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  1. #1
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    Default Does Spider-Man need a soft-reboot at this point?

    All the discourse about the Wells run and the lingering desire for OMD to be undone brings me to this question. Does Spidey need a soft-reboot at this point? If so where would you reboot? Would you just pretend everything since OMD didn't happen or go further back to the Clone Saga? I personally would decouple Silk from Peter's origin because thats just bad writing

  2. #2
    Mighty Member Garlador's Avatar
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    This is a difficult question, because what I think Marvel Editorial wants to do is at odds with what most readers want, and what Marvel Editorial wants is at odds with decades of Spider-Man history that is already been retconned, erased, retrofitted, and revamped in ways that aren't quite working.

    So I don't know if this is the solution, but I look at Wally West at DC as basically the editorial punching bag over there - his adventures retconned, his marriage erased, his children gone - and fans just wouldn't give up on him. They wanted the hero they knew and loved to come back and get the happiness he deserved AND move forward.

    So what DC did is they just straight up... did that. They brought Wally back and melded his original self and his original family into the current comic book universe they had established, with characters like Barry and the Titans suddenly "remembering" a history with him that they didn't have previously. Of his wife suddenly "fusing" with her old self and realizing he was her husband and they had children.

    It basically took the concept of "One More Day" and addressed it head on, soft-rebooting the book in a way that honored what came before, didn't discard what came after, and paved a way for the characters to move into the future in a new and exciting status quo.

    That's my best comparison.

  3. #3
    Astonishing Member Tuck's Avatar
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    The book kind of does get a soft reboot every time a new creative team takes over.

    Or at least every time they put out a new issue 1.

  4. #4
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    More than anything, the book needs a complete reshuffle on an editorial level.
    If the current run and problems are a Wells’ idea, then they need to be shot down and rewired. If they were, then he isn’t the best man for the book.
    If no one wants to do the book because of editorial, then it sounds like said editorial needs to relax a bit more on their style. Allow the creatives to create.
    If the run is from editorial then either said edirorial is not the best Persok from the job, and should probably be moved to where his strenghths lay, or the higher management need a good long at what works, what People want and how they can do that without losing their audience.

    A soft reboot is a short fix, it’ll only fix the problems for a few years until it becomes a mess again. Hell, I’ll argue everytime they do a soft reboot, they just make an even bigger mess.

    The Clone Saga was meant to simplifly the Character and instead it was more bloated than it ever needed to be.
    BND worked until we got writers who liked the marriage, and now Marvel feel like they need to correct it all again.

    What Marvel needs is a clear plan, someone to look at it and go “So E is where we need the Character and comic to end up, and we need to find ways to get there”

    I do think Marvel have an E to get to, but instead of going from A to B to C… they are going straight to E and making the rest up as they go along.

  5. #5
    Really Feeling It! Kevinroc's Avatar
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    I don't think Amazing Spider-Man could ever get a shot in the arm like Immortal Hulk.

  6. #6
    Spectacular Member vhm74's Avatar
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    Considering a soft reboot in the hands of the current Spider-Office or anyone who shares the same vision on how to "develop" the character is pointless. The first step would be to find a competent team who is willing to work on the character in a coherent manner, understanding him and his world, and possessing the ability to effectively retcon all the garbage that have tarnished his lore in recent years.

  7. #7
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    I’m expecting a soft reboot/reset all across the Marvel comic brand of all titles around the time the Secret War Movie comes out in 2027. Everytime they do a movie of one of their brand events, they redo a mini-series to coincide with what comes out that year (Civil War 2, the recent released Secret Invasion mini). I’m expecting another Secret War event that we’ll be leading up to in stories in 2026 in comics, and in 2027, a lot of books with a mess of their long term history, or current, will course correct, abd they are pretty much letting writers do “whatever the hell they want”, lol.

    Spider-Man and the Spider-family is one brand that needs a directional reset, much like Black Panther.

  8. #8
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    The only way I would trust a reboot, soft or not, is if the current regime in Spidey editorial is completely cut out and replaced.

    It doesn't matter who comes on, as long as those in charge continue to want to do things in a way that has been proven time and time again to be the main problem with the book.

  9. #9
    Fantastic Member Spidey_Legend's Avatar
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    In my headcanon I plan a very hard reboot from the Spider-Man franchise. It involves Mr Genocidal Son, Judas Traveler and Mephisto.

  10. #10
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    Well...they already did that once with OMD/BND (crazy to think it's been over 15 years!) I'd argue that what they really need is an 'unreboot', by restoring the Peter/MJ marriage somehow and allowing the character to move forward again.

