The Amazing Spider-Man (subtitled Worldwide for collected editions) is a 2015 comic from Marvel Comics, written by Dan Slott and with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli. Relaunched after Secret Wars (2015), it is the fourth overall The Amazing Spider-Man series. As part of the Marvel Legacy initiative, it was folded back into the numbering for The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) for issues #789-#800.
In the wake of the multiverse being rebooted, things have never looked better for Peter Parker. Parker Industries, once a struggling start-up on the brink of collapse, is now a massive multinational conglomerate with Spider-Man as its mascot. However, not everything is sunshine and roses, as Peter must contend with threats such as Mister Negative, Zodiac, the rise of the Goblin Army, Empire Unlimited, New U Technologies, Hydra under the command of a corrupted Captain America, and Norman Osborn and the Carnage symbiote together as the Red Goblin.
Arcs and related events with their own pages
Collections
Collected editions
- "The Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide" (Vol. 1-9)
- "The Amazing Spider-Man: Amazing Grace"
The Amazing Spider-Man provides examples of:
- All Just a Dream: In The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 4) #32, Norman Osborn learns the Mystic Arts, rejects his tiger totem for a Green Goblin one, and defeats Spider-Man with magic. However, this is revealed to be part of a test to see if Osborn is worthy of learning magic in the first place. He failed, but it shows him that, despite Peter's cure for the Goblin serum, Norman's "true" self still exists within him.
- Arms Dealer: Having been stripped of his powers and the madness that came with them at the end of The Superior Spider Man, Osborn decides that Sanity Has Advantages and in this run makes his comeback, having allied with Countess Katarina Karkov of Symkaria to become a global arms-dealer selling Goblin gear to mercenaries and militias, with his own personal squad called the Goblin Army.
- Battle Couple: Spidey and Mockingbird fight crime together both as employees of Parker Industries and after their Relationship Upgrade in The Amazing Spider-Man #789.
- Bond One-Liner: Peter really is a bad influence on Bobbi Morse. In The Amazing Spider-Man #794, Scorpio tries to use his Zodiac Key at a special receptacle he built into Big Ben, claiming he's invincible with his mind controlling the key. Bobbi socks him on the jaw.Bobbi: Your mind, huh? So does it still work when you clock out?
- Brain Uploading: It's revealed that Otto Octavius created a digitized copy of his consciousness during Spider-Verse intending to use it to take over Peter's body again, uploading it into the Living Brain to bide his time. Hacking the stock market to engineer Parker Industries' rapid expansion, Otto framed Sajani Jaffrey—who was already in hot water with Peter over sabotaging his leadership in the previous volume—to get her fired. However, Otto concludes that being in Peter's body "corrupted" him with the hero's moral compass, and upon learning of New U Technologies attempts to commission a clone of his original body to go back to basics.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: In The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 4 #11, Scorpio tries to get one last shot at Spider-Man by stating he still knows everything that's happened over the last year, including that very day, and that something terrible is coming to destroy Spider-Man's world. Spidey retorts that happens to him every Tuesday, so as final threats go. . . not that impressive.
- Continuity Porn: Many minor supporting characters make a surprise appearance, especially in issue #655, No One Dies. In issue #795, Loki mentions still owing Peter a favour and Peter vaguely recalls "making a deal with someone like Loki, then losing something very important", both plot points from the JMS run on the book (and, infamously, One More Day). Slott did this deliberately to create a cohesive impression that somehow every Spider-Man story Post-OMD still happened, even if the context was altered.
- Cool Old Lady: Aunt May takes a level or two in badass after Worldwide, helping to manage Parker Industries. She pretty much runs the Uncle Ben Foundation, flying all over the world to oversee its humanitarian relief efforts, and is a majority shareholder of the company, a position she's not afraid to use if someone at PI needs a stern talking-to.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Peter Parker during the entire Regent arc. He literally goes berserk at the thought that Mary Jane could be dating Tony (even if they weren't), and that extends to him getting into a Testosterone Poisoning slug fest with Iron Man over things as petty as Youtube commenters liking Iron Man more, to Tony befriending Miles Morales, and finally culminating, after Stark good-naturedly jibing that he could give Spidey better tech than Peter, with Peter punching Iron Man in a face and starting a brawl for no real reason other than maybe his ex is moving on without him (just like he's been doing with many girls).
- Crimefighting with Cash: The Worldwide era has Peter take a leaf from Tony Stark's old playbook, being a jet-setting CEO whose superhero secret identity is his bodyguard, the company mascot, and the brand ambassador. It doesn't last, as the events of Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy and Secret Empire lead to Parker Industries crashing and burning.
