We love Spider-Man and all of his adventures, but like any other comic book superhero, we love it when they take their superheroics to outer space. There’s something about the dark unknown of space that we deeply love, and we love it even more when our favorite characters explore that wild unknown. Among the heroes that have traveled the cosmos is the one and only Spider-Man.
Perhaps we’ll see Tom Holland’s Spider-Man fight Thanos in space in next year’s Avengers: Infinity War, or in 2019’s Untitled Avengers 4. Even better, if Spider-Man does travel to space in the MCU, perhaps we’ll finally see the black spider suit in the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel. Regardless, what matters is that we want to see our favorite wall-crawler take his talents to the void of space. With the imminent threat of the Titan Thanos just months away and with a great team of cosmic heroes in the Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s about time Spider-Man takes a rocket to the Moon.
While we will have to wait for the MCU’s Spider-Man to travel to space in the near future, here are 15 Times Spider-Man Went To Outer Space in the comics and TV shows.
15. To Fight Thanos
One of the first times the wall-crawler went to outer space was to fight Thanos during the Infinity Gauntlet comic run. Here, Thanos was in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet with all six Infinity gems. To please Mistress Death, Thanos eradicated half the life in the universe from existence.
The world-ending event saw many people and superheroes from Earth disappearing and to stop Thanos’s wrongdoings, the Avengers had to join forces with Doctor Doom and Adam Warlock. With a spell from Doctor Strange, the superheroes were given the ability to breath in the vacuum of space for a limited amount of time.
Once in space, it wasn’t long until Thanos easily defeated the heroes, including Spider-Man, but due to Thanos’s overconfidence, Nebula was able to steal the Infinity Gauntlet and reverse time.
In the end, Adam Warlock took the Infinity Gauntlet and defeated Thanos.
14. Battleworld
When the Beyonder made his presence known to the heroes of Earth, he decided to put the best heroes of Earth against the best villains in his own arena, called Battleworld. This was another instance where Spider-Man went to outer space and it was in this event (Secret Wars) that he also got his famous symbiotic black suit.
After the events of Battleworld, Spider-Man kept the black symbiotic suit and took it home with him to Earth. Eventually the suit became unstable and was changing the way Spider-Man behaved and acted. Spider-Man’s last resort was to detach himself from the suit. Indeed he did, but the suit then found another host in Eddie Brock, who went to become Venom, one of Spider-Man’s most iconic villains.
The black symbiotic suit is an important part of Spider-Man’s history and hopefully we’ll get to see the suit in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War.
13. When Spider-Man Punched Hulk Into Space
When Spider-Man became Captain Universe, he got into a skirmish with the Hulk. The battle got so heated that Spider-Man punched Hulk so hard that the Jade Giant flew into outer space. Of course, since Spider-Man is a very nice guy, he flew himself into space and brought Hulk safely back to Earth.
Spider-Man as Captain Universe got the ability to fly and punch harder than the Hulk, among other abilities, including telekinesis, time travel, energy blasts, and superhuman speed. Captain Universe first appeared in Marvel Comics’ Micronauts issue #8 in 1979, and over the years has had several superheroes donning the mantle.
Apart from Spider-Man, heroes like Doctor Strange, the Hulk, Daredevil, Invisible Woman, X-23, and even Deadpool have become Captain Universe.
12. Spider-Man Vs. Hydra
In the Disney XD animated show Ultimate Spider-Man, Peter Parker and his team of superheroes sent the villain Arnim Zola into outer space. Unbeknownst to Spider-Man, Zola was able to rebuild his Hydra empire while in solitude. To stop the mad scientist once and for all, Spider-Man, Nova, and Luke Cage traveled to space.
This episode was one of the show's most intense. Not only was Spider-Man successful in defeating Zola, but Zola’s entire spaceship crashed into the Earth, erasing the threat of Hydra completely. From there on, Spider-Man made several trips into outer space, but his skirmish with Arnim Zola proved to be one of his most difficult missions. It almost cost him his life and that of his team, but of course, he eventually was able to pull through.
Interestingly, that episode of the show had heavy resemblance to the plot of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
11. Infinity Crusade
After the events of the Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War storyline, Adam Warlock created two sentient beings representing his good and evil side, the Goddess and Magus, respectively. The Goddess then created a planet called Paradise Omega and brainwashed many of Earth’s superheroes, including Spider-Man. This not only sent Spider-Man into outer space, it also made him a soldier in the Goddess’s cosmic army.
