How Strong Is Spider-Man?

By VeVe Staff · November 12, 2025

Spider-Man’s strength has been a point of fascination for Marvel fans for decades. We know he has “the proportional strength of a spider,” but what does that actually mean? 

It turns out that Peter Parker is much stronger than his witty quips and lean frame might suggest. From official guidebook numbers to jaw-dropping feats in the comics, let’s break down just how strong the masked menace really is, and how he uses that power in practice.

The Official Answer: Class 10 Strength

According to Marvel’s official profiles, Spider-Man can lift around 10 tons under optimal conditions. In other words, Spidey can press approximately 20,000 pounds overhead – roughly the weight of a school bus or 5-6 average cars at once. This puts him well beyond any ordinary human. For comparison, Captain America can bench-press about 1,200 lbs at most, and Olympic weightlifters max out under 1,000 lbs. 

The classic Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe classified Spider-Man’s strength as “Class 10,” meaning about ‘10 tons of lift’. Some updated sources even nudge his baseline upward into the 15–25 ton range, reflecting that over the years Peter’s powers have grown slightly with experience. But generally, “10 tons” is the number long associated with Spider-Man’s raw strength level.

In practical terms, that means Spider-Man’s strength can effortlessly toss cars, punch clean through brick walls, and hoist construction equipment or small trucks without straining. Ever wonder how he’s able to stop a speeding car with his webs or pin down the likes of the Lizard or Rhino in hand-to-hand combat? It’s because even at “only” Class 10, the wall-crawler is packing the kind of muscle that dwarfs nearly any non-superhuman. Importantly, that is his safe upper limit in normal conditions, but it’s not an absolute ceiling. As we’ll see, Spider-Man has a knack for exceeding his supposed limits when push comes to shove.

Spider-Man’s Feats That Push the Limits

In the comics, writers often showcase Spider-Man’s strength well beyond that 10-ton mark, especially when he’s fighting for something or someone important. Time and again, Peter digs deep and finds out he’s stronger than even he realized. These moments usually come when lives are on the line or when Spider-Man is under extreme stress. Marvel’s own strength scale notes that characters like Spider-Man can lift more than their stated weight limit under stress, and indeed Spider-Man has moved “thousands of tons” on rare occasions when pushed to the brink.

Some of Spider-Man’s most famous strength feats include:

• Lifting Tons of Wreckage: In Amazing Spider-Man #33 (1966), Spider-Man is trapped under “tons of iron” debris in a flooded hideout and appears completely beaten. But remembering his Aunt May’s life is at stake, he summons the strength to lift the giant metal machinery off himself through sheer willpower. It’s an iconic scene with five full comic pages of him straining, refusing to give up, until he hoists the massive rubble and frees himself. This early Stan Lee/Steve Ditko moment illustrated that Spider-Man’s strength can push limits when it truly counts.
  
  
• Supporting a Collapsing Building: On one occasion, Spiderman #98,  Spider-Man literally prevented a multi-story building from collapsing by acting as a human support beam. During a fierce battle, an explosion left the Daily Bugle building’s structure failing. Spidey wedged himself under a critical support and held up the building long enough for people to evacuate. The weight he supported was astronomical – analyses estimate the Daily Bugle is about 50 stories tall and weighs hundreds of thousands of tons. In fact, Spider-Man later quipped that holding it was like bearing “half of Manhattan.”
  
  
• Stopping a Runaway Train (and More): Spider-Man has performed the classic “hold together a wreck” stunt a few times. He braced a collapsing ceiling weighing dozens of tons, held up a derailed train car loaded with passengers, and even helped support a falling ferris wheel. These instances show that while 10 tons might be his normal max, he can handle 40–50+ ton loads in crisis moments, especially with leverage or webs to assist. In one story Spider-Man was badly hurt yet still managed to push a 5,000-ton ferris wheel to prevent it from crushing bystanders, with the lethal protector Eddie Brock aiding him.
• Punching Above His Class: Spider-Man’s punches pack a wallop. Famously, in Amazing Spider-Man #270, he went toe-to-toe with Firelord, a former herald of Galactus. By all accounts Firelord is far beyond Spider-Man’s strength, yet Spidey, fueled by determination and anger, beat him into submission in a frenzied fight. It defied logic, but it demonstrated that when Spider-Man really cuts loose, he hits extremely hard. Likewise, he has staggered heavyweights like the Juggernaut and even briefly stunned the Hulk on rare occasions. These are characters way above Spider-Man’s weight class, yet his combination of agility, speed, and surprising strength allows him to punch up effectively.
  
  

As these examples show, Spider-Man’s strength reserve goes well beyond the textbooks. Marvel’s handbooks might say “10 tons,” but in-story we’ve seen him lift 50, 100, even 200+ tons when pushed to the brink. Of course, those are extraordinary moments – not his day-to-day capabilities. Still, it’s evidence that the ceiling on Spider-Man’s strength is higher than many people think. When the chips are down and innocent lives are at stake, Spider-Man has been known to perform feats that make even the Avengers shake their heads in disbelief.

