The Spiderman Universe or The X-Men Universe

[Castle]

I put this topic on the marvel comic forums because I did not want any unconscious bias from Xbooks and Spiderman forums.

It may have been by luck or by chance that both the Spiderman and X-Men series built an entire universe that can function on its own away from the rest of the Marvel Universe.

Between the two universes

1. Which world you like to live in

2. Which has the better world building

3. Which Universe does Marvel publishing like more or play favourite with.

4. Which is your personal favourite.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Between the two universes

1. Which would you like to live in

Obviously Spider-Man's, the most sanitized corner of the Marvel Universe. The X-Men world is one of genocide, mass murder, psychological torture, and so on. "Parker luck" has nothing on that.

2. Which has the better world building

The X-Men because it actually needs it.

3. Which Universe does Marvel publishing like more or play favourite with.

I think Marvel editorial favors Spider-Man inherently more than X-Men certainly under Quesada and his minions.

4. Which is your personal favourite.

Spider-Man's my favorite character, X-Men is my favorite team.

These two don't compete against one another. I am far more of a deep reader of Spidey than the X-Men, let's say, but when X-Men's on top it's great as it is right now under Hickman.

[Castle]

Obviously Spider-Man's, the most sanitized corner of the Marvel Universe. The X-Men world is one of genocide, mass murder, psychological torture, and so on. "Parker luck" has nothing on that.
.

Agreed.

Although I like xmen stories more because it is not centred around one character. I rather live in Spiderman's universe. xmen most times get too dark and mutants are still hated.
I also enjoy some of the other non superhero stuff of xmen like their romantic soap opera stories.

The X-Men because it actually needs it.

X-Men based on some past runs. X-men has so many characters and other teams like Xfactor, Xforce, new mutants but of recent, The Spiderman PS4 game made me appreciate Spiderman's universe in a way I have not done with xmen in years. I also prefer stand alone marvel movies not connected to MCU, So I am looking forward to more spiderverse movies when it concerns world building and more sony PS5 games

I think Marvel editorial favors Spider-Man inherently more than X-Men certainly under Quesada and his minions.

Agreed. though both had significant eras that marvel played favourites. 90s for X-Men, 60s-70s for Spiderman

Spider-Man's my favorite character, X-Men is my favorite team.

These two don't compete against one another. I am far more of a deep reader of Spidey than the X-Men, let's say, but when X-Men's on top it's great as it is right now under Hickman.

Sometime I lean towards xmen more because the world does not really have one lead character unlike spiderman that is peter parker. Me reading xmen comics sometimes is based on a character I like at the moment. I don't have a favourite xmen character. Spiderman and Mary Jane are more of my constant favourites.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Sometime I lean towards xmen more because the world does not really have one lead character unlike spiderman that is peter parker. Me reading xmen comics sometimes is based on a character I like at the moment. I don't have a favourite xmen character. Spiderman and Mary Jane are more of my constant favourites.

Spider-Man and Mary Jane is the greatest love story in comics. X-Fans will bring up Scott and Jean as their couple though I think later events have messed that up.

One frustration I have with Spider-Man and X-Men crossovers is that Marvel always pairs him with either Iceman (in the old days) and exclusively Wolverine (nowadays) but we never get much interaction between Spider-Man and Cyclops even if the two have tons in common:

Think about it, Spidey and Cyclops talk at a bar.
-- Spider-Man: I have a complex life. My parents were spies for SHIELD framed by the Red Skull and I have a "sister" called Teresa who may or may not be my sister.
-- Cyclops: My parents were kidnapped by the Shi-ar, my Mom was raped by the Emperor and gave birth to my half-brother Vulcan, and my Dad became a Space Pirate.
-- Spider-Man: There's this creepy dude in my life called Miles Warren who likes making clones of me.
-- Cyclops: I have someone like that, Nathaniel Essex, calls himself Mister Sinister.
-- Spider-Man: I got my body hijacked and used by Doctor Octopus.
-- Cyclops: That happened to me too. Apocalypse did that, sucks.
-- Spider-Man: My love life is complicated. I was in love with Gwen, then she died, I fell for MJ, we broke up, I dated Black Cat, then I got back with MJ and we married and then Mephisto came...
-- Cyclops: Let me stop you right there. Me and Jean were together, then she got possessed by Phoenix and she died. Then I got married to Maddie Pryor(who unknown to me was a Jean-clone) and she gave birth to my son, and then Jean was alive all along and I walked out of my family, got with her, and then Maddie died...yada-yada...cheated on Jean with Emma...yada yada...made out with Emma on Jean's grave...yada yada...and now I am in a poly relationship with her and Wolverine where we share a room and everything.
-- Spider-Man: Okay, you win.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

1. Am I still an average Joe in these worlds? I'm not Spider-Man or one of the X-Men, right? If that's the case, I would rather live in Spider-Man's world because it's overall much safer. There aren't as many superhumans and the ones that exist wouldn't be anywhere near as dangerous.

