Comics The SUPERIOR Spider-Man

[Thwip!]

From Stegman's tumblr

 

[Donald Thomas]

the notion of "only Peter Parker is Spider-Man!" is so dumb. He is the one TRUE Spidey but that doesn't mean someone can't take on the mantle.

Spider-Man, the mantle, the costume, the idea behind being Spidey is mostly about that with great power there must also come great responsibility, as well as being able to relate to the person behind the mask in some way shape or form, doesn't mean it ALWAYS has to be Peter.

Now I'm not saying they should get rid of him, but I'm saying it is possible to accept someone else behind the mask

Aloha,
Completely agree.Giving Peter a little break will only make us want him back that much more. He is after all the only one TRUE Amazing Spider-Man.
Spidey rules

 

[Shikamaru]

The problem is this Spider-Man will be a "Batmanized" version of Spider-Man, not that it isn't Peter under the mask. This Spider-Man will be all dark and aggressive. To quote Slott, "He is no longer your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." That is the problem right there. They are changing the core, essence, and spirit of the character. Yes, there can be other people to take up the mantle of Spider-Man. Peter will always be the one true Amazing Spider-Man but that doesn't mean other people can't take up the mantle. Just like how Bruce Wayne is the one true Batman but that doesn't mean that other people can't take up the mantle for a short period of time. However, whoever takes up the mantle must still keep the spirit, legacy, and essence of the original. That is what separates people like Dick Grayson and Terry McGinnis from this new Spider-Man. When they took up the mantle of Batman, they were able to be their own unique characters will still staying true to what makes Batman Batman. This new guy that will take the mantle of Spider-Man sounds like he won't be staying true to what makes Spider-Man Spider-Man. To quote Slott yet again, "He is no longer your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He will be darker and more aggressive." There is nothing that is Spider-Man right there. That is just Batman/the Punisher (depending on whether or not this Spider-Man will kill) in a Spider-Man suit. Even Miles Morales, who was simply created due to racial pandering which Marvel openly admitted, still has the spirit, essence, and message of the character (With great power must come great responsibility) to an extent.

Some people are defending this by saying that maybe this will be Peter's Knightfall. Basically a guy taking over the mantle of Spider-Man and being all dark and killing/severely hurting innocent people and Peter coming in towards the end to retake the mantle of Spider-Man. The new guy will then rub it in his face that he was a much better Spider-Man than Peter was but Peter will prove him wrong by taking over the mantle again, with the whole message behind this entire event being that Peter is the one true Spider-Man. There are 2 problems with that theory:
1) We've seen stuff like that done in the past already. Kraven's Last Hunt is a good example.
2) They announced Peter won't be dead nor retired but will just be a secondary character. Meaning he will still be active as Spider-Man, meaning there will be no "regaining the mantle" character arc or anything similar to that, making this speculation false.

The title also bugs me. They changed the core, essence, and spirit of the character and titled him "The SUPERIOR Spider-Man". It's like they're implying that the Spider-Man that Stan Lee created is flawed and that this new Spider-Man is superior to the original. Can't say for sure that this is true but that is the vibe that I'm getting from the title and from interviews with Slott and Quesada.

The thing that bugs me the most is MJ. This is by far the biggest insult to Mary Jane and her relationship with Peter. First they say she doesn't want to be with the man she loves and has a history & close bond with (Peter) because he is Spider-Man, which makes no sense to begin with because the whole "my boyfriend is Spider-Man!" thing has already been dealt with long ago so they basically set her and their relationship back at least 20 years in development, but now she has no problem hooking up with this dark aggressive dude she probably will only meet in Superior Spider-Man #1 for the first time and doesn't give a crap that this guy is Spider-Man.

Never have I been so disgusted with their handling of MJ and her relationship with Peter. This is by far the biggest insult and slap to the face for MJ related things to the fans.


