Dying Wish: Difference between revisions

"'''"Dying Wish"'''" is a three-issue2012 [[comic book]] storyline in ''[[The Amazing Spider-Man]]'', first published by [[Marvel Comics]]. betweenThe November and December 2012 and featuring the fictional superhero [[Spider-Man]].story Startingbegan with a prologue in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #698 and endingended in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #700, "Dyingthe Wish"final broughtissue of that series, ending over fifty years of Marvel's publication of ''The Amazing Spider-Man''. comicThe series towas anreplaced end, and ushered in the new serieswith ''[[The Superior Spider-Man]]'' in January 2013. The story concluded a storyline started in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #600 where it is revealed that the Spider-Man villain [[Doctor Octopus]] is terminally ill from his years of crime and fighting superheroes. Aware of his impending death, Doctorwhich Octopus setspremiered in motionJanuary a series of plans to create his legacy, that ran through the March 2012 story "[[Ends of the Earth (Marvel Comics)|Ends of the Earth]]" and finished in "Dying Wish", where the villain successfully swapped consciousnesses with Spider-Man's alter ego [[Peter Parker]], thrusting the hero into his decaying body2013.

Starting in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #698 (November 2012), Doctor Octopus remains incarcerated in the Raft. Roused from an inactive state, he struggles to utter the words "Peter Parker".{{sfn|Slott|2012|pp=2–5}} Elsewhere, Spider-Man is shown working through his day, while his inner monologue details him living up to his full potential as a scientist and a man, including romantically reuniting with [[Mary Jane Watson]].{{sfn|Slott|2012|pp=8–14}} Responding to Ock's calls for Spider-Man's alter ego, he goes to histhe ailing villain's bedside.{{sfn|Slott|2012|pp=18–19}} "Spider-Man" reveals that at an unspecified point, the pair swapped consciousnesses: Octavius has transferred himself into Parker's body and vice versa using a special remote controlled Octobot.{{sfn|Slott|2012|p=20}}{{sfn|Slott|2012b|pp=18–20}} Octopus intends to live Parker's life and let the hero die in his own deteriorating body.{{sfn|Slott|2012|pp=20,22}}

In ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #700 (December 2012), Otto learns of Parker's escape and attempts to leave the country long enough for Peter to perish.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=4–5}} Meanwhile, the Trapster uses various technologies to prolong Parker's life.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=6–7}} An electric shock delivered during the process causes Peter to black out, before experiencing a vision of the afterlife where he meets the people he has lost, including [[Uncle Ben]], [[Gwen Stacy]] and her father, [[George Stacy]], and even his long-forgotten parents, Richard and Mary Parker. Ben, and the others, encourage Peter to put a stop to Octavius, before he awakens in the real world.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=7–13}} Otto decides to remain in New York City and gather all of Peter's loved ones together in [[Avengers Tower]].{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=19–20,33}} While Peter is attempting to repair the recovered golden Octobot, Ock sends law enforcement after him, dueas tothey themare believingnot hisaware Ockof himselfthe swap.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=21–22}} To prevent his villainous companions from harming the police, Parker incapacitates Trapster and escapes with Scorpion and Hydro-Man.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=23–25}} Together they infiltrate Avengers Tower, but they are confronted by Octavius as Spider-Man.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=29–31}} Learning that [[J. Jonah Jameson]] is also in the tower, Scorpion and Hydro-Man abandon Parker to pursue Scorpion's agenda against Jameson.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|p=33}} When Scorpion attempts to kill Jameson's father's wife, Aunt May, Octavius, in a moment of selflessness, intervenes to protect her, inspired by experiencing one of Peter's childhood memories of her.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=35–36}} As Scorpion attacks him again, the enraged OctopusOctavius punches him far too hard, brutally severing the villain's jaw clean off, cripplingly injuring him.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=37}} Seeing that OckOctavius has almost killed someone in his body, an equally enraged Parker lunges at Ock/Spider-Manhim, in a desperate attempt to finally stop him, even if it kills them both.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=38–40}} Octavius manages to form a cushion from webbing, saving them both.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|p=40}} Peter sees the oppurtunityopportunity to regain his body and takes control of the Octobot to swaps their minds back, but it fails to work; OckOctavius reveals he added metal-plated shielding on the back of his head to prevent another transfer.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=40–43}} Octavius begins to pummel Parker's already dying body, and one final punch floors him, leaving him too hurt to move. Immobilized and with precious little time left, Parker optstries for aone differentlastt method of stopping the villain. Using their connection via the bot, he mentally floods Octavius' mind with memories of his entire life, from his childhood to the multitudinous losses he has experienced and his transformation into Spider-Man, but modifies his memories to feature OttoOctavius in his place.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=44–47}} OttoOctavius is overwhelmed by the heavy memories and has an epiphany, realizing his villainous ways. With Octavius apologizing for his current deeds, Peter encourages his foe to follow in his footsteps by carrying on his role as Spider-Man and to protect his friends and family, as well as the people of New York. Otto agrees and promises to, and with that, Peter Parker finally dies.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=48–49}} Respectfully bidding his former nemesis farewell, Otto silently promises that Parker won't be leaving the world to a villain.

