Amazing Spider-Man #35 Preview

[exile001]

At least I can take some morbid pleasure that it feels like they've handled Superhero MJ so badly that it's probably not going to stick for long.

Don't give us hope on that. Once the "...now has powers!" genie is out of the bottle it is rarely put back in.

Flash is still a Venom FFS. Heck, if what I've read about the current explosion of Symbiote books is right, half of everyone Peter ever met now has a Symbiote.

Think they might make him like the Raimi Osborn. Have the goblin as another personality, while keeping Osborn himself sympathetic.

That's pretty much what I've wanted since he came back, so some good may ultimately come of this.

[xpyred]

Don't give us hope on that. Once the "...now has powers!" genie is out of the bottle it is rarely put back in.

Flash is still a Venom FFS. Heck, if what I've read about the current explosion of Symbiote books is right, half of everyone Peter ever met now has a Symbiote.

Just found out a few days ago that Liz Osborn has a symbiote now. I was so disappointed.

[Frontier]

Think they might make him like the Raimi Osborn. Have the goblin as another personality, while keeping Osborn himself sympathetic.

Also, that Freshmen Year cartoon, when it comes out, will have Norman taking Tony Stark's place as his mentor, so sympathetic Osborn seems like it may be a thing for a while. Which is fine. The maniacal, ego driven Osborn (and Doc Ock for that matter) has been played out so many times. I prefer the more nuanced version of Osborn we've had lately, and hoping for a similar take on Otto. There's plenty of room in Spidey's rogue's gallery for your moustache twirling villain of the week lol.

I think that probably depends on the writer after Zeb Wells and if they're as invested in Norman as Wells is, unless that's partially editorial.

But I'm also a fan of Norman being a (in my opinion) nuanced complete scumbag.

Don't give us hope on that. Once the "...now has powers!" genie is out of the bottle it is rarely put back in.

Flash is still a Venom FFS. Heck, if what I've read about the current explosion of Symbiote books is right, half of everyone Peter ever met now has a Symbiote.

I agree in a sense but Agent Venom was much more well-received than MJ as Jackpot so far.

[Mercwmouth12]

I think that probably depends on the writer after Zeb Wells and if they're as invested in Norman as Wells is, unless that's partially editorial.

But I'm also a fan of Norman being a (in my opinion) nuanced complete scumbag.

I agree in a sense but Agent Venom was much more well-received than MJ as Jackpot so far.

what could make it work in a way is if the watch it destroyed towards the end of the run and if they do want her to be a hero for a while longer. Just have Peter fix it. It's proven that Peter is much smarter than most characters and could make it work and even Reed could figure the math side of it with no issues

[Frontier]

what could make it work in a way is if the watch it destroyed towards the end of the run and if they do want her to be a hero for a while longer. Just have Peter fix it. It's proven that Peter is much smarter than most characters and could make it work and even Reed could figure the math side of it with no issues

I think if the watch is broken that's probably because they've finished out that story.

Unless the Jackpot mini can really turn it around on the concept, I don't think many people will be clamoring for the return of Jackpot.

[Mercwmouth12]

I think if the watch is broken that's probably because they've finished out that story.

Unless the Jackpot mini can really turn it around on the concept, I don't think many people will be clamoring for the return of Jackpot.

If you remove the Paul part of the equation it would help it, but depends on what we hear eventually about the book

[Frontier]

If you remove the Paul part of the equation it would help it, but depends on what we hear eventually about the book

Even if you take away Paul, it doesn't seem like any part of her new Superhero identity has resonated quite yet (costume, powers, how it impacts her character, the motivation, etc.).

[Mercwmouth12]

Even if you take away Paul, it doesn't seem like any part of her new Superhero identity has resonated quite yet (costume, powers, how it impacts her character, the motivation, etc.).

True, but it makes it more manageable. But depends for the story if it's held back by same restrictions from Dark Web or we actually get into MJ's head about the past year of stuff. But randomly if they had her be joined up by Spider-boy to be in her book that could actually be kind of fun to see

[Garlador]

I think if the watch is broken that's probably because they've finished out that story.

