Peter Parker lives a very extraordinary life battling supervillains, fighting off alien symbiotes, and disproving false claims from renegade clones. Time travel doesn’t seem beyond the realm of possibilities and Spider-Man has surprisingly traveled Marvel’s timestream quite a lot.
Whether it’s Peter Parker, Miguel O’Hara’s 2099, or Otto Octavius’ Superior, the Spider-Men of the multiverse have frequently time-traveled, teaming up with other heroes like Wolverine. Spider-Man’s best time-travel comics are exciting and unique, often involving other members of the Spider-Verse, but they’re also heartwarming, especially when Peter revisits pivotal moments in his past that strengthen his belief in power and responsibility.
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10 “There Once Was A Spider…”
Amazing Spider-Man #439 by Tom DeFalco, Rafael Kayanan, Bud LaRosa, Bob Sharen, Richard Starkings & Liz Agraphiotis
Over a thousand years in the future, archeologists discover a pair of Spider-Man’s “ancient” web-shooters. They dissect what Spider-Man must have been like in the “Age of Heroes” and theorize that he was the most respected, powerful, celebrated member of the Avengers. As readers know too well, Spider-Man in the present is feared, hated and ridiculed… mostly by J. Jonah Jameson and the Daily Bugle.
While Spider-Man doesn’t travel through time in ASM #439, the reader certainly does. The reader jumps back and forth from present to future, viewing the truth of Peter’s present compared to the idealized version the future archeologists concoct.
9 Superior Spider-Man #32-33
By Dan Slott, Christos N. Gage, Giuseppe Camuncoli, John Dell, Antonio Fabela & Chris Eliopoulos
For a brief moment during Dan Slott’s original run on the series, Doctor Octopus’ Superior Spider-Man disappeared. He reappeared swearing vengeance on the unseen opponent who had just wronged him. Unfortunately, Ock’s memory of what he just experienced quickly faded. Slott returned to Superior Spider-Man during the Spider-Verse event, adding issues #32-33 to explore those unseen events.
Apparently, Ock traveled to Spider-Man 2099’s world, installed future tech into his own suit, met up with the Web Warriors to battle the Inheritors and teamed up with the Peter Parker that would reclaim his own body in Ock’s own future. The Superior/Amazing/Spider-Verse timeline is complicated, but well worth the extra research for big time-travel fans.
By Brian Reed, Eric Battle, Andrew Hennessy, Vicente Cifuentes, Bruno Hang & Dave Sharpe
After their team-up one-shot, Spider-Man 2099 Meets Spider-Man, Miguel O’Hara and Peter Parker joined forces once again in the Timestorm 2009/2099 miniseries. Alchemax, the main source of villainy in Spider-Man 2099 comics, devises a plan to destroy all superheroes in the present, resulting in Spider-Man and Wolverine traveling to the future.
There, they team up with Spider-Man 2099 to prevent Alchemax from permanently changing the past. Ironically, this isn’t even the best time-travel story starring Peter Parker and Wolverine, but it did serve as a fun miniseries that explored more of Miguel’s world, a welcome voyage in any Marvel comic that features time travel.
7 “I Killed Tomorrow”
Amazing Spider-Man #678 by Dan Slott, Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, Edgar Delgado & Joe Caramagna
Horison Labs developed technology that allowed the user to travel one day into the future. Due to specific time-travel mechanics, the person who enters the future views a world where they have disappeared for one day because they technically entered the time machine and jumped ahead 24 hours. Unfortunately, Peter Parker enters the machine and sees New York in ruin just one day earlier.
“I KIlled Tomorrow” is a fun Amazing Spider-Man issue in that it toys with various rules of time travel, but it also highlights the importance of Spider-Man. Without the wall-crawler’s constant protection, New York’s villains would surely destroy it.
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6 Spider-Man 2099 Vol. 2
By Peter David, William Sliney, Antonio Fabela & Joe Caramagna
Peter David created Spider-Man 2099, a brand-new version of the character who fit the 90s emphasis on reinvention. Migeul O’Hara is nothing like Peter Parker, and even possesses some different spider-powers, notably lacking the iconic spider-sense.
