Spider-Carnage vs The Batman Who Laughs

[Burrunguy]

Anybody else think that Spider-Carnage from the 90s animated series was kind of a precursor to the Batman Who Laughs.

I'm not saying that the Batman Who Laughs was inspired by it. It might have been but there is no evidence.

Still they are kind of the same story. Hero in another universe, whose life is even more tragic, then merges with their most evil enemy, goes on to destroy their city and then threatens to destroy every single universe.

See for yourself.



I think it's a shame that so many people rip on Spider-Man tas these days. Yeah it was cheesy, but it was so ahead of its time in other ways. This, the Spider-Verse which it created, plus it was the first to do story arcs. It was a trailblazer in a lot of ways.

[HypnoHustler]

I haven’t read Batman: Man Who Laughs, but Spider-Carnage (or Web of Carnage) is probably Ben Reilly’s most iconic non-clone saga related arc from his time as Spidey. Very cool storyline.

[Huntsman Spider]

Having revisited Spider Wars on many an occasion, the animated version of Spider-Carnage is my favorite because of what he ultimately says about "our" Spider-Man/Peter Parker. For one, when they confront each other for the last time, Spider-Carnage asserts to Spider-Man, "I'm more you than you'll ever admit!" This would indicate the seething resentment and rage toward the world that's misunderstood, alienated, and tormented him to the point of insanity, even before the Carnage symbiote bonded with him, is something felt by the "main" Spider-Man, too, and given his soliloquies within the series proper (and the original comics) about being fed up with taking crap from the world and people he tries to protect, that wouldn't be so far off from the truth.

At the same time, Spider-Carnage's mind is clouded by the Carnage symbiote's influence amplifying that rage and resentment to the level of insanity it would take to carry out the total annihilation of reality itself, while "our" Spider-Man keeps enough of his sanity to still understand that "with great power, there must also come great responsibility," which he reminds Spider-Carnage through a still-living Uncle Ben from another parallel universe. All that being said, what distinguished Spider-Carnage from The Batman Who Laughs was that the good man that Peter Parker once was could still be reached inside Spider-Carnage, whereas The Batman Who Laughs was as unrepentantly depraved as the Joker had ever been, combined with Bruce Wayne's mind and skills, representing Batman's fear of what he could become if he killed the Joker. On the flipside of that coin, the animated Spider-Carnage represented what Spider-Man could have become if he gave into his own anger and bitterness and let his misery and frustration twist him into something truly awful. Definitely something worth contemplating.

[Pav]

Also, Spider-Carnage might be the coolest costume in all of Spiderdom.

-Pav, who still hopes for a Scarlet Carnage someday...

[Ursalink]

Interesting. I never thought about this. I honestly saw the Batman Who Laughs more similar to Knull, as both wanted to turn all existence into a dark wasteland, while Spider-Carnage simply wanted to obliterate everything in existence. Well, since Knull's main servant is Carnage and Carnage is compared with the Joker quite usually... It could have sense.