Wolverine vs Miles Morales: Why Logan's Claws Beat the Ultimate Spider-Man

Wolverine beats Miles Morales. Miles has a physical edge, but Logan is vastly more durable, a far better fighter, and armed with claws that can swing this fight his way with one or two well placed stabs. Here is how the ultimate living weapon stacks up against the Spider-Man from the Ultimate Universe, and why I land on Logan.

Wolverine's healing factor and adamantium make him the ultimate weapon

Wolverine is a long lived mutant with the rage of a beast and the soul of a samurai, whose past as James Howlett is full of blood, war and betrayal. He has a healing factor, enhanced senses and bone claws, and those claws and his skeleton are coated in adamantium. He is superhumanly strong, swinging tree trunks around like baseball bats, holding an elevator with one hand and even punching into solid steel. He is also agile, with enhanced reflexes and speed that let him dodge point blank bullets and machine gun fire and attack faster than the human eye can follow.

His senses are many times better than a normal human's and surpass most animals. He can see in complete darkness, hear over incredible distances, taste pheromones in the air, fight blindfolded using his hearing, and he is the best tracker in the Marvel Universe. Thanks largely to his adamantium skeleton and healing factor, he has taken punches from Hulk, Thor, the Thing and Wonder Man.

That healing factor lets him recover from virtually any injury at an incredibly fast rate, and I do mean any injury. He has regrown missing limbs and organs, and has even regrown from just a skeleton. It also stops nerve strikes from working effectively, because the healing bypasses the effect virtually instantly. His claws are a foot long, three to a hand, and slice through almost anything, even harming Hulk, Thor and Thanos.

Logan has trained in a variety of martial arts, mastering 18 forms of kung fu alone. He is one of the greatest fighters in the Marvel Universe, having taken down Iron Fist, Shang-Chi and Deadpool, and he helped train Black Widow and Kitty Pryde. On top of that, his strategic and tactical mind has been compared to a highly advanced computer.

Miles Morales brings strength, spider sense and powers Peter Parker lacks

Originally created in the Ultimate Universe, this Spider-Man is Miles Morales, a 16 year old kid from Brooklyn who takes on the Spider-Man identity after Peter Parker's death. He discovered spider powers of his own after being bitten by a spider 11 months before Peter died, and he uses those powers to be the best superhero he can be.

He can lift and press several tons, toss police cars, lift trucks, and draw blood and injure superpowered opponents with a single punch. He has to pull his punches and kicks, because otherwise his blows would be fatal to a normal human. His body is tougher than the average person's too, taking point blank explosions, being blasted through skyscrapers and taking repeated attacks from someone like the Rhino.

He is superhumanly agile, with reflexes 20 times greater than a human's. He can perform complicated acrobatics, weave through automatic gunfire and even dodge attacks from Peter Parker. He clings to surfaces with his fingertips and toes, and his mechanical web shooters, designed by Tony Stark, are powerful enough to web up and restrain Ms. Marvel even while she is giant.

His spider sense works a lot like Peter's, but it actually seems to be greater: Miles once dreamed he was being attacked by Electro when Electro was really attacking Peter miles away. Miles also has abilities Peter does not. He can manipulate his bioelectric field to temporarily paralyse enemies with a touch, an attack that has even knocked out giants, and he can camouflage himself, clothes included, to blend into his surroundings and sneak up on enemies.

A classic matchup with an Earth 1610 twist

Spider-Man versus Wolverine is a classic fight in the Marvel Universe, arguably up there with Captain America versus Iron Man or Hulk versus Thor, and we have seen it play out multiple times on the page. This time I am mixing it up by throwing Wolverine against the Spider-Man from Earth 1610, Miles Morales.

Miles wins on strength, but Logan is no pushover

First things first, as always: physicality. On strength it is obviously Miles, who has a healthy edge over Wolverine. But don't discount Logan. He has overpowered several men dog piling him and sent them flying backwards, crumpled metal doors, caught and held an elevator, and thrown opponents hard enough to bend or break metal bars. He has thrown Colossus and Dragon Man, who weigh several tons, and snapped thick chains of the hardest steel money can buy. When a speeding truck hit him dead on, he didn't budge and brought it to a dead halt.

Probably most important for this fight, Wolverine has sent Spider-Man flying, wrecking a door on impact, with a mere backhand. Still, Miles has the clear advantage. He has one shotted Hobgoblin, Ultimate Scorpion and Ultimate Doctor Doom, and lifted and thrown multi ton trucks.

Wolverine is a whole lot more durable

Flip the script, though: while Spider-Man is stronger, Wolverine is "a whole lot more durable." Don't discount Miles here either, since he is a Spider-Man after all. The Rhino sent him flying 100 or 200 feet without knocking him out, and he has taken attacks from Spider-Man, Venom, Morlun and Hammerhead. He wasn't even really fazed by an elbow from Old Man Logan, who is roughly on par with Wolverine in power. He has also taken point blank explosions and the blast of multiple heat seeking missiles.

But Logan has a massive edge with his adamantium bones and healing factor. He takes punches from the best in the Marvel Universe, including the Thing, Thor and Hulk, and withstands pressure points and nerve strikes because his healing overrides them before they take effect. He fights through gunfire, knives and swords. He once beat an enemy after having his heart ripped out, and another time his heart burst in his chest and he was back on his feet moments later. He has survived a nuclear explosion on more than one occasion and taken a hit from a gun able to disintegrate people.

