Warning: Spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man #63!Peter Parker is being forced to re-live the perennial trauma inSpider-Manlore all over again. The night that Uncle Ben was murdered – and the role that Peter Parker played, by not stopping his killer when he had the chance to – is something that continues to haunt Peter as an adult.Spider-Man blames himself for Uncle Ben’smurder, and it’s informed every major decision he’s made since then.
The Amazing Spider-Man#63 – written by Justina Ireland, with art by Marcio Menyz –makes Peter confront his guilty conscience head-on, as he’s catapulted to the night that Uncle Ben was shot.Spider-Man’s mythologyalways had Uncle Ben shot and killed in his home in front of Aunt May. Peter never had a chance to save him, just as he couldn’t stop the thief before he could mug Ben Parker.
This time, Peter is even more helpless as he watches his uncle die before his eyes – and once more, can’t do anything about it.
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The Amazing Spider-Man#63 – Written By Justina Ireland; Art By Marcio Menyz; Color By Gleb Melnikov, Lettering By VC’s Joe Caramagna
Spider-Man’s current adventures finds him recruited by Doctor Doom, the newSorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe. Periodically, the Sorcerer Supreme fend off the Eight Scions of Cyttorak to protect the Earth, but instead, Doom uses his power to get Spider-Man to do it,gifting Spider-Man new powersto carry out his mission. After defeating the first two Scions, Peter is confronted by the next one: Cyrios, the Inevitability of Time. Using her time travel abiliites,Cyrios causes Peter to re-live every moment in his life that he’s contextualized as a personal failure.
The sad part is that Peter is well aware that he can’t change the past and this is mostly an illusion, but it feels real enough for him to try.
Peter Parker experiences moments like the death of Jean DeWolf and the murder of Gwen Stacy once more, but also moments he wasn’t originally present for, namely the killing of Uncle Ben. The sad part is that Peter is well aware that he can’t change the past and this is mostly an illusion, but it feels real enough for him to try. The harder he tries, the harder he’s pulled back by Cyrios, and forced to witness what happened to Uncle Ben, the first crime Spider-Man ever failed to stop.
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On one level, it’s just pure torture. It’s one thing to force Spider-Man to sit through his failures, but it’s another to make him witness thefailure that defines who he is, one which he never actually saw. It leaves one to wonder how witnessing such a thing can change him, if at all. After all, he already feels guilty enough, as he continues to overstateBen’s consistently misunderstood quote; perhaps it’s less about Peter learning from the moment and more about Peter learning from the momentsunfolding in front of him.
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It’s pointed out through his so-called failures that there’s a pattern, where no matter how he changes, his setbacks remain the same. In Cyrios' words:
You are still human … a nothing in the conceit of the universe. You are so clever, but even in your success, you’re able to fail,
She criticizes his humanity, but maybe that’s thelesson for Spider-Man to learn. His downfall comes in hyper-fixating his downfalls. As much as he regrets the past, he must understand that failures are part of life.Perhaps the lessonSpider-Manmust learn from this arc is that he can’t dwell on, or regret his failures, like Uncle Ben’s murder, but instead he must accept the failures and move on to achieve success.
The Amazing Spider-Man#63is available now from Marvel Comics.
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is the name given to several individuals who have employed a spider-moniker throughout Marvel Comics. Typically gaining their powers through a bite from a radioactive spider, the different Spider-Man heroes employ super-strength, agility, and intellect while utilizing webbing to swing and tangle up their foes. The most notable of these Spider-Men is Peter Parker, who remains one of the most popular superheroes throughout the world.
