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Spider-Man General Discussion

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This thread's for the Spider-Man comics and spin-offs, whether they're decades old or brand new.

  • Apart from the main Marvel Universe titles, Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Man "What If?" stories, crossovers, guest appearances in other books, Alternate Universe tales and things like Marvel's manga adaptations are all on-topic here.
  • Spider-Man 'family' books are on-topic (as are their own crossovers, guest appearances etc.) - e.g. Spider-Man 2099, Miles Morales, Spider-Woman, Silk, Spider-Gwen, Venom, Carnage, Black Cat, Red Goblin and Spider-Verse.
  • Characters and comics that originated in Spider-Man but are no longer directly connected to the spider-franchise (e.g. Punisher, Silver Sable) are not on-topic, unless you're discussing historical connections and crossovers. If in doubt, check before you write a long post. If this isn't the right place, there's a more general Marvel Comics thread which covers them.

Technically, Marvel's Infinity Comics (and their predecessors, Infinite Comics) are webcomics, not comic books, but it's fine to talk about their Spider-Man stories here.

Discussions that are only about Spider-Man adaptations in other media (films, video games etc.) are off-topic, but discussing the differences between the adaptations and the original comics is fine - as long as spoilers for the adaptations are tagged.

Please follow the spoiler policy rules - tag spoilers for the latest issues, for any previews or content leaks, and for off-topic comics. When including spoiler tags, try to write so that tropers can make an informed decision before viewing them (e.g. which series and issue will they spoil?).

     Original Thread OP 
Since everyone likes talking about him. I know little about him(Ironically,I got nearly all I know about him from a Batman thread),but he's apparently important so I made this thread. Enjoy.

Edited by MacronNotes on Jul 10th 2023 at 10:58:13 AM

immortaleditor Since: Aug, 2023
#31501: Oct 29th 2023 at 11:23:36 AM

True. Mysterio’s such a great villain because he’s good at concocting very realistic illusions of the sort that you have to know what to look for to pick up on it. In a meta level, his gimmick requires a greater degree of creativity than many others and seems to bring out some great ideas from many writers. He’s one of my favorite Spidey rogues.

Contrast with poor Chameleon, who’s gimmick should arguably put him in a similar boat as it requires creativity, but instead gets all too often relegated into a Harmless Villain who gets caught and beaten by everyone and their mother and coasts off being one of Spidey’s first enemies.

RedHunter543 Crimson Paladin Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: Barbecuing
Crimson Paladin
#31502: Oct 29th 2023 at 11:24:46 AM

There's a reason why he's a popular villain to make into a game boss. Even when reformed.

Heck, he's been the final boss of a decent amount of Spider-Man games.

"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#31503: Oct 29th 2023 at 11:48:52 AM

Mysterio is a great one.

When he's at the top of his game, he can really put Pete through his paces as the latter has to do a lot work to figure out what's real and what isn't.

Far From Home really showed us just how terrifying Mysterio can be.

And of course, the fact he was able to use those same techniques on Matt I can hear and smell Neon Murdock shows just how good her really is at his chosen craft.

One Strip! One Strip!
Antiyonder (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#31504: Oct 29th 2023 at 11:51:59 AM

At the same time, I admit I might be biased because I always preferred Eddie as a villain or very dark antihero and disliked the changes to make him more outright heroic, so Rabble’s portrayal may be scratching at an old annoyance for me.

Not to mention it was established early that he can render someone unconscious easily without harm, so when another early story has him killing an officer needlessly it's just for cheap angst.

Haven't read any of his Post-OMD appearanced, but I believe Kaine works better cause he at least avoided innocent civilian deaths. If my memory isn't incorrect mind you.

