Spider-man : Home Sweet Home

Spider-Human is a timeless character; driblet him in whatever year (afterwards 1962), in whatsoever part of the world, and his popularity remains sky-high. Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures proved this statement with Spider-Man: No Way Dwelling (2021), which may have marked the cease of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) Spider-Homo trilogy – and the first of something new.

No one really knows where Marvel, Sony, and Tom The netherlands will take the Web-Caput at the moment – but that doesn't hateful we can't speculate. Today marks the 20th anniversary of Sam Raimi's Spider-Homo (2002), which means we've got an excellent excuse to expect at 12 of the strangest Spider-Man stories ever put to print – or celluloid.

Astonishing Spider-Man #386–388

Aunt May and Uncle Ben are core Spider-Man characters. Fifty-fifty when they aren't on-screen (or in-panel), their influence on Peter Parker is ever-nowadays. The same can't be said for Richard and Mary Parker – Peter's deceased parents. Marvel'southward tried to change that numerous times – first making them secret agents in Spider-Homo Almanac #5, then seemingly resurrecting them in Amazing Spider-Man #386.

Soon, nosotros learn that "Richard" and "Mary" are Life-Model Decoys created by the Chameleon. The Parker family reunion gets cut short, and Spider-Human trades blows with a Terminator-like version of his dad. In the end, we're left with a de-aged Vulture and tons of loose threads that will eventually pave the manner for one of the strangest sagas in Marvel Comics history.

Many superheroes are and so securely linked to their costumes that irresolute one element can incite full-blown riots. Spider-Human being is a rare exception to that trend; the Web-Head has worn dozens of outfits over the years, including now-iconic costumes like the Scarlet Spider arrange and even the Flatulent Bag-Man conform.

Spidey'southward Symbiote costume is hands one of his most famous outfits. Information technology debuted in Secret Wars #8 and marked the first major costume change for the Wall-Crawler. The Symbiote flung itself at Peter and bonded to his damaged costume. A fan named Randy Schueller originally conceived the Black arrange, selling it to Jim Shooter in 1982. The strangest part of this story? Marvel only paid Schueller $220 for his idea.

Amazing Spider-Human #100–102

"Spider-Homo, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can." Without looking anywhere near as creepy, that is. Peter'south literal and figurative humanity is a major role of his charm. The sales numbers for Astonishing Fantasy #15 would've been much lower if Spidey was covered in hair and shot webs from his, ahem, nether regions.

Stan Lee and Roy Thomas gave u.s. the adjacent worst thing in Amazing Spider-Man #100; Peter creates a serum to suppress his spider powers but inadvertently gains four new arms instead! He then spends the adjacent few issues swinging around with eight limbs and slap-fighting with Morbius the Vampire. May the image of Spider-Homo's ridiculously buff rib-arms be forever burned into your listen. Information technology certainly is for u.s..

Vault Of Spiders #2

What's that, you want more nightmare fuel? So be it. Direct your attention to Vault Of Spiders #2. This issue ties into the 2018 Spider-Geddon effect. Several Spider-People (and animals in Spider-Ham's instance) appear during this issue, including Spiders-Human.

That'south not a typo — this character is a walking, talking, offense-fighting colony of spiders who ate Peter Parker and absorbed his consciousness. Wait, it gets meliorate; Spiders-Man primarily operates in "Barbarous York", but he has spider spies in every corner of the multiverse. Every corner… possibly including our own.

The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. two: #17–20 (Changes)

Marvel writers seem to become a kick out of, well, boot Spider-Man. Few characters take endured as much tragedy, calamity, and sheer insanity every bit he has. To brand matters worse, these events often occur for the sake of a retroactive continuity change (or a "retcon" for brusk).

Take the Changes storyline, for example. Peter's body horrifically mutates throughout iv problems until he transforms into a gigantic spider (for real this time), dies, then gives nativity to another human version of himself. Peter undergoes all of this trauma… for the sake of making organic web-shooters canon. Desire to know the strangest role? That's non the worst retcon Spidey has experienced.

Spider-Man: 1 More than Day

Oh no, that dishonor goes to Spider-Man: I More than Day. The mere mention of this storyline might boil the blood of longtime Spider-fans. Hither's the thing; as endearing as Peter's high schoolhouse antics are, a lot of readers enjoy watching him mature and navigate the pitfalls of machismo. We also appreciate seeing his relationship with MJ evolve from an unrequited crush to full-blown marriage.

Dorsum in 2007, then-editor-in-main Joe Quesada said, "screw all that, the status quo is King!" Okay, he didn't say that, but he did conceive One More than Day. Quesada wanted Peter to be a broke, single, stressed-out young developed once again, and he didn't mind killing Aunt May to make that happen. Mephisto, ane of Marvel's stand up-ins for the freakin' Devil, offers to resurrect Aunt May — in commutation for Peter and MJ'southward wedlock.

For his part, Quesada genuinely apologized for One More 24-hour interval subsequently fan backlash grew. However, the fact remains; Spider-Man fabricated a deal with the Devil for the sake of a retcon. Believe information technology or not, nosotros've yet to attain the bottom of this messy iceberg.

Spider-Man's Tangled Web #21

Let's take a break from some of Spider-Human being's more than rage-inducing stories. Trust united states, we'll demand information technology before delving into the concluding few entries. Spider-Man'due south Tangled Spider web refers to a serial of stories that primarily focus on the Web-Head's vast supporting cast. 'Twas the Fight Before Christmas continues that tendency, albeit with a whacky, lighthearted vacation twist.

