Earlier today at this year’s Comic Con International at San Diego, Marvel kicked off their “Across the Spider-Verse” panel, which featured Senior Editor Nick Lowe; writers Dan Slott, Mark Waid, and Nick Spencer; colorist Edgar Delgado; and a surprise (and late) appearance by artist Humberto Ramos. Some of the following highlights from the panel include the following details below the cut:
- Superior Spider-Man #32 is the official start of “Spider-Verse” and part 1 of “Edge of Spider-Verse.” The panel confirmed that the “time-plosion” which took place in Superior Spider-Man #19 is what sent Otto Octavious/SpOck into the year 2099. To quote Dan Slott, “That same explosion that brought Miguel O’Hara back is what caused Superior Spider-Man to disappear. And as we know, nature abhors a vacuum; Superior Spider-Man has been in 2099.”
- Slott also talked about this week’s Original Sin tie-in issue, Amazing Spider-Man #4 and the debut of the new character, Silk, and how Spidey freeing her “might lead into ‘Spider-Verse'” and that Morlun is uniquely drawn towards her.
- Ramos talked about the differences between drawing Peter Parker/Amazing Spider-Man and Otto Octavious/Superior Spider-Man, describing Superior’s appearance as “Creepier, and dark, and angrier.” Now that Peter is back, Ramos is ” trying to come back to the way [Peter] was before everything – from the cover to #1 with the big smile on his face.”
- Nick Spencer talked about the upcoming Superior Foes of Spider-Man #14, and how “we’re going to spend a bit of time getting to know Overdrive.”
- Further details regarding the “Edge of Spider-Verse” mini-series starting in October, starting with a Spider-Man Noir story by David Hine, Fabrice Sapolsky and Richard Isanove. Issue #2 will be by Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez featuring Gwen Stacy as Spider-Woman. Issue #3 is written and illustrated by Dustin Weaver featuring a new, non-Peter Parker Spider-Man a futuristic sci-fi setting. Issue #4 is by Clay Mcleod Chapman and Elia Bonetti which, Lowe described as “terrifying” and “closer to Metamorphosis by Kafka than anything by Stan Lee.” And finally, issue #5 will be by Gerard Way and Jake Wyatt featuring the Japanese Mesa-inspired Sp//dr, with Lowe saying fans of Way’s Umbrella Academy “gotta pick it up!”
- Amazing Spider-Man #7 will feature a team-up with the new Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, which is also a “Spider-Verse” tie-in. The new character introduced in the issue will be Spider UK, who is an alternate-universe Spider-Man of the Otherworld and member of the Captain Britain Corps.
- MC2’s Mayday Parker, aka Spider-Girl, returns with Amazing Spider-Man #8. “This issue is essential,” said Slott. “And it doesn’t look like [Mayday’s] in for a good time. There’s rough stuff ahead for every Spider-character that you care about. I’m very sorry.”
- A new three-issue mini-series, Spider-Verse Team-Up, was announced, with each issue featuring two stories each. Each issue will have a story by Christos Gage and Dave Williams, with additional stories by classic Spider-Man writers, Roger Stern and Tom DeFalco.
Another three-mini series was announced: Scarlet Spiders by Mike Costa and Paco Diaz, featuring the return of Ben Reilly, teaming up alongside Kaine and Ultimate Comics’ Jessica Drew.- More details on September’s Spider-Verse themed mobile game, Spider-Man Unlimited, which will feature 23 different playable Spider-Man characters on launch date, with additional characters available over the course of Spider-Verse.
- Another “Spider-Verse” announcement will take place at Sunday’s “Women of Marvel” panel.
- When asked if the Gwen Stacy Spider-Woman would be getting her own series, Lowe teased that “first she’ll have to survive Spider-Verse.”
- Asked about the “accessibility” of “Spider-Verse,” Dan Slott said, “All you need to know is there’s lots of Spider-Men. You’ll meet them, and many of them will die just a few pages later, so don’t worry. As you’re reading these characters and meeting them, and think “Oh man, I want to know more about Ben Reilly,” then you can spin-off and pick up Scarlet Spiders. It’s all fun… until you start crying.”
