The Startling Surprise Ending to Amazing Spider-Man #700!
Warning! There will be SPOILERS in this post! So read at your own peril!
The big, epic, glorious Amazing Spider-Man #700 came out this week, the one Marvel and writer Dan Slott have been hyping for months now. It’s the last issue of Amazing Spider-Man, leading into the brand new Superior Spider-Man next month! So what was the big dramatic change that Dan Slott was promising? Does he really have to hide in a bunker from all the fan anger?
Well, does he?
Is all of this history just wiped away?
Not as far as I’m concerned. He doesn’t even have to buy a big hat.
Short answer, I’m disappointed and disinterested.
I’m not angry or filled with a burning need for geeky revenge against Slott. He’s the writer of Spider-Man. He gets to come up with the stories and tell whatever tale he wants. I don’t think he’s ruined Spider-Man forever. But at the same time, I’m just not excited by what he’s done. I’m sure some people are violently angry and I’m sure some people are bristling with excitement. I am neither.
I’ll put the long answer after the jump. But Amazing Spider-Man #700 is a fantastic comic book. It’s got exciting, edge-of-your-seat action and more drama than you can shake a stick at. I’ll review it on Saturday with the rest of the week’s comics, but for right now, just know that it truly is an amazing issue.
It’s just that the big surprise ending does nothing for me. Though I bet my brother is going to love it.
SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP! DON’T CLICK IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ!
For those of you who don’t know, two issues ago, Doctor Octopus used his machines to pull a Freaky Friday with Spider-Man. They swapped brainwaves. So Doctor Octopus is in Spider-Man’s body with all of his youth and spider-powers. And Peter Parker is in Doctor Octopus’ old, dying body. Since then, it has been a race against time for Spider-Man to defeat Doc Ock and get back into his own body again.
Which is where Amazing Spider-Man #700 starts up.
Tiny bit more spoilers.
The big surprise twist is that Peter Parker loses to Doctor Octopus. Peter dies in Doc Ock’s old, decrepit body, while Doc Ock lives on in Spider-Man’s young body. But in his last few minutes alive, Peter forces Doc Ock to relive all of Peter’s most tragic, character-building memories. And through them, Doc Ock gets a crash course in “With great power comes great responsibility.”
So The Superior Spider-Man is going to be about a newly altruistic Doc Ock in Peter Parker’s body trying to be a good guy.
The hero Gotham needs, but not the one it deserves
So what do I think of this big change?
First of all, I’m disappointed. Slott revealed that Doc Ock was in Peter’s body back in issue #698. I thought for sure Slott would have another surprise up his sleeve for issue #700. Instead, he just makes the change permanent, which was one of the possibilities I’d considered in the lead up to this week’s issue. So no big twists in issue #700.
Second of all, I’m disinterested. My brother is a big fan of body swap stories. I am not. I’m not against them, I’m just apathetic. I don’t really have an opinion one way or the other. But I would prefer if there was an end in sight. Stealing someone’s body and masquerading around as them while they’re indisposed is a gross violation of basic decency. And not just for the poor soul who has lost their body. If Doctor Octopus continues to live as Peter Parker, continues to interact with all of Peter’s loved ones as if nothing has changed, then the longer it goes on, the creepier and more disgusting it becomes. Because now everyone is the victim of this gross deception.
And nobody likes being made a fool of.
Not to mention what this will mean for the promised romance with Mary Jane Watson.
Women love it when you play pretend
Bleeding Cool has a nice article on the subject. But if Otto Octavius poses as Peter Parker to seduce and have sex with his beautiful ex-girlfriend, is that rape? In the United Kingdom, using fraud to obtain sex is definitely rape. Here in America, it depends on the state. In my personal opinion, it most definitely counts as rape. Mary Jane will think she’s having sex with her ex-boyfriend and the love of her life, Peter Parker. But it’s really Doctor Octopus.
It’s not cool. And for the next year of her life, Mary Jane is going to be having unwilling sex with Doctor Octopus. Duped into sleeping with the super-villain who killed Peter Parker.
In fact, all of Peter’s friends and family are going to be duped into hanging out and loving the man who killed Peter Parker. Any way you swing it, this it not cool, and leaves a bad taste in my mouth.Peter is dead. We’re not going to see him struggling to regain his body. There won’t be a subplot we can follow to know that this is going to come to an end at some point.
Based on all of the interviews with Dan Slott I’ve read so far, this Doc Ock thing is going to be the status quo for at least another year. So all of Peter’s friends and loved ones are going to have their trust and love utterly betrayed for an entire year, at least. Who knows when we’ll get Peter Parker back?
Uncle Ben isn’t telling
So for the most part, I’m just not interested in reading about Doc Ock parading around in Peter Parker’s body. As a single story, body swaps are fine. They can reveal a lot about both people. But there’s only one person in this case. I read comic books for the characters, and when something like this happens, it makes the character less pure. I’m not going to get on some geek horse that ‘Peter Parker is the only Spider-Man’, because that’s just not true. Anybody can be Spider-Man. I would love to read a story of Doc Ock trying to be a better Spider-Man than Peter Parker. I just think it gets really creepy to read a story about Otto Octavius trying to be a better Peter Parker than Peter Parker.
