WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #306 by Chip Zdarsky, Adam Kubert, Juan Frigeri, Jason Keith, Andrew Crossley and VC's Travis Lanham, on sale now.
Spider-Man has been around for over 50 years, and in that time different creators have found interesting ways to add new skill sets to his repertoire. Of course, Spider-Man's powers are already impressive, after a fluke lab accident and bite from a radioactive spider left him with the ability to stick to walls, agility and proportional strength of a spider.
Over the years, some other powers granted to Spider-Man are four extra arms (giving the impression of a human spider), organic web shooters to replace his homemade mechanical devices, and the ability to heal his body after sustaining life-threatening injuries during the events of the 2005 story arc, "The Other." We can also count the times Spider-Man's handy spider-sense has malfunctioned or stopped working, leaving the wall-crawler exposed to surprise attacks.
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Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #306 adds a new wrinkle to this power trend by enhancing Peter with otherworldly abilities. Not only do they increase his already established powerset, but they also allow Spidey to take a trip down memory lane to experience every moment from his past.
Welcome Our Alien Overlords
The Vedomi, an alien race that goes from planet-to-planet rescuing artificial intelligence before annihilating the lifeforms remaining, were summoned by the Tinkerer back in Spectacular Spider-Man #300. In order to stop them, Spider-Man, his sister Teresa Parker and J. Jonah Jameson traveled to an alternate past to retrieve a device that would help them defeat the invaders. Coined the "Spiderpoint" universe, this was a world where Peter hung up his Spidey suit, Gwen Stacy (Peter's wife) was a member of the Resistance, Harry Osborn became President, Norman rehabilitated his image and turned his goblin serum into a health supplement, and Jonah retired from the Daily Bugle.
After our heroes returned to the present-day, they were greeted by a massive Vedomi ship hovering over New York City. One of the Vedomi's targets was H.E.R.B.I.E., the Fantastic Four's robotic friend and ally. Even though there are thousands of New York City residents to save, Spider-Man still watches out for the little guy and rescues H.E.R.B.I.E. from being abducted. A run-in with Daredevil leads Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends to the sub-basement of the Baxter Building, which the last remaining heroes have turned into their headquarters while they work to stop the Vedomi.
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Take One Pill A Day To Keep The Vedomi Away
Spider-Man quickly fills everyone in on their adventure through time, and the item they returned with. The last hope to stop the Vedomi lies in a small capsule pill that was created as a fail-safe by a Vedomi scout to trick their prime directive into thinking a planet empty, with no robots or humans to plague.
As Black Panther points out, the problem is the capsule will only work if it's introduced through a biological host's consciousness, who can then override the core's internal programming. Seeing the Vedomi as his responsibility, Spider-Man breaks the capsule's shell, allowing a green substance to devour his body and enter his consciousness. A byproduct of the process turns Spider-Man's brain into a computer, allowing him to access all of his memories.
We then see flashbacks to familiar faces in Peter's history, including his mother, Mary Parker, Uncle Ben and Aunt May, Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy. Spider-Man's supporting cast is always a form of inspiration in his stories, and seeing these images flash before him is enough to propel Spider-Man into action. His second display of those new powers comes when Spider-Man leaps from a rooftop all the way to the Vedomi's floating ship, which has to be a good hundred miles above the city.
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However, before Spider-Man went to end the Vedomi invasion, he whispered something to Teresa. Though the lettering was obscured so readers wouldn't know what was shared between the siblings, all was revealed in a few heartwarming panels later.
While Spider-Man and Teresa were sharing what could be considered a final hug, Peter told his sister he didn't believe he'd come back from this mission alive. Peter's final wish was for Teresa to go see their Aunt May. "You guys are going to love each other," he said. It's both courageous and selfless of Spider-Man to put himself in the path of danger over his friends and family. If we were to guess, Spider-Man may come close to death, only for his new powers to kick in and push him towards victory.
With Great Power Comes Even Greater Power
Something to consider is how long will Spider-Man have access to these new abilities once the "Coming Home" story arc is over. While it's unrealistic to expect Spider-Man to continue on as a bright-green glowing superhero, some creative stories can be told from this development.
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There is also the possibility that one of Spider-Man's hidden memories comes to the surface, revealing an event or secret from his past that somehow became buried, even involving his parents and Teresa. At some point, a meeting between Teresa and Aunt May is going to take place. We're just hoping to have tissues handy for the emotional union.