- Slott also reiterated that the genesis behind the concept for Superior Spider-Man began with Amazing Spider-Man #600, but that, in order to have the brain-swap take place in Amazing Spider-Man #700 as planned, “Spider-Island” had to be created and take place before “Ends of the Earth.”
- Slott also confirmed there are eight Spider-Men Marvel are not allowed to use for Spider-Verse, including Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, the MTV Spider-Man CGI series, and the CBS live-action Spider-Man TV series featuring Nicholas Hammond. However, the live-action Japanese “Supaidaman” will appear.
- When asked if Miles Morales would be involved in Spider-Verse, both Slott and Lowe said yes, and that Spider-Verse will “affects his story in Ultimate Spider-Man”
- Julia Carpenter, the new Madame Web, will return in an upcoming issue of Amazing Spider-Man.
- When asked if Ultimate Peter Parker would appear during “Spider-Verse,” Slott said “That’s a very good question.”
- Slott and Lowe also answered a question about Anna Maria Marconi and whether she’s had time to properly grieve Doc Ock’s death. “She’s also learned that he was a super-villain who has literally tried to blow the world up,” Lowe said. “It would be a real shame is something really horrible happened to her,” Slott added.
- Finally, Lowe stated readers would not see the 616 Miles Morales during “Spider-Verse.”
Further details about the panel at Newsarama, Comic Book Resources, Comics Alliance, and Bleeding Cool.
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
Pandora
Amazon Music
iHeartRadio
Podbean
Amazon Alexa
Player.fm
Listen Notes
Stitcher
@#34 and #35 — Two issues into Superior I lost interest and thought, “Okay, when Peter comes back I’ll jump back on.” But from the reviews I’ve read here on the Crawlspace that good “jumping on” point hasn’t arrived yet, at least for me. And for me that’s a big deal because all I really ever knew of comic books I have learned from following Spider-man. And mainly that means I’ve learned that I can love the characters and what they stand for without necessarily liking specific arcs or authors or events. I guess it comes from the characters’ being corporate “products” that are collaborative and that necessarily change overtime. Beneath all of the hype and excitement surrounding particular events that punctuate the run of a character there is a core to which the writers inevitably return, sometimes handled in a good way, sometimes in a bad way. And it’s that core that I love about Spider-man and keeps me faithful that I’ll be back. I just need to find the right point to jump on.
@34- Well from what I have seen from twitter and his own statements, what we see is what we get.
@33- I’m actually in the exact same boat as you on Slott’s stories. I actually really enjoyed Big Time and Spider-Island, felt neutral about Ends of the Earth. But his Dying Wish arc and Superior Run should have been either one of his ending runs. I think that being on this title for almost six years, even as a secondary writer, has kind of worn out his story lines. I am very scared for Spider-Verse, because this is a big risk to make in a devoted fan base of Marvel’s multiverse. Especially since he’s already had some major bombs, if he does poorly on Spider-Verse, I’m pretty sure that the fan backlash will probably be HUGE. And that could be enough to force Marvel to get a new writer for Amazing. I’m sure he’s a nice guy in person, but he’s disappointing me in his story telling department.
You know, I really am afraid of Spider-Verse. I think most stories Slott has done have suffered from a common problem. Great potential, but really poor execution. I didn’t like Superior, absolutely HATED Dying Wish, and was very meh on Ends of the Earth. I am however in the minority on the fact that I liked Spider-Spider Island and enjoyed that Big Time had him using his genius, something so many seem to forget he has. I will say that I am looking forward to the none Slott stories coming out of this. As for Slott’s own stuff, I guess I will go into the same way I have been. Hoping for a great story, but in the end expecting disappointment.
@21 – I think we’re still smarting from the last time we were told Ben Reilly would be coming back – that was the Who Was Ben Reilly three-parter where it just flashed back to Ben in the past.
