With Spider-Man: Brand New Day about to hit theaters, Marvel Comics brought in one of the organizations that plays a large role in that movie to play a big role in Spider-Man comics. The Department of Damage Control, which made its MCU debut in Spider-Man: Homecoming, is now front and center in The Amazing Spider-Man #33, and they look nothing like they do in the movies. While DODC is an antagonistic force, with U.S. government backing in the MCU, they look like heroes in their return to comics in The Amazing Spider-Man. However, if the MCU is any indication, DODC are not the heroes that they pretend to be.
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In The Amazing Spider-Man #33 by Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness, Damage Control shows up to help Spider-Man fight the Jack-O’-Lantern, and they are now taking the form of a private police force with some high-tech weapons, who are apparently on Spider-Man’s side.
Department of Damage Control Shows Up in Spider-Man Comics
When The Amazing Spider-Man #33 kicks off, Spider-Man needs to blow off some steam when the cousin he never knew existed, Mac, has started to grow closer to Aunt May (Mac’s mother, who also didn’t know he existed). This leads him into a fight with the Jack-O’-Lantern, who is terrorizing a group of people in a high-rise building. Just as Spider-Man tries to deal with the villain while also stopping a rocket fired at the building from exploding, a group of three people fly up to help him. They tell Spidey to take care of the “pumpkin,” and they will get the rocket. They win the fight and then introduce themselves to Spider-Man as the Department of Damage Control, and thank him for the help.
The leader of this task force is named Agent Griffyn, and he explains to Spider-Man that he is part of a “pilot program” for an idea that Mayor Luke Cage came up with to help deal with villains like Jack-O’-Lantern and others. He then explains that the Damage Control, who do cleanup work (like the characters from Spider-Man: Homecoming), are still at that job, but his group is to be proactive and stop threats (like the characters from Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man). Spider-Man questions the need for a “private police force rocketing tech from SHIELD’s classics collection.”
Griffyn shows off his mechanical arm, which replaced one he lost while he was on a mission against Hydra, and he then cracks some jokes and explains how much he respects Spider-Man. This is where things get a little suspicious. Griffyn says Spider-Man has done more for the city than he will ever do and more than even the Avengers since Spidey helps the little people. He lays it on thick and asks Spider-Man to join them on a mission that night to bring in Tarantula, but it all still seems too good to be true.
How Will the DODC Compare to the MCU?
The problem is that Marvel Comics is showing Damage Control as heroes who fight to protect the people of the city above all else. While Griffyn seems like a good person in his appearances, this still seems a little suspicious. The issue ends with them showing up to confront Tarantula and seeing Spider-Man fighting Tarantula and Grizzly, and it seems that the two sides will work together. In the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailers, it appears that Spider-Man will also work with Damage Control, and both instances will probably not end well for the Web-Slinger.
The idea is that Damage Control is protecting the neighborhood, real people, and “everyday humans” who want to live their lives in peace. However, that one line, “everyday humans,” is where things get suspicious. The DODC in the MCU is fighting superhumans they find, whether they are good or bad. They attacked Ms. Marvel and threatened high school students just because they wanted to bring in a young man named Kamran who had powers as well. In Wonder Man, they stalked and tried to find a way to bring down Simon Williams, who wanted nothing more than to live a normal life. They even said in that series that these superpowered beings could be threats or assets.
Does Damage Control want Spider-Man to be an asset? This is almost assuredly the case in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, as Bill Metzger wants Spider-Man to help catch Jean Grey, and in the comics, this Metzger is an anti-mutant activist whose only goal is to make all mutants look like dangers to society and bring them down. If he is the same character in the MCU and is in control of Damage Control, they are not a good organization, even if they do have the government’s support. Could Griffyn have ulterior motives, and could his “everyday humans” statement have deeper meaning? With DODC in The Amazing Spider-Man possessing some big-time weapons, they might end up as the next big villain rather than a new ally for Spidey.
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