Earth-616: The Spider Nest?

[Ursalink]

In the last years, Marvel has increased the number of its "Spider-Characters" in the most diversal ways. I believe something similar could be said about DC's "Bat-Characters". Personally, I don't care if there's a thousand spiders, because I keep in mind that no one can beat the original one. However, when I think in perspective, I believe the sagas of "Spider-Island", "Spider-Verse" and "Spider-Geddon" could cause the Marvel Universe to become a real "Spider-Nest". You see:

1º) "Spider-Island":
This story clearly had no other way to finish but finding a cure for the Spider-Virus and remove NY's spider-insanity. However, the story could end up with some people keeping the spider-powers after all. In my opinion, all those spider-characters created through the years in strange and weird ways could find an easy origin here, in "Spider-Island"; as characters who find an stable "symbiosis" with the Spider-Virus. Either that or maybe "improved" by it. As examples of "origins", we could have Mattie Franklin, Anya Corazon, Cindy Moon and even Miles Morales. As examples of "improved" we could have Jessica Drew (her own powers combined with Spider-Man's), Julia Carpenter (same as Jessica), Ezekiel Sims (losing his original powers to save his life but gaining new ones from the virus), or even Otto Octavius (so we can skip the creepy mind-transfer's part).

Another interesting twist from this story could be those who have been close to Peter Parker. The whole story came from a sick experiment caused by the Jackal, using Peter Parker's Spider-DNA. So, just like what happened with Mary Jane, it would be obvious for those who has been close to Peter Parker to have some kind of "immunity" to his DNA. Seeing the different persons who could have take Peter's place in other dimensions, I guess some of those who could have found a "stable infection" in Spider-Island and gain the own Spider-Powers. On that least we could put Aunt May, Betty Brant, Flash Thompson, Hobie Brown, Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson.

2º) "Spider-Verse":
It's really sad that, because of the Inheritors, several Spiders through the multiverse were killed, and the worlds of some others destroyed. That gave me an idea to help them have a chance. Considering that there was a lot of Spiders in Earth-616 after Spider-Island, the essence or spirit of several of those spiders are transfered to their counterparts in Earth-616. That way, the infection of their "spider-virus" turns estable on them. We would have the same characters close to Peter Parker: Aunt May, Betty Brant, Flash Thompson and Gwen Stacy. The transfer could also repair the damage of some characters, like Flash Thompson losing his legs. Some cases could even have interesting results; for example, the life of the Assassin Spider-Man being transfered to Kaine. Kaine is basically a dark version of Spider-Man and Peter Parker, so the life or Assassin Spider-Man seems fitting to him.

Several survivors Spiders who lost their worlds could also have a new home in Earth-616, especially those who are spiders from different countries. I would include in the list Spider-UK (in London), Spider-India (in India), Aracnido Jr (in Mexico), Kwaku Anansi (in Africa), and probably some of the Japanese Spider-Man, like Takuya and Leopardon.

3º) "Spider-Geddon":
I still have to read the whole story, but the increasing number of Spiders on Earth-616 could seem like the perfect excuse for the Inheritors to escape and invade this dimension. Don't you think?

Well, what do you think?

[marhawkman]

there's probably an Alt-U where Spider Island didn't get reversed and thus there are thousands or millions of Spiders.

[Celgress]

there's probably an Alt-U where Spider Island didn't get reversed and thus there are thousands or millions of Spiders.

No doubt, as Multiverse Theory (which the concept of the Spiderverse is based upon) clearly states whatever possibly can occur does occur in some reality.

[Huntsman Spider]

there's probably an Alt-U where Spider Island didn't get reversed and thus there are thousands or millions of Spiders.

Already happened in the Secret Wars: Spider-Island miniseries, which ended with Flash and Venom sacrificing themselves to defeat the Queen for good and Peter being declared the leader (or Baron) of that particular territory of Battleworld. However, I do like Ursalink's idea of incorporating the international A/U Spider-Men/Women into the main continuity as a kind of "Spider-Man Worldwide," similar to Batman Incorporated over at DC. Given how spiders factor into a lot of global mythologies, especially as creator deities, it wouldn't be implausible for Spider-Men/Women from other countries to arise, inspired by their own cultures' myths and legends around spiders as much as by Peter Parker's Spider-Man.

In that regard, Chris Yost's Scarlet Spider actually got me somewhat interested in Mayan and Aztec mythology, since he incorporated a lot of it into the character of Aracely/Hummingbird and her mysterious backstory, and from there I learned of the Teotihuacan Spider Woman, who could easily be spun, pun intended, as the empowering spider deity for Kaine Parker in his role as Aracely's "Champion," or Aracnido, Jr., who like Aracely does come from Mexico, as mentioned before. Then there's the Black Tarantula, originally a Spider-Man villain and later Daredevil ally, who came from Argentina, and the Temple of the Great Weaver back in the Peter Parker: Spider-Man Annual from 2001, both of which could be linked to ancient mythology and lore from South America revolving around spiders. Even the various Tarantula characters in the Spider-Man comics could be connected through those myths as well.

