Grant Morrison is best known for their work on DC Comics heroes like Superman and Batman, but has yet to turn their talents to Spider-Man. Morrison almost produced a graphic novel of everyone’s favorite wall-crawler in the early 1990s, which would have seen Spidey going down a dark path in a similar vein to Watchmen’s Rorschach.
Posting to their newsletter Xanaduum, Morrison discussed the unrealized project when answering questions from readers. “It was a weird kind of It’s A Wonderful Life for Peter Parker,” Morrison writes of the proposed comic, which would have been drawn by either Simon Bisley or Klaus Jansen.
Featuring Mysterio as the main villain, the story sounds like it would have been classic Grant Morrison through and through. It would have also included an impostor Spider-Man from another continuity tricking the regular version and taking his place in the Earth-616 universe.
Grant Morrison’s Spider-Man Pays Tribute to Steve Ditko
For Morrison, it was an excuse to discuss the difference between the original version of Spider-Man depicted by co-creator Steve Ditko and the version drawn by John Romita, Sr. Ditko originally portrayed Peter Parker as a gawky outsider, but when Romita took over the art chores in Amazing Spider-Man #39, he transformed Parker into a handsome, muscular type that became the model going forward. “The weedy Ditko Spidey’s in a position to take the Romita Peter’s place and have a taste of everything he ever wanted,” Morrison writes of their proposed Spider-Man story, contrasting the two artistic visions of the character.
Morrison also notes how they were keen to explore the Objectivist views of Steve Ditko in the impostor Spider-Man, describing him as if the artist never left the character in 1966: “In some alternate Marvel universe, Romita never came on board, Stan gave Ditko free reign and Objectivist ideas were increasingly given dramatic form in mid-’60s Spider-Man stories!” After leaving Spider-Man, Ditko would go on to create the Question as a vehicle to espouse his Objectivist ideals, which would later provide the inspiration for Rorschach in Watchmen. This history isn’t lost on Morrison, who claims the story would have ended with the Ditko Spider-Man having “the potential to turn into Rorschach!”
Grant Morrison’s Spider-Man is Classic Morrison
It all would have been resolved at the end, with both Spider-Men teaming up to defeat Mysterio and everything returning to the status quo. Although, in classic Morrison fashion, there would be a giant question mark at the end: “We’re left to wonder if the whole thing was a Mysterio-induced delusion… and which of the two Spider-Mans experienced it!” It could have been a wild ride, but sadly, Grant Morrison’s Spider-Man remains unrealized to this day.
