Two of the most beloved properties at Marvel areX-MenandSpider-Man. Both are brand names that seem to find success in every medium, and understandably so, as both happen to be the company’s earliest examples of what a superhero looks like in the Marvel Universe.The X-Men’s first comicset the stage for Marvel’s super-teams, whileSpider-Man’s first comicdelivered the medium’s most popular hero.
It’s no wonder why there have been so many instances of Marvel pairing Spider-Man with the X-Men in its comics. Whenever these two colossal entities share the page together, it proves to bea must-read for anyone willing to call themselves a true believer. It’s hard to pick a favorite crossover between the two, let alone which can be considered the outright best of the best. The best option is to pull out the most significant comics from their shared catalog and consider which of these crossover events ranks the highest.
10The First Official Crossover Between the X-Men and Spider-Man
The X-Men#35 by Roy Thomas, Werner Roth, Dan Adkins, and Jerry Feldmann
The very first comic book story between the X-Men and Spider-Man develops from a misunderstanding. Banshee is attacked by the Factor Three and their robotic arachnid spider. In a weakened state, the only words that he can let out during his distress signal to the X-Men are"beware the spider.“Upon meeting,the X-Men fight Spider-Manunder the impression that the wall-crawler is the spider that Banshee warned them about.
While this is the first true Spider-Man and the X-Men team-up in Marvel Comics history, Spider-Man does make a brief cameo inThe X-Men#27, during which Professor X asks Beast and Iceman to ask Spider-Man to join the X-Men. Spidey, having just been denied an Avengers membership, declines the offer.
Their collision is a comedy of errors that would be straightened out if all parties had paused to talk to each other, but that doesn’t take away from the importance of aSpider-Man and X-Men inaugural crossover. Not to mention, their fight hit comic stands at a time whensuperhero vs. superhero battles, while always dreamed of by readers, were more of a rare commodity than they are today.
9Beast and Spider-Man Team-Up
Spider-Man: The Mutant Agendaby Steven Grant, Scott Kolins, Sam de la Rosa, John Kalisz, and Steve Dutro
When Beast’s old superiors, the Brand Corporation, announce a seminar on mutants, he fears that they may have used his old research to go evil again. The CEO of Brand, Herbert Landon, proceeds to announce that his team have learned how to create their own mutants, which Beast likens to slavery. Upon the interjection of Hobgoblin,the X-Men’s founding herocollaborates with Spider-Manto further investigate the matter.
Although this is more of a Beast and Spider-Man adventure than an actual X-Men team-up, what makes this union notable is that Marvel used this comic as inspiration for aSpider-ManandX-Men: The Animated Seriescrossoverof the same name. Even if it didn’t leave a memorable imprint on Earth-616, it certainly had an impact on the critically-acclaimed cartoons.
8The X-Men Ruin Spider-Man’s Day to Teach Wolverine a Lesson
Ultimate Spider-Man#66-67 by Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley, Scott Hanna, J.D. Smith, and Chris Eliopoulos
The original Ultimate Universe’s Wolverine is, to put it mildly, a little bit of a pervert when it comes to teen girls. To teach him a lesson in respecting women, Jean Grey swaps her fellowX-Man’s body with Spider-Man’s, leading to some of themost shocking moments in Ultimate Universe history.
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Admittedly, Wolverine and Spider-Man have had better team-ups than this, namely the 1987 one-shotSpider-Man Versus Wolverine. However, that comic is far more of a Wolverine and Spider-Man crossover than an X-Men crossover, whereas this story involves more members of the team within its plot, particularly because the plot is kickstarted by Jean Grey. Plus, despite Wolverine being inappropriate towards teenage girls, this story is infamous enough that it trulymust be seen to be believed. Every Marvel fan ought to read it at least once.
