2013 was the year of Superior Spider-Man. In an unexpected turn of events, Dan Slott managed to convince Marvel to let Dr. Octopus switch bodies with Peter Parker and kill him off, allowing him to take over as the Unfriendly Metropolitan Spider-Man for over a year – a ballsy move, to be sure. However, as soon as it became clear that this was a long-term story arc, the most obvious point in which Peter Parker would make his inevitable return to web-slinging was early 2014, in anticipation of Amazing Spider-Man 2’s theatrical release. Yet, people still seemed to think that Superior was going to go on forever… possibly because Slott may have said some words to that effect, but he’s also established himself as a merry prankster who likes to mess with fan expectations.
Marvel has now announced the return of Peter Parker this March in a new Amazing Spider-Man #1 (relax, numbering fans, when it hits big shiny round numbers, they’ll tell you it’s #800, etc.) with Slott and Humberto Ramos, and some people still seem to be responding as though this wasn’t a foregone conclusion.
“I’ve been a Spider-Man fan since I was eight years old. Of COURSE I want to see Peter back! He is the one, true Spider-Man,” says Slott. He even told Crave Online on The Book Report podcast that he never wanted to stop writing Spider-Man. How will he come back? Well, we know his spectral presence remained in his mind for the first nine issues of Superior Spider-Man, and a little while ago, we saw that presence re-emerge from being buried in Otto’s subconscious, but Slott says it’s apparently not going to be easy as all that. In fact, he’ll return “in a strange and terrifying way. And… possibly… at a very great cost. Remember, nothing is ever easy for Peter Parker. It’s one of the reasons he’s a true hero.”
Jerome Opena Variant
In retrospect, it may seem obvious to everyone that this was going to happen, but were you genuinely surprised to learn that Superior was going to come to an end, or are you just happy about it? Or not? Superior Spider-Man was our favorite superhero book of last year, because it was such a gutsy call and was consistently entertaining while always doing unexpected things. We knew it had to end eventually, but it’s been a hell of an interesting ride… and dare we hope that Doc Ock manages to carry on in some kind of spider-form? He’s just too good.
Marcos Martin variant
And what exactly IS that ‘terrifying strange’ way that he’ll be returning. Oh, wait. “Strange.” That can only mean Dr. Strange – another thing we kind of expected as soon as we started dealing with Peter’s “astral form.” Still, even if we can see stuff coming, Slott’s been so good at making the expected unexpected that he’s apparently managed to surprise people with Peter Parker’s return, which was the most obvious thing ever. I suppose the surprise may have come more from just how long Superior lasted. The big question beyond his return is now ‘how in the world will Peter Parker clean up the mess that Otto Octavius made of his entire life?’
THAT is what I’m sure will actually surprise me.