Edited by Antiyonder on Oct 29th 2023 at 11:52:26 AM

immortaleditor Since: Aug, 2023
#31505: Oct 29th 2023 at 12:22:10 PM

[up]You’re right. Even at his most villainous, Kaine’s always gone out of his way to avoid endangering civilians. He’s a very good example of “villain turned hero” done right.

neoamon Mr from Planet Mobius S.T.C. (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded)
Mr
#31506: Oct 29th 2023 at 1:11:19 PM

Who are Spiderman's personal enemies? Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Mephisto, The burglar, The Jackal, the Russian Red Skull. Who else?

Green Goblin, The burglar, The Russian Red Skull were all responsible for the death of one of Spiderman's loved ones.

Edited by neoamon on Oct 29th 2023 at 8:13:20 AM

"May your heart be your guiding key"
immortaleditor Since: Aug, 2023
#31507: Oct 29th 2023 at 1:16:39 PM

Are you asking what Spidey’s most personal enemies are? Cuz if so probably: the Green Goblins, Doc Ock, Venom, Kraven the Hunter, Jackal, and Morlun in that rough order. Mephisto is kind of a distant manipulator that Peter barely knows exists most of the time and the Burglar barely counts as a rogue considering he’s just a normal dude. Russian Red Skull is so forgettable that a lot of people totally forget he’s the one who killed Peter’s parents.

Edited by immortaleditor on Oct 29th 2023 at 1:19:46 AM

neoamon Mr from Planet Mobius S.T.C. (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded)
Mr
#31508: Oct 29th 2023 at 1:30:36 PM

What I meant were villains that have impacted Peter Parker/Spiderman's life.

"May your heart be your guiding key"
immortaleditor Since: Aug, 2023
#31509: Oct 29th 2023 at 1:58:12 PM

Then our lists combined pretty much covers it.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#31510: Oct 29th 2023 at 2:06:14 PM

The most impactful villain is that really fat man that made his life hell

You know the guy

Big into crime

Sat on him and made him miss his wedding -swerve-

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
primenumber101 Since: Mar, 2017
#31511: Oct 29th 2023 at 2:27:14 PM

The ediotorial mandates from Marvel

Antiyonder (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#31512: Oct 29th 2023 at 6:20:26 PM

So just for fun, any What If? stories you ever hoped would have been done? 90s events and up on the table, but especially 60s-80s.

Well I would say maybe a 3 issue anthology or maxi anthology of Spider-Man joining The Avengers much earlier.

Three different stories and in the style of the time they were done. Especially as Mdagoblin from the Spidey Kicks Butt articles stated how the Fantastic Five stories became more one sided overtime showing how the main Four operated differently while we never saw more changes to Peter's life after the fight with The Vulture.

First divergence is from The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3. Maybe Spider-Man stays long enough to hear that The Avengers want to help the Hulk so he doesn't assume he's leading him into a trap.

Second is from Avengers #237 where he leaves in a huff when he is initially rejected cause of security reasons. Basically giving Captain America a chance to speak more on his behalf.

Third and final is Avengers #318 where basically Cap feels maybe he is better just doing the Friendly Neighborhood stuff. So either Spider-Man's performance in action is better enough that Cap doesn't think on the matter or he just dismisses his own concern.

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#31513: Oct 29th 2023 at 6:23:10 PM

It would be an interesting chore to see what big spider events line up with big Avengers events

Misses a big fight because Aunt May is sick or something. Or maybe with Avengers tier medicine Aunt May doesn’t almost drop dead so often

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Antiyonder (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#31514: Oct 29th 2023 at 6:26:51 PM

3rd one followed Acts of Vengeance and Spider-Man was married.

Incidentally the What If? where he remains Captain Universe does have the team up acknowledged where Cap and Thor express concern with his increased power.

Also presumably dilemmas normally caused by poor finances at least on the second variance where he was having to pay Black Cats medical bills would have to be drastically different.

Edited by Antiyonder on Oct 29th 2023 at 6:29:12 AM

Mrph1 he/him from Mercia (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: This is not my beautiful wife!
he/him
#31515: Oct 30th 2023 at 1:02:51 AM

Having re-read Spider-Man / Wolverine recently, I'd be interested to see a different take on that.