I officially give up on Spider-Man. The character is dead to me. I haven't liked most of the stuff in the 616 comics with Spider-Man since One More Day/Brand New Day and this is the last nail to the coffin. They ruined Spider-Man in the 616 comics. They killed Peter while he was still in his prime in the Ultimate comics to replace him with a character they admitted was only created for racial pandering, basically getting rid of Peter in the Ultimate comics too. Outside of the comics, Spidey isn't doing that good either. Quesada and Loeb ruined him in animation with the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, a show in which he acts the exact opposite of how Spider-Man would act (he seriously acts more like Naruto than he does as Peter Parker/Spider-Man). The Spider-Man video games are always fun to play but are not anything too great either, though I haven't played the TASM game yet but I've been hearing people say the same thing about it (a game fun to play but not anything too great). I do like the film reboot so far. I thought the first movie was the best Spider-Man movie to date and a great way to start off the new franchise.

So I'm left with just the movies for now .

 

[SpideyInATree]

How do you know that she doesn't have a problem with it? She certainly has a look of "Am I being raped right now?" look in that cover to Superior Spider-Man # 2.

 

[runawayboulder]

How does he know anything? Does he have a Delorean that he used to travel to January 2013 to read the book? And if he does, can I borrow the car for a few minutes? I have a few changes I would love to make myself.

Geez fella, calm down....

 

[Spider-Gnome]

The problem is this Spider-Man will be a "Batmanized" version of Spider-Man, not that it isn't Peter under the mask. This Spider-Man will be all dark and aggressive. To quote Slott, "He is no longer your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." That is the problem right there. They are changing the core, essence, and spirit of the character. Yes, there can be other people to take up the mantle of Spider-Man. Peter will always be the one true Amazing Spider-Man but that doesn't mean other people can't take up the mantle. Just like how Bruce Wayne is the one true Batman but that doesn't mean that other people can't take up the mantle for a short period of time. However, whoever takes up the mantle must still keep the spirit, legacy, and essence of the original. That is what separates people like Dick Grayson and Terry McGinnis from this new Spider-Man. When they took up the mantle of Batman, they were able to be their own unique characters will still staying true to what makes Batman Batman. This new guy that will take the mantle of Spider-Man sounds like he won't be staying true to what makes Spider-Man Spider-Man. To quote Slott yet again, "He is no longer your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He will be darker and more aggressive." There is nothing that is Spider-Man right there. That is just Batman/the Punisher (depending on whether or not this Spider-Man will kill) in a Spider-Man suit. Even Miles Morales, who was simply created due to racial pandering which Marvel openly admitted, still has the spirit, essence, and message of the character (With great power must come great responsibility) to an extent.

OK, this is more the thread for this stuff...

We still aren't sure what Dan means by all this. I'm not in favor of a "Batmanized" either. I didn't like it in the 90's with I Am The Spider, I wouldn't like it now. Let Batman be Batman and Spider-Man be Spider-Man. But we DON't know what Dan is doing, so I'll hold off judgement.

Some people are defending this by saying that maybe this will be Peter's Knightfall. Basically a guy taking over the mantle of Spider-Man and being all dark and killing/severely hurting innocent people and Peter coming in towards the end to retake the mantle of Spider-Man. The new guy will then rub it in his face that he was a much better Spider-Man than Peter was but Peter will prove him wrong by taking over the mantle again, with the whole message behind this entire event being that Peter is the one true Spider-Man. There are 2 problems with that theory:
1) We've seen stuff like that done in the past already. Kraven's Last Hunt is a good example.
2) They announced Peter won't be dead nor retired but will just be a secondary character. Meaning he will still be active as Spider-Man, meaning there will be no "regaining the mantle" character arc or anything similar to that, making this speculation false.

Total speculation, means nothing...