Oh, and we were also told that Ben was returning in Scarlet Spider, but that was just Kraven. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice … uh … won’t get fooled again.
A couple of comments about what I’ve heard about Spider-Verse.
– I will be getting any Spider-Verse story that involves Mayday. Slott’s repeated mischaracterization of Mary Jane doesn’t fill me with confidence that he will treat Mayday and her family with the respect they deserve, but I will buy my first Amazing Spider-man comic in a loooooong time to support Mayday.
– I am genuinely EXCITED about the news that Tom DeFalco will be doing a 10 page Spider-Girl story!! 🙂
@24
yeah i hate ramos’ art too. fortunately he isn’t drawing amazing spider-man #7 and #8.
Sbee-You’ve had two warnings and you are now banned for your comment about Slott being a douche.
@23 I agree with 110% I look at fellow crawlspacers and feel good knowing I’m not the only one feeling angry at what their current writer is doing to marvels best hero.
@#18 I’m not saying they SHOULD bring her back. I think Gwen’s death is a huge part of who Peter, but if they decide to bring her back for some reason, I’d prefer this than some lame resurrection
@#18-Why do we need to bring back Gwen Stacy at all? Also I think she’s supposed to be 15. A younger super powered rock band scientist version of Gwen Stacy…You might as well not make her Gwen Stacy at all.
#13 Hi, Enigma — No offense taken. Believe me, I remember the Superior pitch. I guess I was just hoping that once Superior ended, there would be less reveling (I envision maniacal laughter sometimes) from Dan Slott. Far back I remember enjoying the pre-700 stories and thinking he was a good writer, but something changed for me overtime. Add to that my difficulty sometimes reconciling the artist with his art. If I learn that a musician isn’t so nice in real life, for example, it makes it hard for me to enjoy his album. So when I see Slott enjoying making fans squirm and performing acts of character assassination and turning the supporting cast stupid, it makes me less inclined to buy the product. This is one of the reasons I love the crawlspace so much — I can see other opinions and feel a sense of community that is often vindicating. Just my thoughts.
@23 – Don’t you remember, Steve Wacker chose artists that *he* liked. It didn’t matter what the readers said.
No word yet on how Nick Lowe is regarding listening to the fans. But this Spider-Verse doesn’t fill me with confidence.
Will there ever be the day where Ramos isn’t drawing Spidey? 🙁
a) Again Slott if you hurt the MC2 universe I will never forgive you
b) HOLY SHIT BEN REILLY IS SORTA COMING BACK!
No comments on the return of Ben Reilly? I thought certain fans have been demanding that for years now.
@#19: I think that would be cool. It would give us a better look at Silk and make her more of a character and not a plot device. Add more depth to her and such. I hope that’s what they do.
I think a solo Silk miniseries will be announced at the Women of Marvel panel.
I wonder if Gwen Stacy Spider-woman will escape to 616 and become a regular in ASM. If they were gonna bring back Gwen, this would be this most acceptable, in my opinion.
I don’t think the death toll in this will be as big as everyone fears. Slott likes to tease that big things will happen, but usually he never delivers on his promise.
Sure, there will be some death, but I don’t think even he will kill off Mayday or any of her supporting cast. The characters he will kill would be obscure, or made up just for the event.
Out of all this, what excites me the most is “with additional stories by classic Spider-Man writers, Roger Stern and Tom DeFalco.”
So is slott usually this much of a douche to fans personally? I thought he just hid behind his tweets or whatever and didn’t dare face the possible wrath of long time spidey-fans.
Reading some comments on other sites, the Spider-Verse announcement at the Women of Marvel panel might just be related to Spider-Woman instead. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
@#7
if that happens, it’ll be Arana. Since when have Slott and Marvel went out of their way to give fans what they want?
@#1
I don’t mean to sound rude, but you’re just figuring this out NOW? Hell, remember the pitch for Superior Spider-Man?