Beyond that, Japan also has spider-based yokai (a term applied to various mythological creatures that aren't supposed to be kami, the rough Japanese equivalent of gods), specifically the tsuchigumo (earth/dirt spider) and the jorogumo (woman spider). Both of them can disguise themselves as human to lure in prey, and the jorogumo does so by appearing as an alluring woman, which does bear a startling resemblance in description to Jessica Drew's Spider-Woman and her pheromones. At one point, there was a character named Izumi from an issue of Spider-Man Fairy Tales, set in (I would presume) feudal Japan, that was envenomed by a tsuchigumo that also killed his equivalent of Uncle Ben, and Izumi's anger and desire for vengeance fueled his slow transformation into a tsuchigumo himself. He gained spiderlike powers from the tsuchigumo's bite, but it threatened to corrupt him mentally and spiritually until he overcame the tsuchigumo's influence through his love for his remaining family, the equivalent of Aunt May. Could also adapt that character as a modern-day Japanese equivalent or counterpart to Spider-Man.

[Inversed]

I've said this before, but even though we know that outside of the Web-Warriors, the Spiders are known for being on their own and not really working well off each other for long periods of time, I would be really curious to see a Batman Incorporated/Detective Comics-type series that focuses on a team of Spiders in 616. Seeing how they handle working together for an extended period of time I think has alot of potential and could be very fun.

[Frontier]

I have to be honest, I don't really see how a solo-centric property like Spider-Man really benefits all that much from the existence of a bunch of spider-people or stories about a bunch of spider-people.

[Huntsman Spider]

I have to be honest, I don't really see how a solo-centric property like Spider-Man really benefits all that much from the existence of a bunch of spider-people or stories about a bunch of spider-people.

Same could be said about Batman over at DC.

[boots]

do multiverse events like spider-verse occur in other multiverse clusters? how does that work?

[Frontier]

Same could be said about Batman over at DC.

The difference with Batman is that he had Robin very early in his publication history.

Batgirl and the idea of a "Batfamily" dated back to the Silver Age.

The 90's re-emphasized the Batfamily as a thing and progressed from there.

So while Batman is generally a solo hero he's also one that was designed around sidekicks and a family of other heroes moreso then Spider-Man who it's only been in the last few years that he has had to coexist with a bunch of other spider-people. And it shows.

[boots]

The difference with Batman is that he had Robin very early in his publication history.

Batgirl and the idea of a "Batfamily" dated back to the Silver Age.

The 90's re-emphasized the Batfamily as a thing and progressed from there.

So while Batman is generally a solo hero he's also one that was designed around sidekicks and a family of other heroes moreso then Spider-Man who it's only been in the last few years that he has had to coexist with a bunch of other spider-people. And it shows.

i understand that some of the old guard hasn't enjoyed the transition from solo hero to spider-family...but has it hurt the property? seems to be something marvel is pretty happy with.

if you'd asked me back in the day, i'd probably have agreed that it would "dilute" the brand, but that ship sailed around the 90s clone saga.

[Frontier]

i understand that some of the old guard hasn't enjoyed the transition from solo hero to spider-family...but has it hurt the property? seems to be something marvel is pretty happy with.

if you'd asked me back in the day, i'd probably have agreed that it would "dilute" the brand, but that ship sailed around the 90s clone saga.

I think it depends how you look at it.

From the standpoint of offering different avenues or aspects of Spider-Man, sometimes with diverse leads, I can see the benefit.

But it's coalescing that with Spider-Man himself where I think it struggles. Especially in adaptions.

So the Spider-Family is fine as Inversed pointed out as a group of similarly themed heroes who operate individually, but they don't seem to serve a purpose for the personal narrative of Spider-Man.

[boots]

I think it depends how you look at it.

From the standpoint of offering different avenues or aspects of Spider-Man, sometimes with diverse leads, I can see the benefit.

But it's coalescing that with Spider-Man himself where I think it struggles. Especially in adaptions.

So the Spider-Family is fine as Inversed pointed out a group of similarly themed heroes who operate individually, but they don't seem to serve a purpose for the personal narrative of Spider-Man.

right, right...so it's less about the existence of a "spider-fam" and more about them crowding the solo or main titles?

i can see that. in that case, using them as foils is probably best.

[Frontier]

right, right...so it's less about the existence of a "spider-fam" and more about them crowding the solo or main titles?

i can see that. in that case, using them as foils is probably best.

This is also an issue in adaptions that feature other spiders as well, particularly the Marvel's Spider-Man cartoon.

I feel like having other spiders in a show with Peter just ends up doing a disservice to everyone.

[boots]

This is also an issue in adaptions that feature other spiders as well, particularly the Marvel's Spider-Man cartoon.

I feel like having other spiders in a show with Peter just ends up doing a disservice to everyone.

interesting. i thought doing that in the cartoons was a smart move and was probably the best place for it.
critical reception to the new territory explored has been positive and ratings have been strong enough for renewal.

so it seems a few people at least feel..uhm...serviced?

[Inversed]

I think one of the reasons why there being so many other Spiders doesn't bother me is because they're pretty much always on their own, and with the exception of occasional cameos or crossovers, very rarely have the other Spiders as part of their supporting cast.

So I don't think Miles, Gwen, Cindy, Jessica, etc. effect Peter as Spider-Man because they don't really factor into his stories. He'll occasionally run into them, make some jabs, and help them out, but we never see them as part of a permanent part of his supporting cast. So it ultimately is just a "brand", for a type of character with a type of power. I don't feel their existence harms Peter as Spider-Man, because he's still his own character with his own ways of dealing with things.

It's one of the reasons I like Batgirl alot, she takes the Bat name, but works completely separately on her own and with her own morals and ethics.