great responsibility.” Peter is spurned into his crime-fighting career by the event, and it’s something that has stayed with him ever since.

Spider-Man’s greatest failure. Peter Parker’s girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, was kidnapped by Norman Osborn and taken to the Brooklyn Bridge. There, the Green Goblin dropped her off the bridge, but when Spider-Man caught her ankle with his web, the momentum snapped her neck, killing the woman he loved. Gwen’s father and Spider-Man’s ally Captain George Stacy had died only months before, with his last words revealing he knew Peter was Spider-Man, and telling him to protect Gwen. In the battle following Gwen’s death, Norman accidentally killed himself with his Goblin Glider. The aftermath of this life-shattering event would change Peter forever, and Gwen remains an important part of the hero’s identity today.