Nick Peron

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Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #11

Nick Peron

Higher Ground

Spider-Verse continues from Spider-Man 2099 (vol. 2) #6…..

At the Safe Zone on Earth-13, there has been a tense moment when the Otto Octavius Spider-Man of Earth-616 announces that he is in charge. This is disputed by the Peter Parker of that same reality, who says the others have chosen him because he has had the most experience fighting Inheritors.[1] However, Otto is convinced that he is the superior version of Spider-Man having convinced himself that he is from the future of this Peter Parker’s timeline.[2] He gloats at how well his own team of Spider-Men were doing until Parker’s group stumbled upon them and got a number of them killed. Peter responds to this by punching Otto in the face. With the glove cast, Octavius decides that a battle for supremacy is in order.

As the other Spider-Men watch, the two Spider-Men from Earth-616 fight it out.[3] The Spider-Girl of Earth-928 tries to convince the Captain Universe Spider-Man of Earth-13 to step in and break it up since they have more important things to do, but he refuses saying that this has to play out. As he fights, Peter Parker realizes that Otto thinks he is from earlier in Spider-Man’s timeline because he can’t see himself losing and so he decides to use this to his advantage. Parker suddenly stops fighting and tells Otto to land the killing blow. However, still thinking this is a past version of Peter Parker, Octavius stops dead in his tracks unwilling to potentially erase his own victory. This allows Peter to land a knock out blow, defeating Octavius to the ground. He tells Otto that killing is not the answer, especially now, since the Inheritors can’t be killed as their minds are just downloaded into cloned bodies and it’s his sense of mercy that makes him the only one fit to lead this army of Spider-Men.

Meanwhile, on Earth-13989, the exiled Inheritor known as Karn has just killed a Spider-Man that is also a werewolf and demands to know if this has been enough to satisfy his father, Solus, who ordered his exile.[4] Watching this from Loomworld on Earth-001, Solus orders the Great Weaver to send his son to another, more challenging world, as Karn still needs to earn his place back at the table. He then checks on his other son, Morlun, who’s part in the spider hunt has come grinding to a halt. He wonders if the rumors are true and Morlun is afraid of facing the Spider-Man of Earth-616 because that spider killed him twice before. Morlun dismisses this, saying the only thing that concerns him is the prophecy as the Other, the Bride, and the Scion have all appeared on the board. However, one of these important spider-totems is in the Safe Zone. Solus assures his son that nothing is out of their reach and orders him to get Jennix as they will shatter the spider’s sense of hope.

Back in the Safe Zone, Peter Parker-616 holds a hand out to Otto Octavius, who is surprised at this mercy. Peter admits that like it or not, they need the help of every Spider-Man, particularly since he was able to hold off the Inheritors alone for so long. Both Parker and Octavius agree that their first order of business is to move out of Central Park as they are sitting ducks in such a wide-open space, even with Captain Universe protecting them. Along the way, he checks on the different away teams. He tries Kaine’s team of clones who went to shut down the Inheritor’s ability to create new bodies for themselves. Unfortunately, there is no answer, leaving him concerned.[5] He then checks in on Spider-Man 2099’s team, who are still on the move trying to find a place to conduct an autopsy on Daemos’ body. Miguel is busy and tells Spider-Man to shock off and hangs upon him.[6] News from Spider-Woman is not good either, Spider-Man Noir was injured and taken back to his world to recover, but he has confidence his 1930s counterpart will be safe as long as Silk keeps one step ahead of the Inheritors.[7] Taking one of Otto’s signal jammers Parker decides to take it to Spider-Man Noir. He also decides they need someone on the inside and recruits Anya Corazon and Gwen Stacy to come along with him.[8] Peter apologizes to Gwen for making her stay behind earlier because he failed to protect the Gwen of his own reality. Gwen understands since she wasn’t able to save the Peter Parker of her reality and says that maybe they can protect each other.[9] He also recruits Miles Morales and a younger version of himself for a special mission.[9] Giving them a portal jumper and cloaking device, the two youths are charged with gathering even more spiders.[11] As they head off on their respective missions, Peter leaves Spider-UK in charge while he is gone.

