Marvel Told Amazing Spider-Man Writer to Avoid Conventions Over Issue #26: Fans “Will Be Very Mad at Me”

“The most shocking issue of Amazing Spider-Man in fifty years.” “A heartbreaking issue that will have fans everywhere talking.” That’s how Marvel Comics describes The Amazing Spider-Man #26 from writer Zeb Wells and artist John Romita Jr., which features a cover evoking 1973’s Amazing Spider-Man #121: the iconic and infamous issue that killed off Peter Parker’s girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, at the hands of the Green Goblin. On stands May 31st, the over-sized Amazing Spider-Man #26 promises to be a key turning point in Wells and Romita’s run — one that will “send shockwaves throughout the Marvel Universe.” 

“I can tease that many people will be very mad at me. I can tease that[editor Nick Lowe] told me not to do any comic conventions after this issuecomes out,” Wells told The Popverse. “People will be upset.” 

In 2022, the relaunched new volume of Amazing Spider-Man asked the question: “What did Spider-Man do?” 15 years after Wells introduced the mad mathematician Benjamin Rabin during the Brand New Day era in 2008’s Amazing Spider-Man #555, he’s returned as the Emissary, who has spent years devising a plan to get his revenge on Spider-Man and merge himself with the Mayan god Wayep. 

Spoiler warning: recent issues of Amazing Spider-Man revealed that, one year ago, Rabin transported Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson to an apocalyptic version of New York. There they met Paul, who worked with Rabin to unlock the powers of a new quantum symbology before the madman became obsessed with bonding with Wayep. 

Before Rabin could sacrifice Spider-Man and Mary Jane to Wayep and become unstoppable, Spider-Man created a device capable of sending only one of them back to their home dimension. Spider-Man tried to use it on MJ —only for MJ to use it first on Spider-Man, sending him back to his dimension with the destroyed Wayep, whose body caused a massive explosion outside York, Pennyslvania. 

It left MJ stranded in the alternate dimension with Paul, while Spider-Man returned home as a fugitive implicated in the WMD-sized blast. Out of options and out of time — and on the outs with the Fantastic Four and Captain America — a desperate Peter turned to one man to help him save MJ: a seemingly sins-free Norman Osborn.

The Amazing Spider-Man #26 is on sale May 31st.