In the epilogue, Otto awakens the next morning, still taking the opportunity to briefly revel in his final victory against the Amazing Spider-Man. After calling Mary Jane Watson and asking her out on a date, he puts on hissuithis suit and goes out on patrol as Spider-Man. TravellingTraveling to one of his hidden bases, the automated defense systems activate, as well as a pre-recorded message of him as Doctor Octopus taunting the intruder. Otto, is disgraceddisgusted at his former self and, destroys his defense systems, resolving to finally abandonabandoning his identity as Doc Ock. Reobtaining his own tech, a final montage shows Otto as Peter beginbeginning to upgradingupgrade new equipment and even redesigning his Spider-Man suit to his own liking, and vows with his intellect and mechanical prowess that he will become a better Spider-Man than Peter Parker was: a [[Superior Spider-Man]].{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=51–52}}

The storyline concluded the over fifty-year run of ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and saw the death of Peter Parker, and his replacement as Spider-Man by Doctor Octopus in his own 2013 monthly ongoing series ''[[The Superior Spider-Man]]''. Other character progressionprogressions included Mary Jane Watson becoming romantically involved with Octopus believing him to be Peter Parker,{{sfn|Slott|2012c|p=28}} the reconciliation of J. Jonah Jameson and his long-estranged father, J. Jonah Jameson Sr.,{{sfn|Slott|2012c|p=26}} and the introduction of a "soul molecule" concept to the villain Hydro Man, a singular molecule that contains his consciousness.{{sfn|Slott|2012c|pp=34}}

Additionally, a tie-in issue, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #699.1, saw that Parker's escape from the Raft enabled the escape of [[Morbius, the Living Vampire|Michael Morbius]]. This leadled directly into the launch of the second volume of the self-titled monthly series ''Morbius: The Living Vampire'' in January 2013.{{sfn|Keatinge|2012|pp=4–5,29}}

Octavius remains active as Spider-Man for most of the run of the new ''[[The Superior Spider-Man]]'' comic, until he sacrifices himself to restore Peter's consciousness in order to defeat [[Norman Osborn]]'s latest scheme. However, a month or so prior to his death, Octavius had created a digital back-up of his consciousness, with this Octavius- lacking any memory of the events that led to the original's decision to sacrifice himself for Peter- returning to villainy in a new body based on Peter's.

===Other Versionsversions===

During the ''2014 "[[Spider-Verse]]''" storyline, it was revealed that Octavius's scheme to download himself into Spider-Man failed in Earth-94, a world where Spider-Man was still [[Ben Reilly]]. It is unclear if the entire scheme failed or if Reilly was simply able to re-take his body before Octavius's body gave out.<ref>''{{cite comic|title=Scarlet Spiders'' #|volume=1|issue=3|date=January 21, 2015|writer=[[Mike Costa|Costa, Mike]]|letterer=Lanham, Travis|artist=Diaz, Paco|colorist=Silva, Israel|publisher=Marvel Comics|location=[[New York, NY]]}}</ref>

Fan reaction to the story was very diverse, with some criticizing Peter's death, some celebrating the change, and others argued that his death would likely [[Comic book death|be reversed]],<ref name="RecStanLee"/> though Slott subsequently maintained this will not be the case.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.today.com/books/death-spider-mans-alter-ego-has-fans-crawling-walls-1C7754711|title=Death of Spider-Man’sMan's alter ego has fans crawling up walls|publisher=[[Today (U.S. TV program)|The Today Show]]|date=December 27, 2012}}</ref> (The decision was indeed reversed when ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' was re-launched in April 2014)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/comics/exclusive-spider-man-alter-ego-peter-parker-return-death-article-1.1575793|title=Exclusive: Peter Parker to return from death in ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #1 this April|last=Sacks|first=Ethan|publisherwork= ''[[Daily News (New York)|New York Daily News]]''|date=January 12, 2014|archiveurlarchive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140712234030/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/comics/exclusive-spider-man-alter-ego-peter-parker-return-death-article-1.1575793|archivedatearchive-date=July 12, 2014 |deadurlurl-status= nolive|accessdateaccess-date=January 13, 2013}}</ref> Following the leak of the story's conclusion featuring Spider-Man's death, Slott received death threats that he considered serious enough to report to the authorities.<ref name="ReceptionLeak"/> However, Slott stated that the negative responses were a minority and that he had largely received positive feedback.<ref name="RecStanLee"/> Spider-Man co-creator [[Stan Lee]] admitted that he was initially taken aback by the concept of the storyline, but decided to keep an open mind toward it.<ref>{{cite web|author=Ethan Sacks|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/marvel-decision-peter-parker-amazing-spider-man-article-1.1228403|title=Marvel Comics explains why they killed off Peter Parker in 'Amazing Spider-Man #700' so close to Stan Lee's 90th birthday|publisherwork=''[[New York Daily News]]''|date=December 28, 2012}}</ref>

