Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

== History ==
: Whether a law is right or wrong, moral or immoral, is an idea, a personal philosophy... but it always seems that fights over ideas skip over the barrier into the real world and become battles of real violence. 
:: -- Spider-Man src
=== Early Life ===
Peter Benjamin Parker was born in Queens to CIA agents Richard and Mary Parker. While Peter was still an infant, his parents were assigned to infiltrate the Algerian based spy ring controlled by the communist agent, the Red Skull (Albert Malik). The moment the Red Skull learned that Richard and Mary were double agents, he had them killed by one of his agents, the Finisher, in an airplane crash overseas and then framed them for treason.[30] Peter went to live with his uncle and aunt, Ben and May Parker, in Forest Hills, New York; they became Peter’s surrogate parents and raised him as if he were their own son. Over the next nine years, Parker grew to be extremely bright in science and became a high honors student at Midtown High School. Parker's shyness and scholastic interest often made him a social outcast and a target for bullies, primarily football star Flash Thompson.
=== Becoming Spider-Man ===
While attending a public exhibition demonstrating the safe handling of nuclear laboratory waste materials, sponsored by the General Techtronics Corporation, the 15-year-old Peter Parker was bitten on the hand by a spider that had been irradiated by a particle accelerator used in the demonstration. Unbeknownst to him, after the spider fell from his hand, it bit a girl, Cindy Moon on the ankle before it died from the radiation.[31] Making his way home afterwards, Peter was almost hit by a car; when Peter jumped out of the way, Peter discovered he had somehow gained incredible strength, agility, and the ability to cling to walls, spider-like traits that he immediately associated with the spider bite.[1]
Encountering an ad offering a cash prize for staying in the ring for three minutes with professional wrestler Joseph "Crusher" Hogan, Peter decided this would be a good way to test his powers. Wearing a mask to avoid potential embarrassment in case he lost the match, Peter easily defeated his opponent. TV producer Maxwell Shiffman observed his performance and convinced him to go on television with his 'act.' Designing a full costume and fabricating a fluid similar to a spider's web and wrist-mounted web-shooters, Peter called himself Spider-Man, becoming an immediate sensation.
Following his first TV appearance, Peter failed to act to stop an escaping thief, claiming that it was not his responsibility to do so. Peter forgot the incident as his fame rose, but days later he returned home at night to find his Uncle Ben had been murdered. Learning the police had the burglar responsible holed up in a warehouse, Peter changed to Spider-Man and easily captured him only to discover he was the same thief he had allowed to escape earlier. Filled with remorse, he realized that when someone has power, he has an obligation to use it responsibly, so he decided to become a superhero.[1]
=== Taking on Great Responsibility ===
The first problem young Peter faced was the lack of money with the death of his uncle. Due to the fact that his Aunt May was too weak to work and Peter was seen as fragile, he decided to get a job, even though Aunt May wanted him to become a scientist instead. Peter even thought about using his spider powers for crime, but decided against it after thinking how his Aunt would react to him in jail.
However, it was seeming impossible to him to find a job in order to pay his growing debts. As Spider-Man, he was not able to continue his career as TV star, because of J. Jonah Jameson, owner of the NOW Magazine and the newspaper Daily Bugle. Jameson started a campaign against Spidey, stating that he was a bad influence for children and a criminal for taking justice into his own hands, referring to the situation with the burglar. These protests start taking effect and turning the public against Spider-Man, causing Spidey's manager to leave him, impeding his ability to earn money even as Spider-Man.[32]
Peter searched through the wanted ads, only to be rejected by all the employers. Not being able to use his super-powers as Spider Man infuriated Peter, and his fury only intensified after seeing his Aunt May selling her jewelry to try and earn some money.
Spidey's second heroic action was to save Jameson's astronaut son, John Jameson from an accident in a deviated space capsule. Spider-Man hitched a ride on a small airplane, and boarded the capsule during re-entry. Spidey then attached the missing capsule piece- allowing it to land safely. Although he had saved John, Spidey was still blamed by J.J. Jameson for the accident.
Later, trying to find a way to make some money, he decided to join the superhero team the Fantastic Four. Spidey intruded into the Baxter Building, battling the FF, as a way of showing them his power, but the team refused Spidey's entry after explaining to him that they did not get paid for their actions and that they were a family, not an enterprise. Later that day, the Russian criminal and master of disguise known as the Chameleon used Spider-Man's identity to steal defense missile plans. The real Spidey was used by Chameleon as a pawn to escape the scene without problems. After managing to avoid capture by the police, Spider-Man caught Chameleon in a helicopter before he could reach a soviet submarine and handed him in to the authorities.[32] Peter finally found a way to make money when the Daily Bugle asked for photos of the winged criminal known as the Vulture. Not only did Spider-Man defeat the villain, he also found a way to take photos, which caused J.J. Jameson to hire Peter to get him pictures of Spider-Man, under the condition that the publicist would not ask Peter how he took the pictures.[33]
Early in his career, Spider-Man fought many villains including the Tinkerer,[33]Doctor Octopus,[34] the Sandman,[35] Doctor Doom,[36] the Fox,[37] the Lizard,[38]the Living Brain,[39] Electro,[40] the Big Man and his Enforcers,[41] Mysterio,[42]Kraven the Hunter,[43] and his deadliest foe of all time: the Green Goblin.[44]Several of these villains would form the Sinister Six, under the leadership of Doctor Octopus, a team who tried to get Spider-Man by kidnapping Aunt May and trying to force Peter to "call" him. They failed.[45]
During this time, Parker dated Betty Brant of the Daily Bugle, although Liz Allanhad a crush on him. At the same time, both Peter's Aunt May and their neighbor, Anna Watson, were constantly encouraging Parker to date Anna's niece, Mary Jane Watson.
Before his high school graduation Peter continued to fight off menaces, including the Scorpion,[46] Spencer Smythe's Spider-Slayers,[2] the Crime-Master,[47] and the Molten Man.[48] He also assisted the recently formed Avengers in defeating a Spider-Man robot created by Kang.[49]
=== A Hero in the University ===
Eventually, Peter graduated from high school as valedictorian[50] and enrolled at Empire State University on a science scholarship,[48] meeting new classmates such as Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy.[51] Even though he got off to a bad start with them, finally Peter became friends with them, as well as Flash Thompson, his high school bully who ironically was Spider-Man's biggest fan. The Green Goblin came back and discovered Spider-Man's identity, kidnapping him and revealing his own alter-ego, that of Norman Osborn, Harry's father. In a furious battle, the villain lost all memories of his time as a supervillain.[52]
During that time, Spider-Man fought new foes such as the Rhino,[53] the Shocker,[54] as well as teaming up with Dr. Strange to defeat the wizard known as Xandu.[55] The Avengers also tried to make him a member at one point, but Spider-Man declined the offer.[56] Also, Peter finally met Mary Jane Watson,[57]but at that time he was interested in Gwen, so Mary Jane started dating Harry.
After finding an old newspaper clipping that identifies that his parents were traitors to their country in his aunt’s house, Peter decided to learn the full story, traveling to Algeria with the Fantastic Four's aid. He learns that his parents were supposedly spies who worked for the Red Skull and he came across their ID badges for the Skull's organization. Spider-Man also stumbles upon the original Nazi Red Skull and his men, who previously worked for the other Red Skull. In the aftermath, he finds that his father's CIA identification card, proving to Peter that his parents were secret government operatives. With evidence to clear his parents' names, Peter returns to the States.[30]
Weeks later, after the return of Kraven and battling a new Vulture,[58] Peter started wondering if he may be better off not being Spider-Man. Crime rose and a new Kingpin appeared in NY, and abducted J. J. Jameson. Peter was forced to return to his heroic identity.[59]
A mystical artifact called the Tablet of Life and Time, exhibited in ESU was stolen by the Kingpin; the Tablet passed over many people who tried to get it, including Spider-Man, Shocker (who was working for Kingpin) and Man Mountain Marko (who was working for the Maggia crime family). Finally the Tablet got to the Maggia boss, Silvermane, who forced Doctor Curt Connors to translate the tablet. Connors managed to create a powerful rejuvenation serum from it. Silvermane drank it and became a young man again. But the serum made Silvermane regress beyond birth. Meanwhile Connors, as the Lizard, escaped.
