When you think about Spider-Man, you probably
think about the jokes, the quips, the uh..
you know, underoos.
You probably don't think about how he's a
guilt ridden sadsack whose whole existence
is centered around waging a shameful war against
events that he cannot change.
Yes, Spider-Man embodies many things, hope
and willpower... bugs.
But, underneath all of that, you really just
have to remember that Peter Parker, Spider-Man's
primary motivation, is the guilt he feels
for failing his loved ones.
Sure, he first donned the mask to wrestle
and appear on TV for selfish gain, but it
wasn't until Uncle Ben died at the hands of
a burglar that Peter Parker truly became Spider-Man.
While other heroes out there might fight for
honor or revenge or glory, Spider-Man is mostly
motivated by knowing that he could have been
better.
This gets dealt with a lot in Spider-Man comics,
but in a surprising way, the zany weird high
concept Marvel Zombies actually reveals the
truest version of Spider-Man.
What do I mean by that?
Well, let's get a little context first.
While the Marvel Zombies series quickly and
erroneously be dismissed as just another cash-in
during the Great Zombies Gold Rush on the
mid-2000's, the mini-series along with it's
multiple sequels set the stage for a clever
recontextualization and reexamination of a
plethora of Marvel characters.
And most pertinent?
Spider-Man.
A couple of notes here: The Marvel Zombies
don't always present things linearly, so I'm
going to shuffle them around for ease of making
my point.
And secondly, it's important to realize that
these are bleak, bleak dark books.
The series takes place on an Earth well within
the throes of a zombie outbreak.
Hope of stopping it is futile, the dead rule
the world.
But, you may not recognize the core cast of
Marvel characters as your typical zombies.
They're intelligent, they still have their
powers, they know what they're doing...
It's just that their entire existence is dictated
by a ceaseless hunger that will never be sated.
Linearly, this is where we find Spider-Man
first, turned by Cap and then immediately
setting upon the two characters closest to
him, literally and figuratively Spider-Man
eats Aunt May and Mary Jane.
This is a truly shocking moment, not just
because of who is getting destroyed, but because
Spider-Man is a character who is understood
to be pure of heart and incorruptible.
But here he is, engaging in an act that's
so fundamentally repulsive to the idea of
who Peter Parker is that it demands the character
be examined under new light.
Spider-Man finds himself in a cycle of hunger,
shock, and shame.
One minute he may be getting a mouthful of
J Jonah Jameson, and the next moment losing
his mind over his own horrid deeds.
And it's not to say the other heroes in the
story don't feel guilty over their deeds too,
none of them would have WANTED this, but the
difference here is that they settle into their
new identities as the human hungry living
dead, while Spider-Man doesn't.
He's spent his whole life as a super hero
challenging himself to be a better person
than the person who let down his loved ones,
and he's not stopping any time soon because
he's a stinky dinky corpse.
It's notable that this entire time, his mask
stays on.
In a world overrun by the dead, it seems that
his mask would be without purpose -- but far
from it!
Previously meant to hide his identity from
bad guys to protect his loved ones, in this
hellscape the meaning of his mask is inverted.
He's trying to hide his own identity from
himself.
To catch his reflection would mean he would
have to fully accept that he, Peter Parker,
is responsible for the terrible acts against
his loved ones.
And it stays on as Marvel Zombies concludes
it's initial arc.
Silver Surfer arrives at Earth to herald the
arrival of planet eating Galactus, only to
find an assortment of, you know, much hungrier
folks.
HIs shiny spaceflesh imbues a team of zombie
heroes with cosmic powers, so they can live
out the dream of any zombie and set to the
skies like a swarm of galactic locusts with
the clear implication that these former heroes
intend to consume all life in the universe.
Yes, even Spider-Man.
But things don't end there.
I mean, how could they?
Yes, Marvel Zombies 2 confirms that they do
eat all of existence over the next forty years,
but this only opens the new chapter in the
saga of Spider-Man's guilt.
When we pick up the story, the flesh hungry
horde is about to open up a new dimension
to keep the endless feast going.
Spider-Man has been kindling the small flame
of self flagellating humanity that remains
in him, while shamefully acknowledging like,
you know, Chris Evans in Snowpiercer, that
he knows that human flesh tastes best.
