Warning: Spoilers for Superior Spider-Man (2023) #3 ahead!As Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus team up in the newest iteration of Superior Spider-Man, the series draws increasing parallels to Sam Raimi’s depiction of Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2 (2002). As Doc Ock continues to refine his experiments with his tritium reactor, even more elements of his film counterpart are incorporated into his backstory, allowing the classic film version to live on in the comics.
Dan Slott, Mark Bagley, John Dell, and Edgar Delgado’s Superior Spider-Man (2023) #3 sees Spider-Man adopting Doc Ock’s “Superior Spider-Man” persona in order to infiltrate one of Doc Ock’s hidden bases. Spider-Man immediately recognizes the site as Doc Ock’s old Master Planner hideout, to which Doc Ock explains his reasoning for storing his tritium-based experiments there: “if [they] ever went critical, the river would drown [them].“
This logic echoes the climax of Spider-Man 2 almost beat for beat, in which Doctor Octopus begs Spider-Man to stop his experimental reactor from going critical by drowning it in the river.
“I Remember It All, Spider-Man”: Spider-Man’s Deadliest Enemy Officially Knows His Secret Identity
Doctor Octopus has unlocked his Superior Spider-Man memories, including Spider-Man’s secret identity! What’s the worst that could happen?
Superior Spider-Man Is a Love Letter To Raimi’s Doc Ock
This isn’t the first time that Superior Spider-Man has overtly pulled its inspiration from Raimi’s film. Doc Ock’s obsession with tritium is a major component of Spider-Man 2‘s plot, and its return in this series marks a notable synthesis between Doc Ock’s film and comic book counterparts. While elements from other media being incorporated into comic canon isn’t unheard of (characters often take on new styles or fashions to match their film versions), it’s uncommon to see specific elements from a specific film being integrated into continuity so many years after the fact.
Considering that Raimi’s version of Doc Ock was well received when he returned in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it makes sense that Marvel would seek to blend elements of the film version into his canonical history (especially considering that this film absorbed Raimi’s trilogy into the MCU). This suggests that this series is attempting to provide something for everyone: fans of the original Superior Spider-Man (2013) run get to see the character return, fans of the films get their vision of Doc Ock validated, and fans of Spider-Man in general get to see call-outs to iconic moments from across the franchise.
Marvel Is Unifying Doctor Octopus’ Many Selves
Both the original Superior Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 feature a more nuanced take on Doc Ock than that of the standard “mad scientist”: despite his arrogance and cruelty, he has flashes of kindness that inspire him to go to impossible lengths for the people he cares for. By combining these elements, Marvel emphasizes the shift in the character from an irredeemable villain to something closer to a true anti-hero. By pulling from material across the entire Spider-Man franchise, Doctor Octopus’s kinder film incarnation is being seeded into his comics-canon self…albeit very, very slowly.
Superior Spider-Man #3 (2023) is available now from Marvel.
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