So in a certain light, I do recognize that this story has potential. As my brother pointed out in an earlier post, it would be cool to see Otto Octavius trying to make a hero out of himself. Otto will still be rough around the edges, so he’ll be something of an anti-hero Spider-Man (even though that’s what I consider Scarlet Spider to be). He’s also a super genius, and now he can achieve great things without the sigma of being ‘Doctor Octopus’. But there’s no guarantee he’s going to succeed at being a superior Spider-Man to Peter Parker. Maybe he’s terrible at it, which would also make a good story. And maybe his newfound sense of responsibility keeps him from sleeping with Mary Jane under false pretenses. Perhaps the plan is for Otto to utterly fail and for Peter Parker to eventually come back and show Otto how it’s done. Anything could happen. I’m confident that Slott and Marvel have an end game in place. But for now, Otto trying and struggling to be the best Spider-Man he can definitely has potential.
I just wish he wasn’t going to be doing it in Peter Parker’s corpse. But perhaps this story will grow on me with time. In six months, I bet I’ll be in love with the Superior Spider-Man! But in the immediate aftermath of Amazing Spider-Man #700, I couldn’t care less.
((And for anyone worried that this change is permanent, you don’t read enough comic books. There’s a big budget sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man movie in the works. Without a doubt, Peter Parker will be back in the webs in time for the premiere.))
Posted on December 27, 2012, in Comics, Marvel, Spider-Man and tagged Amazing Spider-Man #700, Doctor Octopus, Superior Spider-Man. Bookmark the permalink. 17 Comments.
Henchman-4-Hire 
The rape aspect is my biggest concern. I’m hoping that Superior #2 makes it clear nothing will happen between Spider-Ock and MJ, because it would be simply disgusting if they did have sex. My cynical side suspects something will end up happening between them, though.
Agreed. Marvel had Chameleon sleep with Peter Parker’s roommate when he was posing as Peter, and I believe the writer first said he didn’t consider that rape, then second dialed back and said they only made out. That’s a dangerous precedent.
Usually I’m strictly a DC fan, but this seems especially interesting. Considering that I won’t feel the same sentiment when doc oct violates Peter’s friends, I think I would enjoy this series.
It starts next month! I’d be interested to hear what you think of it as a non-fan. I plan on reviewing the comic when it comes out.
Mr Mills, I just wanted to leave a reply although I usually don’t. I wanted to give you a thank you for your blog posts. I always enjoy reading your comic reviews, and feel like we have a lot of common ideas. Keep up the great work! Great Spidey review. I have never been a die hard reader of Spidey comics, but I am now going to add to my folder Superior Spidey to read, just to see where they go with it. Have a great day!
Thanks for the kind words, friend!
Reblogged this on whoismattblack and commented:
It all comes to an end… or a new beginning.
This can’t be the first time in comics that some soul inhabiting another body has sex with another person who believes it’s the original person. And i’m really not at all bothered by it. Whatever, i’ve seen worse. You’re right that it won’t last though. But it’s hard to say how long Doc Ock will stay in control. I’m thinking that Carly Cooper may come into play somehow when the reversal occurs, since she is the only one that Peter told about the body switch, and even though she didn’t believe him, it’s not hard to imagine further abberant behaviour on Ock/Peter’s part to make her eventually come to change her mind.
My only hope is that whatever happens between Ock/Peter and MaryJane serves to totally ruin the real Peter’s relationship with her when he eventually comes back (whenever that is), for a long long time to come. So he can focus on dating Carol Danvers instead.
I fully support your Carol Danvers desires. And while the body swap/sex thing has no doubt happened before in comics, it rarely happens to someone we like, such as Mary Jane. And with someone as despicable as Doctor Octopus.
I don’t even like Mary Jane. As a supporting character she’s been done to death. I think Doc Ock had it right when he said all she was good for was giving Parker pep talks, or something like that. So if something bad has to happen to her to pump some life into that character then ok. Although personally, ahem, as i’ve mentioned, Carol Danvers would be much more interesting to have around. I like her new book for the most part. Mary Jane needs to fly off to Paris or something for some extended modeling shoots.
@curzon176: Besides Carol Danvers x Peter Parker, would you be open to the following alternates as well:
Spider-Man x Silver Sable
Spider-Man x Psylocke
Spider-Man x She-Hulk
Spider-Man x Black Widow
Spider-Man x Spider-Woman
I feel that a little diversity among the heroines towards Peter Parker in the same manner as Carol Danvers provides flexibility for the writer to use in case he’s not interested in the Black Cat or Ms. Marvel. Do you agree?
I’ve always been a fan of Spider-Man and Silver Sable, and I think it was a real shame that Dan Slott killed Silver last year before having the two of them hook up a little.
