Marvel released this teaser image on Friday. Speculation has run what title it is teasing with the Marvel Now launch. Some have speculated that’s it’s Marvel finally getting around to releasing Marvelman. Other’s suspect it’s Spider-Man related.
Here’s my theories:
1) This is Spider-Man related. This is the only teaser released without the writer and artist named on it. If Marvel put Slott’s name on the image then it wouldn’t leave much to the imagination.
2) Writer Dan Slott will be on Amazing Spider-Man after #700.
Dan Slott has been quoted as saying,
What I can clearly say is that in the 20-odd years I’ve been working in this industry, I have never done something as big to a character as what we’re doing to Spider-Man in #700.
Why would he create a big change and walk away from the character? Slott is here to stay.
3) The word “Amazing” will be dropped from Spider-Man’s title and we’ll get a new number one. Marvel has decided to call the Hulk “Indestructible” rather than “Incredible” and launch a new number one. They dropped “Mighty” from Thor and added “God of Thunder” and you guessed it, released a new number one. Why would Marvel pass up a chance to sell more copies of a new Spider-Man #1 when a #701 would sell far less.
4) Spider-Man will get Alpha’s powers. This is a big guess on my part, but I can see it happening. Spidey will somehow take responsibility for his mistake and possess Alpha’s powers. That would make sense to then call the book “Superior Spider-Man.” This is my biggest logic jump, but I can see it happening. Imagine the Captain Universe storyline only launched as a new title.
What do you think will happen? Am I way off or do you think I’m on to something? Please discuss in the comment section.
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I used to be recommended this website by way of my cousin. I’m no longer positive whether or not this publish is written by way of him as nobody else understand such specific about my trouble. You’re wonderful! Thank you!
After reading issue 695, perhaps Doctor Strange’s spell is reversed and the world learns of Spider-Man’s identity. Mephisto’s spell is broken and Peter and MJ get back together. (Peter wakes up in the shower and it’s all been a dream). Ok, scratch the last part. *L*
one website.. (newsarama, I think?) said that they thought Spidey would get Ock’s arms. Considering the cover, that could be a possibility…but I don’t think so. Peter having Ock’s arms would completely write off the whole “Peter Parker” aspect of Spider-Man. he pretty much couldn’t have a normal part of his life anymore.
@ 43 I loved Grim Hunt. For me, everything from about mid 2011 on up has mostly sucked.
“When was the last time anything was announced in the Spidey books that lived up to the hype?”
In quite a long time.
42: I think the theories about Alpha being the new Spidey were mostly flying around before the arc started and we only had a preview and some rumors to go off of. From what I’ve seen most people don’t believe that’s what’s going to happen. However, that doesn’t mean that someone else won’t be going on as Spider-Man after this. That’s still a possibility. We’ll just have to find out if all those remarks they dropped about it being the end for Peter were just baiting us or actually meant something.
Amazing Spider-Man #700 is being billed as the “final issue.”
When was the last time anything was announced in the Spidey books that lived up to the hype?
After reading 692 and 693 I really don’t understand why a lot of you seem to be transfixed with this Alpha taking over, etc. First off it just seems like this is a little throw away story to give a nod to Spider-Man’s 50th anniversary. Secondly all the theories about “Alpha taking over” is way too much of a Clone Saga vibe. Also hearing rumors that Doc Ock is going to be dying leading up to 700 it’s REALLY giving a Clone Saga vibe. I’m really doubting this whole Alpha thing and “Superior” seems way too much like it’s mutant related. I mean…didn’t a large event just happen in AvX that made national news that could be considered the biggest shock of 2012? And it’s mutant related? Could be Magneto related after what I heard Bendis say in the latest word balloon podcast.
And if most of you are right I’ll be REALLY disappointed in Dan Slott because having Alpha be “the new Spider-Man” or have Peter take his “powers” is NOT shocking and is in no way major development. That’s just the sound of a writer or editor unable to come up with anything creative or new. I’m really just hoping that Dan Slott doesn’t start falling into this category. I’m still thinking it’s got something to do with MJ. One piece of me is thinking maybe they’ll get back together and then there is the negative part of me that feels they may kill her off.
