10 Times Spider-Man Won A Fight He 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.