Amazing and Spectacular
Spider-Man’s Return to Greatness
by Phil Perich for the True Believers Blog
Spider-Man is one of my favorite Marvel heroes, but for the last few years I haven’t agreed with some of the decisions Marvel has made with the character’s story. But after recent announcements, the last one even in the last day or so, has me hopeful that Spider-Man is back on his way to being Marvel’s premiere flagship character.
Flashback to the 90s
Most of the developments of the last few years that were my favorites had to do with Peter Parker himself, but some of the bright spots for me were other returning Spider-Men. It started with the reappearance of Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of the year 2099. Appearing in that future year in his original series, the last few years have seen Miguel trapped and operating in our present as an ally of Peter Parker. And even better in my opinion was the return of Peter’s clone Ben Reilly in the recent Clone Conspiracy story. Possessing all of Peter’s memories, Ben was like a brother to him. And it’s been announced that Ben is getting his own Scarlet Spider ongoing series. Some of the characters from one of Spider-Man’s greatest eras are back!
Renew Your Vows
And another big element from the 1990s has been missing for almost the last ten years. I was always a big fan of Peter Parker’s marriage to Mary Jane Watson. After the One More Day storyline, Marvel retroactively erased their happy marriage. But spinning out of the latest Secret Wars event, Marvel now publishes a book titled Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows. Set in an alternate reality, Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage continues along with their daughter Annie. The trio now all possess spider powers and work as a team. I believe Marvel is about to learn a lesson DC Comics recently learned with Superman: Fans like their Iconic characters as mature, married people.
Homecoming
And even on the live action side, Marvel Cinematic Studios have made a deal with Sony to produce a new Spider-Man movie titled Spider-Man: Homecoming that will release this July. I believe this will be the definitive Spider-Man movie due to the fact that they have actually cast an age appropriate actor for a high school era Spider-Man story, a classic villain in the form of the Vulture, and creative control in the hands of the home team Marvel.
Back to Basics
Just this week Marvel announced that they are going to publish a new version of the Spectacular Spider-Man comic series that will focus more on Peter Parker’s adventures in New York rather than the worldwide settings we’ve seen in the recent Amazing Spider-Man series. And being set in New York we’ve also heard that we’ll see more of Spider-Man’s classic supporting cast. I believe we’re going to see a more back to basics approach to Spider-Man, much like DC Comics has recently done with their line of classic characters.
So in my opinion, now is the time to jump on the Spider-Man wagon. Great things are coming for our hero in 2017. What do YOU want to see from Spider-Man comics and movies this year? Let me know!
nightwingpdp@gmail.com & marvelroundup@gmail.com
@Nightwingpdp & @marvel_roundup on Twitter
You can hear me discussing all things Marvel (comics, movies, TV) every week with my friends on the All New Marvel Roundup, Wade’s World and Superconnectivity, all parts of the Nuff Said Podcast. I also write another blog, the Legends of DC and do a podcast of the same name. You can find all my podcasts, blogs and those of others at www.southgatemediagroup.com. You can also find all my creative endeavors at www.philperich.wordpress.com.
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