Why Doctor Octopus Became Spider-Man

Stupid story ideas aside.

Well, it’s not a secret anymore. Otto Octavius is the “Superior” Spider-Man…if you consider a guy who murders his enemies superior. While we sit around waiting for Peter to resume control of his body somehow his reputation is going to be seriously damaged. But while we try to figure out why Slott would pull this story–especially with movies and cartoons bringing the wall-crawler back into the public eye, beyond another attempt to get their names in the newspaper–one of my associates in the reviewing community is asking why Doctor Octopus?

Chris “CFerra” Ferraiolo is the creator of the sprite comic Starbolts, proof that you can do a spite comic with original characters. He also started his own review show, having worked on other peoples shows and being a former contributor to the official Channel Awesome wiki. Comic Showcase focuses on Marvel’s work and in his latest episode he focused on Amazing Spider-Man #700, the final issue because heaven forbid a comic ever hits #1000. But that’s a rant for another time. After the review, CFerra goes over his disagreement with using Otto and wonders why they didn’t go with Norman Osborn, Peter’s archest nemesis. Watch the video below and then I’ll try to answer the question.

http://blip.tv/starboltproductions/comic-showcase-15-amazing-spider-man-700-6558672

By the way, the guy on the other end of the phone is fellow Reviewers Unknown contributor Joey Tedesco, host of Cartoon Palooza. Just giving a shout-out to a teammate. And you’ll find CFerra’s site in the “My Favorite Webcomics” section of the blogroll at the bottom of the page.

Now Chris does make a good case for why Norman should have been the one to kill Peter, and if that’s all that happened in the story (and wasn’t going to be reversed just as soon as they realize they’re not in USA Today this month) he might be right. But of all of Spider-Man’s foes, Norman is the least to take up the mantle of Spider-Man and battle bad guys. Norman hates Peter Parker regardless of his identity and he knows both are the same man. So if it was just Peter’s final confrontation then the Green Goblin would probably be a better choice.

But there are two parts to this story. Slott and the other Spider-Writers are going for a darker Spider-Man, one that believes in power versus responsibility but without Peter’s moral code. Attempts to make Peter more cold-hearted have failed in the past because that’s not who Peter Parker is any more than it’s who Clark Kent has. This is why trying to make either of them “darker” show how little you know about them and that you shouldn’t be writing them. The best way to make a darker Spidey in the mind was to stick an old foe in the body, making something of a redemption tale. Think early Thunderbolts, as villains masqueraded as heroes, with some of them deciding they wanted to be heroes.

Norman isn’t the “redemptive” type. Sure he hates Peter and wants him to suffer. However, Norman is driven by a lust for power, even before the Goblin formula twisted his mind. He has no conscience, no compassion, and he isn’t about to become a guy who barely keeps his bills paid and lives in the low rent district. By becoming Peter Parker he would lose his fortune (what hasn’t already been seized by the authorities after his recent actions) and the power that still comes with being Norman Osborn. I just don’t see him going along with that. He would never become Spider-Man.

Cover of The Amazing Spider-Man #3 (July 1963), first appearance of Doctor Octopus. Art by Steve Ditko. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We could go down the list of Spidey’s foes and see who would fit, but when you eliminate the ability to pull off this body swapping plan only one foe had the ability and desire, and that would be Octavius. Already dying of cancer he would want that stronger body, already more in shape than Otto’s was in his prime. Like Otto, Peter has a strong interest in science, but Peter also had friends and lovers, something Otto didn’t. Going over his backstory at the Marvel wiki, Otto only had two romantic encounters worth mentioning, Aunt May (and I’m partly surprised that CFerra didn’t mention what Peter learned Otto and May did BEFORE the wedding night–then again I would repress that memory if I could, too) and a woman from his past that his controlling mother kept him from.

Also look at Otto’s characterization in other media, a man of science who is forced to become Doctor Octopus thanks to fate and acts out of revenge or continuing his work. Most notably is the 90’s  Fox Kids cartoon and the second Sam Rami film, the latter having Otto sacrifice himself in an act of repentance. In the comics, he has also cured Spidey of a disease, partly because HE wanted to best him one on one, and had been on the path of becoming one of the “angels” before being murdered by Kaine. (Because some writer wanted to write the original Doc Ock continuity, predecessors, and character development be damned, which one of the reasons I could never write for the Big Two as much I would love to write Superman someday.) Among all of Spider-Man’s enemies, although someone may try to make the case for Kraven based on past stories, Doctor Octopus is the one most likely to carry on as a darker version of a superhero and not become a supervillain. (Unless you consider the Punisher a villain, and I could make that case.)

So as dumb as I think this story is I do think they grabbed the right foe to take on the mantle of Spidey and they could actually pull off an arc of Otto learning from Peter’s memories and being on the path of redemption. That doesn’t make the story any less annoying as it means we don’t get Peter and the fallout from Otto’s actions will hurt Spidey for quite a while, but sometimes good stories come from bad ideas.