Is it time for a hard reboot on Spidey?

[Tuck]

Just erase the last ten years. DC did away with five years and have been more than fine.

Rebirth is sort of in process right now. We don't know how it's all going to shake out at the end of the day. New 52's problem was execution, not necessarily the concept.

Honestly, the history is a large part of the appeal for current readers, but it's a barrier to potential new readers. There are plenty of other things keeping them away, but I think deep continuity is a contributing factor.

[Alan2099]

Let me see if I'm getting this straight.

Spider-man has no direction and has stopped growing.

So, instead, they need to start over so they can retell the stories they've already told and reintroduce the characters they've already introduced (only with a few slight twists. maybe.) so we can eventually have Spider-man grow in ways he's already grown and get back to the point where he is already at.

That about cover it?

[Miles To Go]

Rebirth is sort of in process right now. We don't know how it's all going to shake out at the end of the day.

The branding is being done away with very early next year, and the story promoted as it's end point, Doomsday Clock, will have begun running by then and will be fleshed out over 2018. We've seen how it's played out and, more importantly, how it's performed over the last two years

It's all over bar the shouting as they say

[SuperiorIronman]

Say that we did get a hard reboot on the Spider-man line. How does this affect the Marvel universe at large? Also consider the sort of effect it has on marketing who may be tasked with doubling down on this to reflect a current status quo. Spider-man has no longer anybody else to pick up the slack in the franchise, you've removed him from various teams, removed history with villains or heroes and you need to reintroduce concepts and characters to use them again in this new continuity. What about synergy from the films who wasted no time putting him on a team and meeting Tony Stark? How about the money that came out of TV shows in Scarlet Spider and Anya Corazon who got relevance in the general public thanks to that. With a Venom movie on the way are we really going to restart everything when the origin and original saga could just get reprinted with an ongoing about Eddie being active? Miles Morales is still relevant. Miles Morales is the Spider-man legacy and we are just going to reboot it?

Rebooting it would be an absolute mistake because like Ultimate, you're going to develop a continuity anyways and you have to bring everything back.

[Tuck]

The branding is being done away with very early next year, and the story promoted as it's end point, Doomsday Clock, will have begun running by then and will be fleshed out over 2018. We've seen how it's played out and, more importantly, how it's performed over the last two years

It's all over bar the shouting as they say

My point is that the current DC continuity is provisional. Parts of it are in flux. I don't keep up with The Flash, but things like two Wallys and characters that aren't "supposed to" exist, and Bruce and Selina remembering different continuity versions of their first meeting.

[Alan2099]

My point is that the current DC continuity is provisional. Parts of it are in flux. I don't keep up with The Flash, but things like two Wallys and characters that aren't "supposed to" exist, and Bruce and Selina remembering different continuity versions of their first meeting.

So even in universe it's broken and makes no sense.

That doesn't really sound like something Marvel should try to copy to me.

[Miles To Go]

Miles Morales is the Spider-man legacy and we are just going to reboot it?.

I'd say Mayday, Benjy and Annie are his legacy, not Miles.

So even in universe it's broken and makes no sense.

That doesn't really sound like something Marvel should try to copy to me.

Marvel just ignore continuity, at least DC acknowledge their past, even if they're fragmented.

[Tuck]

So even in universe it's broken and makes no sense.

That doesn't really sound like something Marvel should try to copy to me.

It's a two-year long (I think) arc with an intended ending and proper canon.

But, COIE is proof that a universe reboot can work. The irony is that it is that continuity that the fans are and were clamoring for.

The deeper the lore gets, the more dedicated your fans get, but that's because you lose another batch of casual fans each time it gets more convoluted.

[blackspidey2099]

The most likable version the last few years has been defined by fatherhood, where as the mainline one is defined, it seems, by focus committee

Fatherhood? Are you kidding me? I’m assuming you are talking about RYV Peter, who is not only a bad father but also completely irresponsible.

Anyways, Spider-Man is, and always will be, defined by Responsibility. And that’s how it should be.

[oldschool]

It's a two-year long (I think) arc with an intended ending and proper canon.

But, COIE is proof that a universe reboot can work. The irony is that it is that continuity that the fans are and were clamoring for.

The deeper the lore gets, the more dedicated your fans get, but that's because you lose another batch of casual fans each time it gets more convoluted.

^THIS^

Spidey has actually tied or maybe surpassed the X-Men for convoluted history. It’s time to at least address how best to streamline things for the future. That’s all I’m saying.

[Aruran.]

If Marvel could validate that rebooting Spider-Man would be more successful than it already is, then they would've done it already.

There's been too many times were editors and writers have admitted that putting Peter back as a teenager was in discussion, but ultimately it never happened.

I don't think anything would really change in the next 10ish years for Spider-Man, maybe Miles or another minority character ends up being the sole Spider-Man character and Peter is just retired.

Outside of that, I don't think there's anything Marvel will do cause they'll need the sales proof that making him a teenager will be successful.

[Frontier]

Marvel's attempts at major reboots in Spider-Man have never worked out exactly as they'd like, so I doubt they'd consider something more involved then those were.

Not that I think the constant soft reboots/resets are any healthier.

[Mister Mets]

No.

An appeal of the series is that this is still the same Spider-Man who had some of these great adventures, who lifted tons of rubble to get a serum for Aunt May, who lost Gwen Stacy but wasn't willing to kill Norman Osborn, and who had his heart broken after a meeting with a boy named Tim. It's the one thing that differentiates these comics from all the other Alternate Universe takes, some of which have been okay (Tobin's Marvel Adventures), one of which was exceptional (Bendis/ Bagley's Ultimate Spider-Man) and many of which were forgettable.

We'd lose the drama with a hard reboot, partly because it would seem rather clear that this is something that can happen again and again.

It would also wreck a lot of havoc on Marvel continuity, where Spider-Man and his cast have been major players for years.

[Celgress]

At this point, I'd honestly give it a try. However, the shared Marvel Universe Spidey and his cast is a part of makes any such hard reboot extremely problematic.

[Digifiend]

Just erase the last ten years. DC did away with five years and have been more than fine.

You realise that would wipe out the Champions? That's why the Young Justice kids are missing.