Spider-Man is Marvel’s most famous character, and a large part of that success is that he scratches a very specific power level niche. Spider-Man is undoubtedly a street-tier hero, but he’s at the very top of that power level. He’s able to jump between battling regular muggers and non-powered villains like Kingpin and a small army of superpowered monsters like the Sinister Six, and all of them can feel like credible threats. Spidey’s exact strength varies by story, so he can be as strong or as weak as he needs to be to face basically every villain there ever will be. Yet, despite the disparity between Punisher and the Rhino, Spidey’s powers generally never feel inconsistent.
Spider-Man strikes a perfect balance between strong and human-adjacent to fill in any level he needs to. However, that’s not to say that Spider-Man hasn’t undergone some serious upgrades in the past. Sometimes the proportional strength of a spider isn’t enough, and you need to lift more. Much, much more. Today, we’re taking a look at the five strongest power boosts that Spider-Man ever received. They may have all been temporary, but they let Spider-Man hit way above his weight class, and that is always a treat to see.
5) Savage Instincts
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Spider-Man’s powers have always hidden a wilder, much more animalistic side. This was fully unleashed in Savage Spider-Man. Peter was exposed to A-Plus picotech mutagen, which transformed him into a monster with the backhalf of a spider, four extra arms, and organic red webs that connected his mind to everyone he strung up. This was Spider-Man’s powers pushed to their furthest extreme, with his feral instincts fully manifested and his humanity dormant. Spider-Man is known for constantly holding back, but this brief mutation gave us a glimpse into exactly what he would be capable of if he ever surrendered himself to his worst impulses.
4) Spider-Hulk
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Spider-Man has absorbed the Hulk’s radiation and transformed numerous times, most recently in Immortal Hulk: Great Power. Peter’s already considerable strength, speed, and durability were elevated to match the not-so-jolly green giant. Much like most Hulks, Spider-Hulk lost control whenever he transformed, cutting loose with anger that could level a city in minutes. He was kept under control by the actual Hulk, but considering that he is one of the deadliest threats that the world will ever face, the fact that Spider-Man could even partly stand up to him while transformed shows how absurd this power level is.
3) Spider-Naut
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During the “8 Deaths of Spider-Man” storyline, Peter was empowered with the strength of the Juggernaut as an Avatar of Cyttorak. This made the Spider-Naut every bit as unstoppable as the original, and I do literally mean unstoppable. Alongside brute strength that rivals the Hulk, invulnerability, and immortality, the Juggernaut can produce infinite momentum when he starts running. Once he starts, he becomes strong enough to rip through anything in his way, no matter who or what it is. Spider-Man used these unbelievable abilities to save the day and showed us that the only thing more unstoppable than the Juggernaut was his spirit.
2) Captain Universe
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The Enigma Force is the power of life itself, representing the undefeatable cry of justice and desire to save the day. When bonded to this energy, the host becomes Captain Universe and is granted physical might and the ability to bend reality around them, as if they were one with Eternity, whom the Uni-Power acts as the guardian of. Spider-Man became Captain Universe when Loki created the Tri-Sentinel, and easily dismantled the robot. He demonstrated his immeasurable power by knocking the Hulk into space with a single punch. Captain Universe is one of Marvel’s strongest heroes, period, and for a moment, that was Spider-Man.
1) Infinity Gauntlet
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The Infinity Stones are six gems that each control a fundamental piece of reality. When they are all bound together, their wielder can literally remake the universe at their leisure, even to the point of usurping the abstract beings that governed it. Not many heroes have wielded their awesome might, but Spider-Man counted himself among those ranks in Avengers & The Infinity Gauntlet #4. In this retelling of the original The Infinity Gauntlet saga, Spider-Man gets his hands on the Gauntlet after Thanos’s infamous snap and uses it to undo the entire event. None of the other heroes even believed it happened, but for a moment, Spider-Man could rewrite the very nature of reality. He could do anything his heart desired, but all he wanted was to set things right.
Which of these Spider-power-ups would you want to see make a return? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!