What if Spider-Man's optimism and morality wins the day? Wolverine doesn't treat him as an enemy, Peter's not tricked into delivering a Better to Die than Be Killed death to Logan's lover Charlemagne, and without the two heroes at each other's throats, the Foreigner's killers don't manage to successfully murder Ned Leeds.

With Charlemagne saved and the two heroes becoming allies, Peter would likely be closer to the X-Men much earlier than he was in the main continuity.

And with Wolverine's skills added to Spidey's, it would quickly become clear that Ned's would-be killers weren't the KGB or Stasi, which would lead to the whole Rose/Hobgoblin plot unravelling at an early stage.

There's also potential for Wolverine to get Professor X (or another X-telepath) to help Ned recover from his brainwashing and resume his life.

And for Spidey to get long-term attention from the remnants of the Red Room or other post-communist villains, as it's made clear that they're determined to kill Charlemagne and will keep coming after whoever gets in their way.

Edited by Mrph1 on Oct 30th 2023 at 8:04:35 AM

immortaleditor Since: Aug, 2023
#31516: Oct 30th 2023 at 5:54:42 AM

[up]That’s pretty good! It’s always better when What Ifs actually sincerely explore the implications of the divergence instead of just making everything arbitrarily worse in a “see? that shitty story you hated was the good option!” way.

TrashJack Confirmed Doomer from beyond the Despair Event Horizon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Confirmed Doomer
#31517: Oct 30th 2023 at 12:44:39 PM

[up][up] On that last point in particular, I wonder how said post-communist villains would react if, through said increased attention, they somehow learn Spider-Man's secret ID and realize the family connection Peter had to Cold War espionage (namely, that his parents were CIA agents who were assassinated by the Red Skull's Soviet knockoff; that's without even getting into Peter's kinda-sorta-maybe-maybe-not-who-the-hell-even-knows-anymore sister, Teresa Parker).

"Cynic, n. — A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be." - The Devil's Dictionary
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#31518: Oct 30th 2023 at 12:52:04 PM

The sliding time scale increasingly makes it so that a lot of communist villains were just Russian Federation ones.

Which oddly still works nowadays.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
immortaleditor Since: Aug, 2023
#31519: Oct 30th 2023 at 2:11:45 PM

Marvel kinda lucked out that relations between Russia and the US didn’t improve that much after the end of the Cold War and dissolution of the Soviet Union and that, while nowhere near as tense as the Cold War, there’s still a bit of rivalry there, so their various Soviet baddies and characters like the Winter Guard or Red Ghost can still function well. Not that we should go back to the “commie smasher” days by any means.

Edited by immortaleditor on Oct 30th 2023 at 2:13:09 AM

Nofix from Over there Since: Jan, 2015
#31520: Oct 30th 2023 at 2:14:26 PM

This isn't Marvel related, but I will always remember NKV Demon as being the best worst name of anything ever in comics.

immortaleditor Since: Aug, 2023
#31521: Oct 30th 2023 at 2:19:34 PM

[up]He’s on the opposite end of his teacher, KGBeast, in the stupid codename department. Beastie’s is So Bad, It's Good, his is just bad.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#31522: Oct 30th 2023 at 2:23:17 PM

"KG Beast!"

"Your name doesn't work in Cyrillic."

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
lbssb The sleepiest good boi Since: Jun, 2020 Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
The sleepiest good boi
#31523: Oct 30th 2023 at 2:24:24 PM

His name also makes it pretty difficult to modernize him.

Unless you do what Zack Snyder did and just not use it.

Disney100 Marathon | DreamWorks Marathon
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#31524: Oct 30th 2023 at 3:37:29 PM

"I am RED BEAST!"

:)

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
alekos23 Since: Mar, 2013
#31525: Oct 30th 2023 at 3:39:28 PM

"Wait are you a Cosmic mutate or a Symbiote? Or some new less evil counterpart to Mc Coy?"


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