Marvel Comics held its Spider-Man Panel Friday night at the Javits Center at New York Comic Con with host Nick Lowe, Editor at Marvel.
About the panel:
Look out, here comes the Spider-Man panel! Editor Nick Lowe does whatever a moderator can along with Spider-Writers Saladin Ahmed (Miles Morales: Spider-Man), Seanan McGuire (Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider), Priest (Spider-Force), Nick Spencer (Amazing Spider-Man), and Kathleen Wisneski (Assistant Editor). Listen buds, as we’ll tell you all about the Amazing Spider-Man’s next adventure! Action will be your reward as you learn the latest about the multiversal mega-crossover Spider-Geddon! Plus – like a streak of light, Miles Morales news will arrive just in time!
SPIDER-GEDDON Trailer
Play By Play of the Panel
Nick Lowe greets everyone and says there’s an announcement on this panel he doesn’t think anyone has talked about yet.
He introduces everyone.
Christopher Priest’s repeated mention of Spider-Force during the Marvel Knights panel has become a running joke for the panel.
Nick Spencer talks about the current Amazing Spider-Man arc, where Peter goes to the Bar With No Name with current roommate Boomerang.
Peter goes there with him because Boomerang wants to win Spidey Trivia Night and knows that Peter was Spider-Man’s former photographer (and Spidey’s “employer,” since he was Peter’s “bodyguard” during Parker Industries era)
It’s meant to be a fun, light-hearted two-parter.
Amazing Spider-Man #8-10 is a new arc that will explore Spider-Man and Black Cat’s relationship.
All of the Marvel heroes’ stuff is going missing.
Some new villains will be introduced in this arc.
Peter and MJ are happily back together, and the arc will also explore how MJ is processing that.
She’ll be “going on a little adventure of her own.”
Spider-Geddon #1 comes in just ONE WEEK.
Lowe consistently says the event’s name in a raspy, doomy voice.
Seanan McGuire talks about the new Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider series.
It starts parallel with Spider-Geddon. “I can’t do the voice. It’ll hurt my throat. I’m sorry.”
Says Gwen is taken off the board for Spider-Geddon and has to get back to the others.
“There are a lot of exploding seasonal fruits” in this series. She’ll be fighting a Goblin.
Jody Houser will be writing a series called Spider-Girls with Andrés Genolet.
Genolet is on art.
Kathleen Wisneski says the series will feature a number of characters who’ve been “Spider-Girl” in various timelines. Anya Corazon, Annie May from Renew Your Vows, etc.
Spider-Girls will tie into Spider-Geddon.
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man will be written by Sean Ryan, with art by Juan Frigeri.
There will be a Morlun arc tying into Spider-Geddon in #311-313.
Priest talks about Spider-Force
He was the Spider-Man editor “for quite a while.”
Priest was sitting next to Dan Slott at a dinner last year, and Dan proceeded to tell him 10 years of Spider-Man continuity because Priest hadn’t been up on what was going on.
Spider-Force features Kaine Parker assembling a strike team to go on what is maybe a suicide mission.
One new character is a child spider character who is “like Damien Wayne with web-shooters.”
It’s a Spider-Geddon tie-in.
“They may or may not succeed or fail.”
Spider-Force will also feature Jessica Drew Spider-Woman, Ashton Barton from Old Man Logan, and another new spider character called Astro-Spider, because he’s also an astronaut.
Anthology book coming up called Vault of Spiders, featuring stories by Cullen Bunn Jed Mackay, Javier Pulido, etc.
Japanese Spider-Man will be in it, LEOPARDON!
There will also be “The Savage Spider-Man,” a Peter Parker who was raised in the Savage Land by mutant spiders after surviving a plane crash that killed his parents.
There will also be a George Stacy Spider-Man, and an Aunt May Spider-Ma’am.
And there will be a Spider-Geddon Handbook in December with entries about all of the spider characters to catch people up.
Christos Gage will be writing the new Superior Spider-Man series, with art by Mike Hawthorne.
Terrax will be a villain in the first arc
“Something happens, and I can’t tell you what, in Spider-Geddon that makes him have to put the Superior Spider-Man costume back on.”