The title also bugs me. They changed the core, essence, and spirit of the character and titled him "The SUPERIOR Spider-Man". It's like they're implying that the Spider-Man that Stan Lee created is flawed and that this new Spider-Man is superior to the original. Can't say for sure that this is true but that is the vibe that I'm getting from the title and from interviews with Slott and Quesada.

Again, we don't know why he's "Superior" yet.

The thing that bugs me the most is MJ. This is by far the biggest insult to Mary Jane and her relationship with Peter. First they say she doesn't want to be with the man she loves and has a history & close bond with (Peter) because he is Spider-Man, which makes no sense to begin with because the whole "my boyfriend is Spider-Man!" thing has already been dealt with long ago so they basically set her and their relationship back at least 20 years in development, but now she has no problem hooking up with this dark aggressive dude she probably will only meet in Superior Spider-Man #1 for the first time and doesn't give a crap that this guy is Spider-Man.

Never have I been so disgusted with their handling of MJ and her relationship with Peter. This is by far the biggest insult and slap to the face for MJ related things to the fans.

I made the same comment about MJ not staying with Pete because he was Spider-Man, then MJ being with someone else who happens to be Spider-Man. Of course, once you calm down, we still don't know what was actually meant by the quote. I think this is just Dan tweaking the fan community. It will probably be something different than what we're thinking.

Outside of the comics, Spidey isn't doing that good either. Quesada and Loeb ruined him in animation with the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, a show in which he acts the exact opposite of how Spider-Man would act (he seriously acts more like Naruto than he does as Peter Parker/Spider-Man).

The only thing we seem to agree on...

So I'm left with just the movies for now .

Well enjoy it, 'cause I certainly didn't...

 

[Spider-Gnome]

How does he know anything? Does he have a Delorean that he used to travel to January 2013 to read the book? And if he does, can I borrow the car for a few minutes? I have a few changes I would love to make myself.

Geez fella, calm down....

Yeah, I haven't liked what I've heard so far, but Slott has earned my good faith, so I'll wait and see...

 

[runawayboulder]

I know right? People are acting like he's Bendis or something.....SMH.

 

[Shikamaru]

How do you know that she doesn't have a problem with it? She certainly has a look of "Am I being raped right now?" look in that cover to Superior Spider-Man # 2.

Because Marvel already announced MJ will be hooking up/dating this new Spider-Man. Last time I checked, women don't date men that rape them or men who they believe they will be raped by.

How does he know anything? Does he have a Delorean that he used to travel to January 2013 to read the book? And if he does, can I borrow the car for a few minutes? I have a few changes I would love to make myself.

Geez fella, calm down....

I'm just going by everything that was announced. Everything I brought up, including the "Batmanized" Spider-Man and MJ hooking up with this new guy, has already been announced by Marvel. I don't know whether or not this will be a good book but I am 99.9% sure this will not be a good Spider-Man book.

Let's put it this way. If DC announces tomorrow that Detective Comics is being cancelled and replaced with a book where Batman wears pink underwear on the outside, dresses in bright blue and bright yellow, and speaks in a Texas accent, do I have to wait to see whether or not the new book will stay true to the essence of Batman or can I just tell by that information released that it won't be staying true to the essence of Batman?

Let me give you an example of something that actually happened. Take DBZ fans for example. Fox announced over a year before Dragonball Evolution came out that Goku in their movie will be in high school, that he will constantly fantasize over women, and that he will have insecurities. If you're even just a small fan of DBZ, you didn't have to wait until the movie came out to know that the movie's take on Goku would completely fly in the face of the essence, character, and spirit of Goku. Going by that info alone, you would've already known that they disrespected the character.

Same thing can be applied to Spider-Man. Going by the info that he will be darker and more aggressive, that "he is no longer your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man" as Slott said, and that MJ will hook up with this new guy without giving a crap that he is Spider-Man despite not wanting to be with Peter due to that despite her already accepting his superhero life as Spider-Man for the past 20 years of continuity is enough info for me to know that this book will not stay true to the core, essence, and spirit of Spider-Man. I don't know whether this book will be good or not in general but I am 99% sure this will not be a good Spider-Man book and I have valid reasons to believe so.

