Being a superhero is incredibly dangerous work and Spider-Man has very nearly been beaten to death or maimed several times by villains over the years. This has inspired a unique and hilarious training program that can be used to train the different heroes from across the Spider-Verse on how to fight villains in a safe environment.
In 2016’s Web Warriors #1 by Mike Costa and David Baldeon, readers see Spider-UK’s solution to training new Spider-hero recruits. The Web Warriors are a group that looks after universes that have lost their Spider-hero. To train new heroes against the villains they’re most likely to face, the Web Warriors simply go to the old ’60s Spider-Man cartoon universe, where they face off against trivial versions of iconic villains.
It’s here that the Web Warriors take on the Sinister Six with hilarious ease. The rules of this universe are those of the old ’60s cartoon, and the Web Warriors note just how bizarre that is. The strands of webs they shoot out seemingly attach to nothing, their webs change shape depending on the situation, such as turning into a net, and they can take most enemies down with one punch.
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The ’60s Sinister Six Were A Lot Less Sinister And A Bit More Silly
Web Warriors #1 by Mike Costa, David Baldeon, Scott Hanna, Jason Keith, and Joe Caramagna
It’s immensely important for heroes to have proper training before going out onto the field, but not everyone has access to the likes of the X-Men’s Danger Room. Some heroes try to simply get experience on the street or from training with more experienced heroes, but Spider-UK’s idea is both hilarious and fairly effective. The ’60s version of Spider-Man’s iconic villains were a lot more mellow, only concerned with generic light-hearted crimes, such as stealing from a nondescript “Science Lab.”
The villains that Spider-Man fights can be brutal. This is perhaps best seen in Ultimate Spider-Man, where that universe’s Peter Parker is hunted down and beaten to death by the Sinister Six. Not to mention in the main universe where Green Goblin kills Gwen Stacy. This is a lot darker than anything any villain in the ’60s cartoon universe ever did. It’s much easier to train against these villains, who still roughly have the same powers as their main universe counterparts, but without the intent to kill. These versions of the iconic villains are so non-threatening that Spider-Noir even comments that they don’t register on his Spider-Sense.
The Web Warriors Easily Defeat The ’60s Sinister Six
The various Spider-Men and Spider-Women across the Spider-Verse have to face life-threatening situations on an almost daily basis. They need some way to prepare for the brutal villains they’ll go up against, even if it’s just seeing how their powers work in person. The ’60s universe provides the almost perfect way for the Web Warriors to do this. It’s no surprise that a variant of Spider-Man would come up with both an effective, and hilarious, way to practice fighting some of his most deadly villains.
Web Warriors #1 is on sale now from Marvel Comics!
