The Amazing Spider-Man

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Number13Roxas, Jan 3, 2008.

  1. Number13Roxas King's Apprentice

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    Man the web-head just had a bad year for critics. One More Day was an okay story but a slightly hated one from fans due to it breaking up Mary-Jane and Peter's relationship, although I like the idea that Spider-Man is now in a world where he has not unmasked himself and Harry Osborn is alive (GGII is back again).

    (For those who only follow the movies, Spidey unmasked himself to the public in the Civil War storyline but then rebelled and went with Captain America's Anti-Registration act due to Tony Stark/Iron Man imprisoning rogue heroes in the Negative Zone. The Kingpin ordered an assasination attempt on Peter Parker who dodged the sniper who hit Aunt May instead.

    Desperate he beat the Kingpin in front of the prison and then begged Tony Stark and Dr. Strange to save Aunt May. When this fails the demon Mephisto offers to save his aunt in exchange for Peter and Mary-Jane to have their marriage and most of their memories of it erased. Mary-Jane and Peter enjoyed their remaining day together and the deed is done with Mephisto adding that Peter never being unmasked.)
     
  2. Destiny's Force Mess with the best, lose like the rest...

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    The ol' Parker Luck...

    That...was...wrong.

    I mean, how's Peter supposed to cope now? At least when he unmasked, there was no more secrets from friends and family. He got to team up with former foes like Sandman. Not to mention how does this affect everyone else in the Marvel universe?

    I haven't checked, but is he still a member of the New Avengers? Do the Scarlet Spiders (the former M.V.P.) still exist? Did he partake in the Civil War?

    But what I want to know most is, WHY DID THEY DECIDE TO HIT THE COSMIC RESET BUTTON?!?! I mean, come on! Sure Spider-man's greatest appeal is how screwed he is in life, but that doesn't mean that they had to take away the one person who would've been there for them! And the so-called non-existent daughter they were supposed to have? That makes like what, three kids that never were? (Mayday Parker, AKA Spider-Girl; Ben Parker; and now this kid.)

    You cannot have Peter Parker without Mary Jane. It's despicable! They already had her "dead" when the plane blew up. She had already separated from him during the Ezeikel arc. He was sort of a bachelor during the Spectacular Spider-Man series. Hopefully they still end up destined to be together in the future.

    One more question. What happened to Gwen's kids? Did they ever stop the premature aging? I know they're in Paris right now, but is Sarah and Gabriel still alive?

    Well, true believers. I kinda expected this to happen when Peter said he'd do ANYTHING to keep Aunt May from dying. I wish it didn't happen, but once again Marvel makes us readers feel sorry for Spider-Man even more now.


    (Kinda makes me wonder what would happen if Sora was in Peter's position. If he had to choose between the life of Riku or his relationship with Kairi, which would he choose? I smell, story idea...)
     
  3. Pirateguywithapplepie Twilight Town Denizen

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    Is Brand New Day in the regular continuity? 'Cause if it is, they've just retconned a whole lot of stuff that have happened since Civil War. Is he still in the New Avengers? And what about the Scarlett Spiders in the Initiative? I suppose those things can still go on without Peter being unmasked but.......
     
  4. Destiny's Force Mess with the best, lose like the rest...

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    No kidding. Most of the Civil War happened BECAUSE Spidey unmasked. Not all, but it was a turning point. He's not on the run anymore, but without his biggest supporters, how much more screwed up is he now?!

    P.S. I only skimmed the last part of One More Day because it was already heart-breaking to see the Reset button being slammed on Peter's life. :cryinganime:
     
  5. Darkcloud Word of advice: Let the wookie win. He's Chuck N

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    Folks, if there's one thing we've learned from the comic book universe, it's that nothing lasts forever. Even if this did happen (since I haven't been keeping up with my favorite web-head's life lately, I find this a little hard to believe), there's no way it would last long. Why? Because I remember two things:

    1. An interview with one of the writers of the Civil War saga pretty much confirmed that they wasn't going to be 'going back' or 'it was all a dream' sequence to make this suggest this never happen (like in a permanent manner), so we should expect that this will not, repeat, will not last long.

    2. Even before his newfound popularity in the Ghost Rider movie, Mephisto has always been a cheater of fate, especially in deals. With all the debts that any, if not all, the superheroes of the Marvel universe have towards the webhead, you can bet that they won't take this sitting down, if they remember that is. We can definitely assume something will be done about this, either by the Sorcerer Supreme or some other hero who's teamed up with Spidey in the past. Heck, for all we know, Pete and MJ might meet together and fall in love all over again, and somehow break the spell Mephisto cast on them. I can't stress this enough, this will not last!
     
