Savage Spider-Man is the newest miniseries starring everyone's favorite Web-Slinger. It's being rolled out by the team of Joe Kelly and Gerardo Sandoval, and the book promises to show a new, more vicious side of Spider-Man that readers have never seen before. Evil-doers best be on the lookout, because this new Spider-Man is more frightening than even the worst Peter Parker quip.
For many Spider-Man fans, Savage Spider-Man seemingly came out of nowhere. In the mainline Amazing Spider-Man title, Ben Reilly is Spider-Man with Peter Parker hospitalized in a coma. Moreover, the Beyond Corporation has copywritten the Spider-Man name, legally keeping Peter from taking the name and costume back.
10 This All Spirals Out Of Non-Stop Spider-Man
This story is serving as a continuation to last year's Non-Stop Spider-Man that Joe Kelly and Gerardo Sandoval put together with artist Chris Bachalo. The story focused on Spider-Man investigating a drug called "A-Plus" that was killing college students.
The story progressed with more and more people being exposed to A-Plus before Spider-Man finally caught up with the perpetrators on an airplane in mid-flight and ended up being dropped onto the Isle of the Damned.
9 Spider-Man's Mutation Is A Result Of A "Brain-Strengthening" Drug
The reason for Spider-Man's sudden and violent mutation this time around is the A-Plus drug. On normal human beings, it increases their cognitive function to the point that their brains essentially burn themselves out. The organization selling the drug was doing this intentionally with a very specific goal in mind.
Before the story was over, the hired muscle known as the Zapata Brothers were given an overdose of A-Plus, causing their brains to grow to a massive size, absorbing their bodies and the surrounding street in the mass of grey matter. Spider-Man had to get the help of Doctor Strange to halt this growth and cure the Zapata Brothers. For Spider-Man, a dose of A-Plus has turned him feral, transforming his body into something resembling an actual massive spider-man.
8 The Story Takes Inspiration From Island Of Doctor Moreau
The island that Spider-Man finds himself upon in this story is called Isle of the Damned. It's where the manufacturers of A-Plus have let the victims of their failed experiments. Like Spider-Man, much of these failed experiments are human/animal hybrids.
This, along with the name "Isle of the Damned," are clearly drawing upon The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells for inspiration. The story focuses on the titular Dr. Moreau turning humans into animal/human hybrids while using them as servants and slaves. This story has been adapted into several movies including Island of Lost Souls, two movies called The Island of Dr. Moreau, and even Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams.
7 The "Savage" Name Has Actually Been Used A Lot By Marvel
Spider-Man isn't the first Marvel superhero to receive the "savage" name in the title of his comic. She-Hulk's first series was called Savage She-Hulk and was launched by Stan Lee and John Buscema in 1979. Lyra, the future daughter of Hulk and Thundra, got an All-New Savage She-Hulk book in 2009 by Fred van Lente, Peter Vale, and Robert Atkins. The Hulk himself got two Savage Hulk books. The first was a one-shot by Peter David and Dale Mike McKone in 1996. The second was a team-up book by Alan Davis in 2014.
Wolverine had a team-up book called Savage Wolverine in 2013 from writer and artist Frank Cho. However, the primary user of the "savage" name in Marvel Comics has been Conan the Barbarian. Savage Tales and Savage Sword of Conan were two largely Conan-centric magazines, the latter of which received a recent revival. Savage Avengers by Gerry Duggan, Mike Deodato Jr., and Patch Zircher had Conan arrive in the modern era to team up with many of Earth's heroes including Wolverine, Venom, Elektra, and Deadpool.
6 Joe Kelly And Gerardo Sandoval Each Have Impressive Creative Pedigrees
Joe Kelly is a comic book writer who has been in the business since the 1990s. He worked on Superman: Godfall with the late, great Michael Turner. He has also written JLA, Superman/Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern: Legacy for DC Comics. For Marvel, he worked on a couple of 2099 titles as well as Daredevil, Deadpool, X-Men, and, of course, plenty of Spider-Man. He also co-created I Kill Giants for Image Comics alongside J.M. Ken Niimura.
Gerardo Sandoval is an artist with a very distinct and grabbing style that has mainly worked for Marvel on titles such as Venom, New Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy 3000, X-Men, Extreme Carnage, and, of course, Spider-Man.
5 Baron Zemo Is One Of The Central Villains Of The Story
Baron Zemo is an infamous Marvel villain best known for his iconic battles against Captain America or the Avengers when he's not trying to put together a new Thunderbolts team. However, his association with the A-Plus drug and its manufacturers brought him back to New York City and into the path of Spider-Man.
Zemo and Spider-Man had a duel on that flying airplane, and it ended with Zemo's associates betraying him and throwing both him and Spider-Man off the plane.
4 The Other Central Villains Are Racial Segregationists
Zemo's associates, in this case, are an organization known as Immaculatum. Like Baron Zemo, they have a rather ugly view of race relations. However, they are not white supremacists like Zemo is. Immaculatum is a diverse organization of racial segregationists.
Their members are known as Wulf, Reinheit, Jundo, Tapuya, and Macitica. Their goal is to relocate everyone on Earth back to where their people initially emerged from. Obviously, this is insanely evil and unfeasible for so many reasons, but no one said that Immaculatum was rational.
3 This Isn't The First Time Spider-Man Has Gone "Savage"
The first time something like this has happened to Spider-Man comes from the "Six Arms Saga" by Stan Lee and Gil Kane. Peter took a serum that was intended to eliminate his spider-powers, but it instead increases them along with growing four extra arms. In his attempts to cure this new mutation, Spider-Man crosses paths with the Lizard and Morbius. Spidey and the Lizard actually use Morbius' blood to cure themselves.
The other time Spidey's powers have gone on the fritz like this is in Other: Evolve or Die by Peter David, Mike Wieringo, J. Michael Strazynski, Pat Lee, Mike Deodato Jr., and Reginald Hudlin. where Peter begins mutating while being pursued by the interdimensional vampire known as Morlun. Spider-Man nearly perishes from a gunshot wound until he is convinced to embrace his "Other." This leads to Peter shedding his skin and going into a cocoon, and he ends up having to fight the Other as represented by a horde of spiders in his old suit. A lot of the story here sets up the future Spider-Verse events that bring in the likes of Miles Morales, Ghost-Spider, and Kaine Parker.
2 Kaine Parker, AKA The Scarlet Spider, Has A Similar Form Called "The Other"
Kaine Parker, who is a clone of Spider-Man who has used the Scarlet Spider name, was once an antagonist to Spider-Man and Ben Reilly. However, Kaine turned over a new leaf in recent years and event had a stint with the New Warriors.
Kaine's biology is complicated, perhaps even more so than Spider-Man thanks to the Jackal's tinkering. Kaine has an "Other" that has come out in extreme situations. Kaine's Other is incredibly violent and tends to prefer its wrist-spikes to stab and poison foes.
1 Spider-Man Has Exhibited An All-New Power In This Story
In the midst of Spider-Man's frenzy and attempts of fighting off the other animal people in the first issue of Savage Spider-Man, he has shown off a new power. He spat out a red webbing from his mouth that allows him to control the other animal-people of the Isle of the Damned.
This is something fairly new for the Spider-Man Family of characters. The only comparable ability is Spider-Woman's pheromones, which allow her to influence men to some degree. However, it's never seemed to thoroughly enthrall individuals like Spider-Man's new red webbing.