Spider-Man Once Resurrected Wolverine… and Logan Hated Him for it

The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and Wolverine are two of Marvel Comics’ biggest heroes, even if they don’t always get along. Although Peter and Logan are frequent teammates, Spidey is a wisecracking, high-swinging urban vigilante, while Wolverine is a relentless and gruff black-ops soldier, so it’s no surprise they don’t always mesh well. Even so, the two Avengers have saved each other’s lives on more than one occasion – and once, Spider-Man literally brought Wolverine back from the dead.

Typically, Logan’s healing factor does that trick just fine on his own. And it’s not as if there aren’t plenty of other people fans would expect Spider-Man to resurrect first. But when Logan sacrificed his life against none other than Doctor Doom himself, one Peter Parker broke reality to bring him back in Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #3 by Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert.

With Spider-Man and his fellow Avenger Wolverine having been cast into the timestream after a bank robbery gone wrong, the unlikely duo finds themselves trapped in the far future after the fall of civilization as they know it and the rise of a mutated offshoot of humanity. Time passes and Peter and Logan find their place in this new world only to find it threatened by Doom the Living Planet – Victor Von Doom inside the body of Ego the Living Planet. Still a hero no matter the time, Logan uses a gun infused with the power of the Phoenix Force to stop Doom once and for all but gives his life in the process. Obsessed with saving his old friend, Spider-Man works tirelessly for countless hours to restore a defunct Cosmic Cube and uses it to bring Logan back to the land of the living just as his spirit finds peace alongside his mother.

After a life as tragic as his, Logan is less than pleased with being denied his eternal rest and nearly gores Spider-Man before the two are once again shunted through time, but this entire exchange presents a stark contrast between the two heroes’ motivations. Peter Parker is undoubtedly a hero who does his best to do the right thing, but his actions here shed a questionable light on just how pure his motivations really are. He uses the Cosmic Cube to bring Logan back to life, but it’s clearly more out of a sense of guilt and loneliness than it is a true sense of justice. He didn’t just bring Wolverine back from a serious injury – he ripped him away from eternal peace, and Logan was far from appreciative.

By resurrecting Wolverine, Spider-Man crossed a line, not for the good of the world, but to make himself feel better. But with everything he’s done, Logan himself is no stranger to crossing those same lines. When his loved ones are in danger, Logan’s first resort is typically one of violence. And while he may consider this habit to be an act of love it’s actually a toxic habit Wolverine can’t seem to break – and probably doesn’t want to.

Spider-Man’s idea of crossing the line means bringing back the dead. Meanwhile, Wolverine’s idea means sending someone to an early grave. Either way, both men’s egos are their primary motivating factors, even if they tell themselves otherwise. Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man and Wolverine are both still heroes, they’re just a little more selfish than they realize.

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