Whatever these “wild things” will be leading up and revealed in #700 I really don’t think has anything to do with Alpha. I mean I see what they are TRYING with the character but it was done WAAAAY better by Grant Morrison in the Batman books with Damian Wayne. While I think Dan Slott is a good writer he pales in comparison to the awesomeness of Grant Morrison.
Spiderman and Alpha trading powers?!? That is just crazy enough to be possible, and I hope to God it does NOT happen!
Here’s another theory: what if Peter somehow ended up “trading” powers with Alpha, then they had Andy take over as Spider-Man in Amazing and Peter becomes something new in this “superior” title?
I don’t know if I should be voicing thoughts like this for fear of giving them ideas, but the truth is, it would fit in with the rumors about Pete stepping down and Slott’s comments about doing something huge to the character, and it would allow them to keep Amazing for marketing purposes while still going ahead with… whatever it is they’re doing. Man, this sounds awful. Maybe I don’t want to know what’s going to happen after all.
@38 If they make anyone other than Peter Parker into Spider-Man, it will be planned to be undone within a couple of years, because that storyline would never be done permanently. However, people somewhere will probably still declare that Marvel somehow “backed down” because it was “poorly received”.
Whatever it is, it’ll be poorly recieved and undone within a couple years. I’m quite confident in that prediction.
if it ain’t pete. screw it.
If Andy Maguire is the new Spider-Man (which sounds kind of right) then it’s time for me to jump off again. I have loved Dan Slott’s era but I don’t think I would be interested without Pete behind the mask.
Interesting theory. I hope if they do buff him up, it’s not by too much.
Whatever it is, I expect it’ll be a series of shock story-stunts to spike sales, instead of consistent writing that re-builds sales in a consistent way.
Alpha temporarily taking over the title sounds very likely to me.
The problem is everything else is getting renumbered so why wouldn’t ASM. Keep in mind after DC decided to reboot Uncanny X-Men became the longest running coming with an uninterrupted numbering. Marvel even smartly used it as a marketing angle until you guessed it an unnecessary renumbering. If anything Spidey’s days are numbered its an eventuality.
I can imagine ‘the Superior Spider-Man’ but I don’t see them killing ‘Amazing.’ The cross marketing from the movie is a big obvious reason to keep selling the title. I had the thought today that Peter might zap himself with Parker Particles and get a similar Alpha result. I really really hope they don’t start renumbering the core title. That is nearly the only thing you could do to shake me from buying the title.
@Wheatcakes- They did renumber, but I’ve heard that they’ll go back to the original numbering for the titles you mentioned when they get to the milestone issues.
I really really hope they don’t start renumbering. It would be quite an achievement for ASM to be the first comic numbered 1000. Were all of the DC ones renumbered, like Action, Detective Comics, Superman and Batman?
I don’t think it’s getting relaunched for that sole reason that one day, they want to get to that 1,000th issue. But Peter dying? Possible. They tested the idea in the Ultimate Universe to see what would happen. We’ll just have to wait and see.
I don’t think Spider-Man getting Alpha’s powers would be anywhere near the shocking major development they’ve been threatening for #700. Peter being killed/incapacitated and replaced with Alpha would work, and they could still retitle the book “The Superior Spider-Man” if they wanted. Although Alpha’s powers don’t seem at all spider-related so it would be a bit odd. Or it could be something entirely different, I wouldn’t mind a surprise.
And Dan Slott staying post-#700 isn’t a huge surprise – if the twist in #700 is really that big and will have that huge an impact, it would seem odd for him to do it, then not stay to play around with it.
It could be that Alpha’s getting a title or limited series. “The Superior Alpha” sounds like something he’d come up with.
I got confirmation from Ty Templeton today at the Montreal Comic Con that Dan Slott is staying on Spidey past issue #700. He also said that the the changes happening to Spider-Man over the next 12 months will be wild. Take that for it’s what worth.
I got $20 on BD for the win.
Anyone else think it’s kinda arrogant to call something ” The most shocking comic of 2012″ if it’s indeed Spider-man related if it’s not even out yet.
