Spider-Man and the X-Men‘s craziest team-up saw them battle… the Hindu gods. The modern Marvel Cinematic Universe is inspired by the comics, where every one of Marvel’s heroes exists in the same world. Captain America can cross paths with Blade the Vampire-Hunter, the Sub-Mariner can get into a brawl with the Mighty Thor, and Spider-Man can find himself outmatched by the Juggernaut.

One of Marvel’s most famous titles took advantage of this prospect. Every issue of the classic Marvel Team-Up book saw a major superhero – usually Spider-Man – ally with other superheroes. Sometimes they were lesser-known characters, such as Moon-Knight; on other occasions, the wall-crawler found himself fighting alongside A-listers such as the X-Men’s Second Genesis team.

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1976’s Marvel Team-Up annual is one of the craziest team-up examples. Written by Bill Mantlo and featuring art by Sal Buscema and Mike Esposito, it saw Spider-Man and the X-Men team up against the Hindu gods – sort of. A nuclear accident at an experimental laboratory had transformed a group of scientists into something beyond human. One scientist died – a Hindu named Araman Nila, who was closest to the source of the explosion. His thoughts, his mind, and his faith transformed the very essence of the other scientists, and they became avatars of the gods Nila believed in. Their number included Brahma, Shiva the Destroyer, Mara the Dreamer, Yama the Death-God, Kali the Black Madness, Vishnu the Preserver, Ratri the Night God, and Agni the Lord of Fire.

These “gods” were tremendously powerful beings, but they still retained their scientific knowledge, and as a result, understood the mystical experience they were only partway through. Unfortunately, this partially-completed process was dangerous, to themselves and to the entire world. They believed they were faced with a choice; they could draw on Earth’s energy to complete the transformation, or they could allow themselves to disintegrate on a molecular level, releasing a blast of energy that would raze the planet. Either way, they thought the Earth was doomed. So they chose survival and identified Phoenix as someone with the raw power to stabilize their condition while they transformed.

Naturally, Spider-Man and the X-Men had other ideas. The gods underestimated the heroes, imprisoning each in a stasis field uniquely attuned to their powers; but each hero used their abilities to free another, a team spirit the gods had failed to anticipate. The battle was prolonged, and the gods began to disintegrate. Fortunately, Spider-Man came up with the idea of getting the gods off-world, where they could draw on the cosmic energy found in space and complete their transformation. They piggybacked on one of Cyclops’ optic blasts, as he blasted into the heavens. There, they completed their theosis and became a new star.

1976’s Marvel Team-Up annual is undeniably one of the craziest team-ups in Marvel history. It’s also remarkably entertaining, given this was literally the first time Spider-Man had crossed paths with the Second Genesis X-Men team. The interaction between Spider-Man and Wolverine was particularly fun, with the wall-crawler’s humor leaving the Canucklehead seriously irritated. It foreshadowed many popular team-ups to come.

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Thomas Bacon
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Tom Bacon is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers, as well as a Peer Mentor for new writers and a member of the Care Team, offering support and a listening ear to members of the Comics group. A lifelong fan of major franchises including Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Marvel, Tom is delighted his childhood is back – and this time it’s cool. You can find him on Twitter @TomABacon.

A graduate of Edge Hill University, Tom remains strongly connected with his alma mater as a volunteer chaplain. He’s heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will swiftly learn he’s into British politics too.

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