 

[SpideyInATree]

Because Marvel already announced MJ will be hooking up/dating this new Spider-Man. Last time I checked, women don't date men that rape them or men who they believe they will be raped by.

My point was that you don't know what is going to happen yet. Also Slott has said MANY, MAAAANY times now that he is purposely baiting fans into things so as to NOT spoil what is going to happen between 698 to 700. I'm guessing that also counts for POST 700.

Can I understand the frustration? Absolutely. Marvel does not have a good track record at all when it comes to "big" Spider-Man events.

I'm not exactly pleased either but I'm going to reserve my anger until I actually see what happens. When they "say" she's with Spider-Man for all you know Peter "retires" being Spider-Man and he and MJ go off into the sunset. Hence they aren't exactly lying.

The thing that irks me the most about all this is the "darker" more "aggressive" Spider-Man. We don't need that. That's what books like Scarlet Spider and Venom are for.

Everything else is to be determined. Is there much hope? No, but they could actually surprise us for once and do something topped with awesome sauce.

 

[stillanerd]

Okay, the more Slott and Marvel keep saying that the Superior Spider-Man is not Peter Parker, the more convinced I'm becoming that what we're actually getting is Peter Parker abandoning his identity and faking the death of "Peter Parker" in order to continue being Spider-Man. After all, look at what has been happening to him: he inadvertently got rid of his psychic blindspot during "Spider-Island," which means now people are capable of putting together Peter and Spidey are one and the same; he's now publicly outed by the Daily Bugle as being Spider-Man's "tech guy" at Horizon Labs, which of course put a huge target on his back; and we're getting a story in which one of his greatest enemies, who literally has nothing left to lose, has figured out his secret identity. And in light of what happened after he publicly unmasked himself to entire world during Civil War, why would Peter ever risk something like that ever happening again? Maybe after whatever happens in this story, he feels he has no choice but to let "Peter Parker die." Maybe even having retractable claws and altered eye-lenses are hints that Peter, somehow, gets mutated at some point in the story that would further prevent him from going out as himself, much like the 6-arms story did way back in issue #100.

Not to mention, if Mary Jane is going to be the love interest for new Superior Spider-Man, it makes much more sense for him to still be Peter because Slott himself has been teasing the two of them getting back together--with the letters pages outright saying as much. So, it would be true "from a certain point of view" that the Superior Spider-Man is not Peter Parker because Peter Parker himself has abandoned his life as "Peter Parker."

Now I know the Doc Ock implants his mind into Peter theory is an intriguing possibility that is gaining some traction, but there's a couple of problems with this idea. First of all, assuming of course the Superior Spider-Man's retractable claws are for wall-crawling, why would Doc Ock need them? Being in Peter's body, he would already have Peter's wall-crawling powers.

Second, why would Doc Ock, from his point of view, "debase himself" by putting his consciousness into the body of his mortal enemy, even if it was the save his own life? And why would he keep up a charade that he's Spider-Man and Peter Parker, even if it was to ruin their reputations? Remember, this is someone who, the recent past, made a televised broadcast to all of New York City that he was personally controlling their electrical grid, who then later on announced to the entire world that he "solved global warming." This is someone with a massive, MASSIVE ego who craves recognition and respect and woe to anyone who doesn't acknowledge it. He is not going to allow Peter or Spider-Man to "get the credit" for something he really did. Yes, he schemes behind-the-scenes and uses subterfuge, but he wastes no time in saying "This is MY plan! I did this! And I'm going to let the whole world know it was me!"

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Yeah, I haven't liked what I've heard so far, but Slott has earned my good faith, so I'll wait and see...

I really like what Slott delivered so far, but still not willing to believe this direction is for my liking

 

[darthfury78]

Slott seems to know how long he wants to go with it. Longer than a year could be pushing it before it gets stale.

