What happens after SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN? Dan Slott is ready to put Spider-Man through the wringer already. Olivier Coipel will be joining Slott. Every Spider-Man from every multiverse will be joining him.
Dan Slott said:
"This is every Spider-Man EVER teaming up. Or fighting each other. Some won't get along. It's a Spider-Man story on a scale we have never seen before. Epic, in its scope. Every Spider-Man ever wasn't enough. We're bringing in even more! New ones you've never seen before."
Villains? Who will they be fighting against? Will they fight each other? Answers will be revealed in the Free Comic Book Day/GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY issue. There will be a five-page back up story by Slott and Giuseppe Camuncoli.
"There will definitely be Spider-fights. It's someone we haven't seen in Spider-titles in a while. Whenever they show up, you're guaranteed a slobberknocker of epic proportions. You will know, by Free Comic Book Day, which character is showing up. There is something about that character you don't know yet. Which will expand on who they are, and what they do, and what they're a larger part of. It will threaten the existence of all Spider-Men everywhere."
Nick Lowe insisted they reveal who it is: Morlun is back!
"He is the initial antagonist of this story. Morlun is one of my favorite Spidey villains, certainly one of my favorites of the more recently created villains--the last fifteen years. One of the things I love about Morlun is he always kicks the crap out of Spider-Man. I feel Spider-Man is never closer to defeat when he's facing Morlun. This is the biggest Morlun story you've ever seen. It's going to mess him up in ways you've never seen before."
"Four years of Spider-Man publishing are being packed into one year." AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, Black Cat and Electro's back, Original Sin, and more.
Slott continues:
"There has been a prophecy in the pages of AMAZING and SUPERIOR that every Spider shall die."
There is a sixth cover (from the above Dell'Otto cover) that hasn't been revealed. Characters from What If?, MC2, Miles Morales, and more can be seen.
Within the first two pages of April's AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1, you will meet someone that is integral.
"This is Spider-Man and the Spider-Men going to war."
What's it like for Peter coming back and immediately going to war?
Dan said this isn't the first time Peter's died. He died in The Other by Morlun. He's very aware of his mortality now. What is Peter Parker's role in this war?
This will begin in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #9. Other books tying in will be announced as early as C2E2 in April. The story itself begins in November.
This shouldn't be considered a sequel to SPIDER-MEN even though Miles Morales will be here. He and Peter will remember meeting each other.
The main story unfolds under six issues in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. There will be other announcements in regards to other tie-ins and miniseries to tell the whole story. Dan Slott said, "Spider-Island was an island. This is a whole Spider-VERSE."
Here's a couple pages from the Free Comic Book Day issue:
Press questions
--“Every Spider-Man ever.” Does that include dead characters like Ultimate Spider-Man (Peter Parker)?
Slott answers, "There are characters, this is multiple universe, you might find out there are characters that are dead in our universe and hale and hearty in another universe. Once Spider-Verse starts, we can't vouch for the safety of any of them."
--What was the process of putting together the list of the different Spider-Man versions?
Slott said he was surprised at some of the characters they were allowed to use. "Really? Really? That Spider-Man is going to be in there too?"
--Does that include Amalgam Universe Spider-Boy?
Slott sarcastically answers, "Oh yeah, DC is going to let us do that, I'm sure. Let me call my DC contact right now."
--What’s it been like working with Olivier Coipel?
“It’s been fantastic. He’s turned in some covers that are gorgeous. We're just starting up now."
--What about the supporting cast from other multiverses? Other Aunt Mays, Gwen Stacys, Mary Janes etc?
"And Jonahs! Spider-Man's world is New York. When we go to other dimensions, we're going to other New Yorks. I don't want to see a Spider-Man story where he's out in space with a lightsaber. When we go to other dimensions, they're other Manhattans through other lenses. They will come with cast members and we'll see them."
--What about the Spectacular Spider-Man animated series? Any chance we'll see that Peter show up?
"Spectacular is partially owned by Sony...I don't think we can see that one. I think we can confirm we'll see the Spider-Man from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon and universe.
--What will be the battlefield for this? Will it be in our New York or another amalgam New York?
"That would be telling. We pimping...we're promoting a book coming out in November. I want to keep some cards close to the vest."
--When did the idea for this start?
"I wrote the story and script for the Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions video game. While I was working on it, I thought, 'Why can't we do this but bigger?' That was the game where you got to have four Spider-Men in four universes. 'What if we did this with every universe?' What could be the threat? What could be the story? What could be so awesome that would require all these characters?"
--What about the rumors of a Spider-Man 2099 book? Would this be a launching pad for that?
Nick Lowe answers this one:
"I will just say, this is a week of a lot of announcements. It's a week of a lot of crazy exiting announcements. If you don't hear something this week or very very soon about the character who I will not name in this answer, I should be tarred and feathered."
--What are the chances of Otto/Superior Spider-Man?
Slott says, "Hmm. That's a very good question." Lowe jumps in, "We can't answer that until you've read SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #30 on Wednesday or 31 three weeks from now. You certainly need to read those."
--Why Morlun?
"There are so many questions about Morlun that haven't been answered yet. Morlun's story ended with his death and yet, bam! there he is again. Every time he is there again, he's this unstoppable force. It really takes the most desperate flaying measures to stop him. We can have a character like Doc Ock and we've seen him defeated a million times over fifty years. Morlun has a really good record right now. You look at Morlun, when he shows up, the readers' spider-sense goes off. Morlun means business. There's something very scary about that."
--What about creating other versions?
Slott says, "Sometimes you need to hear 'no.' I suggested, what if there's a world like Cars? From that world, the Spider-Mobile is alive and can talk to you like Speed Buggy. They were like, 'No. No talking Spider-Mobile.' I told them it'd be awesome because he has a secret identity so no one knows he's Spider-Mobile. He's secretly Peter Parked Car. That's when everyone said, 'Nooooo!'"
--What about other the characters that have been Spider-Woman?
You are going to see 616 Spider-characters. Jessica Drew will be in this. We also announced MC2 Spider-Girl.
--Can we expect any other non-Spider-friends besides Jessica Drew in the main story?
"If you don't have a spider in your name, get out. We've got like a zillion cast members. Let's bring in all the Avengers from those other worlds too! No. That would be madness. Or, I think it should be every Spider-Man ever...plus Stingray.
Other tie in issues will be announced as it gets closer.
Nick Lowe mentioned, "Just because it's Peter Parker back, doesn't mean it's business as usual."