2. X-Men has better world building since it's practically an MU within an MU. Spider-Man's world is similar to Batman/Superman/Flash's in the sense it mostly boils down to one city.

3. Historically Spider-Man has been Marvel's favorite. Even in the post-OMD era, I would say they still favored Spider-Man due to the rights situation with Fox and and how that bled into everything.

4. Spider-Man has always been my personal favorite.

[Ravin' Ray]

Between the two universes

1. Which world you like to live in

4. Which is your personal favourite.

Spidey's. Because of his Bromance with Johnny and ties with the FF.

[WebLurker]

1. Which world you like to live in: Spider-Man's; seems relatively safer.

2. Which has the better world building: Gonna say X-Men. They have a wider range of characters and villains, backstory and whatnot. Spider-Man has always been a lot more character-driven, so there's less of a unifying mythos, if that makes any sense. X-Men could be a stand-alone franchise in a world onto itself, as the movies have shown. While adaptations have successfully told standalone stories about him, Spider-Man is tied into the larger Marvel Universe pretty implicitly (from how he's often contrasted by more experienced heroes to how he's the go-to for team-up stories).

3. Which Universe does Marvel publishing like more or play favourite with: Tricky, X-Men is one of their most successful franchises, but Spider-Man is the mascot, not to mention their most beloved character and the top comic book character of all time, with only Superman and Batman rivaling that ranking (and considering how much longer they've been around, it's kinda amazing that it's Spider-Man that gives them a run for their money and not a character with a similar level of history, like Captain America or Wonder Woman). It's not really a fair comparision.

4. Which is your personal favourite. Spider-Man, easily. I do like specific X-Men characters, comics, and movies an awful lot, but Spider-Man is my most favorite superhero of all, not to mention arguably the most rounded in terms of narrative flexibility, supporting cast, and appeal to various demographics -- not counting how side heroes like Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen have shown how to adapt the concept with other characters for different effects. Marvel caught lightning in a bottle with Spider-Man and no character made before or after is going to measure up.

[Tofali]

Between the two universes

1. Which world you like to live in
.

As a Kenyan I'd say the Spider-Man universe simply because it seems more fun, Inclusive and i wouldn't be relegated as a perpetual supporting character lol

2. Which has the better world building

Neither has a better world building. Stagnated world building is how i would describe them but potentially X-Men could have

3. Which Universe does Marvel publishing like more or play favourite with.

X-Universe. The volume published by each franchise isn't comparable

4. Which is your personal favourite.

I wanna say X-Universe but in reality i spend more of my money on Spider-Man than X-Men.

[Huntsman Spider]

Spider-Man and Mary Jane is the greatest love story in comics. X-Fans will bring up Scott and Jean as their couple though I think later events have messed that up.

One frustration I have with Spider-Man and X-Men crossovers is that Marvel always pairs him with either Iceman (in the old days) and exclusively Wolverine (nowadays) but we never get much interaction between Spider-Man and Cyclops even if the two have tons in common:

Think about it, Spidey and Cyclops talk at a bar.
-- Spider-Man: I have a complex life. My parents were spies for SHIELD framed by the Red Skull and I have a "sister" called Teresa who may or may not be my sister.
-- Cyclops: My parents were kidnapped by the Shi-ar, my Mom was raped by the Emperor and gave birth to my half-brother Vulcan, and my Dad became a Space Pirate.
-- Spider-Man: There's this creepy dude in my life called Miles Warren who likes making clones of me.
-- Cyclops: I have someone like that, Nathaniel Essex, calls himself Mister Sinister.
-- Spider-Man: I got my body hijacked and used by Doctor Octopus.
-- Cyclops: That happened to me too. Apocalypse did that, sucks.
-- Spider-Man: My love life is complicated. I was in love with Gwen, then she died, I fell for MJ, we broke up, I dated Black Cat, then I got back with MJ and we married and then Mephisto came...
-- Cyclops: Let me stop you right there. Me and Jean were together, then she got possessed by Phoenix and she died. Then I got married to Maddie Pryor(who unknown to me was a Jean-clone) and she gave birth to my son, and then Jean was alive all along and I walked out of my family, got with her, and then Maddie died...yada-yada...cheated on Jean with Emma...yada yada...made out with Emma on Jean's grave...yada yada...and now I am in a poly relationship with her and Wolverine where we share a room and everything.
-- Spider-Man: Okay, you win.

