The Amazing Spider-Man is alive and thwipping. There’s a new creative team (writer Joe Kelly and artists Pepe Larraz and John Romita Jr.), a new villain (the mysterious Hellgate), and for Peter Parker, a new lease on life (Spider-Man died but was resurrected). With the new Amazing Spider-Man #1 on sale now, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about the relaunch and your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man‘s brand new era.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The current Amazing Spider-Man comic run resets the title numbering (Vol. 7’s issue #1 is legacy #965) but not the status quo established in Vol. 6, launched under writer Zeb Wells in 2022. Kelly assumed scripting duties in November’s Amazing Spider-Man #61, the first issue in the 10-part “8 Deaths of Spider-Man” saga that closed out the 70-issue volume.
Face front, true believers: beware of spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man (2025) #1, written by Kelly with art by Larraz (main story) and Romita Jr. (“Death to the Tyrant”).
The 8 Deaths of Spider-Man
As Earth’s new Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Doom chose Spider-Man to take his place as the champion against the eight scions of Cyttorak: the destructive god who empowers the unstoppable Juggernaut. Doom granted Spider-Man arcane armor and eight of the life-restoring Reeds of Raggadorr, which would resurrect the Doctor Strange-mentored, spell-casting Spider-Man after he died battling the scions Cyntros, Cyperion, Cyrios, and Callix.
Spider-Man sacrificed the last four reeds to resurrect civilians killed by Callix and died a final time when the scion unleashed a destructive cosmic force called the Blight. Inspired by the mortal’s sacrifice, Cyttorak’s daughter, the scion Cyra, used her crimson magic to resurrect Spider-Man as an unstoppable Juggernaut (the Spider-Naut!), temporary powers he relinquished to save the world from the Blight.
Luckily, these events go unmentioned in Amazing Spider-Man #1. Speaking of luck…
The Parker Luck
Peter has been job hunting ever since Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #62, when a reformed Norman Osborn (more on that later) shut down Oscorp. (Peter accepted a position at the company back in Amazing Spider-Man #8, after the Sin-Eater cleansed Norman of his sins as the villainous Green Goblin.)
But sins past come back to bite Peter as he searches for a new job. An interviewer brings up the “meteoric rise and fall” of his since-dissolved company, Parker Industries, which was founded by Doctor Octopus when he swapped brains with Spider-Man (in the Dan Slott and Christos Gage-penned run of Superior Spider-Man).
The interviewer then notes that the freelance photographer-turned-science editor at The Daily Bugle was fired from that job and had his graduate degree withdrawn for plagiarizing the works of Dr. Otto Octavius — who had secretly taken over Peter’s body at the time — in Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley’s Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #1. Needless to say, Peter doesn’t get the job.
15 disastrous interviews later, Peter lands an interview at Rand Enterprises, arranged by his middle school friend Brian Nehring — only to have his shot at a Supervising Engineer of Cooperative Disciplines position be interrupted by…
The Rampaging Rhino
The Rhino (Aleksei Sytsevich) has tried to go straight and settle down. He married a woman named Oksana and retired the Rhino, only to return to his horn-headed ways when his wife was killed by the new Rhino (in 2010’s Amazing Spider-Man #625).
In the time since, he’s joined Doctor Octopus’ new Sinister Six and Mayor Wilson Fisk’s team of Thunderbolts, even helping Spider-Man at one point. Peter suits up as Spider-Man to stop the Rhino’s rampage, which ends with the villain felled by a sudden heart attack. Spider-Man manages to restart Aleksei’s heart, and the culprit is revealed to be:
The Hobgoblin
Roderick Kingsley, a.k.a. the Hobgoblin, was previously installed at a position at the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane (in 2020’s Ravencroft series). In Amazing Spider-Man #1, he’s seen pulling the strings with another mystery benefactor from the shadows. Who is this mystery villain?
Who the Heck Is Hellgate?
