Now that the post-Secret Empire era of Marvel Legacy is in full, ahem, swing across the Marvel Universe, Marvel is devoting the bulk of its publishing panels to the current status quo -- including a look at how things will affect Spidey and his extended family of titles at the "Marvel Legacy: Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" panel midday Friday at New York Comic Con.
On the panel: longtime Amazing Spider-Man writer Dan Slott, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man writer Chip Zdarsky, Spider-Man/Deadpool writer Robbie Thompson, Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider Will Sliney, Falcon writer Rodney Barnes, Spider-Gwen writer Jason Latour, Marvel editors Allison Stock and Devin Lewis, and Marvel executive editor/Spider-Man group editor Nick Lowe.
First up: Chip Zdarsky talking the upcoming "Most Wanted" arc of Spectacular Spider-Man. Zdarsky said it's a Die Hard-esque situation for Peter Parker, and a story that's both "an insane amount of fun" and "dramatically, drastically serious."
In December, Black Panther will guest star in the series, who is interested in the information carried by Teresa Parker. "Friend or foe?" Zdarsky asked. "Probably friend. Maybe foe." "But probably friend," Lowe added.
Though it's not Spider-Man related, Zdarsky also talked the upcoming Marvel Two-in-One, which he's writing, and Jim Cheung is drawing. "After Secret Wars, Ben and Johnny went their separate ways and have barely interacted," Zdarsky said. "This brings them together, after Johnny hits rock bottom for a bunch of reasons." Ben helps out Johnny the best way he knows -- by going on a quest to find the remaining Richards family, which puts them on a collision course with Dr. Doom.
Zdarsky said the "art is insane" in the series, and that he has license to use multiple Fantastic Four villains in the series. "I'm cramming as many in as I can, because it's too much fun," he said.
Writer Rodney Barnes talked Falcon, saying it was a challenge, in a good way, to push the character in new directions given how much he's been through in recent years. "He's going to be fighting Blackheart, Mephisto's son, which is out of his weight class, but he's going to find a way to do battle with him."
Dan Slott talked the "Fall of Parker" arc in Amazing Spider-Man. The writer said he and Marvel has given Peter Parker money and success, and now, they'll "take it all away from him and drop him lower than he's ever been before." A fan audibly said "aww." "Yeah, feel that way!" Slott responded.
The arc will see Peter Parker back at the Daily Bugle, "in a way you've never seen Peter at the Daily Bugle before." He also reminded fans that Peter bought the Baxter Building, and promised Johnny Storm he'll look after it -- "and he's lost everything."
Additionally, romance is in the works for Spider-Man and Mockingbird. "We're going to see Pete and Bobbi try to make things work," Slott said.
Marvel editor Devin Lewis talked about upcoming events in Venom, including the return of Shriek. Also on the horizon: "Venom Inc.," a crossover between Venom and Amazing Spider-Man, written by Slott and Venom writer Mike Costa. Slott said fans can expect Eddie Brock, Flash Thompson and plenty more Venom-associated characters.
That's not all for Venom: He'll also turn up in X-Men: Blue Annual #1, due out in January 2018. The story will heavily feature Cyclops' space pirate Corsair, as something bad -- and Venom-related -- has happened to him. The title of the story is "Poison X."
Jason Latour talked the "Gwenom" arc of Spider-Gwen, which starts in October with issue #25. It'll feature a powered-up Gwen and a face-off with the villainous Matt Murdock.
Lowe talked the upcoming Spider-Man arc introducing a new Sinister Six, and the new Iron Spider.
Editor Allison Stock and artist Will Sliney talked the latest Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider developments. Stock said the title character is trying to "figure out if he's a good guy or a bad guy." Also: the Slingers will return in the series.
Lewis briefly talked Black Panther: Long Live The King, a comiXology-first series written by Nnedi Okorafor and illustrated by André Araújo.
Thompson on Spider-Man/Deadpool: "We're picking up after the events of Secret Empire," Thompson said. "Both Spider-Man and Deadpool have been positioned in really fun, neat ways. Deadpool killed America's sweetheart, Agent Coulsn, and is now the most wanted man in the Marvel Universe. Spider-Man has decided it's time for Deadpool to go to a place called jail. We're kind of calling it 'Spider-Man vs. Deadpool' at the beginning. Deadpool's decided he tried, and failed, and he's going to go back to being the Merc with a Mouth. he's having a great time. Spider-Man is not having a great time."
First fan question was on writing quips for Spider-Man. Zdarsky said that it's important not to think about them too much, or otherwise they might be too funny. "No one in the Marvel Universe finds Spider-Man funny," Slott said. "We find him funny." Stock said the jokes are for Peter himself rather than an audience.
Fan at the microphone asked, "Do you have any plans to include the street vendor from Spider-Man: Homecoming?" Lowe: "Who is the street vendor from Spider-Man: Homecoming?" Fan: "Me, I played the street vendor in Spider-Man: Homecoming." Lowe: "We were going to use the street vendor, but Brian Bendis had plans for him in Iron Man." Slott: "Also, I think you're half-owned by Sony."
Chance of more characters from the Spider-Gwen world getting their own book? "I'm all about it," Latour answered. "Talk to them." Lowe said the key is for fans to keep asking for books like that. "That's what happened with Spider-Gwen, in fact -- she was a character from 'Spider-Verse,' and when the fan response completely blew up online," Marvel changed plans and gave Spider-Gwen her own title.
Chance of more developing with Spider-Gwen and Miles Morales? "We very purposely left that open," Latour said. "One of my favorite things about comics is when people leave gaps for other creative teams to run with it, or choose to ignore, so that was very purposely done that way. I'm a big fan of the idea, but if you're going to get to that place, you have to get there organically, and they're not quite there yet."
Question for full panel: Favorite takes on Spidey? Thompson named Hannah Blumenreich's Spidey Zine. Slott cited the '60s animated series. Zdarsky: "After I got out of comics and got back in, Ultimate Spider-Man. It's such a fresh take on the origin. It's a great starting point. It's a way back into comics."
Sliney said he was the same age as Peter Parker when Ultimate Spider-Man came out, "So he should be this old right now." "And Irish," Slott joked. Lewis: "Supeior Spider-Man." Latour: "'Kraven's Last Hunt' is one of my favorite comics ever. It's full of these weighted, existential crises." Barnes said he's also a "Kraven's Last Hunt" fan, along with the Todd McFarlane era of Spider-Man. Stock: "It's hard to choose a favorite, but if I'm going to judge by the story that struck me the most, I'm going to have to go with Superior."
Status of Toxin? Lewis said that character's story came to a close in the recent Carnage series, but, "As with all things symbiotic, maybe there's a chance we'll see Toxin in the future again."
Latour said that readers will see Spider-Ham again.
Any news on Black Cat? "She plays a very big way into 'Venom Inc.,'" Lowe said. "And she's also a pretty key player in Defenders."
Status of Spider-Man 2099? Sliney said "there's a possibility" the character can return to the present, but right now he's constrained to 2100." "The thing about Marvel characters is that they're never looking for trouble," Lewis joking purposefully, "I'm pretty sure we'll never see him leave 2100."