=== The Death of the Stacys ===
Soon after, Doctor Octopus managed to get his metallic arms again and broke free from prison. After Spider-Man thwarted his attempt to hijack a plane, he started attacking the city's main power plant. Although Spider-Man escaped from Ock, Spider-Man was attacked by surprise by Ock the next day. They battled on a rooftop and Captain Stacy died when saving a child from falling debris. Before dying, Stacy revealed to Spider-Man he knew his identity, and asked him to take care of Gwen.[61]
Being accused for Stacy's death, Spider-Man faced some heroes who wanted to take him to authorities, such as the X-Man Iceman and the beginner hero the Prowler. Peter even went to London to prevent Gwen's departure forever, after her father's death.[62]
Things got worse. Harry became addicted to LSD, and Peter, along with Gwen and Mary Jane, took care of him. This familial stress caused Norman Osborn's Green Goblin persona to return, where he again battled Spider-Man. During the battle Norman was exposed to his son's declining condition in the hospital. This severed the control of the Green Goblin persona over Norman and caused Norman to have amnesia.
With his secret identity making his life impossible, Peter tried to give up being Spider-Man and created a cure for his powers that instead made him grow four extra arms.[64] With the help of Curt Connors he found a cure, fighting Morbius the Living Vampire and his alter-ego in the process. He finally returned to normal, even though it meant interfering in a gang war between Doctor Octopus and Hammerhead[65] and battling Hulk in Canada.[66]
Norman Osborn's alter ego resurfaced again and the Green Goblin kidnapped Gwen Stacy. Spider-Man found them at the Brooklyn Bridge, where they fought and Gwen fell from the bridge. She died when Spider-Man reached her with a web-line, breaking her neck. Green Goblin escaped. A furious Peter searched, found and battled him again. In this battle Norman was impaled with his own Goblin glider, apparently killing himself.
Peter was extremely distraught over the death of Gwen, possibly even more so than when Uncle Ben died. An equally traumatized Mary Jane tried to comfort Peter after Gwen's death; she was initially brushed off, but they eventually got closer.[67]
Being accused of the death of both Stacys, Spider-Man was confronted by heroes such as Power Man and the Punisher in the latter's crime-fighting debut.[68] Later, Harry, who had wanted revenge on Spider-Man for his father's death since it happened, took the Green Goblin mantle and kidnapped Flash Thompson, Mary Jane and Aunt May in an attempt to lure him out and kill him. Spider-Man managed to find him at his father's old home and defeated him, leaving him to the authorities. Harry was sent to an asylum.[69]
=== The Jackal and the Spider-Clone ===
Peter had to go on a work trip with Robbie Robertson, and he and Mary Jane shared their first kiss at the airport. After returning from the trip to France, Peter found himself with Gwen Stacy, but could not bear to rekindle their relationship because of his kiss with MJ. With the help of Ned Leeds, Spider-Man found out that Gwen Stacy was a clone created by the Jackal, who, after defeating Spider-Man with the help of Tarantula, was revealed to be Peter's professor, Miles Warren.[70]
After kidnapping Leeds and Spider-Man, Warren explained to the hero that he loved Gwen and blamed Spider-Man for her death. And after managing to clone a frog, he used a blood sample from Gwen to clone her. Later, Spider-Man was left unconscious in a stadium, where he battled a clone of himself to save Ned from a bomb.
Gwen's clone made Jackal realize everything was wrong, so he freed Ned and the bomb exploded, apparently killing him and the Spider-Clone. Spider-Man took the corpse of his clone and buried it at an industrial chimney, while the clone of Gwen Stacy left New York.[71] Unsure whether he was the real Peter Parker or the clone, he had Curt Connors run tests on him. However, he never checked the results, being convinced by his emotions for Mary Jane that he must be the original.[72]
Peter had to leave Betty Brant's engagement party to defeat the Shocker, causing friction between him and Mary Jane.[73]He then came into conflict with the Kingpin once more who was trying to acquire parts of a crime super computer before it was activated.[74] The computer itself turned out to be self-aware and a menace.[75] Peter served as best man at Ned Leeds' and Betty Brant's wedding.[76] He had to deal with Dr. Octopus kidnapping his aunt May as a result of being haunted by the ghost of Hammerhead,[77] defeated the Fly,[78] and faced off against the Tinkerer, who had reconstructed the Spider-Mobile at the orders of the Kingpin.[79] He teamed up with the X-Man Nightcrawler and the Punisher to being down Jigsaw who was trying to frame the Punisher for several sniper killings.[80]
Spider-Man faced Harry's psychologist, Bart Hamilton, who became the third Green Goblin, who, after various encounters, died at the hands of Harry.[81] Peter proposed marriage to Mary Jane, but she would not accept, making their relationship falter. MJ went to Florida with her Aunt Anna.
Spider-Man managed to clear his name, while Peter Parker graduated from ESU.[82] Also, Spencer Smythe, the creator of the Spider-Slayers, died from illness after trying to kill Spider-Man and Jameson, the men he blamed for ruining his life.[83]
=== Enter the Cat ===
As Peter continued to live on his own, his Aunt May decided to transform her home into a senior citizens' boarding house. At one point Parker began a romantic relationship and heroic partnership with the Black Cat, developing feelings for her and even starting to love her, although Parker later broke it off due to the Black Cat's disdain for Parker's life apart from being Spider-Man.
=== A "Friend" from Outer Space ===
Prior to this, Spider-Man was among the heroes kidnapped by the powerful Beyonder to fight in his "Secret Wars". When his costume was damaged, Parker tried using the futuristic technology on the Beyonder's planet to repair it, and instead, replaced it with an alien "symbiote" which transformed into a black version of Spider-Man's costume, perhaps based on that of the newly appeared Spider-Woman. Parker used the symbiote for his costume, which was capable of transforming into street clothing as well as generating webs. Later, Mary Jane returned to Peter's life.
A man named Puma dislocated Spidey's arm. Spider-Man passed out pushing it back into place. Black Cat saved Peter from Puma and left Peter at home. MJ came over to visit, because she thought Peter felt let down by something, and tried to have some fun. But Peter shoved MJ out of the door when his Spider Sense went off. Just as Peter shut the door, Puma crashed in. During the battle in another building Puma confirmed that Spidey's web was organic. After the battle Peter returned home and Mary Jane told him that she knew he was Spider-Man. Peter tried to convince her that she was wrong, but Black Cat came in and MJ left. Cat said MJ is nobody, and Peter snapped at her. When she started to leave the suit webbed her hand, and Felicia (thinking he'd done this on purpose) decided to stay. Peter noticed that the costume behaved strangely, so he sought help from the Fantastic Four's Mister Fantastic, who discovered the costume was a living organism. He helped remove the costume by force, and kept it at the Fantastic Four's headquarters in captivity. The symbiote would later escape, plaguing the life of Parker again and ultimately merging with one of Spider-Man's critics, Eddie Brock, creating the villain, Venom. In a climatic fight, Spider-Man defeated this new foe.
=== Improving Life ===
As Spider-Man, Parker met and fought alongside nearly every hero in Manhattan, if not the world. Although he fought alongside the Avengers many times,[49] he unsuccessfully (for now) tried to join their number when he learned of the financial stipend their members received. Parker helped them stop an invasion and subsequent breakout of the energy research and villain internment facility, Project Pegasus. Spider-Man was deemed, however, to disrupt the team's cohesiveness (perhaps due to either his loner nature, lack of experience, or annoying sense of humor), and was denied membership. Later, however, Spider-Man met the international mercenary Silver Sable, often working on her behalf.
Soon after a fight with Spider-Slayer, Peter and Mary Jane married. Spider-Man later defeated Venom in battle again. Peter's old friend Harry Osborn leased the couple a loft in the condo that Harry and his family were also living in. Mary Jane's cousin Kristy also temporarily moved in with the Parkers at one point. Eventually, however, the Parkers had to move into a room in Aunt May's house due to financial problems.
