10 Times Spider-Man Won A Fight He Should Have Lost
We all root for Spidey, but should he win every fight?
Spider-Man has won more than his fair share of battles. How many times has he kicked the butts of Elector, Shocker and the Vulture alone?
This is good of course, as Spider-Man remains one of Marvel's most likeable heroes. We root for him to win, even when he takes on bad guys that are bigger, stronger and faster than he is. Spidey has a reputation for never backing down from a fight - even when it seems clear that he should lose - and he's won many a battle where the odds were stacked against him.
And that might be a bit of a problem. Let's be honest, Spider-Man has a cool powerset, He moves like no other hero in the Marvel Universe, and his combination of strength, speed and smarts is pretty tough. But Spider-Man is far from the most imposing figure populating the world of Marvel comics. Heroes such as the Hulk, the Thing, Captain Marvel, Thor and Iron Man all outgun Spidey when it comes to pure power, and there are plenty of villains out there who should be able to mop the floor with him.
From the time Spider-Man embarrassed an entire team of X-Men, to the classic battle he won against a rampaging Juggernaut, there are plenty of fights that everyone's favourite wall-crawler won that he probably should have lost.
10. His First Battle With The Rhino
It's true that the Rhino, otherwise known as Aleksei Sytsevich, is not one of Spider-Man's smartest enemies. But he is one of his strongest. The Rhino's admittedly ridiculous costume gives him superhuman strength and makes him nearly invulnerable. If Spider-Man hits him full-on? He'll break his fist.
In their first meeting, way back in The Amazing Spider-Man #41-#43 in 1966, Spider-Man doesn't yet know that the Rhino is as dumb as they get. But he soon finds out how powerful his new enemy is. Amazingly, the Rhino doesn't kill Spider-Man. Yes, he batters him quite a bit. But Spider-Man is resilient enough to not just defeat him once, but twice during the Rhino's original appearance. At the end of issue #43, Spider-Man arms himself with webbing coated with a chemical developed his scientist friend Curt Connors. This melts off the Rhino's armor, allowing Spidey to knock out his enemy with a single punch.
The fact that Spider-Man used his brains to beat a stronger opponent? That's not unusual. The fact that Spider-Man was able to go toe-to-toe with a villain who went on to trade blows with the Hulk? That's not quite believable.