Spider-Man & Wolverine Reunites Marvel's Two Greatest Icons

Spider-Man and Wolverine are undoubtedly the 2 biggest characters astatine Marvel Comics, but it’s not often that their paths straight cross. Even during that precise little play erstwhile Peter Parker was a teacher astatine the Jean Grey Institute, Logan was enjoying the saccharine clasp of death. So it’s a beauteous large woody that Marvel has revealed a caller monthly team-up bid called Spider-Man & Wolverine.

Why are these 2 iconic heroes joining forces? What menace is truthful large that it requires some Spidey and Wolverine to combat it? And tin these 2 fiery personalities enactment speech their differences agelong capable to get the occupation done? IGN spoke with writer Marc Guggenheim and creator Kaare Andrews via email to larn much astir the caller series. First, cheque retired an exclusive preview of Spider-Man & Wolverine #1 below, and past work connected to spot what they had to say.

The Legacy of Spider-Man vs. Wolverine

Apart from the occasional large crossover similar 1984’s Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, Spider-Man and Wolverine didn’t person a agelong way grounds of teaming up successful the archetypal respective decades of their Marvel careers. That lone truly changed with 1987’s Spider-Man vs. Wolverine, a acheronian crossover peculiar that ends connected a peculiarly bleak enactment for Peter Parker. That contented acceptable the code for each Spider-Man/Wolverine team-up that followed.

Given its lofty status, we were funny if Guggenheim and Andrews felt astatine each intimidated successful taking connected this assignment. How agelong a shadiness does Spider-Man vs. Wolverine formed implicit this caller series?

“I’m a immense instrumentality of the 1987 one-shot,” Guggenheim tells IGN. “I loved it arsenic a kid and it truly near an content connected me. I wouldn’t say, however, that I’ve recovered myself intimidated by it. It whitethorn acceptable a barroom successful presumption of quality, but it’s precise tonally antithetic from what I’m trying to do. (Though contented #2 features a beauteous bonkers combat betwixt Peter and Logan.)”

“You know, I conscionable don’t look astatine beingness arsenic a bid of intimidations,” Andrews says. “I look astatine everything arsenic accidental and risk—and the bigger the opportunity, the bigger the hazard that is required. And I’m perpetually betting the slope connected immoderate I’m doing. Not each endeavor works with that benignant of instinct, but comics does. And this is wherefore comics tin beryllium the top occupation successful the world. You make your ain risks, are seldom held backmost from leaping disconnected of gangly objects, and the crashing and tumbling to the level is the vigor it takes to gully the work—to archer the stories.”

Andrews continues, “I loved that archetypal publication and was ever haunted by the tiny sheet series astatine the extremity of the story, the aforesaid images that haunted Peter Parker. A repeated sheet that lingers with Peter aft the occupation is done. That’s axenic comics language. You can’t replicate it successful immoderate different medium. If anything, I’m looking to beryllium inspired by that consciousness memory, that residue. I’m looking for caller ways to permission our readers with that aforesaid haunting. Maybe not successful the aforesaid way—but successful immoderate way. Thank God I loved that comic truthful much. It makes it a joyousness to instrumentality connected these pages and existent benchmark to not conscionable hit—but astatine immoderate accidental to better. Nothing would beryllium worse than not being inspired, than not having risks, than not measuring yourself up against everything you love. Working to exhaustion connected projects with precocious risk/rewards is simply a acquisition that comics gives me. I emotion this thing. This medium. This language.”

Neither creator is simply a alien to Spider-Man oregon Wolverine astatine this point. For his part, Guggenheim worked connected some the ongoing Wolverine and Amazing Spider-Man comics successful the ‘00s, including serving arsenic 1 of the rotating writers connected Marvel’s arguable Spider-Man Brand New Day inaugural (the inspiration down the adjacent MCU Spider-Man movie). Is it hard to settee backmost successful with these characters aft immoderate clip away? Has either Peter oregon Logan truly changed successful that time? As Guggenheim reveals, he’s the 1 that’s truly changed implicit the years.

“I don’t deliberation Peter and Logan person changed each that overmuch since I archetypal wrote them,” Guggenheim says. “What’s genuinely antithetic is however overmuch I’ve changed arsenic a writer. I wrote Spider-Man and Wolverine precise aboriginal successful my penning vocation and I consciousness similar I’ve evolved immeasurably since those aboriginal days. One of the appeals of this task for maine is the accidental to revisit these 2 icons as, rather frankly, a amended writer.”

Whether oregon not Andrews is simply a amended creator than helium was 2 decades ago, he’s surely a antithetic one. One of the hallmarks of Andrews’ creation benignant is that helium has nary acceptable style. His enactment evolves and shifts with each caller project. But arsenic Andrews explains, Spider-Man & Wolverine is simply a lawsuit of him revisiting an earlier epoch of Marvel, drafting inspiration from the comics helium loved arsenic a young reader.

