The Amazing Spider-Man is one of Marvel's greatest and most popular heroes. He has been both a member of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, and he's been an ally of the X-Men on several occasions. He is considered to have one of the greatest rogues' galleries in comic books, with the likes of Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Kraven the Hunter, and Venom counting themselves among that number.
However, despite all the memorable villains that Spider-Man has faced over the years, there are a few characters counted with his allies and enemies that even the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has been unable to beat.
10 Spider-Man Cannot Best Shang-Chi, The Master Of Kung Fu
Spider-Man and Shang-Chi have had few reasons to clash over the years. The two have worked together on more than one occasion, but it has been hinted at several times that Peter Parker would not be the victor in this showdown. In addition to Shang-Chi teaching Spider-Man his own fighting style during the events of Spider-Island, there was also Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #17 by Brian Michael Bendis and Rick Mays that finds Shang-Chi effortlessly knocking out the Wall-Crawler.
More recently, Spider-Man interfered in an operation by Shang-Chi's Five Weapons Society. While Shang stopped his Society from fighting Spidey, it was made clear that Shang wouldn't let Spider-Man attack the Five Weapons Society either. Spider-Man just had to accept that fact.
9 Hercules Once Embarrassed Spider-Man In A One-on-One Fight
The Prince of Power Hercules and Spider-Man have come to blows more than once. The time that he and Hercules fought one-on-one found Herc knocking Spider-Man around like a ragdoll. The Web-Head was just unable to slow down Hercules.
The second time, Spider-Man had the Avengers at his back. This time, he was at least able to restrain Hercules, but it was far from a true victory for the Spectacular Spider-Man.
8 Baron Zemo Recently Bested The Web-Head Multiple Times Over
Non-Stop Spider-Man by Joe Kelly, Chris Bachalo, Cory Smith, and Gerardo Sandoval has Spider-Man dealing with a plot by Baron Zemo to brutally dispose of intelligent individuals with a minority background by giving them a drug that ultimately shuts down their nervous system. Spider-Man tries to stop Zemo and his new ally, Wulf, but finds himself wanting.
Zemo doesn't win this fight on his own, and Spider-Man is without webbing and weakened by being injected with the same drug Zemo was using to kill people. However, it's undeniable that Spider-Man loses this fight repeatedly and almost loses his life in the process.
7 The Incredible Hulk Is Just More Than Spider-Man Can Deal With
Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk have had a few bouts over the years. There is an instance in which Spider-Man has won this fight, but that was thanks to the power of Captain Universe. Every other fight between Spider-Man and Hulk has been Spidey merely trying to hold off the Hulk until help comes or just trying to escape.
Hulk is among the strongest beings in existence, and Spider-Man, though strong and fast, just can't quite match up to the Jade Giant.
6 Spider-Man Hasn't Had A Good Track Record When Dealing With The God Of Thunder
Spider-Man and Thor don't often meet, and there is little reason for them to fight even when they do. However, there have been a couple of instances where readers get to see how it would go if the two matched wills in a duel.
Long-story-short, it would not be great for Spider-Man. At best, he could dodge Thor's blows until the two come to an agreement. At worst, he gets attached to Mjolnir and launched into space or beaten down by a Hulked-out Thor.
5 Spider-Man Discovered That Captain America Is More Than Just A Shield
Civil War by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven initially had Spider-Man on the side of Iron Man, and Spider-Man tries to arrest Captain America during the course of the conflict. Spider-Man was equipped with the Iron Spider costume at the time and was able to take Cap one-on-one.
Spider-Man tried to web up Cap's shield and expected that to be the end of it. However, Cap still kept wailing on Spidey and ultimately got away with his shield.
4 Black Panther Once Effortlessly Subdued Spider-Man
Black Panther and Spider-Man don't often cross paths, and they are usually cordial with one another when they do. However, Marvel Team-Up #87 by Steven Grant and Gene Colan found them at odds on how to deal with a Roxxon executive.
This led to a brief fight between Spider-Man and Black Panther which T'Challa won handily. He pinned Spider-Man, and the two had to talk out how to deal with this particular issue.
3 Spider-Man Had To Retreat From Iron Man During Their Duel
When Spider-Man finally defected from Iron Man's faction to Cap's in Civil War, he had to first escape Tony Stark. Tony had bugged Spider-Man's suit and had been expecting Peter to defect based on recent behavior. This led to a brief and brutal fight where Iron Man badly hurt Spider-Man.
Peter still escaped, but it wasn't clean. He would have been killed by Jack O'Lantern and the Jester (then working for the Initiative and the Thunderbolts) had Punisher not killed both rogues.
2 Even Anti-Venom Frustrated The Web-Head During His Existence
During the brief existence of Eddie Brock as Anti-Venom, Spider-Man found himself completely outmatched by this new and improved symbiote created by Mister Negative. Like the original Venom, the Anti-Venom negates Spider-Man's spider-sense.
Beyond that, Anti-Venom simply negates Spider-Man's powers. Anti-Venom tried to cleanse Spider-Man of any traces of the Venom symbiote and almost eradicated the radiation that gives Peter his powers. In short, Spider-Man never stood a chance against this creature. Thankfully, Flash Thompson is now Anti-Venom and has no interest in going after Spider-Man.
1 Spider-Man Has Never Been Able To Take On Carnage Alone
Carnage has consistently proven a threat that Spider-Man cannot defeat alone. He needed Venom's help in the first showdown with Carnage, and even that was a close call.
In every instance since then, Carnage has been a foe that pushes Spider-Man to his limits and takes all the help Peter can get to subdue the mad killer. When Norman Osborn put on the Carnage suit (then going by Red Goblin), it took several allies and tricking Norman into taking off the Carnage symbiote for Spider-Man to actually take the Green Goblin out.
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