- Discard and Draw: Attempted by Norman Osborn, who learns the hard way that without his powers he's just a psychopathic middle-aged man and becomes desperate to get them back, even declaring the maniacal Green Goblin to be his true self. Failing to do so with increasingly potent Goblin Formula doses, Norman decides to learn magic and locates a hidden temple where he learns he has potential rivalling the likes of Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom. Upon failing the entry test, Osborn is told no legitimate magical academy will permit him entry and unsuccessfully attempts to rob the Sanctum Sanctorum. Giving up on magic, he then hires mercenaries to steal a sample of the Carnage symbiote reasoning that it's the only thing that matches the Green Goblin in terms of sheer maniacal bloodlust.
- Face–Heel Turn:
- Black Cat becomes a villain once more, after feeling betrayed and humiliated that "Peter" caused her to go to prison. Even after learning that it was Otto controlling Peter's body, Felicia rebukes any appeal for redemption. She eventually changes this stance after making peace with Spider-Man, and Eddie Brock convinces her to return to her roots as an anti-hero thief.
- Also in the Clone Conspiracy storyline, where central antagonist The Jackal is revealed to be Ben Reilly, the original Scarlet Spider.
- Forced into Evil: Peter and Mockingbird beat up some guys in a Hong Kong backhouse, and it makes Peter feel uncomfortable because they're all Asians.
- Genuine Imposter: Based on his past experience with the Jackal's clones, Peter dismisses Gwen Stacy as just another copy created by the Jackal... though Ben Reilly and Billy Connors having been genuinely resurrected through cloning strongly implies she was the real deal back from the dead.
- Groin Attack: Mockingbird pulls one on Griffin in The Amazing Spider-Man #789, who's robbing an empanata truck, with her teaser batons. Complete with a joke about "today's special includes fried huevos." Clearly, Peter's a bad influence on her.
- Heel–Face Turn: The Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy arc reveals that Ben Reilly was resurrected by Miles Warren... who then murdered and resurrected him a bunch more times, driving him insane. Gaslighting Miles into believing he'd been killed and resurrected as a clone, Ben then takes over the identity of the Jackal and establishes New U Technologies, using cloning to resurrect people who've died... in particular a number of Spider-Man's deceased antagonists.
- I Have No Son!: Inverted. Harry disowns Norman as his father and takes on his mother's maiden name in retaliation.
- Irony: In Worldwide, Peter is a tech magnate like Tony Stark. Which book did Slott leave ASM to go write next? Yes, Iron Man, whose series has that setup as its default status quo.
- Face–Monster Turn: Mister Negative uses his Darkforce powers to create a drug called Shade that will turn anyone exposed to it into a loyal minion, and exposure to it not only brainwashes Cloak and Dagger but inverts the polarity of their powers so that Cloak wields the Lightforce and Dagger wields the Darkforce.
- Modified Clone: During Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy, Otto creates a hybrid clone of Peter Parker and himself, free of the Carrion Virus that plagued the Jackel's other clones, and uploads his consciousness into it. Deciding to leave the Superior Spider-Man identity behind, he allies himself with Hydra and uses the fascist terrorist organization's resources to make a triumphant return as the Superior Octopus.
- Pass the Popcorn: The Jackal's new tech doesn't just clone people, it straight-up brings them back from the dead, memories and personality intact. Otto Octavius, currently trapped in solitary Octo-bot, gets his body into the Jackal's hands so he can be resurrected. Once he realizes the full scope of the tech, he also realizes the personality within that body is not his, but Peter Parker's, and instead of just adding his recent memories, he'll have to defeat Peter in a Battle in the Center of the Mind. Jackal, watching something going oddly this time, doesn't get quite what's happening, but knows it'll be fascinating, and demands popcorn. Which he's seen munching on when Otto emerges victorious.
- Portmanteau Couple Name: In-Universe, Spidey suggests "Spockingbird" for the Spider-Man/Mockingbird team-up-with-benefits. Bobbi's reaction is "No. God, no."
- Recycled Title: The Amazing Spider-Man was the title of the first regular Spider-Man comic series, back in 1963, and this is the fourth series to use that name. It's retitled The Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide for the collected editions.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Mockingbird assists Spidey with his hunt for Norman Osborn, eventually quitting SHIELD when they demand Spider-Man turn himself in.
- Spy Fiction: Much of the Worldwide era. Tuxedo and Martini variety.
- Uncle Pennybags: The Worldwide storyline sees Parker Industries become a global sensation and Peter essentially become the new Tony Stark. But, this being Earth-616, choked with Status Quo Is God, doesn't last as Spidey is forced to destroy his new company to prevent a resurrected Doc Ock/Superior Ock and HYDRA from using his assets in their goal for conquering the world during Secret Empire, leaving Peter back to being broke as the day he was born, once again a Lovable Loser. Fan reaction was... unimpressed.
