10 Best Spider-Man Crossovers with Other Franchises (Ranked)
Few heroes in the Marvel Universe have become as cultural icons as Spider-Man. The Wall Crawler is the face of an empire and has been the subject of many games, TV shows, and movie adaptations. Peter Parker’s fame is so great that the hero can’t even be contained in the Marvel Universe.
Since Spider-Man’s epic debut, he’s gone beyond the multiverse and teamed up with equally incredible heroes. Whether he’s battling giant monsters or confronting equally clever heroes, Peter’s had some really great adventures. Read on for ten of Spider-Man’s best crossovers with other series.
Spider-Man/Badrock
Badrock is one of Rob Liefeld’s original creations that he made while working for Image Comics. Thomas McCall is a hero possessing the ability to transform into a giant stone block with superhuman strength. While he’s not the most iconic hero, he has many teams, including one with Spider-Man. The two join forces to stop Mysterio, who tried killing Spider-Man with constructs of his enemies. Admittedly, Spider-Man/Badrock isn’t the most well-known crossover, but it’s an interesting one nonetheless.
Spider-Man/Gen13
Gen13 is a team created under the Wildstorm imprint. The team of young and powerful heroes were extremely popular in their day and had crossovers with numerous properties. Peter David and Stuart Immonen’s Spider-Man/Gen13 witness Peter Parker waking up in an alien world with no one to help but teenage heroes. It’s one of the few skirmishes between Spider-Man, but it’s still a standout adventure in his team’s history.
Savage Avengers #20 (Starring Conan the Barbarian)
For a short time, Marvel retained the publishing rights to Conan the Barbarian comics and even welcomed him into their own world as a core member of the Savage Avengers. Unfortunately, Conan’s idea of heroism is slightly different from that of Spider-Man, and the two clashed in Gerry Duggan and Patrick Zircher’s Savage Avengers #20, where Conan scored alongside Rhino. The creative team used Conan to perfection to give Spider-Man one of the weirdest battles of his life – including Conan’s claim that Peter was crawling because of his costume and tried to try to redeem it.
“Attack on Avengers”
The Attack on Titan animated series is one of the most popular in the world, and Marvel heroes, including Spider-Man, had to fight giant monsters. Originally published in Konandha’s Brutus Magazine, “Attack on Avengers” sees New York being attacked by giant Titans. The greatest heroes of the Marvel Universe like Captain America, Hulk and Guardians of the Galaxy fight against the giants. Spider-Man even handles some of the work himself. While this is an unofficial shot, it’s still an interesting sight to see Spidey battling formidable foes like the Titans.
Marvel vs. DC/DC vs. Marvel
Fans have debated for years about which Big Two character should win the various matches. But the crossover spectacle Marvel vs. DC/DC vs. Marvel helped settle the matter for good. The series featured the Brothers, two cosmic representations of Marvel and DC Comics facing off in battle, leading their greatest heroes to fight one another. What made the event even more fun was that fans actually got to vote on who the victor would be in various fights. For Spider-Man’s match-up against Superboy, fans overwhelmingly decided that the Webhead would absolutely trounce the Boy of Steel.
New Avengers/Transformers
In 2007, Marvel Comics teamed up with IDW Publishing to bring together the epic mash-up of the Marvel Universe with the Transformers franchise. Stuart Moore and Tyler Kirkham’s new Avengers/Transformers movie sees a group of Marvel heroes known for their cyborgs in disguise. Spider-Man actually plays a major role in the crossover as he is kidnapped early in the story, with Megatron planning to use the hero’s radioactive blood to bolster his forces. Fortunately, Peter was freed and he helped his allies repel the Decepticons’ forces.
Marvel Team-Up #14 (Starring Invincible)
Spider-Man is famous for his tendency to talk and call out heroes and villains. But Peter tasted his own medicine in Marvel Team-Up #14. Invincible co-creators Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker brought the character into the Marvel Universe and gave him a crash course in heroism from one of Marvel’s top teachers. While Invincible and Spider-Man get along quite well, Mark Grayson can’t help himself but make a few smart comments about Peter’s superhero name and costume. The team-up was brief, but it was a fun, light-hearted crossover any comic fan would enjoy.
Amalgam Comics’ Spider-Boy
The fact that the Big Two simply fought in Marvel vs. DC/DC vs. Marvel is not enough. To stabilize the two universes, the Living Tribunal and Specter merged the cosmic brothers into a single entity, resulting in a brand new comic book franchise, Amalgam Comics. The Amalgam universe is a world that has a fusion of Marvel and DC. And because Spider-Man was then Ben Reilly, the wall crawler merged with Superboy, Superman’s clone. Together they formed Spider-Boy, one of the most famous heroes of the Amalgam universe. Unfortunately, Spider-Boy hasn’t had a chance to shine since the Amalgam mark disappeared.
Spider-Man & Batman: Disordered Minds
It was only a matter of time before Spider-Man met a hero whose reputation rivaled his own. The only story Spider-Man & Batman: Mind Disorder saw the two team up after an experiment involving the Joker and Carnage went awry. Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne get along as expected, with Spider-Man’s irony doing nothing to impress the extremely serious Batman. But with two psychotic killers on the loose, the duo put their differences aside to save the situation. The story was so loved that it even got a sequel, in which they banded together to stop the combined forces of Ra`s al Ghul and Kingpin.
Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man
The superhero crossover that started it all. Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man brought two iconic heroes together, starting a trend that would continue for nearly thirty years. The story sees the hero’s two greatest enemies, Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus, team up to carry out an evil plan. To make sure their enemies didn’t distract them, the villains had Spider-Man and Superman fight each other. But the heroes join forces when they realize what their enemies are up to. Of all the crossovers that Spider-Man has been in, his adventures with Superman are the most famous.