Yeah, it’s important to remember they did say “by the writer of the most shocking comic,” not “sequel to the most shocking comic” or whatever. But I won’t be at all surprised if Slott’s still writing the book.
I’m just waiting for them to announce all these massive new bold changes to him, and then ignore the outcry when everyone asks why big bold changes are suddenly okay when a few years ago the only way to go was to revert him to a 16 year old because he was “off track” or something.
” The most shocking comic of 2012″ comment (source: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/marvel-nycc-superior-announcement-2013.html) does make me suspect that this is related to Spider-Man #700. If it’s not a Spider-Man relaunch, it’s probably some other Dan Slott project. The word “superior” just doesn’t evoke Spider-Man to me, though. Maybe Brad’s theory that Spider-Man is getting Alpha’s powers is what it is . . . but I don’t really think we have enough information at this point to make a guess that’s likely to be true.
Is Spider-man going to be renumbered, thats inevitable, Captain America has been renumbered and relaucnched with a number #1 four times, funnily enough with the same writer with at least 3 times, in the last 4 years. Is it a reference to Spider-man, doubt it, while you can say that Hulk is now Indestructible and not Incredible, indestructible is still a term that’s been actually used to describe the character, Superior = Spider-man not so much. I’ll go with another X-book, we’ve done the Avenger books now we’re doing the X-books, Spider-man despite being rammed into the Avengers line-up his books are classed differently. If there is an announcement regarding a relaunch of Spider-man it’ll happen in the month #700 hits either leading up to the release, day of, or day after. Also I don’t think it’s Miracle/Marvelman there’s a better chance of it being Sentry then that guy.
Sigh…for the 75th time, Issue One is released….
I’m really hoping it’s a MarvelMan book…
It’s an interesting theory for it to be Spider-Man but you could make an interesting theory for ANYBODY in the Marvel Universe to fit the word “Superior”. I think that Brian Bradley has hit the nail on the head with it being something to do with the X-Men. I mean aren’t the mutants referred to as “Homo-Superior”? This is the first I’m hearing of the Spider-Man book going to a new # 1. I thought that the Spider-Man title was one of the few titles that wasn’t going to be affected by the Marvel NOW reboot thingy? Oh well, guess I’ll have to cancel my subscription after 700. I’m not going to support Marvel in their little “Hey, lets do EXACTLY what DC did but instead of ACTUALLY rebooting we’ll apparently be keeping everything EXACTLY the same so that what’s left of our long time readers don’t get all angry and leave us!” Marvel, you’re losing readers because you double ship your books and you have 20 page comics that are 3.99. 4 bucks for 20 pages! Seriously?!
Dan Slott just hasn’t bee wowing me to keep me hanging around for another “soft reboot”. I dug his recent Lizard arc and the big reveal that happened at the end of it. That got me a bit excited and interested enough into the book to definitely stick around. However, he’s so hit and miss with his stuff anymore. Sometimes he’s spot on and perfect for the Spider-Man book and I see the glimpse of the guy who wrote the Spider-Man/Human Torch miniseries. Then I start to see a guy who seems to be getting burned out on the character and his dialogue is just awful and with the bad dialogue it shows horrid characterization. Especially Mysterio and Doc Ock in the Ends of the Earth event. Their dialogue was so awful that I was ACTUALLY cringing.
Marvel and DC have recently been proving to me that the superhero comic just probably isn’t for a person of my age any longer. I understand they need to find a way to make these characters marketable to a new audience and that may, at times, push away long time loyal readers. However, as a business they should be figuring out a way to appeal to the new reader and make their long time loyal readers happy at the same time. Marvel just doesn’t seem to be understanding that from the consensus I’ve been seeing. So, in the New Year I’ll probably be dropping Spider-Man to dive into things like Manhattan Projects and Mind MGMT.
Marvel said this will be revealed at NYCC in October, and that it’s by the writer of ‘the most shocking comic of 2012’. That’s gotta be ASM #700 going by all Dan Slott’s been saying about the issue’s impact.
Maybe they’re just changing Hyperion’s name to Superior. Or. it’s another line-wide crossover.
