Amazing Spider-Man #700 Preview: Five Questions Raised

Just after the stunning twist of Amazing Spider-Man #698 was revealed yesterday, Marvel Comics released a preview of the series’ 700th and final issue, which will be in stores on December 26.In the preview, Peter Parker appears to talk with a number of deceased supporting characters from over the years, including his parents, his Uncle Ben, the Stacys and others. Obviously lack the context fans will have once they’ve read #699, but just from what we could see, here are some of the things we can’t get out of our head after the fact.Is Peter really dead?This is the money question, of course. What the heck happens between #698 and #700? When he’s told that it’s not his time yet, Peter doesn’t bat an eye. When it’s suggested by Uncle Ben that he can finally “rest” and feel good about the whole power-responsibility ratio, it seems to help.So is he actually dead, or is this a dream?It doesn’t seem to matter, in any case, since by the end of it, he seems headed back. That said, the faded colors and the sepia remind me quite a lot of The Adventures of Superman #500, in which Superman returned from the dead. Just saying.Who’s that mystery guest?In the image above, we see a number of familiar faces–and one who isn’t so much. Who is that person, and what role does he have to play?Here’s one thing we noticed, with the hat and the shadows and all that: he seems oddly familiar. It’s been widely speculated that, even with Peter losing his role as Spider-Man in the near future, he’ll probably be back, most likely with a new Amazing Spider-Man #1, in time for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 when it comes out in a couple of years. That may seem like an overly cynical point of view, except for two things:1) That’s what everyone predicted when Steve Rogers was shot, and it turned out they were all right.2) If they really are tying this mystery man in with the movie plot, it seems unlikely we’ll find out who he is right away.