What did Spider-Man do? That's the question posed by April 27's Amazing Spider-Man #1, which relaunches the ongoing title with a mystery surrounding some kind of terrible disaster, the responsibility for which apparently lies at Peter Parker's feet.
But what Spidey did (or seems to be taking the blame for, including with himself) isn't the only big question posed in the issue. For one thing, one longrunning Spider-Man supporting character seems to have undergone a huge change in family dynamics (expect a major spoiler on the other side of that link).
And for another, the issue's final page introduces another new apparent villain after the debut of Chasm in the conclusion of the previous volume of the title. What's more, it seems the still-unnamed villain may have important ties to Peter Parker's past, and to his future - specifically what's ahead in Amazing Spider-Man #900.
Spoilers ahead for Amazing Spider-Man #1
Whatever Peter Parker did - or at least whatever he's taking the blame for - it's got him on the outs with all his loved ones from Aunt May to Mary Jane Watson, and taking big risks both as Peter Parker and as Spider-Man.
It's that risky behavior that most exemplifies where Peter/Spidey's head is at, which takes an especially stark spotlight when Peter is confronted by Tombstone, who tells him to warn Spider-Man that he's going to make the wall-crawler his "project," after an assassination attempt by his fellow mob bosses.
Rather than playing it cool, Peter leans into Tombstone's threats with a devil-may-care attitude, grinning and telling Tombstone Spider-Man is more than ready for him - leading even Tombstone to notice just how weird and self-destructive Peter seems to be acting.
Tombstone is set up as the first big threat of the new volume of Amazing Spider-Man, but he's not the only villain seemingly taking an interest in Spider-Man, as the final page of the issue's epilogue reveals a mystery villain who may have a connection to what's coming in Amazing Spider-Man #900.
The still-unnamed villain apparently has Doctor Octopus held captive, strapped into some kind of machine as Ock monologues about his plans to destroy Spider-Man - plans which his captive demands he reveals. Doc Ock says his captor's mind couldn't handle the brilliance of his plans - but the mystery villain rebuts him.
"My mind is alight and alive, Doctor Octavius," he states. "And hungry. Oh so hungry."
Though we don't even see the mystery villain's face, there are clues that whoever he is, he could be the one responsible for the creation of the Sinister Adaptoid, a new villain set to debut in Amazing Spider-Man #900 who combines the concept of the classic Avengers foe the Super Adaptoid with the powers and weapons of the original Sinister Six - the villain group founded by Doctor Octopus himself.
If the villain is the Sinister Adaptoid's creator, what's his connection to Peter Parker's past, as teased in the reveal of the Sinister Adaptoid?
Weirdly, the villain somewhat resembles the semi-obscure Marvel character Fifty-One, an alien with a kind of classic extraterrestrial appearance who was first introduced in a previous volume of the Scarlet Spider title. Fifty-One has usually been depicted as wearing a special breathing apparatus and speaking only in a non-human language, but in his most recent appearance in the Captain America/Iron Man title, Fifty-One bonded with a super-intelligent AI known as the Overseer.
Given the mystery villain's comments about his mind being "alive" and "hungry," could this somehow be an evolved version of Fifty-One? That could raise as many questions as it would answer, but there's a strange possibility.
Whoever the new villain is, they join Chasm and the Sinister Adaptoid among the new threats already known to be coming up against Spidey shortly - including in May 25's Amazing Spider-Man #2.
Amazing Spider-Man #2 is just one of the many new Spider-Man comics Marvel has scheduled for release in 2022 and beyond.