And thus, the gang agrees to tear open a dimension
to travel to another Earth for another new
All You Can Eat buffet of human filet mignon...
But as it so happens, this journey takes time,
and over time some begin to realize that the
hunger inside is actually been kind of quelled.
You know how sometimes you feel hungry but
then you eat like a little snack or have a
glass of water and you think "maybe I was
just bored" or "I don't need to eat the whole
universe and then another dimension on top
of that" it's kind of like that feeling.
Just, you know, more severe.
A little bit.
It's with this newfound clarity that Spider-Man
is able to get himself under control.
While other zombies like Hank Pym are getting
excited to turn New Wakanda into a breeding
camp so they'll never run out of food, Spider-Man's
guilty conscious doesn't let him forget they're
the villains.
This is huge for the character.
Sure, we've seen him sacrifice himself in
all kinds of meaningful ways in normal stories
to protect people, but here we have a crystal
clear display.
Spider-Man fights for the things that aren't
remotely in his self interest, because ultimately
he knows what's right and what's wrong.
And the things that he and his buddies are
doing... they're wrong.
Extremely wrong.
Only Spider-Man can feel a guilt so strong,
so persistent, so prevalent that he'd overcome
being.. a zombie.
So yeah, maybe he gets ripped in a half a
little bit by Gladiator, but his spirit is
indomitable.
He's able the good fight and even rescue people
like Luke Cage back to the side of good.
Spider-Man pulls himself back from the abyss.
And things, well they look great.
Remember, the flip side of Spider-Man's guilt
is hope.
Hope that he can do better than the past,
hope that he can right wrongs, and make life
good for as many people as possible -- And
we have that, a new peace, a world rebuilding,
zombies that no longer hunger.
Everything seems okay.
But, this is a story about addiction - Addiction
to human flesh, yes, but addiction none the
less.
And when Spider-Man relapses, he relapses
hard.
Ever smell something that kind of makes you
instantly hungry?
Well, for a cannibal, what can be more appealing
than the musky musk of the human animal himself,
Kraven the Hunter?
Despite his best efforts to contain his hunger,
those delicious Kraven pheromones drive Spider-Man
over the edge and he tears into the guy...
and The Sinister Six... and then they all
kind of go bananas on MJ and Harry Osbourne
and Gwen and they all get caught up in the
fray and they get... eaten.
This one moment of weakness has colossal consequences.
Spider-Man's guilt is pushed further than
it has ever been pushed before.
He's solely responsible for this, for not
keeping the badness inside himself contained.
For this first time, he removes his mask.
It's his way of finally accepting responsibility,
forcing himself to confront that Peter Parker
is the one at the root of all of this.
He can't disassociate.
So he does something even more extreme.
In a purely hideous display, he rips Peter
Parker's face and skin from his body.
The gruesome panel, reminiscent of the painting
Saturn Devouring His Son, is his admission
of total defeat.
He leaves his flesh behind in a trash can,
a clear homage to the famous panel from Spider-Man
No More.
This is the lowest moment for the character
in any story.
He shamefully murders the identity of Peter
Parker, but leaves his unchecked power and
bloodlust to live and run rampant.
But somehow, that's not the end.
We know Spider-Man too well for us to give
up hope that there's still some goodness left
in him.
Yes, he's lost two Mary-Janes and Aunt May,
and so much more...
But his guilt is too persistent for him to
fully give in to his unholy addiction.
Spider-Man is able to once and for all weaponize
guilt, and you know, Sand Man's body, to end
the onslaught for which he feels responsible.
We've seen Spider-Man run the ringer several
times, whether it's Uncle Ben dying or Gwen
Stacy or his best friend's Dad becoming a
monster -- The bad things that happen around
him that make him feel guilty are never really
his direct action.
In Marvel Zombies, they are.
This is the kind of shot to the core shame
that should end a lesser person, but he's
still able to rise above and challenge himself
to be a better person with every moment.
When it's at it's hardest, he just has to
try even harder.
At the end of all things, it's not Spider-Man's
rotting body that refuses to die in Marvel
Zombies, it's his will to do good.
