Batman vs Spider-Man: Who wins between comic's greatest heroes?

Comic book fights are among the best to debate. Two names that come up when the "who would win..." debate emerges are Spider-Man and Batman. They’ve been around for decades, their movies are usually box office hits, and their merchandise sells out of stores. They’re also among the most accomplished comic book heroes ever and their popularity goes beyond their content.

In my opinion, Batman is the winner. Spider-Man may have a few things over the Caped Crusader, but the Wall-Crawler would eventually lose. However, Whatever a Spider Can expert Juan Diego Arriola Wundram thinks otherwise. So let’s discuss. Caped Crusades will debate for The Dark Knight while Whatever a Spider Can argues for Your Friendly Neighborhood Menace.

Technology advantage: Batman

Batman is a hero without powers fighting alongside and against people considered gods. That forces him to make up for his inadequacies with technology. It’s why he has a bunch of gadgets in his belt and hidden in random places throughout his costume. Even the bat ears in his mask have multiple uses. Peter has made impressive tech, but Batman uses more daily than Spider-Man in a month.

Intelligence advantage: Spider-Man

With or without his vast wealth, in engineering, Bruce Wayne understands technology that Peter Parker doesn’t. As was mentioned above, it's out of necessity. However, Peter is smarter. There are things that Peter comprehends that Bruce never will.

In Marvel Knights Spider-Man No. 15. Hank Pym learned that Peter created his Spider-Tracers based on his Spider-Sense as a teenager. Pym uses similar tech with his Ant-Man helmet and it took him years to figure out. Hank immediately wonders why Spider-Man spends his time "punching thugs" when he can do things like this.

Would Bruce figure out how to create something like a Spider-Tracer? He would and probably has already. But not to the degree that Peter has. It also wouldn't be as accurate.

Physical advantage: Spider-Man

It goes without saying that Spider-Man is vastly stronger than Batman. You can put Bruce in the giant armor he used against the Court of Owls’ talons and it wouldn’t be enough. Spidey would rip him out of it. There’s also Peter’s edge in durability, speed, and agility. On top of that, it's unclear if we've ever seen the limit of Peter's strength. He tends to hold back against people without superhuman abilities.

Brutality advantage: Batman

Spider-Man has his moments where he’s downright scary. For example, when Peter Parker goes to fight Wilson Fisk (Amazing Spider-Man No. 542), we see a more determined and angrier Peter Parker. The problem is it takes something emotional for Spidey to get to that point. Batman goes that hard against villains regularly. He doesn’t need an excuse to break someone’s limbs, especially when the person has a major physical advantage like Peter Parker does. 

Preparation advantage: Batman

Whenever someone talks about comic book prep time, Batman is the person they’re thinking about. He’s also the winner of every competition when preparation is the caveat. That's why people always ask, "With or without prep time?" when bringing up comic book battles.

Spider-Man is no slouch in this department. He has some “just in case” webbing for various situations. Nevertheless, no one takes preventive measures like Batman. A perfect example is JLA: Tower of Babel when we learn that the Dark Knight has plans to take out the Justice League. Peter works better with his back against the wall and doesn't have time to consider the consequences.

The more powerful villains: Spider-Man

Spider-Man doesn’t have a lot of villains without superhuman abilities. Even the ones who don’t come with some sort of physical enhancement via surgery or armor. Batman’s strongest enemies are Solomon Grundy, Clayface, and Mr. Freeze. Spidey has the Inheritors (who are Hulk-level strong), Green Goblin, Venom, Lizard, Electro, and more.

Bats fights Darkseid and other godlike people sometimes, but he knows he's outmatched in those situations. We've seen Spider-Man battle people above his pay grade often. He's doing so currently in 8 Deaths of Spider-Man.

The smarter villains: Batman

Peter has some genius enemies, but they aren’t on this level. If you look at the list of The Dark Knight's antagonists you’ll a good amount of doctors. Victor Fries, Pamela Isley, Hugo Strange, and Jonathan Crane are only some of them.

Then you have the self-taught ones like Joker who know more about chemicals than anyone. During Batman: Death of the Family (a New 52 story), Joker created an original element symbol called “Ha.” Norman Osborn is a genius in this field, but he's not touching the Clown Prince of Crime in this category.

The tougher villains: Batman

Because most of the antagonists The Caped Crusader faces are regular people, they have to be tougher. They’re competing against other criminals just like them. That’s why you can look at someone like The Penguin or Two-Face and understand why they’ve stayed alive. Without the ability to bend steel or run at superspeeds, you have to be physically resilient. It also helps that you eventually develop a high pain tolerance when a guy dressed like a bat is always punching you.

Team advantage: Batman

Sure, Spider-Man can call on Thor, Wolverine, the Fantastic Four, and more. The problem is he doesn’t. They only get involved if they see him getting brutally beaten. There have been times he’s almost died because he was too proud, stubborn, or self-conscious to ask for help.

Bruce is known for being stuck in his ways and is an Olympic-level brooder. However, recently, he’s been asking for help more often than ever. He’s finally understanding that he can’t do everything by himself. That’s how Zur-En-Arrh beat him. He knows that one of Bruce’s greatest strengths is relying on the Bat-Family. It's also why Bruce fell apart after Alfred died.

Fighting advantage: Even

When it comes to fighting styles, there are maybe five people who know more than Batman and Spider-Man isn’t one of them. On the other hand, fighting isn’t all about knowing a specific discipline. Spidey knows a few, but his skills come from being in more battles than most comic book characters. This is why they both have a fairly even understanding of what their opponents will do in a brawl. Spidey’s is more intuitive while Bats’ is reading a person’s body language.

Winner: Batman

At the end of the day, The Dark Knight will take the win. There are too many factors that lead to Gotham City’s savior not coming out on top. Bruce Wayne has the smarter and tougher villains and he beats them without superpowers. That makes his heroics more impressive. He has a better reserve of teammates and he isn’t afraid to get them involved. And, since this is a Batman-centric website, there’s going to be some bias. Thankfully, Whatever a Spider Can will debate the other side of things. Make sure you check out their article when it comes out.

Who do you think would win between Spider-Man and Batman? Are you voting by popularity or comic book knowledge? Let us know on the Bam Smack Pow Blue Sky, Instagram, and Twitter.