14 DAY TRIAL // Killing off a major character / beloved superhero in the comics is nothing new but, as it happens, it never ceases to shock and upset fans. Marvel has decided to kill off Peter Parker / Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man No. 700, it has emerged.
The minute confirmation of this got out online, angry fans took to whatever forums they could to express their shock and disbelief that Marvel would think of doing the unthinkable.
The geeky boy who learned that “with great power comes great responsibility” and who has been fighting crime for decades in the comics, Peter Parker is no more.
Fans may mourn him, but Marvel writer Dan Slott would rather they focused more on the amazing possibilities his death would bring to the table, he says for USA Today.
Parker will die at the hands of Dr. Octopus who, after doing the nasty deed, has a moment of “clarity” and transfers his mind into Peter’s body, thus carrying on the legacy of Spider-Man… in a way.
The transformation will pave the way for a new comics series, “Superior Spider-Man,” which will see the once-evil Doctor struggle to stick to his resolution of doing only good.
Herein will lie the challenge of the new hero.
“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,” Slott says.
“This is a guy who was a couple steps way from a bucket list, and now he's got a whole new lease on life. That's really going to change him,” he adds.
Fans really needn’t worry, the writer insists: this is not a setback or an obstacle, Peter Parker’s death is evolution.
“For all intents and purposes, [Otto Octavius, who became the evil Doc Ock] was the adult Peter could have become, Spider-Man's dark reflection. So what if we flipped it? What if we gave him a second chance? Peter's final, heroic act was giving Doc all the memories and experiences that kept him on the right path. But is that enough? Can that overcome Ock's true nature?” Slott explains.
Useless to say, not even this explanation is enough for many fans.