Superior Spider-Man Should Have Been Part of Marvel Legacy

Another big shakeup is coming over to Marvel, with the revelation that Amazing Spider-Man writer Dan Slott will be leaving Spidey to handle Iron Man. Slott’s tenure with Spider-Man has been a big deal from the start, since he picked up the character right on the heels of his marriage coming to a controversial and abrupt end.

Of his many changes to Spider-Man canon, though, one of the biggest was the Superior Spider-Man storyline, which saw Doctor Octopus swap brains with Peter Parker just before the villain’s body could expire. In his final moments, Peter uploads his original memories to Ock’s newly hijacked body, and the villain realizes not only that the two of them have similar backgrounds, but that Peter has been the hero of their eternal battle. Then, with Peter officially dead, Otto gives himself a new costume, vowing to continue his former-nemesis' fight against crime. However, he also vows to do so better than his predecessor ever could, and the Superior Spider-Man is born.

When Superior first arrived on shelves, it was met with a fair share of anger and criticism. That's nothing new in the world of comics, but the Spider-Man has experienced more backlash than most, be it the response to the Clone Saga, One More Day, or even the addition of multiple Spiders to his world, such as Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen and Kaine. Replacement heroes, of course, are always noteworthy for sidelining the primary hero in order for someone else to take over their mantle for a short period of time. With the Peter Parker-starring Amazing Spider-Man 2 film arriving a year and change after Superior had started, there was never any real worry of Ock-Peter lasting longer than a year, which undercut some of the suspense. Still, the book proved to be more than an attention grabbing headline, with Slott and company presenting a truly novel and interesting tale about a villain attempting to become something better than his old self.

There were issues with the book, to be sure; existing in the lead up to the Avengers' Infinity storyline meant that every one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes were weirdly oblivious to Peter's more than erratic behavior at the time. There's also definitely something... iffy about how the comic approaches Ock as Peter attempting to build a new relationship with Mary Jane. But overall, it's a solid comic whose biggest flaw is that Slott told it for Marvel NOW! five years ago, and not Marvel Legacy today.

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Since it began last October, the Legacy line has been taking time to get into the past and future of various heroes in the Marvel universe. What does it mean to have great power and great responsibility in a world where several heroes are running around with your powers and costume, but wearing different fashion? Through their respective series, we learn that it means something different for each of them. To Miles Morales, it means to casting your responsibilities aside so you can have something of a life; for Ben Reilly, it's quite literally the only thing keeping you from falling apart at the seams; and Eddie Brock and Flash Thompson, the respective Venom and Anti-Venom, treat the responsibility of their power largely as an addicting force.

Thor's books are dealing with its trio of Thunder Gods and the power that Mjolnir has over each of them, while Iron Man's books tackle what it means to be an Armored Avenger as both a disciple and enemy of the original armor wearer. Superior would've fit in quite nicely with those themes, considering the changes that were made to show how Otto handles having his great power and great responsibility. Throwing Ock-Peter into that mix of eclectic Spiders -- as one who stole the responsibility and only accepts it out of spite more than anything else -- would've been interesting to see under the guise of Legacy's character introspection. It could have played off what the other Spider-heroes are doing in their own solo books, with Otto's attitude reaffirming (or dissuading) their current life choices.

Otto's changes to the Spider-Man legacy involved outfitting himself with all kinds of tech, from robot spider legs that sprung from his backpack to a private army, complete with giant mechs and drones that constantly patrol the city. Spider-Man's greatest flaw is that he -- and Miles, Flash, Gwen, etc. -- always inevitably ends up in over his head. But Otto is an arrogant genius, so he can't be in over his head in the same way that Peter inevitably is; his flaws have to be more of his own making than strings of bad luck. The only way for him to learn that he was the Inferior Spider-Man was for all his improvements to blow up in his face. For New Yorkers to be frustrated with his constant surveillance to join up with the Goblin Army, for his behavior to freak the Avengers out enough to actually fire him.

The growth Otto goes through during the final moments of his time as Peter, where he accepts that to be Superior, he has to accept that he can't just react, makes it all the more disappointing that his eventual return via cloning led to him becoming a villain once more rather than exploring the possibility of him permanently turning over a new leaf, or at least making the attempt. For a guy who now calls himself the Superior Octopus and has a literal new lease on life, one would think the next logical step would be to explore what he learned from his time as the man he's hated for literal decades. By making it so that his digital backup was conveniently uploaded into the Living Brain prior to his hero career ending with "Goblin Nation," it sadly undoes an interesting character study.

Otto hasn't been seen since he left HYDRA at the end of Secret Empire, and it's unknown whether another writer will eventually see if he can turn over a new leaf again. The chances of there being a tangible payoff to this are slim, alas, which is a shame considering the other legacy heroes he could've found kindred spirits in. Not just Venom, who also wears the badge of being an anti-hero, but Wolverine's son Daken and the Infamous Iron Man, Victor von Doom. Like him, these men stole the mantle of iconic heroes for their own reasons, but have since made the effort to truly change who they are. Spider-Man stories are all about something turning you into a into a better person, and Superior should've been exactly that for the eight-armed menace.

It's just a shame that all Otto got from his adventure was a better costume.