A rap legend is making a brand-new appearance in the Marvel Universe in a cover that shows Eminem in a rap battle with Spider-Man. The hip hop icon revealed an exclusive variant for The Amazing Spider-Man #1 that shows the two competing before a crowd of Marvel heroes.

Fans of both Marvel Comics and Marshall Mathers may be aware that the rapper actually has a history with the comic book universe. Back in 2009, Marvel released the one-shot story Eminem/The Punisher that featured the artist actually teaming up with Frank Castle for a one-off adventure against Punisher's longtime enemy, Barracuda. While the story never received a sequel, the comic did become an interesting factoid in Marvel's grand history and gave Eminem the privilege of being one of the few real-life figures to have a featured story with a genuine Marvel hero.

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And while a follow-up to Eminem/The Punisher might not be in the cards just yet, that's not keeping the artist away from the Marvel Universe. Eminem's official Twitter account made a post revealing an exclusive variant for this year's release of The Amazing Spider-Man #1. Marvel confirmed the cover on their own website the next day. The cover shows Spider-Man facing off against Eminem in a rap battle. The iconic rapper is taking lead on the mic as the wall-crawler waits patiently for his turn. The two have a decently sized crowd as dozens have gathered to see Peter Parker be hopelessly outmatched by Slim Shady, including several of Spider-Man's associates such as Miles Morales, Black Panther, and Daredevil. The cover is by Salvador Larroca and comes in a limited run of 5000 on Eminem.com, though an additional 1000 copies will be for sale on TheHaul.com.

Why Eminem Is Facing Off Against Spider-Man

Amazing Spider-Man 1 2022 Variant Cover Eminem Marvel Comics

Fans may be wondering why Eminem has had such a recurring presence in the Marvel Universe. The truth is the artist is actually just a huge fan of comic books. He lampooned comic books, most notably the characters Batman and Robin, in his music video for “Without Me”. Mathers has also been outspoken for his fandom of the ol’ Web-Head in the past when engaging with fans. It stands to reason that such a high-profile fan wound up sharing a cover with some of his favorite heroes.

Sure, Eminem and Peter Parker won’t be getting into a canonical rap battle anytime soon (which is probably a good thing for Spider-Man), but that doesn’t make this variant cover any less fun. It’s great to see Marvel engaging with fans, even those who are legends in their field. Covers like these show that comic book fans can be anyone, whether they’re doctors, astrophysicists, or even wildly successful hip-hop artists. It's always interesting to see who is going to be next on Marvel's next out-of-left-field cover, and the fact that it's a fan like Eminem just makes it all the better. After selling out on Eminem's website, fans have one last chance to buy The Amazing Spider-Man #1 variant when it drops on TheHaul.com November 29, 2022.

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Source: Twitter, Marvel