It probably doesn’t involve THIS guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_the_Ultimate_Mutant
You can’t trust the hype, so when Slott says he’s doing something to the character that is the biggest thing ever, it could mean that Peter Parker will develop a hangnail.
However, I think BD’s prediction makes sense. If Alpha’s powers can’t simply be erased without killing the kid, maybe they can be transferred to a new vessel. And who would feel responsible to become the new vessel more than Peter? I don’t think they want to make Peter responsible for killing Alpha. Then he’ll have them for 8-10 months, unless the audience absolutely hates it. Peter will become something like the new Sentry, with shenanigans resultant.
(I still don’t understand the Alpha powers, not even in terms of comic-book science.)
Slott did say on Twitter that was working on a Marvel NOW! script, although I don’t think it was clear what.
@3: Brevoort is most definitely a lackey of Quesada, and so is Wacker, but I haven’t seen enough from Alonso to make me think that he is. He just seems like someone who doesn’t have the power he should.
I think the new title makes sense. All the other major Marvel titles are getting new titles, Spidey shouldn’t be any different.
I’m not sure about him gaining new powers though. That would make him the most powerful character in the MU, and I’m not sure how that would fit in the new regime of things.
I feel that this renumbering to #1 will be permanent. As permanent as when they renumbered to #1 after Revelations.
I think it’s a reference to Homo Superior and will be X-Men related. I feel like this whole AvX event is going to help establish a new status quo with the X-Men and the Avengers. The Avengers will have a better understanding of the bigotry and hatred directed at mutants their life and actually try to help mutants become accepted in this world. This title will show mutants actually stepping up and changing the world the right way, not the Phoenix way. That’s my theory… the latest New Avengers issue kind of references that and I’ll expound on it a bit more when i get the review up this coming week.
Slott will stay on Spidey…? Then it doesn’t matter what Marvel does, I won’t buy it. Just painful joke filled juvenile dreck.
Mac
Seems as viable to me as any other theory — at this point it’s all so up in the air, I personally can’t say I definitely do or don’t believe in any of what’s been proposed. I do think it’s pretty interesting that Spider-Man seems to be their only major character they are being really tight-lipped about. Usually Marvel has no problem spoilering their own stories.
If Spidey did get Alpha’s powers, I have a hard time imagining they’d stick around long. If organic web shooters somehow supposedly ruin him, seems like forcefields would…
I have no idea what will happen. But every other cliff-hanger have been little but talk, so I don’t expect much.
Let’s see…they had him loose his spider-sense to learn martial arts, had him join two teams and get a new job as a scientist. They had him in one relationship after the other that was heavily put down by fans, and we now have MJ in the role, without really being in the role (I am not complaining that MJ is back in the role, I am only a bit disapointed that she is not really in that role), and even had her gain Spider-powers for a shortlived while.
Would it be so farfetched for Spider-man to get cosmic powers? No. It probably will happen like that, but I doubt it will last (at least, I hope it won’t).
Epidot
I hate when the industry starts again at issue #1. How cool would it be to own the 1,000th issue of a comic? And they’re going to renumber just to boost sales on one issue? What happens when sales drop for #2 and on?
Superior Spider-Man does not have the same ring as Amazing or Spectacular…like Sir Jig-A-Lot said. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. As for taking Alpha’s powers – how? I would not want to see this happen.
Perhaps it’s just a one time deal, having to do with the issue itself, not a total renaming of the comic.
I hope it’s spider related, this whole marvel now initiative has been stealing the thunder from the 50th anniversary and it’s bumming me out a bit to be honest.
It’s a good theory,Brad. I would disagree on the retitling of ASM into Superior though. That adjective can be taken with arrogant connotations. Then again, since roughly halfway (from maybe House of M onwards?) through his stint as schMarvel honcho, Quesada (and his henchmen Breevort & Alonso) has shown nothing but arrogance and contempt for the readers. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Superior Spidey. It doesn’t have the zing of Amazing or Spectacular. Sensational or FN Spider-Man even.
Feel free to explain why.
That’s pretty farfetched.