WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man: Curse of the Man-Thing #1, by Steve Orlando, Marco Failla, Minkyu Jung, Guru-eFX and VC's Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
One of the most deceptively powerful superheroes in the Marvel Universe is Man-Thing. The scientist Ted Sallis transformed into the elemental figure by injecting himself with an experimental serum before being drawn into the Nexus of All Realities within the Florida Everglades.
And with nefarious forces trying to seize the incredible abilities of Man-Thing for themselves, the one character that may be able to restore Ted's connection to Man-Thing and stop its raw elemental potential from devastating the Earth is a longtime Spider-Man villain: The Lizard.
As Ted confers with Captain America in a telepathic exchange linked to Man-Thing's dormant husk, Ted reveals that the experiments he was conducting all those years ago were meant to replicate the Super-Soldier Serum developed by Dr. Abraham Erskine during World War II that transformed Steve Rogers. Working alongside Ted in an effort to reproduce what was lost with Erskine's death was none other than Doctor Curt Connors before the scientist created the serum that would transform him into the ravenous reptilian supervillain.
Ted tells Captain America that it was Curt that cracked the code on creating the serum that eventually turned him into Man-Thing and tells Steve to track him down as he is the key towards saving the world. Locating Curt, the two scientists reunite over their own telepathic conversation where Ted admits he lied to Captain America to meet with his old colleague. However, Curt notes he's been hiding a secret of his own as the stress from the prolonged telepathic connection triggers his own transformation into the Lizard. It is then revealed that the one person who could help talk sense into Ted Sallis isn't Curt Connors at all, but Curt's longtime frenemy Spider-Man.
As the world continues to swirl into chaos, Spider-Man forms his own telepathic connection to Ted and manages to talk him down. As one of the Marvel Universe's foremost authorities on power and responsibility, Peter Parker is no stranger to delivering a well-timed, deftly articulated pep talk, and this proves no different. One thing that has been haunting Ted for years since his transformation into Man-Thing has been a festering sense of guilt over the shortcuts and people he hurt to progress in life, only to transform into a literal monster. While Curt's own scientific hubris may have caused him to go undergo a similar monstrous transformation with his own experiments, it's Spider-Man's resolve to use his gifts to overcome tragedy that strikes a chord with Ted and helps him reassert control over Man-Thing.
Having turned to science and familiar faces from his past, Ted finds the words of encouragement and empowerment he needs, not from his old colleague, but a superhero wiser than their years and wise-cracking demeanor would suggest. And while Ted may have control of his base Man-Thing form, the world is still afire with chaos as less than noble figures seek to exploit the monster's incredible powers. Science has failed Ted Sallis for the last time and, in his desperation, Ted turns to assistance from a supernatural source as Magik from the X-Men arrives to save the day.