Marvel has been teasing that a new villain named Hellgate would make Peter Parker’s life a living hell in the relaunch. Why he’s working with Hobgoblin remains unrevealed for now, but the villain actually appeared (also in shadow) back in Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #65.
When Cyttorak scion Cyra showed Spider-Man a vision of a bleak, death-filled future — where Miles Morales/Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy/Ghost Spider, and Bailey Briggs/Spider-Boy had all died in a cataclysmic event — their deaths came at the hands of Hellgate.
As Spider-Man searches Aleksei’s apartment for clues about Rhino’s rampage, his Spider-Sense pounds in his head. Suddenly, shadows turn into visions of his rogues gallery: the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, the Lizard, Scorpion, Sandman, Shocker, Carnage, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Electro, the Vulture, Hammerhead, Morlun, Kindred, and evil clone Chasm all appear before Spider-Man.
Spider-Man: Single or Taken?
Peter is semi-single. He’s been dating Ravencroft nurse Shay Marken, who says that her beau is “on probation” and their relationship is “not exclusive.”
Which is good for Peter, because his on-and-off fling with Felicia Hardy — a.k.a. the Black Cat — was rekindled as recently as Amazing Spider-Man #66.
Norman Osborn: Hero or Villain?
Norman has had a stint as the heroic Gold Goblin, but he’s mostly been the benefactor of Spider-Man’s high tech (during the Wells run). In the “Death to the Tyrant” backup story by Kelly and Romita Jr., Norman calls a press conference to officially announce he’s resigning from Oscorp.
When a cybernetically enhanced attendee attempts to assassinate Norman to avenge his wife, a victim of the Green Goblin, Norman rips his laser cannon arm off and uses it to beat his attacker into submission. While it remains to be seen if this is the work of the cyborg Robot Master — a.k.a. Mendel Stromm, Norman’s former business partner who has had it out for Osborn before he became the Green Goblin — Norman recalls Peter putting him on the right path to redemption.
“A friend recently reminded me that those who have abused great power, if given the chance, have a responsibility to make amends,” Norman says, publicly pledging to atone for the sins of his past using every tool at his disposal. “Effective immediately, this is the only mission of Oscorp.”
The Amazing Spider-Man #1 is on sale now, with the twice-monthly series continuing with series artists Larraz and Romita Jr.
The Amazing Spider-Man (2025) #2
RHINO RAMPAGE! What amped Rhino up from criminal super-bruiser to rampaging disaster machine? We aren’t spilling, but it just amped up Spider-Man! That’s right, Spider-Man is going in and out of control of his senses trying to figure out how to get full control of his body. And the only people who can help are Norman Osborn and…Peter’s long-lost childhood best friend?!
On sale: April 23
The Amazing Spider-Man #3
PUMPKIN BOMB PROBLEMS! Past and present collide sending Spider-Man spinning OUT OF CONTROL – just when an old foe obsessed with him gets the sword-stabbing jump on Peter and his main squeeze, Shay Marken! Can the last remaining ally still in Spidey’s corner, the GREEN GOBLIN, Norman Osborn, cure Peter before his entire life implodes?!
On sale: May 7
The Amazing Spider-Man #4
The cause of Spider-Man’s and Rhino’s rampages – and the mastermind behind it – is revealed! Norman Osborn ain’t the only GOBLIN back in Peter’s so-called life!
On sale: May 21
The Amazing Spider-Man #5
NO HOPE AGAINST THE HOBGOBLIN! As HOBGOBLIN’s assault tears SPIDER-MAN’s mind (and limbs) apart, Kingsley unleashes his wrath on those nearest and dearest to Peter Parker. And this is a deadly race against time Spider-Man can’t afford to lose – even as he risks losing his sanity to win!
On sale: June 4
The Amazing Spider-Man #6
HELLGATE’S OPENING…PUNCH! PETER PARKER’s life has been worse. He’s got a steady job. BLACK CAT is giving him the time of day again. As SPIDER-MAN, Peter’s taken some super-powered punches. But he’s never caught the kind of HELL that’s in store for him next.
On sale: June 18
