When it comes to supervillains, few Marvel heroes have as great a collection of enemies as Spider-Man. And I’m not just talking about the big names like Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus, either. Even the B-listers are great with the right story, and boy, did Marvel really show off how great one villain is in a two-part story a decade and a half ago.
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Every Spider-Man fan knows about the Rhino, aka Aleksei Sytsevich, the criminal who was bonded to a powerful rhinoceros-themed suit. But did you know the Rhino was once this close to giving up his life of crime in the name of love? Fifteen years ago, Marvel Comics released the best story featuring the Rhino. A two-part tale that promised a new beginning for the Spider-Man foe, only to transform into a tragedy about fighting fate in a universe that demands the status quo.
The Rhino Nearly Found Redemption and True Love
Told in The Amazing Spider-Man #617 and #625 by Joe Kelly and Max Fiumara, Spider-Man crosses paths with his old enemy, the Rhino. But he’s not exactly the Rhino anymore. Alexei doesn’t wear the suit; he’s got a straight job, and he’s even got a partner he’s deeply in love with. But Alexei’s peace is interrupted by a new Rhino, one who wants to kill the original to truly claim Alexei’s mantle. Despite the urge to take care of business, Alexei instead has a heart-to-heart with Spider-Man, who tells the former villain to hide while Peter handles the upgraded Rhino.
Sadly, this doesn’t exactly work. Spider-Man arranges for Alexei and his wife, Oksana, to go into witness protection, but during the transport, the two are attacked, and Oksana’s life is lost. With his beloved gone, Alexei believed there was no future for him and agreed to give the new Rhino what he wanted. Alexei donned his old costume once more and gave in to his animal nature. Back to his old ways, the classic Rhino gave the fight the new Rhino was looking for, and it ended with Alexei killing the new Rhino for taking Oksana’s life.
No joke, it is a brutal tale. It’s a story that wants you to root for Alexei and Oksana, to hope that they’ll get away and that redemption for someone like Rhino is possible. But this story takes the more tragic route, one that says some people can’t find redemption, not when they believe themselves incapable of it. Alexei really does try his hardest for Oksana. But with her gone, Alexei takes it as a sign that he can’t fight being the Rhino and gives into the role the universe wants from him.
The Rhino Accepted He Was Always Meant to Be a Villain
As comic book fans, we like seeing development. For characters that have existed for decades, it’s nice to see them break from the pattern and try something new every once in a while. And we’ve even seen some Spider-Man characters go from being threats to being forces for good (Kaine Parker, Eddie Brock, etc). But as good as a redemption story is, it’s not often we see villains who try to walk the straight and narrow only to fail at it.
What makes this story so compelling is that Alexei’s struggle feels real. You can tell he wants to be better. For Oksana and for his own sake, too. But he’s constantly hounded by his past in the form of a new Rhino, constantly pushing him and reminding him of his previous life. It’s no wonder Alexei eventually slipped back into his old identity at the end of this story. What other path was there when his future crumbled before him, destroyed by a grim representation of his past sins?
I see this less as a failed attempt at redemption for the Rhino and more as a meditation on the cyclical nature of comics. Heroes and villains can try to fight their destiny, but in the end, all they can really do is accept the roles the universe has deemed for them. Just as Spider-Man is meant to be a hero, Alexei is meant to be a villain. And it’s rare that you see someone accept that so readily after trying to fight it.
I haven’t read every Spider-Man story featuring the Rhino, but I do think Marvel Comics really swung it out of the park with this one. It’s easy to look at the Rhino and see a laughable, gimmicky villain. But instead, this story reinvented him as a tragic figure who tried to fight his role in the universe and lost everything because of it. It’s a damn good story and one that every Spider-Man fan should check out.
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