  6. Destiny's Force Mess with the best, lose like the rest...

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    Only one problem with the second statement, though. Mephisto actually went back and altered the timeline slightly. This isn't exactly a "spell" that can be broken. Mephisto said it himself that a tiny part of Peter's soul will actually remember making the deal, the one that will be "screaming for all eternity." (or something in that matter.) Yeah, the Civil War did happen, but since One More Day was Straczynski's last contribution to Amazing Spider-Man and someone else has taken up the story, we'll probably have to go through Spidey's bachelor life all over again.

    And since the time-line has shifted, does that mean that he never embraced the spider totem? Never beat Ero? Never became reborn? And most importantly, does that mean he doesn't have all his advanced spider abilities he had gained? (i.e. organic web-shooters, enhanced spider-sense, spider stingers, knowledge of other spiders, enhanced vibrational senses) I mean, some of these stories revolved around the fact that Mary Jane helped him out. And the whole Ezekiel bit...don't know if that would've happened or not.

    I mean, who else on Earth could help him regain what he lost?
     
  7. Darkcloud Word of advice: Let the wookie win. He's Chuck N

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    I hear where your coming from, but I still stand by my statement. There have been so many souls that Mephisto has cheated, seemed impossible to get around, and yet a way has been found. The timestream has been altered, yes, but that also means that a price has to paid for it. That's one thing I learned in an encounter Spidey had with Doc Strange.

    Second, there are numerous multitudes of dimensions, each containing its own Spider-Man with a different life. One where Ben Reilly not dying, for example, and living the life of Spider-Man in Peter's stead, which was originally planned when Pete and MJ were expecting, is possible, and could possibly be used to help out.

    As ridiculous as some of my theories sound, my point is that there's always a way. Several heroes have gotten around Mephisto's deals, not just the Ghost Rider, and have reclaimed their lives. There's still a chance for Pete and MJ. I'm not sure what will fix this mess yet, but I know there's a way.
     
  8. Destiny's Force Mess with the best, lose like the rest...

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    As much as I prefer looking at the pessimistic side of things, I actually agree. The timeline is a curious thing. Heroes rise and fall. The high points of Peter's life were becoming a New Avenger, being reborn, getting the Iron Man suit and having Tony bail him out of any financial troubles.

    Of course, for ever decision, there's a consequence. Yeah, the timeline's been altered. And someone does have to pay for it. But wasn't Peter and MJ never getting married the payment? Or is there some other game being played here...

    It kinda makes me wonder why we didn't see the freakin' Watcher during the whole thing. More importantly, why didn't Spidey ask him about it?

    BTW, was I correct about how many kids Peter had? I know Spider-Girl exists in one alternate timeline. And he was supposed to have a boy, but something happened. (I don't remember) And then Mephisto shows that MJ and Peter were going to have a third kid if they hadn't taken the deal...
     
  9. Darkcloud Word of advice: Let the wookie win. He's Chuck N

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    I wouldn't say that them getting married was the payment, that is, the consequence for changing the timeline. I'm pretty sure there's something more. If you've read the House of M series, the timeline was completely changed, and the two of them still wound up together. Naw, the consequence is something more dire, like something that shouldn't be able to happen is now possible, maybe through the two never getting together...

    Actually what was the Watcher's role in CW? I only know that Uatu made an appearance literally just before the war began, but that's it. Did he actually do/say anything.

    I know little May did exist in both universes, as baby (stillborn?) in the main, and teenager in the M2 universe. The two of them did have Ben, but I don't know what happened to change that (aside from what we've been discussing so far), and I have no idea about the third.

    I just remembered something: Whenever Mephisto makes a deal, it's usually when something greatly beneficial or dire is going to happen, especially towards him. Is it possible that the marriage of the two of them could possibly put Mephisto in jeopardy?
     
  10. Destiny's Force Mess with the best, lose like the rest...

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    In the House of M, Pete DIDN'T end up with MJ. He ended up with Gwen. MJ was dating Tony Stark.

    Not that I'm aware of. In the X-men's maybe, but not the rest of the Marvel Universe.

    Mephisto showed Pete and MJ the child that they COULD'VE had if they hadn't taken the deal, IMMEDIATELY after they accepted it. That's the third child I'm talking about.

    It better be. Except I don't see how May's death would've affected him. Peter vowed to kill the Kingpin if May died, but other than that, there's really nothing that's groundbreaking...
     
  11. Darkcloud Word of advice: Let the wookie win. He's Chuck N

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    He didn't? Huh, I must've missed that part. I only got as far as him being her manager...my bad.

    *sigh* I'm gonna have to do some serious catch-up...I've only as far as Jean not being with Cyclops anymore, and I think the Prof isn't at the X-Mansion anymore (unless I've really missed something...)

    Ah, gotcha. Definitely didn't know that...did they at least know if it was a boy or girl?