At this time, Spider-Man once again allied with the Avengers to stop the alien Nebula from destroying reality with her Infinity Union. An increasingly unnerved Spider-Man, unaccustomed to dealing with cosmic-scale menaces, accidentally allowed Nebula to absorb the power of the Infinity Union, although the Avengers, Spider-Man, and the alien Strangerthwarted her regardless. Parker was told again that Spider-Man might not be suited for Avengers membership, although later he was inducted into their number on a provisional basis.
Parker later returned to his studies and postgraduate work as a lab assistant at Empire State University. During this time, Parker was briefly endowed with the powers of Captain Universe, in order to stop a series of robots, including the mutant-killing Tri-Sentinel. Once the menace was defeated, the extra powers he gained left him.
=== Kraven's Last Hunt ===
After being defeated once again, Kraven the Hunter's remaining sanity was destroyed. He hatched a scheme to finally defeat Spider-Man. While Spider-Man swung around the city, Kraven hit him with a tranquilizer dart. Spider-Man started hallucinating and Kraven knocked him down and captured him in a net. He shot Spider-Man with a rifle, apparently killing him. In reality his drugs kept him completely immobile, so that Kraven could bury him alive. Kraven then donned a copy of Spider-Man's costume, calling himself "The Spider," he tried to become a better Spider-Man than Peter. He ended up brutally attacking and beating criminals, ultimately sending fifteen men to the hospital and killing one. The Spider confronted Vermin, who had resurfaced and killed various people, in the sewers. During the ensuing fight, The Spider overpowered Vermin and captures him.
After two weeks, Kraven’s drug eventually wore off and Spider-Man emerged from his grave. He learned from a newspaper that someone has been impersonating him for two weeks. He reunited with Mary Jane at their apartment before going to confront Kraven. However, he refused to fight, saying that by "killing" and impersonating him, he had proven his superiority. Kraven led Spider-Man to a caged Vermin and released him, goading Vermin into attacking Spider-Man. At first Spider-Man fought back but then backed off, refusing to play Kraven's game. Vermin overwhelmed him and fled with Spider-Man following him. Having finished his greatest hunt, Kraven left a confession saying the he impersonated Spider-Man for the past two weeks and then committed suicide with a hunting rifle. Spider-Man took down Vermin and handed him over to the police, who found Kraven's confession.
=== The Clone Saga ===
Aunt May supposedly suffered a debilitating heart attack. This also led to the Parkers meeting Ben Reilly, a clone of himself whom Peter had fought earlier. Reilly created a similar spider-costume, dubbed the Scarlet Spider by the Daily Bugle, and helped Spider-Man in his adventures. Shortly afterward, Mary Jane became pregnant, and the apparent revelation that Ben was the original Peter Parker and Peter the clone prompted Peter to retire from Spider-Man and relocate to Portland. After a crisis in Portland resulted in minor damage to Peter's cellular structure that prevented him from accessing his powers, Peter chose to accept retirement and focus on his new family.[citation needed]
Back in New York, Reilly eventually assumed the identity of Spider-Man himself, since the second villain by the name of Doctor Octopus tarnished the reputation of the Scarlet Spider. After a few months in Portland, Peter and Mary Jane returned to New York, with Peter's powers returning after a strange illness was revealed to be his body 'resetting' itself, although his powers were unpredictable for a while and prone to cutting out at inopportune moments. As Peter's powers returned, however, he and Ben began to contemplate the possibility of both of them acting as Spider-Man after the recent war against Onslaught resulted in the loss of the FF and so many of the Avengers. This plan was cut short when Mary Jane was rushed to hospital while giving birth due to an unexpected medical emergency, later revealed to have been staged by Norman Osborn, the original Green Goblin; Osborn had survived his apparent death due to an unexpected increased healing factor as part of his powers that nobody had known about before. Having stolen the body of the Parker's baby, the Goblin revealed that he had manipulated the tests that confirmed that Peter was the clone and Ben the original with the goal of destroying Peter's life, angered when Peter had managed to move past that revelation to make a new life for himself. During the subsequent confrontation, Ben Reilly jumped in front of the Goblin's glider when he sent it flying towards Peter, sacrificing himself to save Parker. Reilly's body disintegrated after his death, finally convincing Peter that he was the original. Due to this "revelation" and the fact that his daughter had died, Peter once again became Spider-Man.
=== The Final Chapter ===
After many more months of adventuring, Norman Osborn returned to take control of the Daily Bugle, providing faked evidence that he had never been the Green Goblin and discrediting all contradicting sources. He angered Peter, which caused Spider-Man to brutally beat Norman, which was all caught on a hidden camera in his house. With the staged confrontation and the apparent murder of a small-time criminal using what appeared to be Spider-Man's webbing, Osborn was able to create the fake impression that Spider-Man was a straightforward criminal, and increased pressure was placed on capturing him. In order to continue his crime-fighting career and investigate the fraudulent claims, Parker relinquished his Spider-Man identity while creating four unique and separate ones: Dusk, Hornet, Prodigy, and Ricochet. As Dusk, Parker was able to investigate the villain Trapster-- the only person capable of creating a convincing duplicate of his webbing-- and convince him to confess to the crime to hurt Osborn and publicly exonerate Spider-Man of the murder charge. He also used Prodigy to present fake evidence that someone else had attacked Osborn dressed as Spider-Man, at which point he resumed his Spider-Man identity. Later, the Golden Age hero Black Marvel acquired the four costumes and gave them to four teenagers, forming a team he named the Slingers.
When the Avengers were attempting to reform their number after disbanding for a year after the crisis known as Onslaught, Spider-Man was contacted due to his past affiliation with them. However, by his own choice, Parker decided to dissolve ties with the Avengers.
Aunt May was later discovered to still be alive; the woman who seemingly died was in actuality a genetically modified actress. Parker, Mary Jane, and Aunt May moved to an apartment in Manhattan. Parker had promised Mary Jane to give up his Spider-Man identity, but he would continually sneak out at night as Spider-Man. Their marriage began to strain, in part because of Mary Jane's new modeling career and in part because she discovered Parker's secret. Before they could reconcile, however, Mary Jane was supposedly killed when her airplane exploded. For a long time, Parker refused to believe her dead, but eventually grew to accept it.
Parker discovered Mary Jane was alive, captured by a villain who had been stalking her prior to her airplane flight. After a brief reconciliation, Mary Jane requested to leave Parker once more, saying that she needed time to adjust by herself.
