Highlights
- Spider-Man's enduring nature comes from his quirky, comedic nature, but there have been some dark moments in his comic book history.
- The Superior Spider-Man arc featured Otto Octavius taking over Peter Parker's body, leading to a bizarre aftermath and an intriguing concept.
- The death of Gwen Stacy was a tragic event that changed Spider-Man's life forever and added a more serious tone to the character.
Spider-Man is not an overly dark hero. While other superheroes in Marvel Comics have much darker associations or worlds built around them. The hero dubbed as the "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" is unsurprisingly one of the more enduring superheroes who have managed to retain a quirky, more comedic nature.
However, over sixty years of comic books have featured Spider-Man in various forms, so of course there have been some stories that head towards darker territory. Although he is generally a heroic, happy figure, some of the things that have happened to Spider-Man in his Marvel Comics tenure are not as joyous as fans might think, and poor Peter Parker has endured great suffering.
7 Superior Spider-Man
One of the weirdest Spider-Man stories as well as one of the darkest, the Superior Spider-Man arc featured a dying Otto Octavius managing to beat down Spider-Man before switching their minds. This horrific act wasn’t just a terrifying idea, that of Peter Parker having his body stolen and being switched into the place of one of his greatest enemies, but it seemingly killed him.
Peter’s mind was left in the decaying body of Octavius, which then perished, seeming to erase Peter and leave only Otto in the body of Spider-Man with all of his powers. He then got to stay for a time, taking over Spider-Man’s position without having any of his morality. This terrifying idea led to some truly bizarre aftermath and the intriguing concept of the Superior Spider-Man.
6 Kraven’s Last Hunt
Kraven the Hunter is a Spider-Man villain so well-known that he has managed to garner his own film and antagonist role in Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Over his time in Marvel Comics, Kraven has amassed a list of his own great story arcs. However, his best-known arc and one of the darkest in either his or Spider-Man’s history was Kraven’s Last Hunt.
The story arc involved Kraven hunting down, shooting, and burying Spider-Man, before taking over his mantle and brutally attacking various criminals around the city during his masquerade. Spider-Man managed to wake up, dig himself out of his own grave, and go after Kraven, but the Hunter got what he wanted in the end and managed to show Spider-Man that he was better before committing suicide. The dark ending and story in general were mind-blowing to readers, and Kraven’s character has never seen a more important moment.
5 Leah
One of the most emotional, and powerful moments in comic book history is the strange tale of Leah. Over the course of just six pages in the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual, the story of a young girl called Leah is told. She is homeless and lives in a cardboard box, and loves Spider-Man.
Having covered her box in images of Spider-Man, Leah is dreaming about going on great adventures alongside the web-slinging hero. Unfortunately, at the conclusion of the story, Leah doesn’t wake up. A horrifically sad moment, fans got to see the way she spent her final moments enamored with the very idea of Spider-Man.
4 The Clone Saga
When Gwen Stacy died, one of her and Peter’s high school teachers who had secretly been in love with her was driven mad by the news. He created clones of Peter and Gwen, leading to the existence of Ben Reilly. When the clone was uncovered, he went away after seemingly dying for years but later would return.
When he returned, DNA tests given to the pair proved that Ben Reilly was the original Peter, and the one who had been working as Spider-Man was a fake. All of this was a ruse designed by Green Goblin, but nevertheless, the uncertainty and events surrounding the cloning were some of the darkest tales told about Peter Parker.
3 Marvel Zombies
The Marvel Zombies series, which was shown in a limited way in What If, was a sad Elseworlds story for many of the superheroes of the Marvel Universe. However, it was the worst of all for Spider-Man. His slow degeneration when he succumbed to the virus and became a zombie was slow, and in that time he managed while still somewhat conscious to witness atrocities.
Unable to control himself, the zombified version of Peter Parker killed and devoured Aunt May and Mary Jane, while Peter still knew in some part of his brain what was happening. This horror is perhaps one of the worst things that has ever happened to any hero in a Marvel Comic.
2 One More Day
The One More Day storyline instantaneously vaulted to the front of every Spider-Man fan’s mind when thinking about the web-slinger's darkest tales. This is because it involved Peter Parker making a literal deal with the devil, wherein he gave up his marriage and relationship with Mary Jane in exchange for his Aunt May being brought back to life.
The ensuing story and period were one of the darkest in Spider-Man history, providing plenty of reasons for despair. Peter Parker has almost always been with MJ, and this shift was one of the saddest losses he ever experienced.
1 The Death Of Gwen Stacy
There was, however, a more tragic event in the life of Peter Parker than any other. The original death of Gwen Stacy was done for the sole reason that writers of the Spider-Man comic wanted to add more tragedy to his young life, after already suffering the death of Uncle Ben.
This loss was a defining one for Peter Parker, his life would never be the same. It was also a complete change of tone for Spider-Man as a character, providing more seriousness than was regular to see at that time in any comic book.