Do they screen questions now? The ?s have been terrible at these things the past couple of years
Oops. @8 was supposed to end with If spider-pig from the Simpsons Movie isn’t in it it’s all for a loss anyways.
@9 I’ve probably built the Spider-verse as something it probably isn’t going to be but I love hearing Slott tease possible death for all spider-men involved. We should probably cast lots and bet on who we think won’t make it. I just want to see more lightheartedness around here during this Slott era. This event could be fun for its mayhem, but there is still plenty of possibilities for Slott to botch the landing.
I was at the panel and can confirm Slott was there. I also saw friends of the Crawlspace Donovan, Bertone, and Stella a couple rows ahead of me.
@2: I think she’s considered a “Scarlet Spider” because her costume is red and she was also a clone-pal of Ultimate Peter, much like how Peter and Ben were friends. Plus she was the only benevolent clone left after the Ultimate Clone Saga.
@8 – That’s an interesting perspective. I’ve got a feeling that most of the reintroductions of obscure Spidey’s will lead to nothing though. I guarantee that 80% of the Spider-Men that appear in Spider-Verse will be left in limbo for another 40 years after the event is over. Spider-Girl, Kaine and Noir are the only three I see getting a series after Spider-Verse
Spider-verse just sounds like fun to me. I have no personal attachment to any of them so I say kill ’em all. The possibility of 5+ Spider-Men dying on the same page is exhilarating and stimulating and I see it as a form of entertainment. That’s it, entertainment. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
I’m going to be introduced to more spider-men than I can even imagine. While one is being killed off some other Spider-man will be making a heroic save. Your favorite unknown Spider-man version will be introduced to a wide legion of fans that they never would have before being heroes once again and with their reintroduction comes the risk of death. I love it.
And if Spider-pig from the Simpsons Movie then it’s all for a loss anyways.
Since they are talking about Women of Marvel for the next announcement dealing with Spider related titles, I think Spider-Girl is going to come back in 2015. There has been a lot of talk about May’s reappearance in Spider-Verse having huge impacts on the character just as much as 616 Peter, Spider-Man 2099, Kaine and Miles Morales.
Slott was there. Saw evidence a few hours ago
Wait a minute … Slott appeared at a panel???
@3 – Yeah it’s weird. I thought CBS would have let Hammond Spidey’s rights go back to Marvel, seeing as how they axed the series because they were sick of producing superhero shows. But it certainly seems as though he’s off-limits because of rights just like the Sony and MTV Spider-Men.
It also conflicts with some previous comments made apparently, as I remember people saying that Hammond Spider-Man was confirmed for Spider-Verse at C2E2.
Hmm. He specifically called out that they can’t use the Nicholas Hammond Spider-man? And we still haven’t seen a DVD release of the series. Is there some sort of rights holdup on the show that is not public record? I’ve never heard any information anywhere claim that the series was held up from DVD release because of rights issues. Now, with slott claiming they couldn’t use the 70s live action version, I can’t help but wonder if there’s a legal holdup here that just isn’t public knowledge?
“And it doesn’t look like [Mayday’s] in for a good time. There’s rough stuff ahead for every Spider-character that you care about. I’m very sorry.” – NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
“Slott also confirmed there are eight Spider-Men Marvel are not allowed to use for Spider-Verse, including the live-action Spider-Man TV series featuring Nicholas Hammond.” – NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
Why is Ultimate Jessica Drew part of a Scarlet Spider team up? She’s always been Spider Woman or Black Widow in USM/Ultimates.
So much disappointment, confusion and sadness from this panel.
Sounds like Slott is still a antagonistic douche at conventions, I really hope he never touches these characters again after his current run is up.
It sounds to me like Dan Slott is reveling in making Spider-man fans uncomfortable. Every comment by someone else about what’s to come is punctuated by him with some reference about how we shouldn’t be attached to character or that bad things are going to happen. That makes me sad, not so much for the characters in question but because he feels he needs to do that to draw interest to the event. Not to be mean or anything, but it sounds almost like he is on a power trip. Sigh.