That's what I've been thinking, too. It's probably because of how they present themselves to others --- Spider-Man as the quipping, snarky jokester, Cyclops as the stoic "Fearless Leader" --- but even that can be turned into a commonality because both of those presentations are facades covering severe emotional and psychological trauma.

To answer the questions, I'd rather live in Spider-Man's world, but X-Men takes it for overall world-building, though it's no secret that Spider-Man is Marvel's ultimate favorite, as its most profitable and marketable solo character. As for my personal favorite . . . Spider-Man, hands down. I can appreciate the themes the X-Men franchise works with and focuses on, especially in context of what's (been) happening in the real world, but it gets too bleak sometimes.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

Cyclops and Spider-Man surprisingly do have a lot in common. Their biggest difference is that Spider-Man hides his trauma under a chaotic personality, and while Cyclops hides it under an orderly personality. I usually say this when comparing Spider-Man to Ms. Marvel, but maybe Cyclops is a better comparison because they're around the same age.

[LifeIsILL]

X-Men, simply because I haven't enjoyed most Spider-Man stories after 1990.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Cyclops and Spider-Man surprisingly do have a lot in common. Their biggest difference is that Spider-Man hides his trauma under a chaotic personality, and while Cyclops hides it under an orderly personality. I usually say this when comparing Spider-Man to Ms. Marvel, but maybe Cyclops is a better comparison because they're around the same age.

You should read Marvel Snapshots: X-Men which is a great look at teenage Cyclops. Quite Peter Parker-esque.

[Huntsman Spider]

You should read Marvel Snapshots: X-Men which is a great look at teenage Cyclops. Quite Peter Parker-esque.

spoilers:

Indeed, especially regarding how young/teenage Cyclops looks to Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four for heroic inspiration.

end of spoilers

[JudicatorPrime]

Granted, I'm not a mutant with paranormal abilities, unless you count my ability to survive on 3 - 4 hours of sleep a day, but I already live in the X-men's universe. Naturally, if you present to me a fantasy realm where the challenges aren't based on life in the persecuted lane, and where the lens is always from the side of ordinary folks, if not necessarily the privileged, which, make no mistake, has challenges galore, too...well, I'd probably stick with the X-universe. If I'm going to be a hero, then let me slay all dragons with the deck stacked against me.

[Castle]

Cyclops and Spider-Man surprisingly do have a lot in common. Their biggest difference is that Spider-Man hides his trauma under a chaotic personality, and while Cyclops hides it under an orderly personality. I usually say this when comparing Spider-Man to Ms. Marvel, but maybe Cyclops is a better comparison because they're around the same age.

Spider-Man and Mary Jane is the greatest love story in comics. X-Fans will bring up Scott and Jean as their couple though I think later events have messed that up.

One frustration I have with Spider-Man and X-Men crossovers is that Marvel always pairs him with either Iceman (in the old days) and exclusively Wolverine (nowadays) but we never get much interaction between Spider-Man and Cyclops even if the two have tons in common:

Think about it, Spidey and Cyclops talk at a bar.
-- Spider-Man: I have a complex life. My parents were spies for SHIELD framed by the Red Skull and I have a "sister" called Teresa who may or may not be my sister.
-- Cyclops: My parents were kidnapped by the Shi-ar, my Mom was raped by the Emperor and gave birth to my half-brother Vulcan, and my Dad became a Space Pirate.
-- Spider-Man: There's this creepy dude in my life called Miles Warren who likes making clones of me.
-- Cyclops: I have someone like that, Nathaniel Essex, calls himself Mister Sinister.
-- Spider-Man: I got my body hijacked and used by Doctor Octopus.
-- Cyclops: That happened to me too. Apocalypse did that, sucks.
-- Spider-Man: My love life is complicated. I was in love with Gwen, then she died, I fell for MJ, we broke up, I dated Black Cat, then I got back with MJ and we married and then Mephisto came...
-- Cyclops: Let me stop you right there. Me and Jean were together, then she got possessed by Phoenix and she died. Then I got married to Maddie Pryor(who unknown to me was a Jean-clone) and she gave birth to my son, and then Jean was alive all along and I walked out of my family, got with her, and then Maddie died...yada-yada...cheated on Jean with Emma...yada yada...made out with Emma on Jean's grave...yada yada...and now I am in a poly relationship with her and Wolverine where we share a room and everything.
-- Spider-Man: Okay, you win.

Agreed about Cyclops and Spiderman on personal issues. They have a lot more in common than he does with another mutant. What separates them is Cyclops is a character that a writer can have an open interpretation with, I will find it character assassination for Spiderman if Spiderman had some story arcs that Cyclops has had, however since both universes are so different and Spiderman and xmen has different heroes journeys, I am not surprised by some of the roads Cyclops has taken but those roads should be off limits with Spideman