7Spider-Man Joins Forces with the X-Force, the X-Men’s Junior Division
Spider-Man#16 by Todd McFarlane, Gegory Wright, and Chris Eliopoulos
The story begins with Spider-Man stumbling upon a fight between the X-Force and the Juggernaut. Since Spidey is one of the few who knowhow to stop Juggernaut, he believes his services could be of some use.Spider-Man teams with X-Men’s juniorsin what is ultimately a simple set-up for a story, but one that yields ample results thanks largely to Todd McFarlane’s artwork. McFarlane is, by far, one of Spider-Man’s best artists, and his contributions to all the characters are absolutely striking.
This issue marks the first part of the “Sabotage” storyline. “Sabotage: Part 2” rages onwards inX-Force#4 by Fabian Nicieza, Rob Liefeld, Brian Murray, Chris Eliopoulos, and Joe Rosen.
McFarlane’s art style makes for some visceral visuals in a comic dominated by an action sequence. It’s easy to criticize it for being style over substance, but sometimes, style over substance is suitable. It certainly is here, as it leads to some unforgettable battle scenes, particularly since most of it takes place around the World Trade Center.
6The X-Men and Spider-Man Must Work Together to Defeat Gods
Marvel Team-Up Annual#1 by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Mike Esposito, Hugh Paley, and Jim Novak
Boeing 474 is flying over the skies to reach the International Conference on Man-Made Mutation, and on the flight are Charles Xavier and the X-Men, all with a vested interest in the current findings of mutations, as well as Peter Parker, reporting on everything on behalf of the Daily Bugle. The civilians switch into their superhero attire when their plane is attacked out of the sky by Rakks, robots working under the Lords of Light and Darkness, otherwise known as the Nest.Spider-Man and the X-Men struggle to co-exist, but must do so to defeat a common threat.
“Superheroes who can’t get along” is an overused trope at this point, but here, it doesn’t feel forced. Heroes like Nightcrawler vouch for Spider-Man and welcome his help, while Wolverine can’t stand Peter. When the god-tier threat is so robust,questionable cohesion adds to the stakes, as does the element of Jean’s Phoenix affliction.
5Spider-Man and the X-Men Can’t See Eye-to-Eye AfterSecret Wars
Marvel Team-Up#150 by Louise Simonson, Greg Laroque, Mike Esposito, Bob Sharen, and Janice Chiang
Marvel Team-Upwas once a Marvel staple, and when it came time to release what was promoted as"the last Marvel Team-Up,“it only made sense to putSpider-Man with the X-Men for one last hurrah. In their respective locations, the X-Men and Spider-Man watch the news as Juggernaut steals the Ruby Gem of Cytorrak. Little do they know that Cain Marko intends to give all-encompassing power to his friend, Black Tom Cassidy, for his birthday.
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Both parties embark on tracking Juggernaut and, soon enough, they cross paths, much to Parker’s chagrin, still soured by their last team-up in the originalSecret Wars. The inner tension between the heroes adds an intriguing layer to an already interesting story, one that feels likean appropriately explosive and fun finaleto the beloved crossoverTeam-Upseries. It even features Rogue becoming a Juggernaut!
4Spider-Man Absolutely Dog Walks the X-Men
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars#3 by Jim Shooter, Michael Zeck, John Beatty, Christie Scheele, and Joe Rosen
The originalSecret Warsis a Marvel roster-wide crossover event as much as its modern spiritual successor is, exceptone of the original’s most pivotal moments is between Spider-Man and the X-Men.With the heroes still trapped on Battleworld, Professor X is aware that he and the X-Men are losing everyone’s trust, and thinks aloud that they should align with the then-villainous Magneto. That’s all an eavesdropping Spider-Man needs to hear to be alarmed. The X-Men try to stop him before he can warn anyone, kickstarting a kicking-and-punching match-up between the two sets of heroes.
Even though Xavier scrambles Spider-Man’s brain before he can alert the others (foreshadowing Xavier’s darker side), this is a big moment as Spider-Man overpowers the X-Men with ease to the point that it’s almost embarrassing to watch. It highlights just how powerful Spidey has gotten since first donning his tights, elevating him on Marvel’s power scale.