To stop the Goddess, Iron Man and Mister Fantastic joined forces with Thanos and Adam Warlock. But it was the combined powers of Professor Xavier, Thanos, and Warlock that finally trapped the Goddess within the Soul Gem.
With Adam Warlock set to make his MCU debut in Phase 4, it would be interesting to see both Magus and the Goddess make an appearance. It’s no question that Infinity Crusade would make for one very awesome movie.
10. Infinity Abyss
In perhaps one of Marvel Comics’ most insane storylines, the Infinity Abyss saw Thanos create clones of Professor X, Galactus, Iron Man, Gladiator, and Doctor Strange. Unfortunately for Thanos, these were all failed genetic experiments and eventually the clones turned evil, with a deep desire to end all life in the universe and the universe itself.
The rise of the clones saw Gamora gather the help of Earth’s mightiest heroes, and of course, one of the lucky space travelers was Spider-Man. It took the combined powers of the real Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Moondragon, Gamora, Adam Warlock, and Thanos to finally defeat all of the evil clones.
In the end of Infinity Abyss Thanos also ends up destroying an entire planet. Let us hope he doesn’t do that in next year’s Avengers: Infinity War, or the yet Untitled Avengers 4.
9. Talking With The Beyonder
While today we have several animated Spider-Man TV shows, like Disney XD’s Ultimate Spider-Man and the upcoming Marvel’s Spider-Man, there will never be a Spider-Man cartoon as great as Fox Kids’ Spider-Man: The Animated Series from the '90s.
The show gave us the best animated version of our favorite wall-crawler and on top of his great characterization, the show also had tremendous storylines. From the introduction of Venom to the Kingpin’s evil schemes, Fox Kid’s Spider-Man had it all.
But perhaps one of its best storylines was the one that included both the Beyonder and Madame Web. In this storyline, Spider-Man is recruited by the Beyonder to take part in his Battleworld experiment. During the event, Doctor Doom is able to steal the Beyonder’s powers, but it was later revealed that the Beyonder allowed this to happen to teach Spider-Man a lesson.
What’s exciting is that all the conversations between Spider-Man and the Beyonder took place in outer space, outside time itself.
8. The Negative Zone
In Marvel Comics’ Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man Vol. 1 issue 13 and 14, Spider-Man went to outer space when he visited the Negative Zone. It is here where he also received his famous Negative Zone spider costume.
Spider-Man rarely visits the Negative Zone, which is mostly tied to the adventures of the Fantastic Four. The Negative Zone is the home of the supervillain Annihilus and his minions of insectoid aliens. The Negative Zone has served as a maximum security prison for many villains in the Marvel Comics universe. The setting was also hinted at in the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot during the third act.
In the reboot’s early script drafts, the Negative Zone was set to formally appear in the movie, along with Annihilus and the Mole Man.
7. The Future Foundation
After the Fantastic Four disbanded, Reed Richards went about creating the Future Foundation, a team of incredible and intelligent superheroes. It is perhaps one of Spider-Man’s most entertaining stories, in Amazing Spider-Man issue 680, Spider-Man went to outer space and gathered the help of the Future Foundation to aid in a mission involving Colonel John Jameson, the son of J. Jonah Jameson.
In this comic, Spider-Man donned an astronaut space suit and was even called the galaxy’s greatest superhero. The mission was a success and later on in Spider-Man’s comic book history, the web crawler himself became a member of the Future Foundation.
As a member of the Future Foundation, Spider-Man was an integral part of Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four run in which a future version of Franklin Richards visits a young Franklin and tells Valeria Richards to trust Doctor Doom.
6. The Contest Of Champions
Another instance where Spider-Man visited the vacuum of space was in the Disney XD show Ultimate Spider-Man when he was chosen to be a pawn in Grandmaster’s contest of champions. On the show, Grandmaster and his brother, the Collector, faced each other in a cosmic game that involved all of Earth’s mightiest heroes and villains. Of course, the Collector’s grand piece in the game was Spider-Man.
The Contest of Champions put each hero against each other, but eventually, Spider-Man was the winner and proved to be the true ultimate Spider-Man. This storyline took the show three whole episodes to tell and made Ultimate Spider-Man one of Disney XD’s most entertaining Marvel shows.
Though it’s unlikely now, perhaps in the future we’ll get to see the MCU version of the Contest of Champions. Especially since the Collector already made his MCU debut in Guardians of the Galaxy and the Grandmaster is due to appear in this year’s Thor: Ragnarok.