Sue Tempest, Jane van Dyne, and Crystal the Inhuman are the real stars of this testify. They get into all sorts of vacation hijinks as they search for Christmas gifts and battle the Puppet Master. Spidey swings in about the end to beat the baddies, assist Crystal buy a chainsaw for Black Commodities, and wish readers "happy holidays." Honestly, the strangest part near this story is how well it works. And the chainsaw fleck. That's weird, fifty-fifty with context.

The Superior Spider-Man Event… Saga… Thing

We hope the title of this entry dislocated you lot. That way, you tin can understand with our experience reading this storyline. The Superior Spider-Man sees Otto Octavius (a.chiliad.a. Md Ock) hang up his villain bailiwick of jersey and get a hero. Cool — if Venom can change, we all tin can change! Only Venom didn't take to hijack Peter Parker's body to plow over a new leaf. Md Ock didn't have to either, but you can probably run across where this is going.

From March 2013 to September 2014, Medico Ock ran around in Peter'southward body while the real Spider-Homo just sort of floated in the groundwork. The so-called "Superior Spider-Man" committed nearly every heinous act y'all could imagine; dude tried to seduce MJ, toyed with Aunt May's emotions, beat most of his foes to a pulp, and straight-up executed others.

The point of The Superior Spider-Man arc was to testify that Peter'due south idealism is preferable to Otto'southward pragmatist, "ends-justify-the-means" worldview. And hey, nosotros certainly agree. Nosotros're just not sure if that point needed to drag on for over thirty issues. Plus spin-offs. Plus necktie-ins.

Maximum Carnage

The '90s were a weird fourth dimension for comics. DC legitimately killed Superman for a solid year, ultra-violence was all the rage, and a slew of edgy, 'roided-out anti-heroes took the world past storm. This decade besides produced Cletus Kassidy and Carnage, two Spider-Man villains who were similar to Eddie Brock and Venom, but with an extra dose of sociopathy.

Maximum Carnage (dis)graced the Marvel Comics universe in 1993. If you're a die-hard Carnage fan, this 14-result storyline might bladder your boat. Simply virtually Spider-Man fans should steer articulate, lest they witness one of Marvel's nigh love heroes merely sort of mope effectually through the entire result.

"Highlights" from Maximum Carnage include Spidey ditching his friends, many senseless deaths, a Spider-Man clone with 6 artillery and Chupacabra teeth, the "Good Bomb", and a priest rescuing Peter from a demon-possed Hobgoblin. As we said, the '90s were a weird time for comics.

"Emo Spider-Homo"

This entry likely needs footling introduction, considering how popular Emo Spider-Man memes nonetheless are to this day. Halfway through Spider-Man 3, Peter gets infected with the Symbiote and gradually becomes darker and edgier. He's merciless to his foes, he's abusive towards his loved ones, and he ducks his rent. What a monster, right? But Peter doesn't end there; he dons all blackness wearing apparel, gets an atrocious haircut, and starts… dancing.

This unabridged sequence is hilarious in hindsight – and it feels like Sam Raimi'southward way of sticking it to Sony equally he was practically forced to include the Symbiote/Venom in Spider-Human iii. But try to understand how mind-boggling this was for anyone who saw this back in 2007. Back then, we didn't have "Bully Maguire" memes to brand sense of things. We were all simply genuinely confused.

"Lizard State"

Andrew Garfield gave a stellar performance in No Way Domicile. He was then great, in fact, that folks started begging Sony to release The Amazing Spider-Human being (TASM) 3. If such a thing were to e'er happen, I just hope the powers that be learned from the past. In the kickoff TASM film, Spidey faces off against Short Connors, aka the Cadger.

TASM wouldn't exist a high-concept superhero motion picture if the villain didn't have a nefarious scheme upwards his sleeve. In the Lizard'southward instance, he wants nix more than to transform everyone in New York into lizards. That's not some sort of euphemism or slang; he wanted big, scaly reptiles to run rampant in the Big Apple. And he succeeds for a brief moment, blessing (read: cursing) us with an paradigm of half-human, half-lizard people just sort of flopping around the place.

The Spider-Clone Saga

At last, we've arrived at the ninth circle. This is the big one — the story to end all strange Spider-Man stories. The Spider-Clone Saga. Many readers probable expected to detect this storyline in this article, and with good reason. The Spider-Clone Saga is 1 of the near infamous tales in comic book history!

Former editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco and assistant editor Marker Bernardo originally conceived this storyline every bit a "three-act play" filled with shocking twists, unexpected turns, and startling reveals. This serial initially got off to a nifty start, garnering critical acclaim and financial success en masse. Then it kept on going, and going, and going. A storyline intended to run for several months ran for a piddling over 2 years.

Peter Parker was labeled a clone, prompting Ben O'Reilly to have his place. Later, it turns out that Ben was the real clone all forth. Just await, it turns out that Peter and Ben are both clones! Then, some dude named Kaine started ripping people's faces off. Then, long-dead villains came back to life with no rhyme or reason. If all that seemed contrived or sudden or overwhelming to you, then congratulations — yous at present accept the complete Spider-Clone Saga experience without having to spend a dime!