=== Totemic Adventures ===
Peter soon took a job as a teacher at his somewhat beloved Midtown High. After getting this job, he encountered a strange man named Ezekiel Sims who possessed powers very similar to his, and presented Peter with the possibility that his powers had been bestowed on him by mystical forces, effectively making Peter a "totem" that connected the animal and human realms.[87]
Peter soon encountered villains linked to him through his new-found nature as a Spider-Totem. The first of them was Morlun, who almost beat Spider-Man to death, and seemingly met his end after Peter injected himself with a lethal dose of radiation, which hurt Morlun whenever they made contact and weakened him enough for his servant Dexto take the opportunity and shoot him down. Following the exhausting encounter with Morlun, Peter let his guard down, allowing Aunt May to discover his secret identity when she entered his apartment and found him sleeping with his tattered costume on the floor.[88] After May came to grips with the fact her nephew was Spider-Man, their relationship grew stronger than ever.[89] Mary Jane Watson also returned to Peter's life, and both lovers reunited for good.[90]
After defeating Shathra, a predator who originated from the Astral Plane,[91] Spider-Man was warned by Ezekiel about the coming of the Gatekeeper, a mystical being who allegedly saw Peter unworthy of his powers and wanted to kill him.[92]During an ensuing confrontation against Spider-Man, the Gatekeeper revealed him the truth. Peter was chosen to become a Spider-Totem due to his nature, a prey to bullying during his teenage years whose reserving anger made him the perfect candidate to become a hunter, one who would never give in to submission again. Through visions imparted by the Gatekeeper, Peter also discovered that Ezekiel was the one Spider-Totem deemed unworthy, due to having searched for the source of the power instead of having it bestowed upon him, and that the predators that confronted Peter were actually meant for Ezekiel.[93] As Peter was recovering from the encounter with the Gatekeeper, Ezekiel brought him to the temple where he had obtained his powers in South America and planned to use him in a sacrificial ritual to mantain his abilities. The ritual linked Peter's mind with Ezekiel's, and made him realize he had wasted his gifts unlike Peter. When a spider monster emerged to kill Peter, Ezekiel gave his life to save him. A shaman named Miguel who had previously helped Ezekiel buried his body. When Peter aske him whether his powers came from science or magic, Miguel told him that one explanation didn't necessarily contradict the other.[94]
Changes came to Spider-Man's very own physical nature when he confronted a new villain known as the the Queen, who invaded New York and used her powers to take control over the citizens who possessed the vestige of an insect gene. As a consequence of a mutation caused by the Queen during a confrontation against her, Peter's body began to slowly transform into that of a giant spider which fell prey to the Queen's mind-control. The Queen planned to use Peter's mutated body to breed, but it seemingly die due to complications arising from the transformation. From the husk of his monstrous form, Peter emerge alive and well, but having gained the ability to produce webbing organically, in addition to augmented strenght and spider-sense. During a subsequent fight againt the Queen, Spider-Man disarmed a bomb she planned to detonate, and she was seemingly killed when S.H.I.E.L.D. attacked her subterranean base.[95]
=== The Other ===
Months following the disbandment of the Avengers, Peter joined forces with a fortuitous group of heroes present in the Raft Superhuman Security Prison to help contain escaping inmates following a massive breakout. Once the situation was contained, the group remained together and became the New Avengers, without the government involvement and financial burdens common to Avengers' history.[96] Peter, May and Mary Jane subsequently moved to the team's headquarters in the Avengers Tower after both Peter's and May's places were destroyed by a mutated former classmate of his named Charlie Weiderman.[97]
Shortly after joining the New Avengers, Peter discovered that his skin was shedding for some reason. Knowing the situation was hopeless, Morlun got into a fight with him and brutally defeated him, even ripping his left eye out and eating it. The bloodied, rapidly shedding Spider-Man was rushed to the hospital with extreme wounds. Morlun attacked him there again. MJ attempts to stop him, but Morlun throws her across the room and breaks her arm. However, Peter wakes up and his savage, animalistic spider-side takes over, developing sharp teeth and stingers in his wrists. He killed Morlun in front of Mary Jane, falling dead after.
Iron Man took away Peter's body later, but as the New Avengers mourned over his presumed death in another room, Spider-Man's body disappeared, leaving behind a shed skin. It turned out that his body had briefly sprung to life and formed a cocoon underneath a bridge. In the cocoon, a voice tells Peter he never understood what he was and is too scared to truly be a "Spider-Man", only focusing on his human part and not his spider part. Morlun managed to kill the human, but the spider survived and killed Morlun to save them both. It tells him that he will only be reborn if he accepts both parts, asking him: "Are you the man who dreamed of being a spider? Or the spider who dreamed of being a man? Are you the one...or are you the other?" Peter agreed and is resurrected with a new and completely healed body. He goes to the Avengers Tower and reunites with MJ and Aunt May.
He encountered a being made of thousands of pirate spiders that ate his old body called Ero, who claimed that they are both parts of the same whole, that cosmic forces are vying for control of his life and that “she” is his opposite. She told him a spider-deity known as The Great Weaver thought that his death was premature and revived him, others disagreed and was being pulled in different directions as a result. After a brief fight, "she" escaped. Changes resulting from the confrontation with Morlun and the shedding of his skin caused Peter to try and reconcile 'the man and the spider' within himself. While saving everyone inside collapsing building, he discovered he gained greater speed; poisonous, razor-sharp stingers located within his arms; night vision; increased sensory awareness via vibratory patterns transmitted through the hairs on his body and through his web lines; a greater clinging ability; and equal superhuman strength in order to carry heavy objects on his back.
=== Civil War ===
Despite misgivings and with the support of his family, Peter initially sided with mentor Iron Man in support of superhero registration, after being unsure initially, as he felt that heroes needed to get public support for their actions. Many of the heroes on that side had public identities, with him being the only major supporter without one following Iron Man's unmasking; Iron Man also said it was a positive thing to unmask if they were to gain support. He planned to liquidate his assets and flee the country in case his unmasking caused any problems, but his family suggested against it, believing that Peter needed to get recognition for his actions. With Iron Man at his side, at a live press conference in Washington, D.C., Peter unmasked and said "My name is Peter Parker, and I have been Spider-Man since I was 15 years old". His siding with the pro-registration heroes also saw him gaining the "Iron Spider" armor, which Stark had been building since Peter's death and resurrection.
Reaction to the unmasking was diverse. Among the negative supporters was Jameson (who fainted upon watching the broadcast, and came to "disown" Peter, having seen him like a son over the years) and Liz Allan (who blamed Peter for causing so much suffering in their lives).
However, fighting against the fugitive heroes and the existence of the Thor clone and a prison for the unregistered in the Negative Zone created by Iron Man left a poor taste in his mouth, and he even found out that Iron Man was tracking him with the Iron Spider suit. This caused him to get Aunt May and MJ out of the Tower and into hiding. He confronted Stark, who quickly overrides his armor, Peter then overrides Stark's command and escapes. In retaliation, Maria Hill send the pro-registration Thunderbolts, a group of registered villains, after him. While running through the sewers, he is attacked by the Jester and Jack O'Lantern. They beat up Spider-Man but before they can capture him, the Punisher kills them and brings him to the Secret Avengers headquarters. After joining the team and reuniting with his wife and aunt, Spider-Man interrupted a news broadcast, announcing his mistake of registering, giving his allegiance to the anti-registered and gives a description of the Negative Zone Prison. Spider-Man was one of the few heroes who did not accept the general amnesty after the arrest and death of Captain America, continuing to work with the underground New Avengers.
Peter took the death of Captain America hard, even blaming himself for his death despite not being present at the shooting. After an encounter with Rhino and receiving condolence from Wolverine, Spider-Man watched Cap's funeral on TV with the New Avengers; when the team discussed why they didn't go, Spider-Man said they could not risk getting arrested by Tony Stark on the spot.
===Back in Black===
Peter's now-public identity allowed the Kingpin to put a hit on Parker's family. His sniper shot at him at his apartment. Peter saved Mary Jane, but the bullet hit Aunt May.[102] He takes his aunt to a hospital where she falls into a coma. Tracking the sniper's gun to a warehouse full of arms dealers, viciously beats everyone and gets the names of the dealers who traffics those guns. Peter donned a cloth version of his black suit to find those who were responsible of hurting his family. Getting the sniper’s name from the gun dealers, he tracks him and beats him but he is killed by another assassin. He finds the gunman talking to Fisk on his cell phone. Peter takes him to a sewer pipe, beats him and tells him to tell everyone to stay away from his family. He arrives at Ryker's Island during a prison riot lead by the Kingpin to confront him. Spider-Man savagely beats the crime-lord and taunts him on his lack of real powers. Telling Fisk that after his aunt dies, he will kill him and threatening the other inmates that he will kill them all slowly and painfully if they ever harm his family before leaving.
Spider-Man also confronted Ero, who had been posing as a nurse in Midtown High “Miss Arrow” and captured Flash Thompson to use him to hatch her eggs. They begin to fight using their stingers but Ero manages to hit him in the shoulder, paralyzing him. She decides to place her eggs inside of him instead of Flash. Spider-Man was saved by Betty Brant, who shot the egg sac with a shotgun. Ero tried to escape but Spider-Man lured her into an aviary, where she was devoured by hundreds of birds. Spider-Man stepped on the last spider remaining.
Realizing he could not afford for his identity to be public knowledge, Peter agreed to aid the Scarlet Spiders in return for their help in re-establishing his secret identity. Telling the media that Parker was part of their team but was discharged and drawing confusion as to if Parker is the first and only Spider-Man.[104] Towards the end of his search, Peter even had an encounter with the One-Above-All.