Unless the Jackpot mini can really turn it around on the concept, I don't think many people will be clamoring for the return of Jackpot.

The “three skulls” thing is a Chekhov’s Gun. You all know that, right?

She has a 1/300-something chance of hitting it. She will.

She’ll definitely be in “this phase” of the book until after that, whatever it does.

[exile001]

The “three skulls” thing is a Chekhov’s Gun. You all know that, right?

She has a 1/300-something chance of hitting it. She will.

100%, it wouldn't be there if Wells didn't intend to use it.

I'd put money down his plan is for Paul to take that metaphorical (it's Wells, so likely also literal) bullet for her, thus fully redeeming him for his part in his father's scheme.

I wonder if he'll use it to have Peter be there for her, as she was there for him with Gwen, or have it be somehow Peter's fault and split them forever (or at least until a better writer).

[exile001]

I agree in a sense but Agent Venom was much more well-received than MJ as Jackpot so far.

So you say, and creatively I agree, but only Marvel actually knows the facts of the sales figures.

Flash Venom sold well so he's still around. We all say we hated Dark Web but Hallow's Eve is clearly very successful (and her book was great fun). If super-powered MJ sells, it'll be the new status quo.

[Kurus]

100%, it wouldn't be there if Wells didn't intend to use it.

I'd put money down his plan is for Paul to take that metaphorical bullet for her, thus fully redeeming him for his part in his father's scheme.

I wonder if he'll use it to have Peter be there for her, as she was there for him with Gwen, or have it be somehow Peter's fault and split them forever (or at least until a better writer).

If they want to split them forever, they’d have used this story to do it. As for the three skulls, i think that was McKay’s idea, not wells.

[exile001]

As for the three skulls, i think that was McKay’s idea, not wells.

McKay wrote the book, but I imagine the concept was part of Wells' ideas for the overall story.

That's a pretty big thing for McKay to add to his supplemental book if it wasn't part of Wells', as the main book's writer, plans for that character. Using other books and writers to do some of the heavy lifting for ASM has repeatedly been Wells' MO so far (Gold Goblin, Hallow's Eve, Dark Reign: Ms Marvel, all the Dark Reign X-Men books, even Kelly doing the couple's retreat 2-parter).

[Frontier]

True, but it makes it more manageable. But depends for the story if it's held back by same restrictions from Dark Web or we actually get into MJ's head about the past year of stuff. But randomly if they had her be joined up by Spider-boy to be in her book that could actually be kind of fun to see

The last time we got into MJ's head it was all about the fake kids being her entire motivation to be a Superhero and sharing a bed with Paul.

Not a good sign in my opinion.

So you say, and creatively I agree, but only Marvel actually knows the facts of the sales figures.

Flash Venom sold well so he's still around. We all say we hated Dark Web but Hallow's Eve is clearly very successful (and her book was great fun). If super-powered MJ sells, it'll be the new status quo.

If the Hallow's Eve mini can make a diamond out of the dirt that was Janine's usage in Dark Web, maybe the same can be true for Jackpot, but the last backup written by the supposed writer for the mini wasn't very convincing to me.

I also think that inevitably unless they give her a full ongoing she's going to be sequested into ASM and writers are probably going to want her to hang up the tights rather than continue to write around MJ having superpowers while she's in Peter's orbit unless they keep trying to write her out.

[Kevinroc]

The last time we got into MJ's head it was all about the fake kids being her entire motivation to be a Superhero and sharing a bed with Paul.

Not a good sign in my opinion.

The big problem with all of this is that MJ's entire character in this era goes completely against everything we have known about her for literal decades. The idea of being trapped in a loveless relationship for the sake of children goes against who she is, and the story plays it completely straight. And then it's all about Peter and his pain of not being with the woman he loves instead of being a story about MJ feeling trapped in what should be her nightmare scenario.

The whole thing is gross. I don't blame Bronfman since she was just assigned to do some back-up stories. The whole thing falls on Wells and Lowe for failing to understand this character and failing to convey this complete change of characterization for the sake of forced melodrama that doesn't work at all. Someone at some level should have said this wouldn't work, but Marvel is an old boys club so it's not surprising this is where things ended up.