Stronger Than Many Heroes, But Not the Strongest

Where does this put Spider-Man in the hierarchy of Marvel heroes? 

In short, he’s a solid mid-tier powerhouse. Spider-Man’s strength is unquestionably the strongest in the “street-level” category – far above folks like Daredevil, Punisher, or Captain America in raw might. Captain America, for instance, is peak-human and can lift around 1,000–1,200 lbs at most; Spider-Man can lift roughly 20 times that on a normal day, and far more in a pinch. He’s casually overpowered characters like Scorpion, who themselves are super-strong. In one instance, Peter punched the Scorpion so hard he tore Scorpion’s jaw off – illustrating that Spidey usually pulls his punches against normal villains, because his full-strength blows would be lethal. 

However, Spider-Man’s strength isn’t in the top echelon when compared to Marvel’s true powerhouses. Heroes like Thor, Hercules, the Hulk, or even the Thing operate on a whole different level. Those characters are often rated well above the 100-ton class. 

Even a calm Hulk can press at least 70–100 tons, and an angry Hulk’s strength is theoretically limitless. Thor routinely wrestles gods and monsters; lifting a building or tank is trivial to him. By contrast, Spider-Man strains to lift something like a semi truck or small plane, on the order of 30–50 tons in stories. So while Spidey is stronger than 90% of Marvel heroes, he’s not usually counted among the “heavy hitters”.

It’s also worth mentioning that Spider-Man’s strength is augmented by his other abilities. His super-agility, balance and reflexes mean he can leverage his strength more effectively in combat. And his webbing often multiplies his effective strength. For example, using web strands to bind heavy objects or create leverage. We’ve seen Spidey stop a speeding train or ferry by anchoring it with webs to sturdy structures, effectively using his tensile web strength to do what even his muscles couldn’t alone. So in many scenarios, Spider-Man’s clever use of powers lets him punch above his weight class and tackle threats that pure brawns alone might not handle.

Strength Tempered by Responsibility

One of the most interesting aspects of Spider-Man’s strength is how selectively he uses it. Peter Parker’s usually holding back significantly in fights. Spider-Man knows that if he punched a normal person with even a fraction of his full strength, he could kill or maim them. So he exercises restraint, pulling his punches and using just enough force to disable his enemies without crossing a line. This is part of his moral code, “with great power comes great responsibility” applies quite literally to his physical power.

The result is that some foes underestimate Spider-Man’s strength or believe they can match him, because he often seems to be only a bit stronger than a strong human. The truth is he’s usually calibrating his strength output carefully. A great example of this comes from the Back in Black storyline: After Aunt May is gravely wounded, a furious Peter dons the black suit and goes after the Kingpin of crime, Wilson Fisk. Kingpin is a peak-humanly strong man, but nowhere near Spider-Man’s strength. In their confrontation, Spider-Man abandons his usual restraint. Fueled by rage, he fights far more brutally than normal – breaking bones and absolutely manhandling Kingpin, who had never seen Spidey cut loose like that. Fisk is stunned and terrified when he realizes how much stronger Spider-Man really is than the friendly neighborhood hero he’s used to. Peter even states that this time he isn’t holding back and could kill Fisk with ease. This incident highlights that if Spider-Man didn’t pull his punches, many of his rogues wouldn’t stand a chance.

There’s also the factor of fatigue and injury. Spider-Man’s super-strength is impressive, but it’s finite. When he performs those huge feats, he often mentions afterwards that he’s completely exhausted or even injured. His muscles can tear, his bones can break, just at higher thresholds than ours. For instance, after supporting the Daily Bugle’s remains for a short time, Peter collapses in utter agony.

Finally, we should note that Spider-Man’s strength has evolved a bit over time . In some storylines or alternate versions, he’s even stronger. 

During the brief period he gained the cosmic Uni-Power (becoming “Captain Universe” Spider-Man), he could tap into virtually unlimited strength. My personal favourite was when he punched the Hulk into orbit during that saga! In the core continuity, Peter’s strength stays within a defined range. Some modern comics imply he’s gotten a bit stronger than his teenage self, perhaps able to press 15 or 20 tons now. Regardless, he remains in that sweet spot where he’s strong enough to lift a tank, but weak enough to struggle with a collapsing building, which actually makes for very dynamic, relatable stories. He’s not invincible, he has to sweat and struggle, and that’s one reason fans love him.

How Many Tons Can Spider-Man Lift?

So, how strong is Spider-Man?

In summary, Spider-Man is strong enough to lift in the 10–20 ton range under normal conditions, and vastly more when adrenaline kicks in and circumstances demand it. 

He’s physically superior to almost any street-level hero or villain, often by an order of magnitude. Those who underestimate his strength usually find themselves webbed up under a pile of wreckage in short order. Yet, he’s not on the level of the truly godlike characters.

But he doesn’t need to be. Spider-Man’s strength is “just right” for the role he plays: powerful but still grounded.

What truly defines Spider-Man is how he chooses to use that strength. He holds back when he must, pushes past his limits when lives are at stake, and always remembers that with great power… you know the rest. 

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