Next, Miles Morales: Spider-Man
Ahmed says they want to reward long-time Miles fans and also bring in people who haven’t checked him out yet.
After the events of Spider-Geddon, he’s back in Brooklyn, it’s a new semester, and we join him at the beginning of the year — taking him back deep into high school.
“We don’t always pay attention to how hard that is, trying to balance these kinds of things.”
He’s also “perhaps ill-advisedly” keeping a journal where he’s revealing more than he probably should.
The first arc leads to classic Spidey villain the Rhino, but everything may not be as it seems.
There will be “mega-star guest appearances,” but the book is really about introducing readers to Miles.
There will be some wrangling with his uncle a few arcs down the line, as well. Plus fun one-shots.
It’s Miles back to basics as both a superhero and a high-schooler.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man re-debuts in January with a new #1, written by Tom Taylor with Juann Cabal on art.
Q&A segment
Fan asks if school shooting in a recent issue of Champions will factor into Ahmed’s Miles Morales.
Ahmed says this book will tackle things happening in the real world. “If I’m going to write about a teenager in the 21st Century, I have to talk about the world they’re inheriting.” But he says it will always serve the story first and foremost.
Marvel’s always been a place where people write stories that talk about the world around them without beating people over the head with a stick.
Next fan chides Priest for killing Ned Leeds. But he then asks Nick Spencer about Spectacular Spider-Man revealing Theresa and Peter were actually brother and sister.
Spencer says he “might have something cooking. You never know.”
Next fan, dressed as Spider-Man 2099, asks if we’ll see him anytime soon.
Lowe says he doesn’t have any major announcements, but “there is a story going on that has many spider people in it.”
Next fan asks about the incredibly poor shape of Peter Parker’s life and if anything’s going to be done about it.
Spencer says, “Yes. It’s gonna get worse.”
Spencer talks about how it’s always fun to watch Peter rise above adversity time and time again. “But yeah, he’s unemployed.”
“You’re supposed to feel bad for him. That’s the idea. That’s the magic.”
Next fan mentions that things aren’t looking too good for Ben Reilly on some of the covers shown and asks if he should be concerned.
Lowe suggests maybe he should be concerned. But Reilly has some cool stuff coming up in Spider-Geddon, and you’ll have to read it to find out.
Fan asks Spencer who he’d cast if he could make casting decisions.
He says Tom Holland, obviously. “Where do you think I work, buddy?” HA
Next fan asks how they come up with all these spider people.
Spencer says, “The motivation is they’ll pay you for it.” He says he’s been reading Spider-Man his entire life and it’s the greatest honor of his career.
Next fan starts, “One thing I like that DC does better than Marvel…” before being cut off and booed by EVERYONE.
People chant “Shame!” at him.
He finally finishes that he likes that DC does soft reboots every now and then.
He says, he falls off every now and then and then has to read pages and pages of Wikipedia to catch up.
Lowe said, “So you want us to do it for your convenience?”
Spencer then says, Marvel doesn’t have to do soft reboots because they don’t screw up the characters in the first place.
Priest then says that the solution to catching up on years of continuity is to have dinner with Dan Slott.
Fan asks what everyone’s favorite alternate spider-character is.
Spencer says 2099, Wisneski says Spider-Ham, McGuire says Spider-Gwen, Ahmed says Spiders-Man (a bunch of spiders who think they’re a human), and Priest agrees Spiders-Man sounds awesome, but says he’s also having fun writing Ashley Barton in Spider-Force.
Next fan is distraught Flash Thompson was killed in ASM #800.
Spencer says there’s no plans to bring him back right now.
Next fan asks what Venom has to do with Miles Morales.
In the Ultimate Universe, that Venom killed someone close to Miles. Cates and Stegman are both big Miles fans, so we haven’t seen the last of him in the Venom book.
Fan asks about the mysterious creature that’s been haunting Mysterio.
Spencer says we’ll see more of him soon, but it’s a slow build.
End of panel.
What did you think of the Spider-Man Panel, did anything jump out at you? Comment below with your thoughts.
