me in a few months when spencer breaks type and writes otto the way he read him growing up in the 80's
me in a few months when spencer breaks type and writes otto the way he read him growing up in the 80's
I don't blind date I make the direct market vibrate
Agreed. Otto was the most interesting he had been in years, with real character growth. I understand the tragic ending and allowing the character to retain at least some of the experiences he had as Superior as opposed to someone else who could have just swept it all way, but I was really hoping Otto would avoid the whole putting the toys back in the box/reset to status quo that inevitably happens when a character goes through as much change as he had.
Again though, you could literally have both. Even if you were never going to use him again its still another toy in the box. Instead you break it and bring back one we've seen a thousand times before instead of keeping both.
I dislike it because other Marvel villains like Magneto and Dr. Doom have been portrayed as "heroic" if not exactly heroes at multiples times over the years, to the point where you can say the characters have a certain nobility to them, even as villains. But Otto, like Sabretooth, Helmut Zemo, and others before him, is doomed to the reset to villain mode, all his good deeds and growth erased.
At least Zemo had a good excuse; he was pissed at the hypocrisy of the Avengers and Captain America for embracing Bucky Barnes after all the crimes he'd committed as the Winter Soldier while his own efforts at redemption were constantly treated with skepticism and distrust. Sabretooth, technically, had to be morally inverted by a miscast spell to redeem himself at all, and Otto had to inherit a lifetime of memories from his archenemy to be spurred toward doing good with his abilities. I'm slightly more pissed about Sandman, who was pretty much brainwashed into being a bad guy again and nobody in-universe seemed to notice or care, just taking it at face value that he'd reverted to crime, even with the more sympathetic treatment he was given later.
Also, let's not forget that even Scorpion was about to turn his life around at one point before being jumped and beaten to a pulp by Spider-Man, who had lost faith in the capacity of his enemies for goodness and redemption after finding out that a particularly horrific recent trauma had been engineered by Harry Osborn as a posthumous "f*** you," so thanks to that, Scorpion pretty much stayed on the villainous path and got even worse, especially after becoming Venom. However, I'll admit I'm rather disappointed that Gage utterly reset Otto to factory default, since his retained knowledge of Spider-Man's life and memories, if not necessarily his abilities, could have made him even more dangerous and more compelling as a villain, with him struggling between his more heroic impulses (inherited from Peter) and his more villainous instincts (ingrained from his own life experiences).
The spider is always on the hunt.
Just found out about what happened to Otto. Wicked pissed that Marvel decided for the thousandth time to ignore character growth and return to the status quo. I was hoping, since Venom evolved into successful anti-hero spin-off of Spidey, that Marvel would try and do the same here. Guess I was wrong.
The actual ending to Superior Spider-Man is fine by me. It was always going to happen that Marvel would revert Otto to traditional Doctor Octopus persona but the way it's been done he still clearly has heroic tendencies even if his pride gets in the way of saying it.
It's really up to the next writer and how they handle Otto to show whether most of the development he's had as Superior Spider-Man is swept under the carpet or whether they use it present some more interesting stories with him and more nuanced characterisation. Before his death in the 90s at the hands of Kaine some interesting things were being done with the character. He has the potential to be as compelling a villain as Doom and Magneto but it's all up to whoever handles him next.
Last edited by Celgress; 03-29-2020 at 08:20 PM.
"So you've come to the end now alive but dead inside."
Yes. Love Web of Death. Great character stuff from JM DeMetteis.
If Gage had simply left Otto as Superior Spider-Man and ended his run with him still in that persona I'm certain Marvel would have reverted him back to normal at some point. Doctor Octopus is way too much of an important character to the mythos to leave him as a satellite Spider-Man spin off character.