One of the bigger questions as we lead up to Amazing Spider-Man #700 is just what’s going to happen once the book is rebooted as The Superior Spider-Man.
But, Marvel being in the publishing industry, it has to put out solicits, and it has to tell you SOMETHING about the book you’re going to buy. So what’s happening with the Wall Crawler?
All Signs Point To His Being Harry Osborn
Really, it’s a pretty short list for his replacement, and Marvel absolutely loves sticking a former archenemy in a hero’s costume (see also: Rulk). Kaine is busy in Houston, Flash Thompson is busy being Venom, Ben Reilly is dead, Norman Osborn is currently also dead in hiding, Matt Murdock doesn’t need to hide from the feds, T’Challa is too busy… Really, unless we’re getting into the X-crew here, Harry’s the only one who fits.
The only possible stumbling block is that he apparently hates kids, and Harry, uh, has one.
He’s On A Pretty Frantic Publishing Schedule
To say the new Spidey is all over the place is putting it mildly: Superior will be up to issue #6 by March after launching in January. He’ll also be appearing in three other books and Avenging Spider-Man (of course) on top of that. He’ll be running into and/or beating up Thor, Daredevil, Alpha (in fact he restores Alpha’s powers), the Future Foundation, and Sif, and that’s just for starters.
He’s Got Some Sort Of A History With MJ
Issue two deals with his “reuniting” with MJ. And the cover is, well, this:
MJ does not seem entirely receptive, which is a bit telling.
He Can Go Head To Head With Thor
One of the solicits for Avenging Spider-Man #18 mentions that he and Thor get into it. And since he’s not immediately squished, we’re talking a pretty tough hero, in that case.
He’s Kind Of A Douche
One thing that keeps popping up, throughout Marvel’s ad copy, is that this new Spidey might be pretty far up his own spinneret. He’s arrogant enough to go toe-to-toe with a god (see above), and the copy implies heavily that “Superior” is how he views himself. Apparently we will not be dealing with the troubled, snarky Peter Parker but a haughty, high-on-himself Spidey.
Which actually has comedic and storytelling promise, but man, that’s a switch.
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All signs except for the leak.
That it’s Miguel O’Hara?
That’d be awesome, but I just don’t buy it. Slott’s net-savvy, and he loves screwing with fans.
Not miguel. the other night, it sounded like the issue leaked and slott went on twitter immediately to say “IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED, GET OFF THE INTERNET NOW” so naturally I went looking for it. It’s not miguel, and it’s not harry.
Again, I trust NOTHING Slott says. Not that I don’t love the guy, but I have never seen a writer who takes more joy in misleading people.
Well, who is it then?
Don’t say I didn’t warn you:
[i.imgur.com]
Hrm. If this isn’t an elaborate prank, this will get ugly fast.
That seems kinda dumb. I jumped ship on Spidey shortly after Brand New Day, have I been missing anything?
Honestly? Not really. Slott’s a capable writer and he’s done some fun stuff but the book hasn’t hit much in the way of heights in a while.
:O
Its Tobey McGuire
Donald Glover gets screwed once again.
It’s Doc Ock.
I’m skeptical of that, especially since Doc Ock is apparently helping Stilt Man out with his engineering problems in Daredevil #22.
I’m seriously behind on any Spidey stuff outside of Avengers books. Two questions; 1. Why the replacement, is Parker dead? 2. How did Osborn bite it?
A) Not yet, that’s what ASM #700 is supposed to deal with and B) it turns out >I’m behind< as well: I went back to reread his last appearance and found out he wasn’t dead, just gone. I do that a lot with Norman, really at the end of every arc he either disappears or “dies”. The Joker’s got nothing on him.
Norman Osborn is not dead. He was in a coma (just lying in a regular bed, unguarded) at Columbia Hospital, when he disappeared from the bed in issue 697. The doctors rush in to find his bed empty. Who knows what that means; it’s probably just another red herring like the Alpha and Doc Ock storylines…
Yeah, I just went back, read the issue, and saw that. So he’s just hiding. Or being tormented in an underground lab.
That’s maybe the rapiest Spidey cover I’ve ever seen, I’m giving it some serious side-eye.
I just wanna know why the hell NORMAN OSBORN was placed in a general hospital. Coma or not, it’s really sloppy writing just to bring Norman back into the picture. I was really disappointed in Slott when I saw that.
I like to think police departments in comic book universes just have a standing policy of “Eh, screw it, he always escapes. Put him in whatever’s convenient.”
I still think it’s Phil Ulrich. He’s the new Hobgoblin. The old one just came back. He know’s Peter has a connection to Spider-Man (and I feel is just shy of putting the pieces together) He’s kind of a douche with women (MJ doesn’t seem too into that kiss) He’s arrogant, probably arrogant enough to pick a fight with Thor and most telling of all (to me at least) is that he too has an Uncle Ben.
Also, he was the heroic Green Goblin in the 90s and Spider-Girl’s mentor and friend. With the original Hobgoblin back there doesn’t need to be a 2nd one. If in fact Phil is working for/with the original, it could make sense to have him take on the recently vacated role of Spider-Man. He also found wall crawling tools and tech in Norman’s hide out. Of all the characters since Brand New Day started, I’d say Phil makes the most obvious choice. I never thought of Harry… but that could make sense too.
I like your logic.
I really like that theory too. Phil is one of my oddly favorite characters. Maybe it’s because I liked him back in GG days.
What sucks is that Peter will NEVER be Spider-Man again. For at least 6 months.
You think Marvel can hold out that long?
Yours….is….superior…
Fun fact, I met that guy (his name’s Judson Scott). One of the nicest people at a con I have ever met.