Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #33
All Fall Down
While attempting to help rescue people trapped in an apartment fire, Spider-Man is attacked by Morlun the supernatural being who hunts beings who are totems that is now targeting Spider-Man.[1] Spider-Man lands a number of blows, but Morlun is unharmed by the punches and shoves Spider-Man with enough force to send him flying across the street and through the side of a building. Evading further blows, Spider-Man tries to distract his enemy with his usual witty banter, but this only leads to Morlun to admit that he likes Spider-Man because he’s funny.[2] Morlun says that while he doesn’t want to kill Spider-Man, it needs to happen.[3] Morlun then explains how this is going to work, Spider-Man is supposed to run while he pursues the wall-crawler. He warns Spider-Man that he doesn’t tire and he will capture him and he will die, but assures him that it is nothing personal. Hearing this angers Spider-Man so much that he decides he will take it personally and tells Morlun to bring it on.[4] Spider-Man then lays into Morlun but no matter what he does his opponent doesn’t tire and keeps coming. Spider-Man then tries to put some distance by climbing up the side of a building. That’s when Morlun starts trying to rip the wall down, making Spider-Man realize that Morlun has no concern over the innocent people that might get in his way.
Swinging to a nearby rooftop to catch his breath, Spider-Man is suddenly struck by another jolt from his spider-sense. Suddenly, Morlun comes crashing through the roof access of the building and tackles the web-slinger sending them both flying over the edge of the building. Breaking free, Spider-Man manages to swing to safety while Morlun falls to the ground below. When a woman goes to see if Morlun is okay, he grabs her and starts trying to absorb her lifeforce. Spider-Man quickly attacks him, breaking Morlun’s contact with the woman. The web-slinger tells Morlun that he won’t hurt anyone while he’s still standing. However, his blows still doing nothing, Morlun then grabs him by the throat and punches him in the side multiple times in rapid succession. Trying to get away, Spider-Man is starting to feel the punishment he has been taking and steals some clothes off a clothesline to try and escape in his civilian identity.[5] After easing himself to the ground, Peter is mortified to see that Morlun is still able to track him, even out of costume. He then pushes Peter through the wall of a building and into the bar on the other side. After all the patrons flee from the scene, Peter sees no reason to keep on the stolen clothes and changes back into Spider-Man. The wall-crawler begins pummeling Morlun and sends his foe crashing into the kitchen. Smelling gas, Peter is shocked when Morlun produces a match and just barely manages to escape as he ignites it blowing up the bar. Spider-Man is horrified to see that Morlun somehow survived the blast and flees the scene. Joined by his assistant, Morlun orders Dex to fetch him a fresh pair of clothes. Although he senses that Spider-Man has what he needs, there is something different about the wall-crawler that he can’t understand.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man arrives at the office of Ezekiel Sims and asks for his help. Ezekiel tells Peter that it’s too late and Spider-Man is going to die and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Morlun, Ezekiel Sims
Continuity Notes
Spider-Man has been told that his spider-powers come from a totemistic power source as opposed to a radioactive spider bite in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #30-32.
Spider-Man asks Morlun to tell David Letterman how funny he is. At the time of this story, David Letterman was the long-running host of The Late Show with David Letterman. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 as Letterman’s retired from the show in 2015. Although Letterman started a Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, the series only ran for 2 seasons ending in 2019.
There is a lot about Morlun’s motivations that is left a mystery here. It’s later revealed during the Spider-Verse event that Morlun is part of the Inheritors, interdimensional beings that go to various realities to feed on the animal totems of each reality, particularly spider totems. See Superior Spider-Man #32-33, Edge of Spider-Verse #1-5, Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #8-15, Spider-Man 2099 (vol. 2) #5-8, Spider-Verse #1-2, Spider-Verse Team-Up #1-3, Spider-Woman (vol. 5) #1-4, and Scarlet Spiders #1-3.
Spider-Man mentions that he even once fought his own costume. He is referring to the alien symbiote he wore as a costume from Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 until Amazing Spider-Man #256. He rejected the costume when he learned that it was trying to bond with him. A later attempt to bond in Web of Spider-Man #1, led to Peter seemingly destroying it. However, as we saw in Amazing Spider-Man #300, the symbiote survived and bonded to Eddie Brock to become Venom, one of Spider-Man’s most enduring foes.
Peter hears someone watching David Letterman on television. Another topical reference.