3The Superior Spider-Man Teams Up with the X-Men’s Original Five
The Heart of the Team Up Takes Place inSuperior Spider-Man Team-Up Special#1 by Mike Costa, Michael Dialynas, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Cory Petit
Unlike the rest of these X-Men team-ups, this Spider-Man is Doc Ock using Peter’s body as a vessel for himself. Asan unexpectedly heroic Superior Spider-Man, the not-so-good doctor meets with the time-displaced original five X-Men when Otto Octavius seemingly resurfaces. To the heroes, this is strange, because Otto is presumed dead, while it’s even stranger to the Superior Spider-Man, who is secretly Otto.
Putting Otto in Peter’s body is enough to make their chemistry and dialogue exchanges feel fresh.
The story is rife with twists and turns, but the biggest twist is puttinga new spin on Spider-Man’s dynamic with the X-Men. After teaming up countless times, the dynamic between the X-Men and Spider-Man easily could’ve become played out, but putting Otto in Peter’s body is enough to make their chemistry and dialogue exchanges feel fresh. It even presents a fascinating wrinkle in Otto’s character development as he continues to battle his urge for villainy while genuinely trying to be a hero.
2Spider-Man and the X-Men Finally Get Their Own Series Together
Spider-Man and the X-Men#1-6 by Elliott Kalan, Marco Failla, R.B. Silva, Diogo Saito, Rob Lean, Ian Herring, and Clayton Cowles
Spider-Man and the X-Menis for readers who loved their team-ups of the past and were anxiously awaiting a shared series. Peter Parker puts his role as an educator to good use as he becomes a Special Class Guidance Counselor to the youth of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, expandingSpider-Man’s role as a mutant mentorunintentionally alluded to inSpider-Man#16.
Spider-Man may not be a mutant, but he’s battled the pressures of understanding his powers simultaneously with being a teenager, so maybe he’s not that different. The only downside to the series is that he spends far more time withhis students than with the X-Men. Principal Storm is on the scene, but if fans were hoping for a whole series of Spidey with the classic X-Men, this isn’t that. Still, the series is too entertaining to disappoint.
1The X-Men aAe Finally Evenly Matched with Spider-Man for Their Best Fight
The Amazing Spider-Man#282 by Tom DeFalco, Rick Leonardi, Bob Layton, and Joe Rosen
J. Jonah Jameson’s hatred for Spider-Manreaches its zenith when he hires the mutant bounty hunters in X-Factor to hunt Spider-Man. Unbeknownst to Jonah, X-Factor is a front to train young mutants, as they’re a subsidiary of the X-Men. However, under Cyclops' leadership, they decide to use the public’s knowledge of them andthe public’s assumption that Spidey’s a mutantto help the webhead. Meanwhile, there’s additional drama about Spider-Man still recovering from a previous battle. His concussions make him all the more confused when he’s suddenly attacked.
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A bonding moment between Spider-Man and Wolverine has become an official tradition that proves their unlikely friendship is one of Marvel’s best.
Forced into a fight with Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel, and Iceman, Spider-Man being weakened makes it more of an even fight compared to previous battles. Out of all theX-Men’sfights withSpider-Man, this is the most exciting of them all, making for one of their most high-octane crossovers.
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is the name given to several individuals who have employed a spider-moniker throughout Marvel Comics. Typically gaining their powers through a bite from a radioactive spider, the different Spider-Man heroes employ super-strength, agility, and intellect while utilizing webbing to swing and tangle up their foes. The most notable of these Spider-Men is Peter Parker, who remains one of the most popular superheroes throughout the world.
X-Men
The X-Men franchise, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, centers on mutants with extraordinary abilities. Led by the powerful telepath Professor Charles Xavier, they battle discrimination and villainous mutants threatening humanity. The series explores themes of diversity and acceptance through a blend of action, drama, and complex characters, spanning comics, animated series, and blockbuster films.