“You know, my favourite martial creator was Bruce Lee,” Andrews says. “And what Bruce did to revolutionize martial arts was to some wantonness and harvester styles. To make ‘All Styles Combat’. And that’s however I presumption artmaking. One clip it’s Judo, 1 clip it’s Greco-American Wrestling, 1 clip it’s Kung-Fu oregon Boxing. And astatine the aforesaid clip I cognize it’s the ‘wrong way’ to bash this job. How bash you physique a fanbase by perpetually changing? But I’ve ne'er truly been funny successful gathering fanbases. I’m funny successful ART. I’m funny successful IDEAS. I’m funny successful THE NEW. And sometimes the ‘new’ is simply a revitalization of the ‘old.’ A loop back. You know, I’ve ever been experimental—wanting to zig portion the satellite zags. And for a while, that meant my comic creation became beauteous retired there. But present each comic seems a small retired there. And I’ve recovered the astir subversive, the astir breathtaking pouch for maine is this instrumentality to the kinds of comic creation I grew up reading. A benignant of ‘retro-nouveau’.”

Andrews continues, “At the moment, I’m funny successful the benignant of comic creation that utilized to deed maine close successful the middle. Not a recreation of thing successful peculiar but an inspiration of however I remembered those books. And it’s not nostalgia. It’s not homage. It’s life. It’s taking chances and doing the incorrect happening due to the fact that it feels right. If you’ve been pursuing immoderate of my covers for the past mates of years, it’s successful enactment with those. And you know, those covers—I started doing them arsenic a benignant of exploration of the past. Of my past. Comics. Fandom. And I recovered truthful overmuch joy, truthful overmuch energy, truthful overmuch ‘taboo’ that that vigor has benignant of taken implicit my assemblage and I’m conscionable radiating with it. For now. Because everything changes. Everything grows. And yet dies. But until then—you spell to LIVE, baby. Whatever that means to you. LIVE.”

Spider-Man and Wolverine’s Dynamic

Peter Parker and Logan person surely had a rocky narration implicit the years. They’ve been astatine each other’s throats, they’ve been chap Avengers, and they adjacent went connected a cross-dimensional caper unneurotic successful Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert’s Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine. But wherever bash things basal these days? How is the dynamic betwixt these heroes successful 2025?

“Well, the quality portion of teaming up Wolverine and Spider-Man is that adjacent erstwhile they’re allies, there’s friction. It’s similar a buddy enactment comedy,” Guggenheim says. “That being said, there’s thing that causes much than friction betwixt Peter and Logan. It’s really alternatively combustible. Expect a batch of fireworks.”

“You cognize there’ll beryllium immoderate friction. You cognize they’ll beryllium allies, they’ll beryllium foes, they’ll beryllium a team-up and against,” Andrews adds. “But wherefore this time? Why this book? How galore times tin we squad up Wolverine and Spider-Man and marque it meaningful? I volition archer you this. These are my 2 favourite Marvel heroes successful existence. I person ne'er drawn them unneurotic before. Never told stories with them before. And this 1 volition beryllium special. We are telling stories I didn’t deliberation they’d let america to tell. This is the new. This is the real. If you emotion comics oregon person loved comics you NEED to prime up this book.”

As acold arsenic what brings the 2 characters unneurotic again, Guggenheim teases, “The communicative gets kickstarted by thing called ‘the Janus Directory’ — a broad database of the existent identities of each undercover operative successful the satellite going backmost decades. Without spoiling things, I tin accidental that Peter and Logan some person precise bully reasons to privation to support the Directory retired of force hands.”

Wolverine is practically the poster kid for superheroes with shadowy pasts, and adjacent the Parker household has a fewer skeletons successful its closet astatine this point. Marvel has teased that the caller bid volition delve into some characters’ respective pasts, but Guggenheim confirms that readers needn’t interest astir being well-versed successful the past of either hero. Spider-Man & Wolverine volition beryllium exploring caller revelations surrounding these characters, not returning to the Weapon X well.

“[It’s] not truly thing I tin spell into excessively overmuch item astir astatine the moment,” Guggenheim says. That being said, my attack to continuity — Peter and Logan’s respective pasts, specifically — is designed to beryllium wholly caller reader-friendly. Whenever we notation the past, we’ll bash much than notation it — we’ll amusement it. No homework required.”

In general, Spider-Man & Wolverine is designed to beryllium arsenic accessible arsenic imaginable to Marvel newcomers. While the bid volition bespeak each character’s existent presumption quo, arsenic established successful the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man relaunch and Marvel’s X-Men: From the Ashes initiative, it’s telling a standalone communicative that lone requires a basal familiarity with Spider-Man and Wolverine.

“We’ll decidedly beryllium referencing what’s happening successful the genitor titles — Peter’s existent woman shows up successful Issue 1, for illustration — but this bid is truly designed to beryllium enjoyed connected its own,” Guggenheim says. “It’s not wholly an ‘evergreen’ but that’s the wide attack we’re taking with it. We truly privation this bid to beryllium capable to basal connected its ain and basal the trial of time. No pressure, obviously.”

Spider-Man & Wolverine #1 volition beryllium released connected May 7, 2025.

Guggenheim is keeping plentifulness engaged this year. He precocious launched the caller Prequel-era bid Star Wars: Jedi Knights and is making his debut astatine Comixology aboriginal successful 2025.

Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by following @jschedeen connected BlueSky.