Spider-Manis recognized as a friendly neighborhood superhero for a reason, and a big part of that reason is that he doesn’t use guns. At least, that’s the version of Peter Parker that Marvel Comics fans are used to seeing.
As fans know,Peter Parker is far from the only Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe. There’s a vast Spider-Verse that has been greatly explored in Marvel canon, corners of which are populated by alternate versions of Spider-Man who would happily use a gun if it meant beating the bad guy. Some alternate versions of Spider-Man in Earth-616 are no strangers to wielding a firearm, either. Out of them all, here are the10 darkest gun-wielding Spider-Man variants!
10Spider-Man Noir
Peter Parker of Earth-90214 aka Spider-Man Noiris an alternate universe version of Spider-Man who lived during the Great Depression. While he was trained as a journalist by Ben Urich, Spider-Man Noir acts more like a 1930s private investigator (as seen in classic examples of film noir). And, in true ’30s PI style, Spider-Man Noir carries a pistol with him during his patrols of the city, and he isn’t shy about using it, either.
Spider-Man Noir is a much darker, more mature version of Spider-Man. He isn’t concerned with being a friendly neighborhood superhero, as Spider-Man Noir is much more worried about taking down the bad guys at all costs. And sometimes, that means shooting them.
9Superior Spider-Man
At one point in Earth-616, Peter Parker’s body was taken over by the mind of Dr. Otto Octavius. Doc Ock vowed to use Spider-Man’s powers to benefit the world in ways the original Spider-Man could never hope to do. That being said, Superior Spider-Man was still a villain at his core, which meant he was more than comfortable killing his adversaries however he could, including through the use of guns.
Specifically, inSuperior Spider-Man#5, Spider-Man uses a gun to kill the villain Massacre. Granted, it was Massacre’s gun and the villain was a significant threat, but it’s safe to say the original Spider-Man wouldn’t have done the same.
8Spider-Shot
The Spider-Man of Earth-8351 aka Spider-Shot is an alternate version of Spider-Man who completely snapped. Where the original Spider-Man will only take down and arrest bad guys, Spider-Shot will kill them where they stand. Spider-Shot doesn’t see himself as the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, as he believes some villains need to die, and that he’s the one to do it.
Unlike Spider-Man Noir and Superior Spider-Man, Spider-Shot doesn’t use conventional firearms. Instead, he has bullets loaded into his web-shooters, effectively carrying guns on his wrist.
7Punisher Spider-Man
This ‘What If?’ imagining of Spider-Man effectively merged the wall-crawling hero with the Punisher. Rather than wearing a red and blue suit with a spider emblem, this version of Spider-Man wore an all-black suit with the iconic Punisher skull on his chest. This change from the classic Spider-Man first occurred when Peter Parker decided to kill the man who murdered his uncle rather than leave him for the police.
In many ways, Punisher Spider-Man is a lot like Spider-Shot, but with one crucial difference: the gun Punisher Spider-Man uses is the same gun that took the life of his Uncle Ben. After killing the man who shot Ben, Spider-Man stole his gun and used it to kill his own villains, including and especially the Green Goblin.
6Web-Slinger
The Spider-Man of Earth-31913, Patrick O’Hara aka Web-Slinger is from a universe set in the Old West, making this Spider-Man a gunslinging (or webslinging) cowboy. This Spider-Man is a hero in the same way Clint Eastwood or John Wayne were heroes in their classic Western films. In other words, Web-Slinger carries and uses guns all the time.
While it is true that this version of Spider-Man got his name from the fact that his pistols shoot webbing (allowing him to restrain the bad guys until the authorities arrived), Web-Slinger also had guns that shot, well, bullets.
5Scarlet Spider
Ben Reilly, aka Scarlet Spider is a clone of Peter Parker, existing alongside the original Spider-Man in Earth-616. Scarlet Spider is a classic example of how comic books in the ’90s tried to make their heroes more hardcore to appeal to younger readers. Scarlet Spider had a more grungy aesthetic than the classic Spider-Man, and he was way more ruthless with his villains. Not just super-villains, either, but also average criminals.
While he didn’t carry his own firearms, Scarlet Spider had no moral qualms about using guns to take down an enemy. On at least one occasion, Scarlet Spider used a gun to shoot a criminal in the leg, and then the shoulder, before threatening to put a bullet in his brain. Hardcore ’90s-edition Spider-Man, indeed.
4Weapon VIII
Spider-Man of Earth-72 is known as Weapon VIII because, unlike practically every other version of Spider-Man, this wall-crawler is a product of Weapon X-style experimentation and programming. Peter Parker was a test subject of Department H, which transformed him into a Wolverine-like living weapon.
Weapon VIII has all the same superpowers as the classic Spider-Man, but his costume is much more reminiscent of Weapon X. Plus, because Weapon VIII was created primarily for carrying out assassinations, he was also given four mechanical arms, each one containing weapons of all sorts, including and especially guns.
3Spider-Cyborg
Spider-Man of Earth-2818 is known as Spider-Cyborg, since he is more machine than man. Little is known about how Spider-Cyborg came to be, only that the parts of Peter Parker that aren’t mutated by irradiated spider venom are completely mechanical, making him a truly brutal living weapon.
The mechanical aspects of Spider-Cyborg’s body aren’t just for physical enhancements, as they also house a number of hidden weapons, like guns. One of Spider-Cyborg’s coolest guns is his Sonic Cannon (which he can morph his arm into), and the targeting system in his brain pretty much means he can’t miss once he’s fired it.
2Takuya Yamashiro
Takuya Yamashiro is the version of Spider-Man from the 1978 Japanese television seriesSpider-Man(later designated Earth-51778). For the most part, this incarnation of the web-slinging superhero is classically heroic in a way not too dissimilar to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. However, Takuya Yamashiro certainly isn’t afraid to defeat his enemies any way he can, even if that means mowing them down with a machine gun.
The scene the above image is pulled from depicts Spider-Man going full-Scarfaceon a group of bad guys, completely unloading on them without any moral issues about using a gun whatsoever. A gun isn’t his weapon of choice, but he’ll use one without thinking twice.
1Spider-Mugger
While not an official Spider-Man, Sean Boyle became an honorary ‘Spider-Man’ after mugging Peter Parker of Earth-616. During the mugging, Sean stole Peter’s Spider-Man mask and web-shooters. Sean went on to wear the mask while mugging other people, as well as using web-shooters during his criminal activity. However, even with the web-shooters, Sean’s primary weapon was his pistol.
The vision of Spider-Man waving a gun in one’s face, screaming at them to give him their money, was an alarming one, to say the least. That’s why Sean gained the Spider-Mugger name in the first place, even though his time as a Marvel Comics character was tragically brief. Indeed, Spider-Mugger is certainly a unique version ofSpider-Manusing a gun, but he’s far from the only one.
