Spider-Man is the king of Marvel Comics and has been for decades. Marvel’s early Silver Age offerings were popular, but it was the Wall-Crawler that gave them the kind of solo hero they needed to overcome their distinguished competition. The Amazing Spider-Man has been one of the bestselling comics in the industry for decades, and has been the home of some of the greatest stories you can possibly imagine, with a murderer’s row of talent over its 63-year history. These tales have allowed Peter Parker to become a character that nearly everyone who loves superheroes loves, a true legend that will never be matched. However, things haven’t always been sunny in Queens for the hero.
Spider-Man is Marvel’s biggest character, but that doesn’t mean that he’s always been flawless. Over the years, creators on his comics have made mistakes that have hurt the books immensely, with some of them having repercussions even decades after they happened. These seven mistakes still haunt the Spider-Man comics, hurting the legacy of one of the all-time greats.
7) Undoing Aunt May’s Death
Aunt May is one of the most important Spider-Man characters, a key part of the character’s history. However, in the ’90s, Marvel decided that it was time for the old woman to see her husband again. May died in The Amazing Spider-Man #400, an outstanding comic that was the perfect send-off for her. Then she was resurrected at the end of “Gathering of the Five”, the final Clone Saga story. This resurrection undid an amazing moment to reinstate a status quo that would eventually lead to “One More Day”. Even without that story (more on it later, obviously), it still would have been mistake to bring her back. Peter had grown past her.
6) The Fate of the Spider-Baby
In the ’90s, the marriage of Peter and Mary Jane was one of the strongest bonds in comics and it was made even stronger in the Clone Saga, when it was revealed that MJ was pregnant. Fans were thrilled at the prospect of a spider-child, but Marvel was never going to let that happen. She miscarried in “Gathering of the Five”, but the book made it look like the whole thing was a trick and the baby was alive, in the clutches of Norman Osborn. And then Marvel completely forgot this happened and has never brought up the teases again. Fans still discuss this plot almost 30 years later, wondering if anyone will remember it.
5) The John Byrne Reboot
After the Clone Saga, Marvel wanted a clean slate for the Wall-Crawler, so they went to the reboot specialist, John Byrne. Byrne had rebooted Superman and She-Hulk (and Wonder Woman to much less success) and was an old hand at the House of Ideas, so they figured he would be perfect for a Spidey re-imagining. What followed is one of the most god awful times in the character’s history, which is saying something. Byrne was great in the ’80s, but his writing skills had gotten worse and this reboot saw most of his worst tendencies take center stage. When an adult Spider-Man kissed a teenage girl, fans knew they got badly Byrne-d.
4) Zeb Wells’ Run on The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man had a bad reputation for years, one that was made worse with the 2022 run by writer Zeb Wells. Wells had wrote the book back in the “Brand New Day” time after “One More Day” and was just coming off an acclaimed run on Hellions for the X-office, so fans were excited for what he was going to do. What they got was a mystery box that revealed that Peter Parker had left Mary Jane in an alternate universe where she got married, her new husband Paul becoming the most hated character around. On top of that, the book went out of its way to beat on Spider-Man, making him look terrible constantly. It felt like Wells hated the hero and fans quickly turned on the run. The fact that Marvel looked at this pitch and thought it was the right direction to take Spidey will always boggle the minds of readers.
3) “Sins Past”
The early ’00s were a pretty great time to be a Spider-Man fan. Ultimate Spider-Man (Vol. 1) was killing it and J. Michael Straczynski had finally salvaged the Wall-Crawler in The Amazing Spider-Man, repairing years of damage. Fans were happy until “Sins Past” happened. This story introduced two new characters that claimed to be Peter’s kids with Gwen Stacy, but the truth was much worse: they were the children of Gwen and Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin. It has gone down as one of the biggest missteps in Spider-Man history; it was the first times cracks had shown in Straczynski’s run. It’s a story that’s still mocked to this day, with a retcon that has made it the butt of even more jokes (basically, that Mysterio had pretended to be Gwen so him and Osborn… you know).
2) The Clone Saga
The Clone Saga wasn’t as terrible as its billed as, but it was a huge mistake. Bringing back the Spider-Clone, last seen in The Amazing Spider-Man #149, it was an idea that had legs, at least for a little bit. The problem was that the early chapters of the saga sold well and the creators didn’t really have an ending in mind, so Marvel just kept expanding it. The turning point was when it was revealed that Ben Reilly was the “real” Spider-Man. This angered loads of readers and the books stopped being as good thanks to a creative change. The whole thing was a massive cluster that kept getting worse until it was finally put out of its misery. At least we got Norman Osborn back out of the whole fiasco.
1) “One More Day”
Fans have complained about “One More Day” for 17 years and it looks like that’s never going to end. This is the story that ended Peter and MJ’s marriage, the two of them trading it to Mephisto to save Aunt May’s life after she was shot in an attempt to kill Peter when he revealed his secret identity in Civil War. Everyone has an opinion on whether the marriage should have ended, but we can all agree this was the wrong way to do it. It’s all compounded by the fact that Marvel has basically been rubbing it in fans’ faces for years that they’re never going to let the marriage, which most fans seem to life, come back. It’s done just about irreparable damage to the Wall-Crawler.
What do you think is the biggest Spider-Man mistake? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!