I don't think people are objecting to Norman's face turn, they're objecting to Peter taking Norman's face turn at, well, face value and not being at all squicked or having doubts or second guessing being best buddies with Norman even though a) Norman has face turned before and always reverted back and b) he's still the murderer of Gwen, he sold Harry's soul to Mephisto, he was an awful father to Harry regardless, he engineered the kidnapping of May and replacing her with an actress, he has personally tortured and tormented Peter too many times to remember. Really, if Norman is truly purified and repetent, he should turn himself in for all his crimes and go to prison to atone, but no, he gets to be a billionaire CEO and not at all pay for all the tragedy he caused.
It's one thing to forgive your enemies but forgiving doesn't necessarily equal forgetting. If Peter is supposed to be relatable and human, then it would be only expected for him to have some sort of thoughts about Norman and whether he can actually trust him again. One point of view could be it's disrespectful to the memory of Gwen, to profit off his relationship with her murderer even if Norman's "sins" are now gone. At the least, Wells should show us Peter's mental calculations.
But Wells can't, because the minute he lets us fully into Peter's thoughts, then his mystery boxes will be open because Peter knows full well what happened in those six months. And Wells is apparently too concerned with keeping those mystery boxes slammed shut to care about how that's hurting the characters and their characterization.
That would be awesome if that's Peter's reasoning, but we don't know because see above. Wells refuses to let us into Peter's thoughts and motivations.
Last edited by TinkerSpider; 08-04-2022 at 01:23 PM.
This just reminds me of when Peter acted chill around Otto despite all the terrible things Otto had done up to that point.
I love how the recap still says Peter's burnt his bridges with most of his friends when it's clear in the previous issue that it only really applies to the Fantastic Four and...maybe the Avengers depending on when the All-Out Avengers book takes place lmao
"This Oscorp" implies to me that Norman is starting up a new company, as old Oscorp is part of Alchemax now. Regarding Peter working for Norman, their history aside, he would be foolish not to. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer".
I can’t emphasize enough how much I dislike this version of Osborn and Peter basically acting like a simp around him. Even when he had amnesia in the 60s, Peter regarded him with suspicion and didn’t fully relax near him. Zeb Wells, you know your continuity, right? You do know what Norman has done to Peter over the years… right?
Maybe that’s how you like your comics. Most of us care about at least some semblance of continuity. I’m not asking for references to obscure characters or storylines like in the Spencer run. But they can at least keep some consistency when it comes to Peter and Norman’s acrimonious history. If you like no-stakes Spidey with zero connective continuity, you can always check out his Saturday morning cartoons though.