Spider-Man Vs. Thanos: Who Would Win and Why?

Thanos and Spider-Man are among the most popular Marvel characters who made an appearance in the MCU, especially after Spider-Man: No Way Home hit the cinemas. Thanos is still the most popular supervillain ever in the MCU, but the two also fought several times in the comics. So, if Spider-Man and Thanos ever fought, who would win and why?

Thanos would beat Spider-Man in a one-on-one fight every time they met. Spidey is incredibly strong, smart, and durable, but Thanos still trumps him in all those categories, even without the Infinity Gauntlet. Spidey might stay safe for a while, but the Mad Titan is simply too powerful.

Thanos is an Eternal from Titan suffering from the Deviant Syndrome. He spent his entire centuries-long life finding ways to become even more powerful. There’s nothing Spider-Man could do to hurt him. Not even outsmarting him would work, as Thanos is a cosmic-level genius. Let’s compare some of their major attributes to get the full picture.

Physiology

Spider-Man was a regular human, but after being bitten by a radioactive spider while visiting a science exhibition, he started to mutate and gain spider-like abilities.

Parker became superhumanly strong (lifting well over 50 tons), fast (able to dodge bullets), agile, and durable while gaining faster healing abilities. Spidey can heal broken bones overnight and survive nasty stab wounds, even multiple bullet wounds, too. Finally, he can attach himself to any surface, allowing him to climb walls, ceilings, etc.

However, comparing him to Thanos is like comparing a human with an ant. Thanos has Eternal physiology, but incredibly amplified and enhanced. The Mad Titan spent his entire life trying to find ways to become more powerful than he already was.

Thanos went through bionic enhancements, mystical augmentations, and intense studies to become as powerful as possible, both mentally and physically. Even without any weapons, he’s strong enough to fight Hulk in hand-to-hand combat. Apart from that, he’s capable of telepathic abilities, all stemming from the combination of Eternal physiology and external enhancements.

Compared to Spider-Man, Thanos has god-like physiology.

Point: Thanos (1:0) Spider-Man

Intelligence

Apart from their physical attributes, Spider-Man and Thanos both have brilliant minds.

Although he’s still an inexperienced kid when they clash in the MCU, Spider-Man is one of the most intelligent people on Earth in the comics. He’s an expert in several scientific fields, most notably engineering, and as the years went by, he became even more brilliant. Parker is near the Bruce Banner level of intelligence, which is quite remarkable.

To add to it, his brain works 100 miles per hour. He can think and react almost instantly to any situation presented to him, especially in battle when he’s under pressure. Spider-Man would likely have an intellectual advantage if he were to fight almost anybody from Earth. However, Thanos is literally, and figuratively, out of this world when it comes to intelligence.

Parker is a genius human being. Thanos is a genius Eternal. What’s common intelligence for an Eternal is super-genius for human standards. The Mad Titan is above and beyond common Eternals intelligence. The quickness of mind he has is unimaginable. Not even Banner and Stark can rival Thanos’ intelligence, let alone Parker.

If Peter is one of the best engineers in the world, Thanos is one of the best in the universe. The guy came up with a plan to retrieve all six Infinity Stones and survive harnessing their powers. Nobody else could probably get three, maybe even two. The discrepancy is just way too big, which is why Thanos wins this category as well.

Point: Thanos (2:0) Spider-Man

Weapons

If we compare Spider-Man’s and The Mad titan’s weapons, the Earthling comes up short again.

Spidey has web-shooters on his wrists which he can modify to shoot regular or special webs, like electrocuted webs, etc. Also, he has numerous amazing suits made with incredible nanotechnology, giving Parker even more protection, skills, and weapons.

However, that’s about as far as he goes. On the other hand, Thanos wields a sword that’s made of material at least as hard as vibranium, if not even harder. Even with his bare hands, the guy could crumble a mountain.

However, if we add the Infinity Gauntlet into the mix of his weaponry, then the fight would be over before Spidey could say “ouch.”

Point: Thanos (3:0) Spider-Man

Additional Powers & Weaknesses

Many don’t know that the comic book Thanos has telepathic abilities apart from being a physical beast. Not only that, but he can resist even the strongest telepathic attacks. Also, he’s practically invulnerable. A punch from the Hulk is nothing to him. It takes a whole lot of power – like Thor throwing the Stormbreaker in his chest – to hurt The Mad Titan.

He can also blast energy beams strong enough to destroy planets and throw cosmic entities like Galactus on their hypothetical butts. The only weakness Thanos has is his ego, but that’s hardly something Spider-Man could exploit by himself.

Spider-Man’s additional powers include his amazing Spider-Sense, allowing Peter to sense, predict, and counter any imminent danger. The Spider-Sense works as a reflex, with Parker’s body almost instinctively evading danger, no matter how fast it is.

Sill, his weaknesses are vast compared to Thanos. First of all, he can get physically hurt and has no particular telepathic abilities, neither offensive nor defensive. Also, Thanos is much more experienced and battle-trained, which is yet another thing he could exploit.

I think you already guessed where I’m going with this.

Point: Thanos (4:0) Spider-Man

Comic Battles

Spider-Man and Thanos often met in the comics, but it was hardly ever a one-on-one fight between them. Spidey usually had the help of the Avengers or at least one more superhero by his side. Still, a win is a win, so let’s consider some of the most notable Spider/Thanos comic battles.

Their first encounter was in Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2, where Thing and Spidey teamed up to save the Avengers, held captive by Thanos. Although the Mad Titan nearly kills Spider-Man, the young superhero never gives up and manages to set the Avengers free, along with Adam Warlock, who eventually turns Thanos into stone.

Another encounter came in Spider-Man #17, where the two met in Death’s realm. Thanos provokes Spider-Man into a physical altercation, only to have his lover, Death, take Spidey’s side and bring him back to the realm of the living.

In Infinity Gauntlet #4, though, Spidey and the rest of the Avengers get killed by the Gauntlet-wielding Thanos. Spider-Man’s head gets smashed with a rock, but they all get resurrected later.

They met several more times, and as you can see, both have a couple of victories under their names, so I’ll give both of them one point in this category, even though Spidey usually worked as a part of a team while Thanos fought them alone.

Point(s): Thanos (5:1) Spider-Man

Spider-Man Vs. Thanos: Who Wins?

In the end, the result is what you probably expected it to be: Thanos wins in a no-contest fight, regardless of him having the Infinity Gauntlet or not. He trumps Spidey in every category you can imagine – strength, speed, stamina, durability, intelligence, experience, combat skills, additional powers, potential weaknesses…

He’s simply on another level of power from Spider-Man, which doesn’t mean that Spidey is weak – it just means that he couldn’t compete with Thanos in a one-on-one fight in any way, regardless of his Spider-Sense and instinctive reflexes.

The only chance Spider-Man has against Thanos – as we’ve seen in the comics and the MCU – is working in a team with several other superheroes. The Mad Titan is one of the most powerful beings in the universe, so we can’t really blame them.