|| December 2012

{{reflist|30emReflist|refs=

<ref name="2012Sales">{{cite web |first=Steve |last=Sunu |date=January 8, 2013 |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=43051 |title="THE WALKING DEAD" DOMINATES DIAMOND COMICS' 2012 TOP 500 LISTS |publisher=Comic Book Resources |accessdateaccess-date=January 11, 2012 |archiveurlarchive-url=httphttps://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/6Da2FI4Cf?url=web/20130112065844/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page%3Darticle%26id%3D43051=article&id=43051 |archivedatearchive-date=January 1112, 2013 | deadurlurl-status=nolive }}</ref>

<ref name="700Leak">{{cite web |first=Steve |last=Sunu|url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=42692 |title=UPDATED: "AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" #700 ENDING LEAKS ONLINE |publisher=Comic Book Resources|date=December 14, 2012 |accessdateaccess-date=January 8, 2013 | deadurl=no}}</ref>

<ref name="DecemberSales">{{cite web |first=John |last=Mayo |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=43181 |title=Sales Estimates For December, 2012 - "Amazing Spider-Man" Finale Tops Charts |publisher=Comic Book Resources |date=January 15, 2013 |accessdateaccess-date=January 15, 2013 |archiveurlarchive-url=httphttps://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/6DbdOzPK4?url=web/20130113025050/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page%3Darticle%26id%3D43119=article&id=43119 |archivedatearchive-date= January 1213, 2013 | deadurlurl-status=nolive }}</ref>

<ref name="Dev1">{{cite web |first=Albert |last=Ching |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=43119 |title=Slott Talks AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #698's Big Twist [SPOILERS] |publisher=[[TechMediaNetwork, Inc.]] |work=[[Newsarama]] |date=November 27, 2012 |accessdateaccess-date=January 11, 2013 |archiveurlarchive-url=httphttps://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/6DbfjKUWL?url=web/20121130214557/http://www.newsarama.com/comics/dan-slott-amazing-spider-man-698.html |archivedatearchive-date=JanuaryNovember 1230, 20132012 |deadurl=no |dfurl-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="NovemberSales">{{cite web |first=John |last=Mayo |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=42614 |title=Sales Estimates for November , 2012 - "All New X-Men" Leads Marvel Now! Sales Domination |publisher=Comic Book Resources |date=December 11, 2012 |accessdateaccess-date=January 8, 2013 |archiveurlarchive-url=httphttps://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/6DVb9UDNQ?url=web/20130116040606/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page%3Darticle%26id%3D42614=article&id=42614 |archivedatearchive-date= January 816, 2013 | deadurlurl-status=nolive }}</ref>

<ref name="ReceptionLeak">{{cite web |first=Steve|last=Sunu |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=42731 |title="AMAZING SPIDER-MAN" WRITER DAN SLOTT RECEIVES DEATH THREATS VIA SOCIAL MEDIA |publisher=Comic Book Resources |date=December 18, 2012 |accessdateaccess-date=January 8, 2013| deadurl=no}}</ref>

<ref name="RecStanLee">{{cite web |first=Scott |last=Stump |url=http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/50304627/ns/today-books/t/death-spider-mans-alter-ego-has-fans-crawling-walls/#.UO96SW83ZNI |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121231043323/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/50304627/ns/today-books/t/death-spider-mans-alter-ego-has-fans-crawling-walls#.UO96SW83ZNI |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 31, 2012 |title=Death of Spider-Man’sMan's alter ego has fans crawling up walls |publisher=[[NBCUniversal]] |work=[[MSNBC]] |date=December 27, 2012 |accessdateaccess-date=January 11, 2013| deadurl=no}}</ref>

*{{Cite comic | writer=[[Dan Slott|Slott, Dan]] | cowriters= |artist=[[Stefano Caselli|Caselli, Stefano]]| penciller= | copencillers= | inker= | coinker= |colorist=Martin Jr, Frank | title=[[The Amazing Spider-Man]] | story=Ends of the Earth | volume= | issue= 687 | date=August 2012 | publisher=Marvel Comics | location=[[New York, NY]] | id= |ref={{sfnref|Slott|2012d}}|}}