He once fought the X-Men while they were hypnotised to attack him, taking all their attacks and fighting through the night until morning. He has been kicked halfway around the world, from the United States to Georgia, the country next to Russia, and got right back up angrier than before. As for spiders, Wolverine has called Venom's strongest punches pathetic and took a full on speed assault from Spider-Man without passing out.

I know, I know, he was briefly knocked out by Superior Spider-Man. But that is more out of character for Logan than anything, given he has taken attacks from people like World War Hulk, Wonder Man and Skaar. Honestly, it is kind of hilarious, but it definitely shows how durable Wolverine is.

Speed and spider sense give Miles the edge in agility

Speed is crucial here, since Miles operates primarily on speed and agility. Wolverine is surprisingly fast. He evades gunfire when he wants to, moves as a blur and strikes faster than opponents can register. When a speedster attacked Alpha Flight, Logan was the only one fast enough to see him and fight him. He has kept pace with Spider-Man, dodged Venom's attacks, tagged speedsters like Speed Demon and dodged automatic gunfire while running straight at the shooter.

Spider-Man has repeatedly commented on it, saying Wolverine moved so fast he could barely notice what happened and wondering if Logan is actually faster than him. The Scarlet Spider has said Logan moves like a ninja and can't even be touched. The catch is that Wolverine doesn't rely on speed to dodge much. He leans on durability and healing, and sometimes takes hits not because he doesn't need to avoid them but because he doesn't want to, using them to pump himself up and get into fighting mode.

Spider-Man, on the other hand, dodges countless bullets from all directions at once, and has done so casually throughout his career. He has dodged bullets from marksmen like the Winter Soldier and dodged Peter's webs at point blank range, which are as fast as bullets if not arguably faster. Pertinent to this fight, he has danced around Old Man Logan and webbed him up. His spider sense, combined with his speed and agility, makes him almost impossible to hit, warning him about shooters, attacks from behind and incoming missiles, and letting him predict energy blasts or being shocked.

So at the end of the day, I'd have to say Miles is physically superior here because he is part of the spider family. But it is not by a massive margin, and definitely not as big as the margin between Logan and the original Spider-Man.

Logan is by far the more skilled fighter

While Miles is physically more powerful, Wolverine is definitely the better, more skilled fighter. He is renowned across the world and the universe as an extremely deadly and experienced combatant, extensively trained in almost all forms of martial arts and highly skilled with pressure points and nerve strikes. He has fought people like Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, Black Panther, Daredevil and Captain America. When Forge analysed his brain during combat, he found Logan operating at such a high level it was like an Olympic gymnast performing a gold medal routine while simultaneously defeating four chess computers in his head.

Wolverine can also tap into his berserker rage, a state he enters under intense anger or pain. In it he pushes past his normal physical limits and can compress days of nonstop combat into a few minutes, and Forge said he still maintains his sophisticated combat skills to form complex strategies, just in less time. Unfortunately for Spider-Man, he doesn't have any fighting skill that could remotely be on par with Wolverine's.

Webs and the venom sting against adamantium claws

Here is what this fight can arguably come down to: Spider-Man's web shooters and venom sting versus Wolverine's adamantium claws and his willingness to use them. Miles's venom sting is kind of an instant, one hit knockout. It has knocked out Spider-Man on multiple occasions, plus Rhino, Venom, Blackheart and Fin Fang Foom. His webbing has restrained Ms. Marvel, Morbius and Old Man Logan, and it is strong enough to stop cars.

But Wolverine has effective counters. He has cut Kaine's webbing out of the air, and Old Man Logan pretty much instantly got out of Miles's webbing. Wolverine is better than Old Man Logan and super familiar with Spider-Man's webbing, so I don't think the webs will be enough. As for the venom touch, Wolverine has been hit with Thor's and Storm's lightning, and his healing factor lets him bypass the effects and keep going. Miles is also inconsistent with it: sometimes he uses it, sometimes he doesn't.

Then there are the claws. As durable as Spider-Man is, he is not great against piercing attacks, so Logan's claws would slide right through him "like hot butter." One or two well placed stabs could instantly swing the fight Logan's way.

Would Logan hold back against a kid? I don't think so

The question is whether Wolverine would use his claws like that against Miles or pull his punches. I'm going to argue he won't really hold back: "maybe not kill the kid but logan will have no problem hospitalizing him." For starters, Wolverine doesn't know Miles, so there is no personal reason to hold back.

Beyond that, Wolverine has seriously injured Captain America, someone he deeply respects. He has gone claws out against Cable and Cyclops, both people he deeply respects. He instantly tried to kill a young Cyclops from the past, and he even stabbed Spider-Man, whom he respects more than almost anyone, during a training exercise. So while Logan might not decapitate or dismember him, he will have no problem going claws out and going all out against Miles.

The verdict: Wolverine wins

I'm going with Wolverine. He is very nearly Spider-Man's physical equal and vastly more durable, so Miles can't put him down with blunt force. That leaves Miles with just his web shooters and venom touch, and I have already covered how Logan gets past both. Wolverine also has a lot more experience fighting spiders than Miles has fighting Wolverine, and his claws can drastically turn the tide in an instant.

Miles is good, but he is young and inexperienced. Considering how well Logan has done against the original Spider-Man, Wolverine is way too much here. Wolverine wins.

Do you agree that Logan's claws and durability outweigh Miles's venom sting and spider sense, or does the Ultimate Spider-Man pull off the upset?