Miles and the younger Peter Parker arrive on Earth-67, a strange world that has the look of a cartoon. As they swing over the city they also notice that this world is set in the 1960s.[12] There’s a brief moment where the young Parker has a daydream moment that Miles actually sees. Peter apologizes for it as that’s what happens sometimes.[13] As they swing across the street, a man sees them go and decides to call the Daily Bugle and report that there are two Spider-Men in the city. They quickly find the Daily Bugle because it is the only building in the whole city that has a sign on its roof. They figure this will be the best place to find this world’s Peter Parker. Spying through the window into J. Jonah Jameson’s office, the two Spider-Men watch as Jameson orders Peter Parker to get photos of Spider-Man.[14]

Back on Earth-13, the gathered spiders suddenly feel their spider-senses all going off. The sense of foreboding is so bad that even the infant Benjy Parker is growing upset. That’s when Morlun, Jennix, and Solus appear in this reality. Before anyone can react Morlun and Jennix kill Captain Spider and the Spider-Money. Captain Universe then begins powering up, telling the Inheritors that they made a big mistake coming to this world. Solus is unphased, telling the cosmic-powered Spider-Man that his family is immortal. Moments after Captain Universe annihilates Jennix, a new cloned body emerges from the spawning tubes on Loomworld. This rebirth is overseen by Earth-001’s versions of Spencer Smythe, Marla Madison, and Miles Warren. They all welcome their master back to the land of the living. When they offer to send him back to the scene of the battle, he refuses since he wants to focus on his latest project. Outside, the Scarlet Spider, the Ben Reilly Spider-Man and Black Widow outside of Jennxis’ headquarters, which turns out to be this world’s Baxter Building.[15]

Back on Earth-13, Solus shows his might by knocking Captain Universe to the ground. Spider-UK quickly calls the 616 Spider-Man and asks him to come back as soon as possible because of the situation. As Solus and Captain Universe battle, Solus proves how futile their battle is pointing the Enigma Force is nothing but pure life force and quickly drains all the life of the cosmic powered Spider-Man. WIth their primary protector dead, the other spiders wonder what to do next. That’s when Morlun strikes the 928 Spider-Girl and grabs her baby brother. Holding Benjy Parker up by his feet, Morlun proclaims that the Scion now belgons to the Inheritors.

… Spider-Verse continues in Spider-Verse Team-Up #2.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man (Parker), Spider-Man (Morales), Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham, Spider-Monkey, Spider-UK, Captain Universe, Spider-Man (Octavius), Spider-Girl (Parker), Captain Spider, Spider-Girl (Corazon), Spider-Punk, SP//dr, Animated Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Girl (Brant), Spider-Man 2211, Spider-Man (Prabhakar), Spider-Woman (Barton), Prince of Arachne, Spider-Man 2099, Lady Spider, Six-Armed Spider-Man, Black Widow, Scarlet Spider, Spider-Man (Reilly), Benjy Parker, Inheritors (Solus, Karn Morlun, Jennix), Master Weaver, Spider-Man-67, J. Jonah Jameson-67

Continuity Notes

Note, all reality numbers referenced here were either confirmed in Secret Wars: The Official Handbook of the Marvel Multiverse or the Spider-Geddon Handbook.

  1. The Spider-Man of Earth-616 had defeated Morlun on two different occasions in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #30-35 and the Other: Evolve or Die story arc (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1-4, Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #19-22, and Amazing Spider-Man #525-528)

  2. Otto Octavius took over Peter Parker’s life from Amazing Spider-Man #298 to Superior Spider-Man #31. He’s actually from the past having been pushed forward in time following Superior Spider-Man #17-19. He will be put back to his proper place in time following Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #15.

  3. Peter states her that Otto stole his life “a year ago”, per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616 a year had passed between Otto stealing his life and Peter retaking it.

  4. For more on the exile of Karn, see Superior Spider-Man #32-33.

  5. For more on the activities of Kaine, Ben Reilly, and the Black Widow see Scarlet Spiders #1-3.

  6. For more on Spider-Man 2099’s mission see Spider-Man 2099 (vol. 2) #6-8.

  7. Spider-Woman has been keeping SIlk safe as she flees from the Inheritors across the multiverse. See Spider-Woman (vol. 5) #1-4.

  8. Their little trip takes place during the events of Spider-Woman (vol. 5) #1.

  9. On Earth-616, Gwen Stacy was murdered by the Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #121. On Earth-65, Peter Parker became the Lizard and died battling Spider-Gwen, as seen in Edge of the Spider-Verse #2.

  10. This younger Peter Parker is from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, its world is designated as Earth-12041. Unlike most TV show related Spider-Men featured in Spider-Verse, this one actually comes from the cartoon universe he is based on, whereas many of the others are alternates, keep reading, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

  11. Miles wishes he could have teamed up with Peter Parker, like “last time”. He is referring to when they first met in Spider-Men #1-5.

  12. Earth-67 is paying homage to the 1967 Spider-Man animated series. However, this is not the reality where that cartoon existed, that reality is designated as Earth-6799. The Spider-Gedon Handbook confirms that Earth-67 and 6799 are separate and distinct realities.

  13. Yeah, a thing about the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon was that Peter would often daydream about things, leading to wacky SD Anime inspired moments like this.

  14. For more on this surreal encounter, see Spider-Verse Team-Up #2.

  15. For more on this, see Scarlet Spiders #1.