Over the years, Spider-Man has a long history of contending with genetic experimentation resulting in dangerous new threats, with the character dealing with countless clones and genetically-modified foes over the years. But one of the most dangerous of them all didn't just come from Spider-Man's DNA.
Now, we're taking a closer look at Itsy Bitsy, and how did this Spider-Man/Deadpool hybrid almost pushed the wall-crawler over the edge.
Itsy Bitsy was first introduced in Spider-Man/Deadpool #8 by Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness. Initially an average and unspectacular woman, she was the test subject of someone named Patient Zero who was actually Deadpool's old frenemy and scientific genius, Weasel. Having been restored to life by Mephisto as part of a plan to target Spider-Man, Weasel embued his test subject with the DNA of Spider-Man and Deadpool, transforming her into a new form as Itsy Bitsy. Taking the name Susan Mary, Itsy Bitsy quickly proved how effective she is in battle by interrupting a fight between Spider-Man and Deadpool against the Hateful Hexad, resulting in the deaths of three minor villains.
Thanks to her origins, Itsy Bitsy is a remarkably empowered woman. Spider-Man's DNA affords her a Spider-Sense that can alert her to danger, the ability to wall-crawl, as well as enhanced agility, strength, and durability. Her body also morphed considerably thanks to his DNA, effectively giving her many attributes of the Man-Spider transformation including sprouting four additional arms, four more eyes, developing pincers in her mouth, and gaining the ability to shoot razor-sharp organic webbing from her finger-tips. She also gained Deadpool's healing factor, making it all but impossible to put her down for good. On top of all these copied abilities, she also gains the ability to shoot acidic saliva, giving her a wealth of abilities. Uniquely, her skin also turned blue from the procedure.
Weasel initially wanted Itsy Bitsy to target the two heroes, and help kill them. But it turns out that Itsy Bitsy wasn't interested in that. Instead, she wanted to actually team up with the pair and become a hero, albeit a violent one similar to Deadpool in his early days of adjusting to heroism. She turned against Patient Zero and tried to convince the heroes to work with her, only for the pair to turn her down. Itsy Bitsy took matters into her hands and started killing her way through the criminal underworld of New York City. Horrified by her actions, Spider-Man was heavily tempted to break his "no killing" code to deal with her, even resorting to a plasma ray to counter her impressive healing factor.
However, recognizing why Spider-Man resisted pushing that line, Deadpool threw himself into the middle of the conflict and kept Spider-Man from making a mistake he'd regret for the rest of his life. Eventually, Deadpool did the deed instead, hoping to preserve Spider-Man's innocence. However, it turns out that Itsy Bitsy survived the experience, and may eventually return after regrowing her body. Itsy Bitsy has the potential to be a lethal and dangerous figure within the Marvel Universe. But if someone like Deadpool, a former murderous and cruel assassin, could eventually redeem himself enough to even earn a place among the Avengers, then there could be hope for anyone.