=== One More Day ===
Peter grew increasingly desperate to save the life of his Aunt May. He sought the help of Dr. Strange, finding that even magic could not help him save Aunt May's life. After appealing to Tony Stark, Jarvis was sent with $2 million to pay the hospital fees and give her the best care possible. At one point, Eddie Brock was found in Aunt May's room; where he attempted to commit suicide by jumping out of the window. The inter-dimensional Demon Mephisto offered to save Aunt May in exchange for Peter and MJ's love. As part of Mephisto's deal, everyone would forget Peter's identity as Spider-Man. Because of this decision, the daughter they would have had never existed.[106]
=== Brand New Day ===
Then Mephisto re-arranged history to make it so that Peter unwittingly would not show up to his wedding day, but stayed with Mary Jane as a long time couple. But this re-arrangement also caused it to be Doctor Strange who erased people's memories about Parker's secret identity (except Mary Jane, the Jackal, and all his clones- although he later shared his identity with the Fantastic Four- as well as somehow restoring Harry Osborn to life) and protected Peter with a "psychic blindspot," preventing people from being able to consciously deduce that Peter Parker and Spider-Man were the same person unless anyone actually saw him take his mask off. But Mary Jane was bitterly hurt from having knowledge of a time of great emotional pain that no one else on the planet remembered. She and Peter agreed that they were still in love with each other but they had to accept that their relationship put everyone they cared about in danger and that it was best for them to remain as friends.
Back from five years in a European rehab center was Harry Osborn. While searching for a job, Peter joined the Daily Bugle again which was now bought out by Dexter Bennett, and began to work as a paparazzi reporter, which was something that neither his Aunt May or Harry approved of. However, after his photographs of the celebrity Bobby Carrresulted in the deaths of women by a crazed super villain stalker who was obsessed with him, Peter decided to destroy the new photos he took resulting in Bennett firing him. Peter soon learned that Bennett had blacklisted him to nearly every news source in town preventing Peter from finding work. However, Harry suggested that Peter find a job at a news source that was Bennett's enemy, which he did by joining the Front Line as it was not under Bennett's influence.
=== Dark Reign & American Son ===
After the Skrull Invasion, Norman Osborn, who had killed the Skrull Queen that posed as Spider-Woman in the final battle, was given Stark's position as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Initiative. He donned a altered Iron Man armor with Captain America's color set an became known as the "Iron Patriot". He dissolved S.H.I.E.L.D. and created H.A.M.M.E.R.and his personal "Avengers", composed mainly of super-criminals who had served in the Thunderbolts posing as heroes. Since Osborn had transformed Venom into a more Spider-Man like look to join his Dark Avengers,[107] Peter had to reveal his secret identity to the New Avengers, in order to implicitly earn the team's trust. Upon doing so, Jessica Jones fled the place, as she had gone to high school with Peter and had a crush on him at the time.[108]
During a trip to the Macro-verse, Spider-Man re-revealed to the Fantastic Four his identity, and after coming back, he discovered two months had passed in standard time. J. J. Jameson had become the new NY major, Aunt May and Jameson's father Jay were in a relationship, Harry had fallen to drink and Michele Gonzales had moved to his apartment. Then Spider-Man knew he must act against Norman Osborn and his Dark Reign.[109] With help of the F4's Unstable Molecules, Spider-Man infiltrated Osborn's Avengers as Venom and discovered how Osborn wanted to make his son a new hero called American Son and have him killed in action to increase his Avengers' popularity. After Spider Man was captured by Norman Osborn, Harry confronted Osborn using the American Son Armor with the truth about his father's relationship with Lily Hollister (Harry's girlfriend). Spider-Man prevented Harry from killing Norman.
=== The Gauntlet and Grim Hunt ===
After the wedding of Aunt May and Jay, Jonah's parent, Spider-Man saved Jameson from Doctor Octopus with the help of the Human Torch. Around this time Mary Jane returned to New York, and Peter renewed his relationship with Black Cat. He later battled a man who wanted to kill Ben Reilly, and saw the return of Peter's living clone Kaine. Despite his problems, Spider-Man helped the original Jackpot start fighting crime[96] and overcame the corrupting control of Mister Negative's energy.[96]
The Kravinoff family started a vengeance scheme on Spider-Man, kidnapping Madame Web and Mattie Franklin, one of the Spider-Women.[111] In addition, Spider-Man managed to get a videotape of Osborn practicing illegal experiments to damage his reputation and leaked it to the public.[112]
Later, Spider-Man faced re-powered villains such as Electro, who destroyed the DB! building; Sandman, who became obsessed with taking care of his "daughter" Keemia; Rhino, who left reformation to kill a new Rhino who murdered his wife; Mysterio, who starts a gang war; a new Vulture, who tries to kill Jameson; and the Lizard, who evolved and "killed" his alter-ego and his son Billy. Many of them where helped by Kraven's wife Sasha, who wanted revenge on Spider-Man, arranging most of these attacks so that Peter would be a potent sacrifice.
The Kravinoffs killed Mattie Franklin to resurrect Grim Hunter, and finally hunted Spider-Man and killed him to revive Kraven. However it was revealed that the corpse was Kaine's, who had earlier knocked out Peter and switched places to save him, with the corrupted resurrection ritual thus leaving Kraven an apparent immortal who was nevertheless detached from the world around him. After a battle with the Kravinoff family, Madame Web died and Julia Carpenter took up her mantle. The surviving Kravinoffs left New York. Later, Kaine was resurrected from his grave and mutated into a more spider-like creature by the Jackal.
=== Big Time ===
Spider-Man's heroic career rose up again, he joined the reassembled Avengers and also stayed with the New Avengers, who were outlaws no more. He learned that Michele was moving and he couldn't maintain his apartment anymore. However, Peter found a dream job, thanks to Jameson's wife Marla Madison, as a compensation for Jameson firing him, as a scientist at Horizon Labs where he had access to much technology and resources while also giving him freedom to come and go as he liked so long as he delivered good results. Spider-Man assisted the Avengers in defeating Doctor Octopus' army of macro-octobots. He then faced a new Hobgoblin and the Kingpin, but days later, he lamentably lost Marla in a fight between Alistair Smythe's Spider-Slayers.
After Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) died preventing an invasion from the Negative Zone, Peter joined the Fantastic Four, now as the Future Foundation as Johnny's last request to him and helped them to fight an interdimensional version of Reed Richards, and the Sinister Six, who managed to steal tech from the Baxter Building.
Their third mission was in the Caribbean, on Earth. There, Reed located the epicenter of the dimensional anomalies the Future Foundation had been fixing. As the team explored the island, they were attacked by zombie pirates. It was revealed it was all a fake created by the Sinister Six, with only Mysterio and Chameleon really present, the other four members were robots. Meanwhile, Doctor Octopus and the others infiltrated the Baxter Building, stealing technology for Doc Ock's further plans.
=== Spider-Island ===
After helping Anti-Venom (Eddie Brock) to reveal Mr. Negative's identity[118] (as well as learning that Aunt May was moving to Boston with Jay) Spider-Man found himself with a new problem: the Jackal returned and gave the majority of New Yorkers spider-powers.
The Queen was revealed as the true mastermind: she wanted to turn the whole human race into spiders. Mr. Fantastic created a cure using the Anti-Venom Symbiote, and after battling Peter (under Jackal's influence), Peter's clone Kaine was accidentally cured from his mutations, turning him into a perfect clone.
While he and the Avengers battled the Spider-Queen in Central Park, Kaine killed her and Peter managed to get the cure to every citizen via Doc Ock's (mentally controlled) octobots. He met with Jay and May while they were leaving for Boston. Peter then ran into Kaine, who told Peter that he was leaving New York and would Peter's stealth suit, since Madame Web told Kaine he may need it. Also, because of revealing he had spider-powers during the Spider-Island event, Peter's psychic blind spot was weakened, letting Carlie know he was Spider-Man, which caused her to break up with him. Before giving a last cure sample to MJ, who briefly attempted to keep some spider-powers, Spidey met with Madame Web on the roof of Horizon Labs. She told him that he could de-power himself with the cure sample and someone else will step in to take his place. Peter refuses, saying that throwing his gift away would be the most irresponsible thing he's ever done. Madame Web warns that he is to suffer a loss. He then cures MJ and they look at the Empire State Building, painted in his honor.
