Evolution

This story continues from Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #21…

Iron Man is doing another sweep of Manhattan in the search of Spider-Man’s body, and however — if anyone — took it. At Stark Towers, Captain America and the other New Avengers stand by for any updates.[1] Mary Jane wonders if it was Peter himself who got up and left the morgue, and when Spider-Woman tries to convince her that Peter is dead, Mary Jane refuses to believe it.[2] Mary Jane insists that the dried-out remains in the Avengers morgue is only a shell of what Peter was and he is still alive.[3]

Mary Jane is not wrong, as Peter Parker’s real body is encased in a cocoon of webbing hidden under the George Washington Bridge. There, Peter sleeps and dreams. In the dream, Peter wakes up in a massive forest. Walking around Peter suddenly hears a scream and goes to check it out where it came from. He comes upon his younger self who tells his classmates (who are all wrapped up in webbing) that a spider bit him. When they ask where the spider went, he points out a massive arachnid that is posed to attack nearby. Young Peter tells the others to stay away from the spider, warning his classmates that it will kill anyone it gets near.[4] The scene shifts to the moment where Spider-Man lets the burglar getaway, saying it wasn’t his responsibility. Peter sees the spider picking up his Uncle Ben and says goodbye before the spider devours him.[5]

After throwing up, Peter is spoken to by someone lurking in the shadows of the tree. It tells Peter that he never understood what he was or what he is becoming. It says that the spider is inside him even though he cannot face it. It then shows him the moment when Peter was designing his first Spider-Man costume. It explains the costume wasn’t just to disguise his true identity but was also an attempt to hide what is inside. It says that with the “costume” put the spider “outside” so that he could have the illusion of being able to take the spider on and off. Now, however, the spider has shed Peter Parker. That’s when the being in the trees emerges from the shadows revealing it to be a monstrous version of Spider-Man. It says that as Spider-Man, Peter treated the gift of the spider as nothing more than a toy, making him guilty of the crime of superficiality. That he only used the least of his talents, not knowing or wanting to achieve his full potential. However, that all changed when Peter Parker was dead and only the spider remained. He is then shown the moments after Morlun killed him and came back to feed upon the body. There the spider took over and pinned Morlun to the ground with stingers that emerged from Peter’s wrists allowing him to feast upon Morlun.[6] As the man slept he dreamt of being the spider and the spider slept it dreamed of being a man. Now Peter Parker’s body is incubating in a cocoon in the waking world, the spider-monster wonders what will emerge and why. It says that this rebirth is the second gift of the spider and this time around, Peter is not to deny the spider and embrace his next evolution, to embrace the other. As the spider-monster turns into a massive spider, it tells Peter to embrace it. As the spider begins feasting on Peter, he reaches into his chest. In the waking word, Peter’s body rips through the web cocoon and falls into the water below. Moments later, he leaps out of the water as good as new.[7]

By this time, five days have passed and Mary Jane and Aunt May have decided to accept the reality. However, as they are telling the other Avengers that it’s time to move on the doorbell rings and everyone is shocked and delighted to see that it is Peter, alive and well. After telling everyone what happened, Tony and Steve both admit that they figured that Peter may have been undergoing some kind of regenerative process but didn’t want to say anything to his family until they are sure. Peter thanks them and when Tony suggests Peter try on the new costume he has been working on, Peter tells them that he’s going to spend the rest of the night alone with Mary Jane.

Later that evening, after Mary Jane has fallen asleep, Peter gets out of bed and goes to the morgue where the husk of his old body is still being held. Thinking about his dream and remembering the question of what will emerge from the cocoon, Peter removes his wedding ring from the husk and puts it back on his hand.

The Other continues in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4…

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, New Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, “Spider-Woman”, Luke Cage, Wolverine), Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May, “Edwin Jarvis”

Continuity Notes

1. The woman here who appears to be Spider-Woman is actually a Skrull spy as we’ll learn in Secret Invasion #3. The spy took Jessica Drew’s place in Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1.

2. Mary Jane says nobody knows how many time that Peter was believed dead and buried. There’s actually only once where that has happened and that was during the Kraven’s Last Hunt event (Web of Spider-Man #31-32, Amazing Spider-Man #293-294, Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132)

3. The husk is wearing Peter’s wedding band its left ring finger. This is the wedding ring that Peter has been wearing since he and Mary Jane got married in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. However, not long after this, their marriage is erased from history by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In this new timeline, Peter’s husk would not be wearing a wedding ring. One could assume Peter wore an engagement ring, although it’s uncommon for a man to wear one, some customs do call for it. An engagement ring would make the end of this story still make sense in the new timeline.

4. Among the people webbed up are Gwen Stacy, Betty Brant, and Harry Osborn:

   • Gwen Stacy was murdered by the Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #121.

   • At the time of this story, everyone thinks that Harry Osborn died in Spectacular Spider-Man #200. However, he survived and was secreted away to Europe by his father, Norman. Harry’s survival is explained in Amazing Spider-Man #581. He’ll return in Amazing Spider-Man #545.

   • Betty is not dead, but perhaps her inclusion here is due to the fact that her brother Bennett and her ex-husband Ned both seemingly died due to Spider-Man. Bennett was seemingly killed in Amazing Spider-Man #11 (he didn’t really die though, check out Venom vol. 2 #21). Ned was murdered in Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1.

5. The spider bite and Uncle Ben dying are both referencing Amazing Fantasy #15, but you should know that by now.

6. Morlun beat Peter nearly to death last issue. Peter’s spider-self took over his corpse and feasted upon Morlun in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3. Although Morlun seemingly died then, his body endured. As explained in Scarlet Spiders #1-3, Morlun is a member of the Inheritors. When an Inheritor dies their mind is transferred to a clone body.

7. It’s later revealed in Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) #14, Peter rejected the spider totem, and although he was granted the powers of the Other, to begin with, he would later lose these powers as it sought out another host following the events of Amazing Spider-Man #545.