Why Spider-Man VS Wolverine Is Actually Way Closer Than You Think

Spider-Man versus Wolverine is a fight comics have played out plenty of times, and these guys sure do fight a lot for being friends. The real question is who should actually be winning all these fights, and whether it should even be close. After going through both characters' powers and their most accurate confrontations, my answer changed from what I originally expected.

Originally I thought Spider-Man would come out on top. After breaking down their actual clashes, I now think it is more likely to be Wolverine, and I will explain exactly why below.

Wolverine's Adamantium Skeleton and Healing Factor Make Him Nearly Impossible to Put Down

Wolverine's skeleton is covered entirely in adamantium, meaning he literally cannot be cut or torn apart, even though plenty of people have tried. That coating also massively boosts his durability. He has been kicked clean around the world and been fine, taken punches from Hulk and Thor without issue, shrugged off bullets, and kept fighting while stabbed repeatedly or turned into a human pincushion.

Wolverine has kept fighting after having his heart destroyed on multiple occasions, healed from literal disintegration, and survived nuclear bombs several times over. He might get injured in a fight, but he is always going to heal and always going to come back no matter what happens to him.

Wolverine's Strength and Speed Put Him in Captain America's Tier and Still Catch Spider-Man Off Guard

Wolverine's mutant powers include superhuman strength and speed that put him in a similar tier to Captain America, the original super soldier. He has overpowered and thrown around Spider-Man, Sabretooth and even Colossus, tears through metal and snaps steel chains, routinely lifts hundreds of pounds or a few tons, and has thrown punches at superhumans up to and including Vision and Namor.

He is also surprisingly fast, moving faster than opponents can keep up with, including Spider-Man, who might be the fastest and most agile street level character in Marvel. Spider-Man is routinely surprised and caught off guard by Wolverine's speed and reflexes. That said, Wolverine rarely bothers dodging because he knows he can simply take an attack and heal from it, sometimes even taking a few hits at the start of a fight just to get amped up before going all offense.

Wolverine's Berserker Rage and Claws Let Him Beat Captain America, Black Panther and Iron Fist

Wolverine's adamantium claws shred through anything in their path, including Hulk, Thor, Thanos and Gladiator, and can slice weaker opponents into pieces instantly. He is described as an extremely deadly fighter renowned across the universe for his skill, good enough to casually defeat master martial artists and hold his own or even beat the likes of Captain America, Black Panther, Iron Fist and Shang-Chi.

He gets even more dangerous in his berserker rage, going hyperviolent and instantly overwhelming most opponents, compressing what would be days of nonstop fighting into just a few minutes or seconds. In my view, "Wolverine is the best at what he does, and what he does isn't pretty."

Spider-Man's Strength Lets Him Lift Cranes, Buildings and Punch Villains Clean Through Walls

Setting aside everything Wolverine can do, Spider-Man's own strength is on another level. He has thrown around cars and trucks, lifted subway cars clean over his head, lifted private jets, hoisted construction cranes, and helped support entire buildings by himself. He can knock a guy out with one finger and has actually managed to injure the Hulk. He has punched villains like Venom, Rhino and Electro clean through buildings as a regular occurrence.

Spider-Man's Durability and Speed Make Him One of Marvel's Toughest Street Level Fighters

Spider-Man has taken punches from Juggernaut, Hulk, Apocalypse, Hercules and Gladiator and been fine, to the point that he actually rests by letting normal people punch him. He has taken lightning from Thor, over 100,000 volts of electricity, grenades at point blank range, repeated blasts from various Iron Man armors, and even survived a Scud missile exploding on top of him. His body can instantly filter out toxins and chemicals, even holding off enough poison to wipe out an entire city.

He is also legitimately one of the fastest and most agile characters in comics, moving faster than the eye can see and appearing as a blur even to well trained fighters, crossing miles in seconds. Dodging bullets is described as too easy for him at this point, since he can dodge lightning and energy blasts, even ones supposedly faster than light. That speed lets him land hits on masters like Black Panther or Daredevil even when they are more skilled than he is.

Spider-Man's Web Shooters and Spider Sense Give Him a Distance Advantage

Spider Sense does not just warn Spider-Man when he is about to get hit, it functions almost like a radar giving him full awareness of his surroundings. His web shooters have restrained Iron Man and even Hercules and other gods, and the webbing itself is fireproof, acid proof and nearly impossible to cut. He also trained with Shang-Chi, the top martial arts expert in Marvel, to develop his own personal style called the Way of the Spider, which enhances his powers and gives him real fighting skill.

Spider-Man Is Clearly Stronger, but Wolverine Is Much, Much Tougher

Spider-Man is significantly stronger than Wolverine, no doubt about it, given he can lift cranes and punch through buildings while Wolverine is merely superhuman, comparable to a super soldier like Captain America. But Wolverine is obviously way tougher. Spider-Man is not throwing punches harder than Hulk, Juggernaut, Thor, Namor or Red Hulk, and Wolverine has taken punches from all of them. Since punches are really the only thing Spider-Man can use to hurt Wolverine, that is not a good sign for Peter.

On speed, Spider-Man is faster. I think they both admitted this at different points, but Spider-Man has also complimented Wolverine's speed enough times that you have to take notice. Wolverine has landed hits on Spider-Man enough times to prove he will get his shots in regardless of Spider-Man's speed or spider sense. Spider-Man's webbing gives him an edge at range since it has held back characters stronger than Wolverine like Rhino or Venom, but Wolverine's adamantium claws are the perfect counter, slicing right through webbing as he has done regularly in their fights. Once Wolverine lands even one or two hits with those claws, the fight swings his way, since he can heal from anything Spider-Man throws at him while Peter cannot heal from stab wounds the same way.

The Graveyard Fight and Contest of Champions Show These Two Are Basically Equals

They have fought many times with wins on both sides, some easy, like when Wolverine was trying to talk down Spider-Man during the Superior Spider-Man period and got sucker punched for his trouble, though Wolverine has sucker punched and even sucker stabbed Spider-Man during a training exercise that nearly made him bleed out. There have also been times Spider-Man embarrassed Wolverine by webbing his claws to his own head.

The most accurate fights between them were the graveyard fight and, more recently, Contest of Champions. Those fights showed three things: they are equals in speed and fighting skill even though Spider-Man is faster and Wolverine is the better fighter, Spider-Man's webbing is basically a non-issue since Wolverine knows how Peter will use it and counters it successfully, and Spider-Man has a genuinely hard time putting Wolverine down with punches, since Wolverine was still smiling while taking Spider-Man's full effort.

My Verdict: Wolverine Wins This Close Fight

They are just as fast as each other, and while Spider-Man is stronger, Wolverine is so much tougher that the strength advantage does not really matter. If they are both going to land their hits, I am favoring the guy with three razor sharp blades on his fist over the guy with webs. Wolverine only needs to land one good hit to turn the fight in his favor, while Spider-Man has to fight a perfect fight and avoid getting hit at all to survive, and even that might not be enough because he cannot reliably put Wolverine down.

This fight is a lot closer than people think, but if I had to vote, my pick is Wolverine. "Wolverine wins."

Who do you think actually takes this fight?