*Keep in mind that while Spiderman is perhaps my favorite super hero right along Captain America, I definitely understand what happened here. The thoughts here are mine and mine alone though I’m willing to bet that in the end you’ll agree with me. So with that, carry on.*
And what can I say that we didn’t already suspect. Marvel has now killed off Peter Park from both the Ultimate and 616 universe, but this time they did it differently. As much as I sit here now saying that I don’t believe they did this and how much I say I probably won’t read the comic , after everything that has transpired I can likely say I’ll be reading it more than anything.
Why? Well if you haven’t ready both Amazing Spiderman #700 and Avenging Spiderman 15.1, then this will be a spoiler so only like on the “Read More” if you’re ready.
As I was saying, it seems that Marvel is trying to make it seem that they won’t to focus less on who the person is under the suit vs who is seen as the hero. Sure I may be off on this but after reading this two recent issues you can definitely see this. In both Amazing Spiderman & Avenging Spiderman you see Otto now looking at Peter’s live; his friends, his inventions and even the power that he possesses and most importantly his memories. This is a key factor here as the memories is what finally gets Otto to open his eyes and see how Parker truly lived his live. But not only that but several things happen that Otto wasn’t even aware of , for example when he stopped that thief. He didn’t stop him on this own will… or did he?
Or how about how Otto finally hears himself from the other side and see’s how Parker saw him, as a crazed mad man. Even Otto was surprised to see how he behaved, more from Marvel showing that perhaps there is something within Otto that could make this work. At first you expected him to do every evil deed he could as Spiderman but he doesn’t. In fact in these final issues he can see that he understands his mistakes and even wants to do good by Spiderman’s, er.. Parker’s name at the end.
And what of Parker? Someone who’s trapped in a dying body with days or even moments left to leave, what of him? Does he give up or does he hatch one last attempt to do something? C’mon we all know Ol’e Parker and his plan was a good attempt and while I won’t bore you though it all it shows that even when faced with something as horrific as death he does good. He knew that taking the villains to Avengers Tower that they would be caught.
In end however we finally come to terms and see the full transaction here. Peter’s final attempt to reclaim his live had failed or did it? If Otto has all of Peter’s memories, his thoughts, his powers, his life and even looks like him can he be truly gone? No and this is what Marvel was trying to get at. The one thing that Parker did not have that Otto does is a driven ambition, which they showed when he kissed Mary Jane. Peter would have never have done that and hasn’t since “One more day” and “Brand new day”. Could this be a signal as this is technically the first kiss that Peter and MJ shared since that retcon. But even there you see that it’s not Otto in control, it’s Parker’s memories and feelings. Things that he always wanted to do but couldn’t bring himself to do.
Going beyond that we see his viewing Parker’s world and wanting to do better than Parker but at the same time seeing how Parker thought about things, even feeling pity for him in the beginning but now understanding full well why he did what he did. Parker wasn’t a stranger to struggles as Otto saw through Parker’s memories, in fact it made him strong, something that Otto wasn’t able to handle at the end until Parker told him that famous line, “With great power comes great responsibly“.
So in the end did we truly lose who made Spiderman or did we gain something? With no actual change to the character, hell not even Wolverine would be able to tell the difference. Spiderman, thanks to Otto’s intellect, got some decent and let’s be honest, much needed modern updates. Parker keeps his life and now is in pursuit of things he passed over (MJ) and seemingly all is well. As a HUGE Spiderman fan I really reserved judgement here but seeing how this ended I couldn’t be happier. Sure I’d like to see Peter get his body back but he never lost it, as confusing as that sounds.
In the end Marvel in just a few issues took us on a fantastic voyage, one that didn’t make me regret the trip. We got to see the transformation of a hero and perhaps his greatest villain come to terms and see the passing of a great character (Original Peter) who finally gets to earn his rest meanwhile he still serves his purpose as Spiderman (Otto). If you didn’t follow Spiderman and missed this few issues then you wouldn’t have missed anything and likely wouldn’t have know what happened. I fully expect Marvel to keep pushing great spider stories and eventually we’ll all forget that this even happened as well, like we did with “One more day” and “Brand new day”.
Peter Parker is dead, long live Peter Parker!
