Our ‘Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ has always been a colorful figure of comfort. Wise-cracking, brave, and just a little bit nerdy, he’s forever been a hero people could rely on and trust. He certainly stands apart from the grittier characters from the Marvel pantheon, for instance, The Punisher or Jessica Jones.
It's surprising then that Spider-Man has been responsible for a number of deaths over the decades. Whether accidental or self-defense, there is blood on the hands of the webslinger. This list features ten examples of times when Spidey went too far, bringing fatal results.
10 The Finisher
Employed by the Red Skull, The Finisher was an assassin who just so happened to be responsible for the deaths of Peter Parker’s parents. He dispatched them by tampering with their plane, making the fight between himself and Spider-Man personal.
Appearing in Amazing Spider-Man Annual 5, Spider-Man goes head-to-head with The Finisher and gives the assassin a ‘finisher’ of his own by firing back a missile at him. It’s all in self-defense, of course, even with the history between them.
9 A Racist
The X-Men series has long been an allegory about racism (and perhaps the metaphor can be extended to homophobia and transphobia), and Spider-Man is certainly a purveyor of all that is good and decent himself. He certainly wouldn’t stand for any hateful comments.
Still, it’s quite shocking to see him essentially web a bystander to death in an issue pairing him with Wolverine. A person on the street makes a derogatory comment about mutants, and Spider-Man plasters them with webbing. Brutal stuff!
8 Queen
Usually an enemy of Captain Americas, Ana Soria is an American soldier who can control insects. Re-emerging into the world under her new moniker “Queen”, she soon went up against Spider-Man and had a rather complicated relationship with him.
In a story taking place amidst Parker’s transformation into The Spider, Spider-Man manages to defuse a bomb left by Queen, but more explosions rock her hive, seemingly killing her. It’s later revealed that Queen survived somehow, but that’s another story.
7 Drom
Drom is certainly one of the more eccentric villains in Spider-canon – a character who lives his life backward, even growing backward. He is now kept alive purely by his mirror, one which retains his identity.
During a battle alongside Iron Fist, the two crimefighters hear Drom’s sorry tale and then run the risk of having their energy absorbed by his bizarre powers. Careful not to touch him, Spider-Man smashes Drom’s beloved mirror over his head, causing the tragic enemy to fade away into nothing.
6 Gog
Raised by Kraven the Hunter, Gog is a huge alien entity famously strong enough to kill a Tyrannosaurus Rex. He was originally from the realm of Haizlip but found his way onto Savage Land in a spaceship.
Spider-Man never likes killing, but in this case, he felt it necessary. Gog was in hot pursuit of him when Spidey found his way on Savage Land in a hunt for Kraven. The only way the webslinger could dispatch of the mighty alien was by trapping him in quicksand.
5 Master Programmer
Ben Reilly took on the mantle of the Scarlet Spider, a different version of Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe. He also just so happens to be a clone of Peter Parker.
The Scarlet Spider goes up against Carolyn Trainer’s version of Doctor Octopus, and her virtual mind (known as the Master Programmer). Master Programmer blurs our reality with virtual reality, but the Scarlet Spider is able to introduce a computer virus to the system controlling the VR system, thus killing Master Programmer.
4 Digger
Originally conceived as a sort of Crypt-Keeper-style character, Digger later found his way into the Marvel Universe proper. Digger ended up joining the supervillain group The Night Shift, taking residence in the aptly-named Tower of Shadows.
Digger met his fate at the hands of Spider-Man, who reasoned that because Digger is already dead (what with him being a gamma-zombie), his death wouldn’t be entirely unethical. Spidey engages the villain in a battle, knowing that he’ll disintegrate if he wastes too much energy.
3 Charlemagne
A soviet spy who later went rogue, Charlemagne (or Charlie) was a tragic character who was romantically linked with Wolverine for a time. She turned her back on the KGB, so they sent out a host of assassins to finish her off.
Her death was deliberate on her part but accidental on Spider-Man’s. Spidey and Wolverine were fighting, and in the tussle, the webslinger mistook Charlie for Wolverine and punched her hard enough to kill her. She wanted to die that way, to avoid torture from her former employers.
2 Gwen Stacy
In one of the most heart-breaking moments in Spider-Man history, Spider-Man accidentally kills his beloved Gwen Stacy in a lose-lose situation.
The twisted Green Goblin rams Stacy from the top of a bridge with his glider and watches her plummet toward the water below. Knowing that a fall from that height will kill her, Spider-Man, already losing time, webs Gwen’s leg to prevent her from hitting the river below. Unfortunately, the sudden stop causes her to break her neck, killing her instantly. A devastating moment.
1 Morlun
Morlun is one of Spider-Man’s greatest enemies, traversing the multiverse in a bid to wipe out every version of the webslinger. He even managed to kill one version of Spider-Man, but ended up having a grisly end.
One version of Peter Parker becomes infected with a disease, a disease that causes him to mutate into a spider creature. Unable to resist his arachnid instincts, Peter transforms into The Spider and devours Morlun in some particularly graphic scenes.