The build up to Dan Slott’s ineveitably controversial Fall 2016 Spider-man crossover: Dead No More has been ramping up since the return of a major character was teased on free comic book day early this year. Along with a title promise to bring back iconic and interegal characters from the Spider-man mythos, it also appears Marvel will be bringing back one of it’s most beloved titles of the 1990’s and early 2000’s: The Sensational Spider-man. The biggest news teased by the publisher however might not be the return of the iconic imprint from the 90’s comic boom, but rather the now promised conspiracy theory that has been promised by Slott and Marvel to get us to that Point.
You have to look no further than Superior Spider-man to understand the risks that Slott has been allowed to 
take by Marvel with it’s most popular character. And why not? Ridiculed at first the Doc Ock version of Spidey remained in the top of all comic book sales during his tenure as the web slinger. However this latest promise and promotion of conspiracy comes at a somewhat tumutlous time for the publisher in that department, in the form of the back lash due to Captain America’s recent outing as a Hydra agent. So the question now becomes, can Marvel afford another character altering reveal in the near future, much less with a character that has the world wide appeal of Spider-man?
Anyone who has followed the comic book industry through the Silver and Modern ages knows that in comics no one stays dead forever. That being said there were always two death’s that remained constant at Marvel throughout the decades, those being Uncle Ben and Bucky Barnes. Since Ed Brubaker decided to bring back
Barnes in the mid 2000’s as the Winter Soldier during his run on Captain America Marvel has enjoyed countless success with the character both on the page and screen, so there is a precedent for success. I do however believe that reviving characters who loss were the catalyst for not only the hero, but more importantly the person that Peter Parker has become thought out the years could be met with resounding resentment. Because rather than a single storyline that would bring a character back in an organic way, it appears Marvel is mining the everything you thought you knew is a lie angle. While new people are being exposed to superheroes across different mediums everyday, there are still a very dedicated niche of weekly comic buyers who have been reading for years if not decades. And when you expose that all the character growth, time, and hard earned money they have invested in really didn’t mean anything, is this not a little bit of a betrayal of not only the character but your readers?
Please let us know what you think of the potential revival of legendary Spider-man characters like the Stacey’s and Ben Parker in the comments below or tweet me @thereelbradbell