Midnight Spider-Man Harkens Back to Two of Spider-Man’s Strangest Eras, but Here’s Why It Could Be Better Than Both

Spider-Man is a character that everyone can connect to, but that’s not to say that he could star in just any type of story. He has a very specific style that he adheres to, spinning out of his tight, iconic mythos. Spider-Man stories typically focus on themes of responsibility, heroism against all odds, and general life drama. However, two of Spidey’s most-beloved runs are also two that introduce concepts that totally buck the traditional Spidey style, bringing in mystical elements and focusing on his parents, of all people. These two are, of course, the J. Michael Straczynski run and the original Ultimate Spider-Man (2000). These are two of Spider-Man’s most praised, strangest eras, and Midnight Spider-Man is harkening back to both of them.

The very first issue of this horror-themed reimagining of Spider-Man dropped, and it already proved that it’s here to change things significantly. Peter started off knowing the lesson that responsibility must follow power, but he’s struggling with the idea that all power does it make monsters. Along the way, it adds elements of the two iconic runs above, bringing in a very animalistic side to Peter’s spider powers, alongside a major focus on Oscorp as the antagonist and Peter’s parents as important characters. Yet, even as it juggles ideas from both of these runs, it’s poised to surpass both in how it uses them.

A Spider-Man Unliked Anything But the Strangest Thing We’ve Seen Before

The Midnight version of Spider-Man immediately showed that he wasn’t the same as the original with a scene of Peter’s parents when he was younger, with his dad imparting the lesson that will stick with him as Uncle Ben’s words normally would. His parents’ shadow looms over the narrative, with their deaths being tied to Oscorp in some way. Speaking of Oscorp, they are the ones responsible for the spider that transforms Peter and kills Uncle Ben. Peter’s transition into Spider-Man is much more gruesome, with the spider literally fusing into his chest. Given that he wakes up in a massive cocoon of webs and his eyes blacken like a spider’s, Peter is definitely evolving into something much more monstrous than his normal self.

All of these elements aren’t typical for a standard Spider-Man story, but they are hallmarks of the runs mentioned above. Bendis’s Ultimate Spider-Man famously had Oscorp create the irradiated spider, popularizing the idea in adaptations and establishing a link between Peter and Norman Osborn from the outset. It also introduced the idea of Peter’s dad as a scientist who created the Venom symbiote. While it’s unclear if Peter’s parents were directly associated with Oscorp’s development here, this focus on them as a driving force for Peter is definitely going to continue. The more animalistic, disgusting side of Peter’s connection to his spider half was a major paprt of JMS’s run. He had Peter deepen his mystical connection to the Spider-Totem the Other, and while this series seems firmly rooted in monstrous science, there’s no denying that it’s drawing on that same imagery.

The Evolution that Feeds into the Original

It’s clear that Midnight Spider-Man is drawing from some of Spidey’s biggest stories as inspiration, but the similarities alone aren’t worth calling out. The real strength of this story so far is how it’s leveraging its ideas to highlight exactly what we love about the Web-Slinger while taking things in a unique direction. There’s the classic Spider-Man setup with a young boy being gifted powers far beyond his wildest dreams and his mistake leading to Uncle Ben’s death, but it also features Peter’s struggle to maintain his humanity as he transforms, and the looming presence of Oscorp and the secrets of what their role was in his parents’ deaths.

A huge part of Spider-Man’s popularity at his debut was how his comics took classic superhero storytelling and moved it in a way nothing had before, which is exactly what this version aims to do. A huge restriction on these specific ideas in their original universes was that Marvel tried to keep everything tied closely to the idea of the classic Spider-Man. The monstrous and mystical connection Peter had only lasted for a few short years, and while the Ultimate version included its own versions, the only one it really dove into was the Osborn connection. Even then, it was detached in a way that never felt quite as personal or important as the mainline Spider-Man and Green Goblin’s rivalry.

The Midnight Universe is the perfect place to explore these wild, strange takes on Spider-Man’s lore. These ideas are out of left field compared to what most fans are used to, and that’s practically the thesis statement of this grim new reality. These ideas have merit to them, but they clash with the classic Spider-Man depiction. Here, they can have the space and time to develop properly, creating a story unlike anything we’ve seen before as it builds a completely new identity from this foundation. Already, all of these ideas are set to be pivotal to its identity, and it promises that everything it shows us will build towards something special.

What do you hope this new version of Spider-Man focuses on? Let us know in the comments below!

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