Judging by the internet, the only comic featuring Doc Ock thatSpider-Manfans have read is Superior. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s about Otto Octavius taking over Peter Parker’s body as his own peters out. Since he makes a reference to his dying frail body and‘The Final Chapter’across both of Insomniac’s games, many have run with the idea that ol’ Octopus is getting ready to stick his mind into the Spider’s, despite the mind swap occurring in Superior and Insomniac referencing a different comic entirely. I can’t see it happening, but if that’s where all this is headed, it’s a bad idea.
What is The Final Chapter?
The Final Chapter is a controversial story that resurrected Aunt May only three years after her death in the Clone Saga, predating Superior by 15 years. Green Goblin reveals thatthe ‘dead’ Aunt Maywas a paid actor infused with her DNA and the real Aunt May is in the care of Reed Richards, but she has a device in her head that, if removed, will trigger bombs across the globe. In the end, Peter saves his Aunt, stops Gobby, tells MJ he’s quitting, and burns his costume, so it could be that the next game is setting up his true retirement. Given he all but passes the torch to Miles, this sort of narrative progression could be fitting if done right.
Yes, even Peter’s dear old aunt isn’t immune to Marvel’s obsession with resurrections.
It doesn’t really tie into Otto Octavius, but given that Spider-Man 2 further sets up the Green Goblin’s origin story, it’s possible that Insomniac will loosely adapt The Final Chapter. I hope not, but it’s more likely than Superior.
Why Spider-Man 3 Shouldn’t Adapt The Superior Spider-Man Comic
Spider-Man 3 already has too many moving parts. We’ve got Carnage, Wraith, Doctor Octopus, Chameleon, and Green Goblin. That’s if Spider-Man 3 doesn’t throw in a new villain altogether without any setup like Kraven. you’re able to tie Carnage to all of them by having him infect heroes and villains as he does in Absolute Carnage, but that’s far too similar a story to Venom’s in Spider-Man 2. Fitting all of these villains together is going to be difficult, let alone with an evil Spider-Man piloted by one of his old enemies also taking the reins.
Then there’s the fact that Superior Spider-Man just isn’t that interesting a story. Otto takes over Peter’s body and tries to be a hero, which means turning him into a tech bro with a Stark-like industrial empire. Because everyone loves Peter for being a rich CEO, right? It left the comics in an awkward spot post-Otto since when Peter came back, he inherited everything from the run. That stain didn’t wash away for a long time, leaving Peter an unrecognisable and unrelatable husk of his former self.
On top of that, Superior Spider-Man is alotlike the Symbiote arc, only with an old man yelling “DOLT” every so often. But despite Peter becoming more callous, distant, and, well, literally a different person, most people in his life don’t notice. Even in the black suit, people are quick to question if he’s okay. And since we just had the black suit, retreading similar ground so soon would be a waste of potential, especially when Peter and Miles Morales are back in good standing with each other.
There is one other option the comics have played with—Otto possessing a brand-new clone body separate from Peter and then donning a Spider-Man-like suit. He did design the Advanced Suit in the first game, after all. But again, I don’t see the appeal. You ask, what if Otto was young and strong? I answer, why not just do that from the beginning? Insomniac started a new universe so, if that’s the Otto it wanted, it could’ve easily had him.
Superior came out at a point when Spider-Man was stagnating. Coming off the back of the dragged-out and convoluted Clone Saga, the ‘00s run of The Amazing Spider-Man introduced the idea of Spider Totems, meaning his bite was part of a pre-ordained intricate web of prophecy. Shortly after, we had the controversial One More Day, erasing his marriage to Mary Jane Watson andrestoring the status quo. Every writer since has had to wade through decades of controversy while trying to tell a fresh story, despite not being allowed to deviate from the formula.
It’s an impossible task, to which Superior Spider-Man was the antidote. It broke free of the status quo and allowed writer Dan Slott to briefly experiment more, but the end result was Peter bumbling about as he ran an international conglomerate, so busy he had to hire the Prowler to pretend to be Spider-Man. Insomniac hasn’t been pigeonholed into that position, so it doesn’t need to make such a drastic move to keep things interesting. We have Miles Morales,Cindy Moon, and Hailey—who our Editor-in-Chief believes could be Spider-Gwen—to keep the story going.
Otto Octavius’ comeback should be one last hurrah, not a gimmick to shatter the shackles of an overstepping editorial that doesn’t exist.
Next:Matthew Lillard And Bill Rehor On Making A D&D Show Where Everyone Dies At The End