If the title does well enough, then we could see Dan Slott on this new title focusing on the new Spider-Man while Peter Parker is some where else. If they won't restore his relationship with Mary Jane, then give Betty Brant a chance at him once again.

 

[Spider-Gnome]

I really like what Slott delivered so far, but still not willing to believe this direction is for my liking

It depends what Dan is doing, but if it is something way out there, I agree with runawayboulder that it won't be permanent and he knows how things will really end up, hopefully with Pete & MJ restored as a couple.

 

[runawayboulder]

He's practically dangling it in our faces that it's not a forever thing, just an epic (at least in his mind when he conceived it) story he wants to tell.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

It depends what Dan is doing, but if it is something way out there, I agree with runawayboulder that it won't be permanent and he knows how things will really end up, hopefully with Pete & MJ restored as a couple.

Depends on how willing the current E.i.C is to keep the separation of Peter & MJ

 

[Shockdingo]

Second, why would Doc Ock, from his point of view, "debase himself" by putting his consciousness into the body of his mortal enemy, even if it was the save his own life?

As always dude, good point and good post. That is my main issue with the Ock theory. I agree with your point on maybe Pete gets altered somehow thus letting "Pete" die and Spidey live; if done well, it could be a tragic and gripping chapter in the character's history.

I've been negative about this all lately, but I just needed to vent. I'm still cautious, but I need to be patient and have faith in Dan. He's done great things on the book so far, and he did the thing I never thought I'd see, but requested: Brock going down and being a hero of an event. So, I'll give this a few issues and probably find something in there that I like...

 

[Spider-Gnome]

Depends on how willing the current E.i.C is to keep the separation of Peter & MJ

I think it's more of a marriage thing with him.

 

[runawayboulder]

Quesada was getting divorced at the time or something so he was disillusioned at the entire concept. Hopefully his fat ash got remarried by now.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Yeehs, all these different stories to why MJ and Peter are no longer married
I'll assume it'll take at least 5 more years before the marriage is restored

 

[darthfury78]

Yeehs, all these different stories to why MJ and Peter are no longer married
I'll assume it'll take at least 5 more years before the marriage is restored

Personally,
I think that as far as a relationship goes for Peter Parker, why not pair him with Betty Brant? That was a relationship that could have taken off following the aftermath of OMD/OMIT.

As for the Black Cat, I always felt that Spider-Man's relationship with a female super hero should include the following as an alternate to the Black Cat. The heroines are as follows:

Ms. Marvel
Silver Sable
Spider-Woman
She-Hulk
Psylocke
Black Widow

While I don't mind seeing MJ and Peter getting back together, I feel that Marvel should have used that moment to rebuild Peter's relationship with Betty Brant as his girlfriend once again. On the Spider-Man/Peter Parker side, his heroine relationship should go beyond the Black Cat. And yet, we got 5 years worth of wasted relationships for Peter.

Personally, I think that Peter Parker x Jessica Drew make for a better relationship than Spider-Woman x Hawkeye. I don't buy the notion that Spider-Man should not date a super heroine because it takes the away the Peter Parker side. They don't want to go there because it's too much of a distraction to the types for stories that they want to write about.

Don't you agree?

 

[Fans of Reilly]

Call me a idiot or blind because I do not see the difference in the Suit people talking about it looks normal Spider-Man suit Peter wear

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Call me a idiot or blind because I do not see the difference in the Suit people talking about it looks normal Spider-Man suit Peter wear

You could say it's basically the same, changes are mild:

• No arm stripes
• Big toe is separated in the boot, with talon extraction base under it
• Lenses look different
• Some bulging in the boots and the belt

 

[Shikamaru]

The blue was also replaced with black.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I won't count this a significant change, Erik Larsen restored it in the 90s, and it was how the costume looked in 1962 in Amazing Fantasy 15