Issue 700 of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN comic hit shelves today and fans of the webslinger are in for a doozy of a plot switch. For those of you who are comic fans or wish to remain spoiler free, I would stop reading now. You have been warned. Last chance to turn back before I reveal the big event in the comic book. Alright, here we go.
For those of you who are current on your Spider-man, there was an event in the latest story arc that caused Peter Parker and Doctor Octopus to switch minds. That’s right: Doc Ock is now Peter Parker and Peter is Doc Ock. While the old body switch is one of the oldest tricks in the book, there was a finite time frame on this one. With Doc Ock knowing he was going to die, he stole his nemesis’ super-powered body and held onto it long enough to see his enemy die.
That’s right. Peter Parker is dead. And we are not talking an alternate timeline. This is the main continuity of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.
A very bold move for the comic that will now be re-branded as THE SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN. But how can Doc Ock be a hero? In the final moments of the comic, Peter is able to force his empathy into Octavius, which means that even though he is a bad guy, Doc Ock will now become a hero. But, the road will not be an easy one.
Writer Dan Slott says “This is Moriarty in the head of Sherlock. This is Prince John inside of Robin Hood. This is the greatest villain inside the body of the greatest hero and trying to do good.”
Editor Stephen Wacker says this will produce an interesting first year for THE SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN: “We want to do Spider-Man by way of Batman — a little creepier and darker. Doc behaving in a manner he’s not accustomed to. We see a more sympathetic side of Doctor Octopus. We couldn’t have a Spider-Man who was running around murdering people. And I have no interest in seeing that sort of character win.”
This is definitely a unique twist to the story. They essentially have found a way to completely change Peter Parker without removing Peter from the equation. While nothing is permanent in the world of comics, this is certainly a fresh way of rebooting a series. Who knows, maybe someday the body switch would work as a plot for a big screen SPIDER-MAN, albeit not in a permanent way.
What do you think of this shocking twist?
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