    Spider-Man is a multimedia IP and an icon. Fortunately or unfortunately, that means that things like continuity and forward-progression aren't always a priority when it comes to managing the franchise. But Peter, or rather the original 616 version of him, is also a character who has evolved over time (60-plus years in real life, and around 12-15 years in-universe) and ideally should continue to evolve. At a time when Spider-Man (and other major superhero franchises) have tons of parallel continuities, timelines and universes, the primary appeal of a 'mainstream' universe like 616 is that the character gets to progress with his history and life-story intact. That's always been the appeal of the core Marvel Universe - that it's all one (mostly) unbroken story from 1961 onwards (arguably 1941). It's why, to date, Marvel has never seriously considered rebooting 616.

    So I think Marvel needs to accept the fact that Spider-Man the brand (i.e. the 'youthful' teenage/young adult version of the character most people, outside of hardcore comic fans, are aware of) can be well-served by the innumerable other-media adaptations and out-of-continuity/flashback/alternate-universe comic stories, while the original 616 version needs to be allowed to progress his story. Let him be a husband again, and hell, let him be a father. We already have a 'young' Spider-Man in 616 anyway with Miles Morales...so all bases really are covered. Ideally, the Peter B Parker character from the Spider-Verse movies needs to be the blueprint for 616 Spider-Man in the comics going forward.

    Quote Originally Posted by Garlador View Post
    This is a difficult question, because what I think Marvel Editorial wants to do is at odds with what most readers want, and what Marvel Editorial wants is at odds with decades of Spider-Man history that is already been retconned, erased, retrofitted, and revamped in ways that aren't quite working.

    So I don't know if this is the solution, but I look at Wally West at DC as basically the editorial punching bag over there - his adventures retconned, his marriage erased, his children gone - and fans just wouldn't give up on him. They wanted the hero they knew and loved to come back and get the happiness he deserved AND move forward.

    So what DC did is they just straight up... did that. They brought Wally back and melded his original self and his original family into the current comic book universe they had established, with characters like Barry and the Titans suddenly "remembering" a history with him that they didn't have previously. Of his wife suddenly "fusing" with her old self and realizing he was her husband and they had children.

    It basically took the concept of "One More Day" and addressed it head on, soft-rebooting the book in a way that honored what came before, didn't discard what came after, and paved a way for the characters to move into the future in a new and exciting status quo.

    That's my best comparison.
    Agreed.

    It's funny - there's a lot that Peter Parker and Wally West have in common in terms of their evolution as characters. Their origins are totally different - Peter is the originator of the Spider-Man mantle and was never a kid sidekick, while Wally was a kid sidekick and an inheritor of the Flash mantle.

    That apart though, they were both teenage heroes who grew up over time into veteran adult heroes that became part of the 'Big Boys' clubs of their respective universes - Peter with the Avengers and Wally with the Justice League. They both got married and Wally started a family (which Peter almost did). More recently, both had their marriages erased from existence and were 'regressed' as characters, though in Wally's case that's been undone.

    All this is leaving aside the fact that they both lost their uncles too (again, with Wally that was undone ).

    Media adaptations of both Peter and Wally tend to focus on their younger, more 'iconic' versions familiar to non-comics fans - Peter as a teenage Spider-Man straight out of the Lee/Dikto/Romita era, and Wally as either Kid Flash or as a young rookie Flash. And that's fine, as long as the mainstream versions get to progress.

  11. #11
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    All it needs is fresh editorial that brings in fresh creatives with a direction that isn't about antagonizing fans for maximum social media engagement and variant inflation.

    Akira Yoshida needs to go as well. It's insane that some fucking weirdo that pretended to be a Japanese writer to get work is now in charge of Marvel comics and makes the whole situation not surprising.

    Get rid of Lowe, Yoshida, and the BND writing team.

  12. #12
    Spectacular Member duke togo's Avatar
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    I'm surprised Nick Lowe has a job at this point. When the quality of your work is poor, you're usually let go. Obviously most readers are upset, but I guess they keep reading and paying for a low quality product which the only reason why I think he's still in a position of some power. People really need to stop buying the book. Plain and simple and maybe we can get some character growth again.

  13. #13
    Fantastic Member Spidey_Legend's Avatar
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    Undoing One More Day is not enough. There are a lot of plots, characters and status that needs to be corrected.

  14. #14
    Incredible Member Knightsilver's Avatar
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    At this point...the book requires a "Superman Rebirth" to get it back on track. Something like the Peter and MJ from Lost Hunt are living in a different state in 616...and have them replace the Peter and MJ currently in the book. Not exactly this plot...but something similar to make a clean break from the BND era.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Knightsilver View Post
    At this point...the book requires a "Superman Rebirth" to get it back on track. Something like the Peter and MJ from Lost Hunt are living in a different state in 616...and have them replace the Peter and MJ currently in the book. Not exactly this plot...but something similar to make a clean break from the BND era.
    Honestly I'd be down for that at this point. The main book just picks up where Lost Hunt ends. Marriage back. Mayday back. Lines up nicely with the Spider-verse movies.

    No big OMD reversal/Mephisto saga (although maybe they could touch on that in a future story.) Just toss it all right out.

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