Hi Sean,
As long as Dan Slott is the writer, we will never see Spider-Man is a serious relationship with a heroine. It’s only through dating that Peter and a heroine would actually get the chance to get to know each other. It’s ironic that heroines like Ms. Marvel considers Peter a PAL when their friendship is much more than that. Second, since when does Black Cat ever reject the advances of Spider-Man for Daredevil. Third, when has the She-Hulk ever felt unease around Spider-Man. Most of all, when does Spider-Man ever rejects Silver Sable’s feelings?
All of this stems from Dan Slott’s influence towards other writers from creating a mutual chemistry between Spider-Man and a heroine in a positive manner? I think that he wants Spider-Man to be in a corner alone and broken. I have read that Kelly Sue wanted to explore Peter’s relationship with Carol Danvers. But could not do so. After all, Slott feels that Spider-Man shouldn’t be dating a super heroine in the first place. If he could, he would retconned Spider-Man’s relationship with Black Cat as if it never happened.
Personally, I feel that Carol and Peter should take their time with their friendship slowly in the background. In addition, it might be best to diversify Peter’s mutual relationship to no more than 6 female heroines because I don’t think that any one person on the Spider-Man side should standout as a potential love interest. The idea is to expand those mutual relationships beyond The Black Cat. Thus, if there are 5-6 other heroines(Besides Black Cat) who are interested in Spider-Man, than a writer could choose which one to use because he wouldn’t be stuck with using The Black Cat. There are writers who might like The She-Hulk, Silver Sable, Psylocke, Spider-Woman, Black Widow or Ms. Marvel. So it gives the writer a chance to use a their favorite heroine(who has a positive chemistry with Spidey) in a team-up story with Spider-Man that they wouldn’t otherwise had used. I could see a mutual friendship among the women I have mentioned for Spider-Man. But, it is best to leave things at the close friends level and not extend it into a serious relationship because it would cause a conflict of interest among those who many or many not like the idea. Therefore, a longterm friendship with a heroine might be ideal for Spider-Man with a little tension between them.
I think that my view on this has to do with the idea of Spider-Man forming a mutual relationship that he had with Felicia Hardy before OMD. I felt that there should be a close group of heroines who could have a close relationship with Spider-Man like:
Silver Sable
Ms. Marvel
Psylocke
Spider-Woman
She-Hulk
Black Widow
I feel that anyone of those women would work best for Spider-Man. Especially if a writer likes the idea of a master list of heroines that they want to use if they are doing a Spider-Man team-up story. I simply like the idea of diversification to at least 6 heroines who are close friends with Spider-Man because the potential of doing a bigger story is there. I don’t like the idea of a rushed relationship as it was done to The Black Cat and Spider-Man. And this might be the reason why Dan Slott has resisted the idea of doing this type of relationship. Thus, I like the idea of the selected heroines in a relationship with Peter in the same manner as his relationship with Mary Jane or Betty Brant. When I refer to the idea of a relationship with a female hero, I am implying on the idea of Peter expanding that relationship to at least 5 other heroines in addition to the Ms. Marvel. This way, we can see a different side of Spidey’s relationship with heroines that are different from his relationship with The Black Cat.
Are you suggesting Spider-Man be in 6 different relationships at once?
And I dunno about Spider-Man and She-Hulk. I don’t think they’d make a nice romantic pair. Friends, sure. But not romance.
Hi Sean,
Not at once. The six heroines serves as an alternate to the Black Cat. When I mean by six other heroines, I was implying that a writer could choose one of the six heroines that he wants to use for his story with Spider-Man in the same manner as Carol Danvers in a regular setting in their civilian persona. I have only identified 5 other heroines who are interested in Spider-Man as more than just a friend. And different writers have their own criteria when it comes to their favorite characters. Spider-Man has only a small number of close friends(who are super heroes) who knows he’s Peter Parker in a regular everyday setting. But his close friendship with the super heroines outside of crime fighting is almost non-existent, with the exception of Carol Danvers. So I feel that if there is an expansion to six of the heroines who could be close friends with Peter Parker respectively. As for the She-Hulk, in her human form, Jennifer Walters and Peter Parker would become fast friends as both of them have a lot of similar experiences growing up and view the world differently. I would think that if Jennifer Walters got to know Peter, he would be one of the few people who she could see a relationship with in the same manner as Wyatt Wingfoot, who accepts her for who she is unlike John Jameson. But that relationship would depend on the writer to make it interesting to read about in context to the story.
When it comes to Spider-Man’s relationship with a heroine, I depends on the writer’s experience to make it compelling to the readers. And if the writers are given a master list of six different heroines who could be used as alternate to the Black Cat, they could pick one of those heroines to use for Peter Parker and could come out with a good story. Imagine if Psylocke was used instead of the Black Cat in the Maximum Carnage storyline or the Clone Saga?
Spider-Man needs to experience a few close friendships with a super heroine. And I feel that the ones I have mentioned could make things interesting. It doesn’t mean that they have to have a romantic relationship, which I feel would restrict the use of the other heroines. So when the writer is given a choice of using a heroine in a storyline for Spider-Man in the same manner as Ms. Marvel, you might get a fun story to read.
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