=== Ends of the Earth ===
After fighting some old foes like the Vulture and his Vulture henchmen,[121] teaming-up with Daredevil and Black Cat, and the now-alive Human Torch, Spider-Man faced the return of a menace.[124]
Before his death, Doctor Octopus wanted to be remembered as the man who saved Earth by stopping the Greenhouse Effect[125]. Equipped with a new suit, Spider-Man joined the Avengers to stop Octavius and his Sinister Six.
After every Avenger was eventually subdued by Octavius[127], Silver Sable, who followed Spider-Man to his battle, saved him and Black Widow. When they tried to get to one of Octavius' manufacturing satellites, they defeated Sandman. Octavius asked for help from all nations, to capture Spider-Man.[128] Octavius called on many villains to hunt down Spider-Man and his allies. To counter this, Spider-Man called on the heroes that were still on Earth to destroy the facilities of Octavius.[129] When he and his allies arrived at the main base in Romania, Doc Ock stated that Spider-Man was right and he activated his satellites. This caused a huge explosion in the areas that were facing the sun. When the trio exited the base they saw what happened. Sable then asked if that is Symkaria to which Peter answered it is half of the world and Spider-Man said, "We failed."[130] The destruction was revealed to be a trick made by Mysterio (only burning a small portion of a city in Skymaria, while Chameleon uses a robot to fight Spider-Man. After they are defeated, Mysterio is convinced by Spider-Man to help him catch the Octopus in his base in Guatemala, but Octavius used the mind-controlled Avengers as his new Sinister Six. Meanwhile, for saving half of Symkaria, Sable kissed Peter. He refused to get into a relationship with her because he had redeveloped feelings for Mary Jane.[131]
Spider-Man, Sable and Widow managed to defeat the Avengers, then he and Sable headed to Octavius' underwater base. They were faced by Rhino while the base started to flood, Octavius trapped Sable and left Spider-Man with two choices, to continue to fight him in order to save Sable from drowning, or allow Octavius to activate the lenses. After leaving Sable to her death at her request, Spidey managed to destroy Octavius's arms and equipment before taking his foe away to a doctor, thus finally saving the world.[132] Peter again was distraught over the deaths of Silver Sable and Rhino, as he felt that he could have saved them.[133] Julia Carpenter, however, later told him that Sable was still alive.[134]
=== Avengers vs. X-Men ===
When Cable kidnapped the Avengers, Spider-Man and Wolverine went to go rescue their team. Wolverine was keen on killing Cable, but Spider-Man was unsure of doing so. Cable however, was eventually taken down.[135] After failing to completely cure the Lizard with the help of Morbius[136], Spider-Man sided with his fellow Avengers against the X-Men. He was present during the Siege of Utopia and together with Wolverine they attempted to take Hope away. They failed, however, as Hope's Phoenix powers manifested and incapacitated them, even severely burning Wolverine.[137] Spider-Man was later seen among one of the teams searching for Hope across the world, and came into conflict with several X-Men, most notably the new Juggernaut.[138]
After the Phoenix Force was split into five pieces and possessed Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magik, Namor and Colossus as its hosts, Spider-Man was brought to the mythical city of K'un-Lun due to a prophecy that predicted that he would train Hope Summers. She was initially unresponsive to him as a teacher, due to him being clueless about what to teach her, but after telling her what his uncle always told him "With great power comes great responsibility", she quickly took to him.[139]
When the Avengers attempted to free their imprisoned comrades from the Phoenix Force enhanced Colossus and Magik, Spider-Man bought them time to do so. When Spider-Man was beaten down by Colossus, Magik told Colossus to kill him, Colossus replied that they are turning into things that they are not due to immense power that they possessed. Spider-Man took advantage of the situation, and managed to convince them to attack each other, already having been beaten severely himself. As a result, they were both knocked unconscious and were strip of their Phoenix Force powers.[140] He was present during the final battle against the Dark Phoenix, Cyclops, and was the first person to sense the manifestation of new mutants after Scarlet Witch and Hope destroyed the Phoenix Force.
=== Spider-Men: Heroes of Two Worlds ===
While out web-swinging, Spider-Man came across a differently costumed Mysterio in a warehouse. After a brief skirmish, he was shot by Mysterio and sent through a dimensional rift into the Ultimate Marvel universe, where he encountered the Spider-Man of that world, Miles Morales.[142] Though he initially gained the upper hand, Peter was ultimately subdued by Miles and taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. Upon regaining consciousness, Peter was interrogated by Nick Fury, who believed his story of coming from another universe and sent him off with Miles to learn this world's history, though not before Peter told Nick that he was much cooler than the Nick Fury of his world.
During their conversation, however, Peter and Miles were attacked by a robotic avatar of Mysterio,[143] which self-destructed after a brief battle and knocked Miles unconscious. Peter subsequently went off on his own to investigate, and was shocked and horrified to discover that his counterpart in this world died in battle against the Green Goblin, and that not only was the city still mourning his loss, but his identity is now public knowledge. Making his way to Queens, he came across May Parker and Gwen Stacy.[144] Initially furious at what they believed to be a disrespect of their Peter's memory, the two were taken aback when a distraught Peter unmasked himself before their eyes. Still, the two attacked Peter until Miles vouched for him, leading to Aunt May passing out.
When May awakened, she went upstairs and heard Peter exchanging stories with Gwen. When Gwen asked what happened to her in his dimension, Peter became uncomfortable and changed the topic. Aunt May and Peter had a tearful reunion and Peter was very surprised to find out he had a relationship with Kitty Pryde. Nick Fury came to pick him and Miles up, and for a second, Peter saw Mary Jane's Ultimate counterpart before she ran away. He was taken over to meet Iron Man, where the two began to work on a time-space formula until Miles pointed out a familiar building in a video of a previous fight against Mysterio.[145]
Peter led the charge to Mysterio's headquarters, where they quickly subdued him before he could destroy the portal and trap Peter on Earth-1610 forever. Giving a satisfied Miles his blessing as the new Spider-Man, Peter returned to his world, subsequently running an online search to see if his world had a Miles Morales counterpart, and seems to be shocked by what he discovered on the net.[146]
=== Alpha and the Danger Zone ===
After a visit to Horizon Labs, a teenager by the name of Andrew Maguire got shocked with Peter Parker's new "Parker Particles" and earned energy based superpowers that gave him the ability to fly, absorb and release massive amounts of cosmic energy, along with conventional powers such as a large degree of super strength, super speed, and enhanced durability. Since Peter thought that since it was his fault Andy was given powers, he would take him under his wing as Spider-Man's first sidekick.[147] During a fight with Terminus, Andy's reckless use of his powers shut down moving planes - one of which held Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson Senior. After landing the plane, Peter then reverse engineered technology to deplete Alpha's powers in punishment for his lack of responsibility.[148]
Later, the Daily Bugle published an article revealing that Peter works on all of Spider-Man's tech at Horizon. Due to this new revelation, the Kingpin ordered his mole in Horizon, Tiberius Stone, to activate spider-jammers to temporarily overload Spider-Man's spider-sense. At the same time, Kingpin also instructed Phil Urich to kidnap Peter, unknowing that he was kidnapping the now-weakened Spider-Man.[149] Madame Web, upon learning that her future visions were soon going to end when Spider-Man "died", went into a coma. Meanwhile, Roderick Kingsley, the original Hobgoblin, returned to face Phil, who had killed his twin brother to become the Kingpin's Hobgoblin. Peter took advantage of this opportunity to escape and expose Tiberius Stone.[150] Kingsley allowed Urich to continue being the Hobgoblin for a constant profit, and at the same hospital where Madame Web was checked into, the seemingly comatose Norman Osborn escaped. Peter's spider-sense was eventually restored, but not before a mysterious Octobot was able to do something to him while he was unaware.
=== Dying Wish: Death of a Hero ===
By using a mind-swapping Octobot, Doctor Octopus managed to switch minds with Peter Parker, putting himself in Spider-Man's body and trapping Peter in his own, dying body.[18]
As Doc Ock could access to Peter's memories, Spider-Man could do the same to Octavius', and discovered that Octavius used an Octobot to switch brain patterns in order to perform his plan. Peter managed to access that Octobot and use it to send a message to many super villains to help him get out from prison. Hydro-Man, Scorpion and the Trapster heed the call, freeing "Doc Ock" from the Raft, then they were tasked with the mission to bring Spider-Man to him.