David returned to his creation for Spider-Man 2099 Vol. 2 where Miguel was trapped in Marvel’s present during the All-New, All-Different era following the events of Spider-Verse. A lot of Spider-Man media toyed with the idea of Miguel living in the future, especially the Spider-Man: Edge of Time video game. Volume two perfectly integrates Miguel into Spider-Man’s present and almost convinces readers that he belongs there.
5 Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine
By Jason Aaron, Adam Kubert, Humberto Ramos, Alex Maleev & Mico Suayan
Spider-Man once teamed up with Wolverine in a time-traveling miniseries that was far better than anyone expected. Spider-Man and Wolverine are two of the most popular Marvel heroes. From a marketing perspective, the two should headline a book together.
Character-wise, however, Peter Parker and Logan are nothing alike. Peter is young, energetic and hopeful whereas Wolverine is all anger and bad attitude. Surprisingly, Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine works. The heroes grow closer together, understanding each other and becoming great friends as they traverse Marvel’s timeline.
4 Spider-Man 2099 Meets Spider-Man
By Peter David, Rick Leonardi, Al Williamson, Steve Buccellato & Ken Lopez
Since the day Spider-Man 2099 appeared in Marvel Comics, fans expected the inevitable crossover with the Amazing Spider-Man. Miguel and Peter’s world literally collided as the heroes swapped places. Peter Parker woke up in 2099, hunted by the Public Eye while Miguel awoke in Marvel’s present.
This one-shot also featured Venom and heavily inspired the Spider-Man: Edge of Time video game that also included time-shifts with Spider-Man 2099 and Amazing. Miguel is not simply an alternate version of Peter Parker, but his own Spider-Man entirely and Marvel should craft even more time-travel adventures starring these web-heads.
3 “Happy Birthday”
Amazing Spider-Man #500 by J. Michael Straczynski, John Romita Jr., John Romita Sr., Scott Hanna, Avalon Studios & Randy Gentile
Like most centennial comics, Amazing Spider-Man #500 was a celebration of all things Spider-Man up until its publication. Marvel assembled some of their best talents to craft this issue. At the core of the “Happy Birthday” arc, Peter Parker had a rare opportunity to glimpse into his past and witness the moment the radioactive spider bit him.
Peter could have altered the past and prevented his younger self from ever becoming Spider-Man. True to his character, that decision would be irresponsible, and Peter retains his power to honor his late uncle’s wise words. As a reward, Doctor Strange gifts Peter with a few minutes to talk to his Uncle Ben in the afterlife, providing one of the most touching moments in Spider-Man comics.
2 “Amazing Fantasy”
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #301-303 by Chip Zdarsky, Joe Quinones, Joe Rivera, Jordan Gibson & Travis Lanham
Peter Parker once traveled into the past and teamed up with a younger version of himself, battling the Green Goblin in an adventure set during Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s original Amazing Spider-Man run. Appropriately titled “Amazing Fantasy,” this three-issue Peter Parker: Spectacular Spider-Man arc is better than most comics found in any B-title Spidey book.
The interactions between the young Peter Parker of Marvel’s Silver Age and the present-day Spider-Man are hilarious and completely authentic. Writer Chip Zdarsky nailed Peter’s distinct voices as he matured and evolved throughout the decades of publication. This story arc proved that Spider-Man needs more time-traveling stories.
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1 Spider-Verse
Amazing Spider-Man, Edge of Spider-Verse, Scarlet Spiders & more
Dan Slott and a collection of Marvel’s best artists joined forces to bring a Spider-Man adventure that spanned the multiverse. While the Spider-Man and Women of the Spider-Verse hop from universe to universe, they also travel through time… sort of. Each universe exists in its own bubble, with some versions of Spider-Man fighting crime in the 1600s, 1930s and 22nd century.
A team of “Web Warriors,” including Peter Parker from the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series and the Miles Morales, travel to the weirdest universes to recruit more heroes. They even enter the iconic Spider-Man ’67 universe, origin of the famous “Spider-Man pointing” meme.
Spider-Man may be a friendly neighborhood hero, but he also frequently travels through time, teaming up with Spider-Man 2099 and even Wolverine. Read More