While Thor sending Spidey out into space comes at a terrible price for both heroes. One of the more heroic actions in Avengers: Infinity War is when the plucky Peter Parker refuses to take no for an answer when told he should remain on Earth, instead hiding on a spaceship headed for danger. Though this is a stand-out moment of going against Iron Man’s instructions, eliciting gasps from the audience, there is a moment in comics where crossing a fellow Avenger leads to an entirely unwanted trip to space, courtesy of Thor.
This happens when Thor is deceived by his brother Loki into attacking Earth and its mightiest heroes. He is portrayed as a vengeful god, no longer kept in check by Thor's often forgotten duality with Dr. Donald Blake, the human spirit who humbles him and serves as a moral com. This dark turn for the God of Thunder comes in the 2010 miniseries Thor: First Thunder by Bryan J.L. Glass and Tan Eng Huat, a story that culminates with him fighting the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. The way that he and Loki easily dispatch of the Fantastic Four is ingenious - such as sending Human Torch to the land of the Frost Giants, driving Reed Richards mad, or having Sue Storm’s own force field crush her to death. What Thor does to Spider-Man, though, is on a whole other level of twisted.
In the fifth and final issue of Thor: First Thunder, Spidey tries to literally disarm Thor by yanking Mjolnir away from him. This is in addition to trying to disarm him figuratively by applying Spider-Man’s trademark wit as a secret weapon. But as Blake’s narration shows, this is a brutal version of Thor and the happy-go-lucky Webhead has no idea what he’s in for. Instead of being able to snag Thor’s hammer away from him, it is the Wallcrawler who is caught on the other end of the line. Sadly, Blake notes, “Spider-Man seeks to play games with one whose humor died along with his heart...and discovers to his horror that in space, no one can hear you quip, pun, jibe, or joke.”
Spider-Man’s motivations for being a celestial stowaway in Infinity War and for rushing an enraged Thor are the same in each instance, but the results are wildly different. A trip to space is a character high point in the MCU, proving that Peter Parker is motivated by truly heroic notions, taking Spider-Man beyond even Uncle Ben's legendary advice. In Marvel Comics, it proves deadly in a way that MCU fans are unlikely to ever see, with Blake’s terrifying notation that exposure to space causes one’s eyes to freeze and lungs to explode.
In the end, Odin rewrites reality to undo all the damage that Thor causes, bringing back the fallen heroes. This is necessary for obvious reasons, as these are iconic characters and needed to defend the Earth. It is also a huge sigh of relief in this individual case, as Spider-Man’s monstrous death in space at the hands of Thor would be an unfitting end for such a down-to-earth hero.