5. The Galactic Alliance Of Spider-Men
As crazy as it sounds, just like there is a council of Ricks in Rick and Morty, there is a Galactic Alliance of Spider-Men in the Marvel Comics universe. Introduced in Marvel Comics Presents Vol. 2 issue 1, these inter-galactic Spider-Men serve one purpose only: to ensure in many worlds the policy that "with great power comes great responsibility."
As assumed, their circle of Spider-Men all met in a secret location in outer space. Not much is known about the Galactic Alliance of Spider-Men other than their mission objective, as they’ve only appeared in the aforementioned comic. If their alliance is anything like the Council of Ricks in Rick and Morty then we can all pretty much agree that our Spider-Man, Earth-616 Spider-Man, is the Spidey-est Spidey of them all.
It would be interesting to explore the Galactic Alliance of Spider-Men in the MCU, especially since Spider-Man will be fighting Thanos in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. He’ll need all the help he can get!
4. Spider-Man And The Guardians Of The Galaxy
Disney XD’s Ultimate Spider-Man saw our favorite wall crawler venture into space a lot, and one other instance was when he occasionally became a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. A more interesting moment happened in the comics, though.
In Guardians of the Galaxy (2015) issue 14, Spider-Man was abducted by the inter-galactic alien race known as the Skrulls. Upon learning of Spider-Man’s condition, the Guardians of the Galaxy embarked on a mission to save him. This iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy was made up of Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, Groot, and Venom!
In fact if it wasn’t for Venom, Spider-Man would’ve never had been saved. The Skrulls had shapeshifted into Spider-Man and only Venom knew who the real Peter Parker was. This version of Venom is the Flash Thompson version who we’ll see in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Whether he’ll become Venom in the MCU is still unknown. Especially now that Tom Hardy will play Eddie Brock in the Venom solo movie.
3. Adam Warlock Saves Spider-Man’s Life
During Marvel Team-Up Vol 1 issue 55, Spider-Man was left stranded in the vacuum of space. When he little oxygen left and was on the brink of death, Adam Warlock appeared to save his life. With the power of the Soul Gem, Warlock took Spider-Man to the blue area of the Moon where oxygen is ever-present. Upon reaching the Moon, both Warlock and Spider-Man were intercepted by the supervillain the Stranger, who wanted to steal Warlock’s Soul Gem. In the end, Adam Warlock and Spider-Man eventually win and Warlock takes Spidey back to planet Earth.
Adam Warlock will make his formal MCU debut in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as he was briefly mentioned in one of the end-credit scenes of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Since the second Spider-Man movie is set to start Phase 4, perhaps we’ll actually see Warlock kick it with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man once the sequel comes around.
2. To Fight Nebula
In Avengers Vol. 1 issue 318, Spider-Man joined the Avengers and traveled to outer space to fight Nebula. With the powers of the Infinity Union, Nebula became one of the Avengers' most formidable villains. It took the combined powers of Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Quasar, the Stranger, Vision, Sersi, and Spider-Man to bring Nebula down.
With Nebula being a prominent character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it would be rather interesting to see her reach such powers in a future Guardians of the Galaxy movie or even in the upcoming Avengers movies. With Karen Gillan set to reprise the role of Nebula in one of the Avengers movies, then it’s totally possible that if Nebula doesn’t get hold of the Infinity Gauntlet, then perhaps she’ll be in control of the Infinity Union.
We don’t know if the Infinity Stones will still be a prominent plot device in Phase 4 of the MCU, but it would be a missed opportunity if we never see Nebula taste the Infinity powers.
1. Zombie Spider-Man Traveled Through Space
Has there being a story more popular than Marvel Zombies? While we patiently wait for Marvel Studios to bring the zombie apocalypse to the MCU, one time Spider-Man went to outer space was when he was a zombie. With no more fresh meat available to consume on Earth, Spider-Man and the rest of Earth’s mightiest zombies took to the cosmos to devour whatever life still existed. Even Galactus fell to the zombie virus and became a zombie himself!
If we ever do see the Marvel Zombies make an appearance in the MCU, it will hopefully start Marvel Studios’ reign over R-rated movies. Plus, with zombies in the mix, it would make or the perfect opportunity to also introduce vampires. This would allow for Blade and even Morbius, the Spider-Man villain, to finally make their MCU debut.
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Did we miss any? When was another time Spider-Man went to outer space? Let us know in the comments.