He put on a new set of tentacles and decided to search for the Octobot with which his mind was transferred. He decided to go to Stark Tower in order to ask Tony Stark for help, but encountered Octavius as Spider-Man, who released a set of giant Octobots worldwide in order to distract the rest of the Avengers. They battled until both fell from the Tower, fatally wounding Octopus. When Ock tried to use the brain-swapping Octobot, Spider-Man revealed that he was using a Carbonadium helmet, making his brain totally inaccessible for changing brains. Otto declared his final victory against Parker by giving him a lethal punch which caused Octopus to give his last breaths.
Both then discovered that the Octobot managed to connect their minds (although it could not swap them, Parker's mind was in Octavius'), and Peter forced Otto to relive "his" most suffering experiences and memories that Spider-Man actually lived out, making him realize the responsibility his power came with. Otto told Peter he did not want this, but they could not change bodies in time. Finally, Otto promised Peter to continue his legacy both as Spider-Man. Satisfied that his final wish was granted, Peter Parker died.
=== Superior Spider-Man and Return ===
However, Peter's consciousness was still alive inside his body as a subconsciousness (thus not able to control the actions of his organism entirely), and had the intent on reclaiming his life and body back by overcoming Otto from the inside out. Due to the many times Peter tried to get help, Otto was able to detect the anomaly that was Peter's presence in his brain and proceeded to seemingly erase it.[153]
While trying to access Peter's memories to prevent a temporal explosion at Horizon Labs, Otto accidentally freed Peter from under the wreckage that were his destroyed memories.[154]To prevent Otto from finding him again, Peter hid inside Otto's memories and was almost overwritten by them, but managed to overcome them and recover his destroyed memories.[155]
When Otto found himself overwhelmed by his enemies and almost with no resources or allies, he realized he had failed as the "superior" Spider-Man he claimed to be, and let the consciousness of Peter, who had revealed his presence again to push Otto into saving a young child, take over his body once more in order to defeat the Goblin King once and for all and save Anna Maria Marconi, Otto's love.[155] Peter managed to track the Goblin King down, thwart his plan and de-power him, as well as save Anna Maria. However, the Goblin King (who revealed himself to be a returned Norman Osborn under the guise of Mason Banks) escaped with the help of Liz Allan.
Afterwards, Peter took up the reins at Parker Industries, which was built by Otto, and apologized to his family members for "his" erratic behavior, promising to publicly cut all his ties with Spider-Man. He also checked his aunt's leg implant, designed by Otto. Peter talks to MJ about his time controlled by Otto, but she stops him, telling him that she knows is not his fault but she can't let his dual life affect her's anymore and that there will always be something else. He then went to visit Jameson, who was blackmailed by Otto to give him is resources as Spider-Man in an attempt to persuade him to stay and fight, giving him the Spider-Bot Otto used to blackmail him, but was too late, for Jameson had resigned from his post as Mayor.[156]
Peter traveled to Houston, Texas searching for Kaine, who had become the new Scarlet Spider and been confronted by Octavius over his previous death by his hands, in order to explain what had happened. Claiming to be a reporter for the Bugle, he asked Courtney Johnson for him. She told him that Kaine had transformed into a giant spider and Peter realized that Kaine had become the new receptacle of the Other. Peter was approached by Kaine’s friend, Dr. Donald Meland, who recognized him as Kaine’s brother. Meland told him that Kaine saved him more than once, and about how he battled crime and even stopped Kraven’s immortality curse. After being told about Kaine's heroic acts by others, Peter realized that Kaine became a hero like him and wished him the best before returning to New York. Also, the Living Brain, who was Octavius's assistant, was retained as his assistant.[31]
=== Spider-Verse ===
Peter would spend most of the time adjusting to his new status quo, specially coming to terms with his position as CEO of his own company.[31] As Spider-Man, he joined the Avengers in the investigation of the Watcher's murder, the explosion of one of Uatu's eyes at the hands of the Orb caused anyone in the radius of the detonation to have revealed to them a deep secret related to them.[157] Peter was caught by the explosion, and discovered that another person had been bit by the very same spider which gave him powers years ago, a young lady named Cindy Moon, who Spider-Man rescued from long-term captivity in Ezekiel's penthouse, and adopted the alias of Silk as soon as she was freed. However, Silk's release left her unprotected from Morlun, whom she believed would not only try to kill her, but also every spider-person.[158]
Weeks later, Peter was approached by numerous Spider-Men from across the Multiverse, who invited him to join their resistance in Earth-13 against the Inheritors (Morlun and the members of his family), because he was the most important spider of them all[159] for having previously defeated an Inheritor.
During a mission to gather more spiders in 2099 A.D., Peter was surprised to see Otto Octavius among them (having been transported temporarily to said reality months before his death). After Daemos tracked them down to Earth-928 and was later accompanied by the rest of his family, the Spider-Men were forced to split up and flee, Peter unmasked a dying Spider-Man to discover him as an alternate version of Ezekiel, who told him to protect the Other, the Bride and the Scion before dying. When they returned to Earth-13, Otto declared himself in charge.[160]
After defeating Otto for leadership over the team, Peter left with Anya Corazon and Gwen Stacy to find somebody that could help then infiltrate the Inheritors. Shortly upon leaving, the Safe Zone was attacked by Solus, Jennix, and Morlun.[161] After Solus killed the Captain Universe Spider-Man, the Spider-Army was forced to flee. Their new safe zone, Earth-8847 was soon attacked by the Inheritors. Silk, who had gone on her own, contacted them from Earth-3145, and told them to escape there, a radioactive-contaminated Earth where the Inheritors couldn't follow. After finding shelter in the Sims Tower, the Spider-Army discovered this universe's spider-totem, Ben Parker.[162] This version of his uncle, however, was not willing to fight again. Using scrolls which contained the prophecies the Inheritors tried to accomplish given to Spider-Man by Spider-Woman, who had infiltrated the Inheritor's base earlier, the Spider-Army discovered that the Inheritors plan to sacrifice the Other, the Bride and the Scion to stop the emergence of new Spider-Totems, and about Karn, an exiled Inheritor who hunted only to survive hoping to return home. After Peter sent a team to recruit Karn, Kaine revealed to have arrived to Loomworld to fight the Inheritors, having used the Other's full power to kill Solus before being killed by Morlun. After he and Otto convinced Earth-3145's Ben to fight one last time, Spider-Man quickly assembled the Spider-Army and go into battle with the Inheritors.[163]
Spider-Man and the Spider-Army managed to interrupt the ritual the Inheritors were performing, in which they were going to use the blood of The Other, The Scion and The Bride; Kaine's corpse, Benjy Parker, and Silk, respectively, to stop the rise of new spiders. Morlun cornered Spider-Man, and started feeding off his essence when Peter used his wrist teleporter to transport himself and Morlun to the lethally radioactive New York of Earth-3145. Silk recovered Peter while leaving Morlun there. The rest of the Inheritors were also brought to Earth-3145 after being defeated. Spider-Man gave them the knowledge of the shelter in Sims Tower, telling Morlun to run if he wanted to live.
