Spider-Man has long been one of the most fun superheroes in the Marvel Universe, and thanks to his homecoming to the cinematic universe earlier this year, there has been an even bigger focus on the webhead. At New York Comic Con, Marvel held a panel dubbed "Marvel Legacy: Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" that spilled the beans on the directions of several Spider-Man and Spider-verse titles.
On hand for the panel was Nick Lowe (moderator and Editor), Devin Lewis (Associate Editor), Allison Stock (Editor), Rodney Barnes (Falcon), Chip Zdarsky (Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man), Dan Slott (Amazing Spider-Man), Robbie Thompson (Spider-Man/Deadpool), Jason Latour (Spider-Gwen), and Will Sliney (Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider).
Zdarsky was first up, talking to us about Spectacular Spider-Man #297, which he described as Die Hard for Peter Parker. Peter has to escape his apartment while S.H.I.E.L.D. is hunting him down.
In the next issue, #298, Black Panther will appear. Zdarsky asked, "is he friend or foe?" before quickly answering his own question. "Probably friend," he admitted.
Veering off the spider-path for a minute, Zdarsky talked a bit about Marvel 2-in-One, which sees The Thing and the Human Torch reunite after the fallout of Secret Wars to find the remnants of the Reed family. Since Secret Wars, Ben and Johnny have hit "rock bottom," which Zdarsky mused would be a great name for a Thing arc. It’s up to Ben to help Johnny up, and get them going on a quest to find the remaining Reed family.
Their only clue to finding them? Doctor Doom. Clearly the fans in the room were disgruntled Fantastic Four fans, because this announcement drew huge applause from the crowd.
Later in the panel, during the Q & A session, the panel was asked how they keep Spider-Man’s voice and sense of humor consistent. Zdarsky explained, "the secret to writing Spider-Man quips is not to think about them too much. Otherwise, they sound too funny." It was added that Peter makes jokes for himself, not the audience.
Writer Rodney Barnes talked about the upcoming Falcon solo series. When asked to describe where he’s taking the character, Barnes joked, "Nick Spencer messed it up for me because he did so many cool things with him!" He didn’t want to take the character back to the streets "chasing pimps," as he put it, so Falcon is going to be fighting Blackheart in the series’ first arc.
Up next, Dan Slott discussed Amazing Spider-Man. Issue #789 kicks off a new arc, "The Fall of Peter Parker." Slott explained that previously, they gave Parker tons of money and all the toys in the world. "Isn’t life great?" He asked. Here, he and his team are "doing something you should never do…this is the Marvel Universe — take it all away from him!" "He’s lower than he’s ever been before."
Interestingly, Slott mentioned that Peter is finding his way back to the Daily Bugle, opening up an avenue to see old friends. Parker’s role at the Bugle is unknown; Slott only explained that it’s "in a way you’ve never seen Peter Parker at the Daily Bugle before."
Issue #790 sees Parker lose the Baxter building, which he promised Johnny Storm he would look after. He’s lost everything and will likely be at odds with Storm. Slott promised we’ll "see some stuff happening — stuff!"
Next up, associate editor Devin Lewis talked Venom. Lewis is admittedly not a fan of Venom’s tongue, so we’re gonna be seeing less of it. This prompted a poll from the audience, who by a large margin seemed to be fans of the tongue.
Venom, Inc. is coming, which crosses Venom and Amazing Spider-Man together. Dan Slott framed the series as the best of both worlds for fans of Eddie Brock and Flash Thompson. "You’re gonna get your chocolate and your peanut butter." In addition to those characters, Slott also promised some secret fun characters we haven’t seen in a while.
Venom will also be crossing over into the X-Men: Blue universe, in X-Men: Blue Annual #1. In the story, something has afflicted Corsair, Cyclops’s space pirate dad, and "it’s not good." The X-Men have no choice but to "enlist the unwilling but begrudging aid of the lethal protector." The story will be called "Poison X."
Jason Latour, who was a couple minutes late to the panel, started talking about Spider-Gwen‘s contribution to the Venom-verse, in the "Gwenom" arc. Latour joked, "I just like puns. I don’t have any children so this is how I get to be a dad — make dad puns." Latour described why he was drawn to Gwen Stacy. He’s an intriguing character because unlike Peter, she’s in constant conflict over her dad’s legacy. The Venom symbiote will give Gwen "more power than she’s ever had — too much power." She’ll also go head to head with Matt Murdock, an encounter that’s been built toward for a good while.
Up next, news dropped that Spider-Man #235 will reveal a new Sinister Six, including Iron Spider, who will reportedly be an entirely person — we currently don’t know who is in the costume. It was promised that if you’re a Spider-Man fan, though, it will "blow your mind." Other members of the villainous team: Sandman, the Hobgoblin, Electro, the Bombshell and the Spot.
From there, editor Allison Stock went into Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider. He’s laying low in Las Vegas, coming terms with his identity. Does he want to be a good guy or a bad guy? "I think it’s complicated," Stock said. Reilly has been through hell, tortured, killed, reborn, and killed again, so he’s a tragic character. "The Slingers Return Part 1" will delve into this some more.
Lastly, Spider-Man/Deadpool was discussed, which will be under a new creative team in Legacy: Robbie Thompson and Chris Bachalo. The new arc, which actually sees the title referred to as "Spider-Man vs. Deadpool," Spider-Man decides it’s time for Deadpool to go to jail. Deadpool is one of the most wanted men in the Marvel Universe after killing Agent Coulson. The team hopes to drill down into the complicated relationship between Spider-Man and Deadpool further in this arc, exploring "what makes them work together."
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