    For all we know it would've resulted in Spidey receiving the powers of Captain Universe again. Think about this for a second: In the Fantastic Four series, in an alternate timeline, the death of parents Franklin Richards and Rachael Grey resulted in Hyperstorm (true, the kid did kill them, but if he didn't...?), one of the FF's worst enemies. And May's existence is practically vital in the Marvel universe. In one story, she nearly changed the fate of everyone when she had to decide between Ben Parker and her one time boyfriend, who was a hoodlum. There's no telling how this would've resulted.
     
  12. GhettoXemnas literally dead inside

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    I just read one more day yesterday, I was a bit disapointed.
     
  13. Destiny's Force Mess with the best, lose like the rest...

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    Yeah, in the House of M, it turned out that Peter was the Green Goblin. Norman Osborn wasn't crazy, but Peter still remembered how things should've been via mental breakdown. Since Osborn wasn't the Green Goblin, Peter never lost Gwen Stacy off the bridge. Eventually, the memory confusion got so bad that Peter faked his own suicide so him and his family (Uncle Ben, Aunt May, Gwen and their son) could finally get away from all the responsibility of being famous. Of course, Emma Frost and the others finally caught up to him, unlocked his memories of the true timeline, forcing Peter to fight for the true reality, even if it cost him his preferred life.

    Trust me. You've missed a lot. After the House of M was resolved, 90% of mutantkind ceased being mutants. The Xavier institiute was being used as a safe haven for all the remaining mutants. There's been a lot of backstabbing and deaths (Sabretooth's dead, Mystique betrayed the X-Men, Rogue is almost completely out of her mind, and Gambit's joined the bad guys.). Currently, Xavier regained his powers, Magneto seems to still have his powers (but he hasn't displayed any sign of it yet), and a newborn mutant child has finally been born. However, all the X-teams, Mr. Sinister's Marauders and William Stryker's Purifiers are all after the child, who's currently in the possession of Cable, who's got his own agenda with the kid.

    Actually, Mephisto used the child's form to cause insult to injury. It was a red-headed girl.

    Actually, after reading the summary at Wikipedia, it turns out that MJ offered a counter-deal with Mephisto.

    :blink: Wow. Peter no longer having his true memories or his organic webshooters. That totally sucks. So much for embracing the spider...
     
  14. Pirateguywithapplepie Twilight Town Denizen

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    This may be a bit of a spoiler, but apparent Mary Jane (Or at least someone who looks exactly like her....) has become a registered super hero by the name of Jackpot. This may or may not have been Mary Jane's 'counter-deal' with Mephisto.

    And doesn't Loki still owe Peter a favor from a couple years back? I don't know if Loki is more powerful than Mephisto or not, but couldn't he just bring back Peter's marriage and allow Aunt May to live? Then again Loki's got his (or her...) own problems in the Thor book. Just a thought....
     
  15. Darkcloud Word of advice: Let the wookie win. He's Chuck N

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    Okay, I knew about the '90% of mutants being wiped out' part, minus the insanity and backstabs, and I figured the Prof and Magneto having their powers, but as far as I knew, the Prof, Nightcrawler, and a few others were in space for some odd reason, but I guess their back 'cause the last I checked Rachael (Phoenix) was with him.

    ...I can't picture MJ being like that. Sure, she wants Peter to be happy, and he completely deserves it, but she's also smarter than most people give her credit. She's outsmarted some of Spidey's more brilliant foes, so she definitely has something planned here.

    Do we know whom the person Mephisto is referring to as 'He'? My first option would be Blackfire, but he's as bad, if not worse than Mephisto, so I'm out of options.

    A little off topic, but do we know what J. Jonah Jameson's reaction was to Spidey being Pete? I saw a comic book cover of his and Ben Urich's reaction, but I'd like to know exactly what it was that he did.
     
  16. Pirateguywithapplepie Twilight Town Denizen

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    Well, in Civil War Jameson fainted upon watching Peter unmask himself on the news. And he fired Peter from the Bugle. Doesn't matter now. And now that I think about it......If Peter hadn't unmasked himself in the first place....none of this would have happened.....He would probably still be in Luke Cage's Avengers and Aunt May would have never been shot.
     
  17. Darkcloud Word of advice: Let the wookie win. He's Chuck N

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    Lol, yeah that sounds like Jameson. Yeah, the first I heard of him unmasking himself, the first thing that came to mind was 'there's no way this will work, he will regret this before it's over'.

    Well, I guess all we can do now is wait and take bets.
     
  18. Pirateguywithapplepie Twilight Town Denizen

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    Well, it only get's worse for Jameson........ I won't spoil it by posting it, but if you want to know you can p.m me.
     
  19. Darkcloud Word of advice: Let the wookie win. He's Chuck N

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    Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll read it up instead. Makes things more interesting, you know?
     
  20. Number13Roxas King's Apprentice

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    Exactly in 2009 all of Peter's classic villain's are coming back along with MJ probably.