With the Inheritors dealt with, the spider-totems were no longer under risk. However, Otto Octavius had killed the Master Weaver, the controller of the Web of Life and Destiny to stop the Inheritors from performing the ritual, for which each member of the Spider-Army could no longer go home using their teleporters.[164]
As Spider-UK was using his own teleporter to open portals to another realities, Octavius started destroying the Web of Life and Destiny, in an attempt to free himself from the future he had in store for. The Spiders of Earth-616 united forces to take him down. By reading the inscription in Morlun's dagger, it was discovered another Spider could replace the Master Weaver. Karn, who had enough spider essence to act like one, decided to become the new Master Weaver. With a new Master Weaver in place, the Web of Life and Destiny was restored, and Octavius was sent back to his past, losing the memory of the most recent events in the process. With no more problems to confront, Spider-Man and the rest of the spiders were sent back home.[165]
=== Worldwide ===
Many months into the future, Peter managed to turn Parker Industries, the company he had "inherited" from Octavius, into a global conglomerate with numerous bases in different countries, providing technology for a better world. This change in Peter's life impacted his super heroic alter ego. Spider-Man officially became the mascot of Parker Industries and a worldwide hero, under the guise of being Peter's bodyguard. To help maintain the façade, Parker also hired Hobie Brown to double as Spider-Man when necessary. Peter made "Webware," a device that allowed for unlimited data and internet on the go and started the Uncle Ben Foundation, to help people in need. But his fame came at a cost, now Parker and his innovations are targeted by supervillains from around the globe, such as the Zodiac,[166]and the War Goblins of Norman Osborn.[167]
=== The Clone Conspiracy ===
After thwarting the plan of the armored villain Regent with the assistance of Iron Man and Mary Jane Watson, temporarily clad in a Iron Spider Armor,[168] tragedy struck again when the husband of his Aunt May, Jay Jameson, fell victim to a disease and died.[169] Meanwhile, a new company called New U Technologies had surfaced, promoting an experimental surgical procedure that used cloning to generate new tissues and organs.[170]
As he investigated the company, Peter learned that it was actually the front for the Jackal's new operations, who claimed to have found a way to successfully bring people back to life.[171] Warren had resurrected a ton of Peter's allies and foes in an attempt to convince Peter to join forces with him for the betterment of mankind.[172]
however, Peter refused his offer, and after a brief fight with some villains who were reanimated by Jackal, he decided to escaped with help of Spider-Woman who was posing as her reanimated counterpart. Peter realized that she was not the Gwen that he knew and was also surprised to learn that Kaine was still alive. Meanwhile, Kaine brought the real Gwen that he had kidnapped to Horizon University and asked the staff there to hide her for a while.[228]
After he escaped from New U Headquarters, Peter and Gwen went to Horizon University in order to meet with Kaine, but they were too late as Rhino and the new Electro had already attacked and taken Kaine, the reanimated Gwen, and Anna Maria. At the same time Kingpin appeared and gave him a file containing information about Jackal's private airstrip outside San Francisco, where a meeting with rare bio-mass dealers was to be held. Peter immediately went there and got into a fight with him, but was surprised that Jackal was able to withstand his attacks. Jackal unmasked himself and was revealed to be Ben Reilly, Peter's clone who was previously thought dead. Ben explained that he too had been resurrected thanks to New U Technologies, and once again tried to convincing Peter join him so they can revive everyone from his past who had died, including Uncle Ben.[229]
=== Earth Crossover ===
=== Skrull War ===
== Personality ==
Spider-Man is commonly seen as a brave and righteous hero with an indomitable sense of justice and responsibility. Shaken by his uncle's tragic death, Spider-Man's vow of responsibility has led him to a path of heroism and humanitarian service. There are times when Spider-Man's sense of responsibility can be almost overbearing; this was noted by Luke Cage when he felt embarrassed about Electro (one of his villains) causing the Raft breakout, despite the fact he had nothing to do with it.[173] This combined with his strong moral compass in the face of adversity and sharp wit make him one of the most iconic and enduring heroes in the Marvel Universe.
One of Spider-Man's most prominent traits is his sense of humor. Even in the face of certain death, Spider-Man invariably cracks a joke, to the annoyance of both friends and foes. His reasons for this vary: either he wants to relieve the stress of a situation, or simply because he wants to hide how scared he really is during a crisis. Also, he does this to get on the nerves of his opponents, since he knows that if they are angry, that they would normally lose themselves and be vulnerable to a superior skilled opponent. It is generally agreed, however, that whenever a life is in danger, he will stop telling jokes and take the current situation with the utmost seriousness.
Behind this humorous facade, however, is a wounded soul that has gone through much suffering. While Spider-Man is in combat, occasionally another person dies, leaving him depressed for having failed in his responsibility. Among these people include: Gwen Stacy, Jean DeWolff, Tim Harrison, Charlie, Jackpot, Frederick Foswell, Ezekiel, Oksana Sytsevich, Silver Sable, George Stacy, Marla Madison, Billy Connors, Sally Avril, his parents Richard Parker, and Mary Parker, his clone Ben Reilly, and most of all, Uncle Ben.
Spider-Man is also a loner. Due to his individualistic style (having been a social outcast in his youth), Spider-Man finds it hard to work in teams. However, this has gradually lessened over the years, to the point Spider-Man is a member of the Avengers, the New Avengers, and more recently, the Future Foundation.
Spider-Man's righteousness complimented Daredevil's maturity as a crime-fighter during the Death of Jean DeWolf, leading to an enduring friendship.[174] Peter also made close ties with the Fantastic Four at the very start of his career, which stands greater than ever today, like a family rendering aid to each other unconditionally.[175] He is also quite close to the X-Men, able to sympathize with the public scorn that mutants often face. More recently Spider-Man has bonded with the New Avengers of whom he is a founding member, trusting them so much that he would reveal his identity to each member.[108] Of the two previously mentioned teams, Spidey is closest to the Human Torch and Wolverine, playing pranks on one another or seeking solace respectively.
=== Reputation ===
Seen by some as the heart of New York, Peter has gained quite a reputation with not only the superhero community, but villains and civilians as well: his Aunt May searched the Internet and found that Spider-Man had saved roughly 10,000 lives directly, excluding all of his team-ups with other heroes and all the bombs or devices he's deactivated.[176] In the Bar with No Name, the villains present initially felt discouraged to bet money against the Wall-Crawler as he fought Overdrivesince "He always beats the new guys."[177]
When the Hood began his criminal career and was almost killed by the Constrictor, the Constrictor noted how new he was to villainy and that he "didn't even get to fight Spider-Man."[178] Despite all the grudges Spider-Man has accumulated, he has made peace with some former enemies such as the Punisher (now an uneasy ally), Venom (now known as Toxin), Molten Man, Rocket Racer, Kaine (now known as Scarlet Spider), and even checked up on the less than lethal Frog Man after his incarceration ended to make sure things were fine.[179]
In spite of his many heroics, Spider-Man is infamous for numerous smear campaigns against him, especially at the hands of the Daily Bugle. The reason of this bad-mouthing upon him is because of the Bugle's manager and main publisher, John Jonah Jameson has strong distrust towards the wall crawler due to being a costumed vigilante with no affiliation to law and to take the spotlight of "true" heroes like public servants.
It was also revealed that Spider-Man is disliked by a good deal of police cops in New York because, even though he comes to turn in captured super villains, the police mistrusts him due to his vigilantism, and they are also embarrassed over their dependency on him to arrest the threats they couldn't handle.
In some cops, this dislike grew into hatred and they had tried to incriminate the Wall-Crawler by putting some of his trackers on recent corpses to turn public opinion against him. However, Vin Gonzales (one of the involved cops) revealed the scheme for a lighter sentence and they earned the anger of general public that the police ironically tried to frame Spider-Man with the crime.
During a recent fight with Cable, Cable noted that Spider-Man is seen in the future as the greatest hero of them all.[135]Also, after Spider-Man helped the villain Loki to save his daughter from Morwen, one earned the other grudging but genuine respect.[180]
When Doctor Octopus tried to become a better Spider-Man than Parker after switching bodies,[152] he failed to stop the Green Goblin's take over of Manhattan, and admitted that Parker was the actual "Superior Spider-Man."[19]
=== Relationships ===
Peter's love interests include Felicia Hardy (Black Cat), Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, Betty Brant, Carlie Cooper, Michele Gonzales, Liz Allan, Debra Whitman, Cissy Ironwood, Sara Bailey, Silver Sablinova (Silver Sable), Julia Carpenter (Spider-Woman, Arachne, Madame Web), and most recently Silk and Lian Tang. However, Mary Jane Watson has been the only woman he has married before Mephisto altered reality.
=== Religious Views ===
Peter Parker has expressed Protestant Christian beliefs in the past.[181] This may in part be attributed to his Aunt May, who has always been a devout Protestant Christian.[182][183] He was since shown to hold firm atheist beliefs after renouncing his religion at an unknown time;[184] however, things culminated in the appearance of the apparition of his Uncle Ben from the afterlife, and subsequently the Santerians urged Peter to resolve his crisis of faith, the first step of which was a visit to the confessional at Saint Patrick's Cathedral.[185]