Two versions of Spider-Man from across the Marvel Multiverse had far more fearsome transformations as a Horseman of Apocalypse.
Across time, the nigh-indestructible mutant Apocalypse had corrupted various figures into his soldiers and turned the greatest of them into his Horsemen — and while many of them were mutants, there have been exceptions. In some realities, this extended to one particular wall-crawler, creating some of the most frightening versions of Spider-Man ever. Throughout the Marvel Multiverse, two versions of Spider-Man were transformed into Pestilence, one of the Horsemen of Apocalypse.
The 2005 Cable/Deadpool storyline “Enema of the State” by Fabian Nicieza and Patrick Zircher saw Deadpool, Cannonball and Siryn traveling across the Marvel multiverse in search of a dimensionally-displaced Cable. The realities visited by the trio included one world that had completely fallen under the rule of Apocalypse. Shortly after arriving, Deadpool found himself facing off with a version of Archangel who had fully embraced his role as Death. The other Horsemen included two mutants — Blob as Famine and Cable as War — along with a twisted and mutated version of Spider-Man, who’d become the Horseman Pestilence. This Peter Parker clearly spent some time as Spider-Man, considering his costume, but he also developed a new set of arms at some point and legs that he never eliminated.
Deadpool was able to counter Death with ease, but Pestilence quickly proves more tricky with a series of web-shooters from his multiple arms and legs allowing him to quickly tie up Deadpool. Pestilence seems to be a fully corrupted version of Spider-Man, with the former hero even threatening to “suck the marrow” from Deadpool’s bones. Luckily, the arrival of Cannonball gives the group a quick edge, with Cannonball proving fast enough to catch Pestilence off-guard despite his Spider-Senses. Ultimately, the trio doesn’t fully defeat the Horsemen so much as avoid them long enough for Deadpool to activate a body slide to help them escape, leaving this dark version of Peter Parker in this world.
This isn’t the only version of Spider-Man who’s ever appeared to be corrupted by Apocalypse, either. “Next Avengers” from 2010’s Avengers #1-6 by Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr. centered around the team viewing possible futures after being informed by Kang the Conqueror that a version of their children from the future had endangered the entirety of their reality. After working to create a space-time continuum viewer, the Avengers were able to glimpse a series of possible futures. However, due to the broken nature of the time-stream when the Avengers did this, a number of possible timelines began crashing into the main Marvel Universe. In one such reality, another Apocalypse had conquered the world alongside one of the most fearsome incarnations of his Horsemen ever.
After recruiting mutants and major heroes from across the Marvel Universe, this version of Apocalypse was able to turn his world’s versions of Red Hulk into War, Wolverine into Death, Scarlet Witch into Famine and Spider-Man into Pestilence. Unlike his other corrupted incarnation, which at least kept a human-like appearance and remained in a Spider-Man uniform, this corrupted Horseman is far more overtly monstrous. Like all the other Horsemen, this version of Spider-Man was effectively a centaur, fused with a flying horse-like creature as the bottom half of their body. Draped in a pure white form, this Spider-Man had developed razor-sharp fingers and a set of six spider-like appendages on his back that could extend and transform into weapons, similar to a symbiote.
Spider-Man’s grotesque appearance seems to indicate that he became one with a symbiote and broken by Apocalypse in this reality. Almost every version of the character that has ever appeared has been a chatterbox, but this Spider-Man is silent as it lashes out at Captain America and Hawkeye, brushing off attacks with ease. This version of Spider-Man might be one of the most frightening in the Marvel Multiverse. And if his cameo alongside his fellow Horsemen during a reality-hopping storyline in All-New X-Men is any indication, he’s still out there, menacing some unlucky corner of the multiverse.
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