Marvel’s brand-new horror-themed publishing line launches this Wednesday with three debut books: Midnight Fantastic Four, Midnight Spider-Man, and Midnight X-Men. In their best interests, readers have largely been kept in the dark about these books, as it’ll surely be far more fun to discover what’s terrifying about them by flipping through the pages of these first issues themselves, though we surprisingly don’t even know what the Midnight universe Spider-Man’s powers will be yet.
Countless covers from numerous artists have revealed Midnight Spider-Man’s costume design, but all that’s been teased otherwise is the beginning of Midnight Spider-Man #1, Felicia Hardy, and several bioweapons/potential Spider-Man supervillain adaptations. As for how this new Spider-Man’s origin story will take shape, a much clearer portrait has now been painted in the days before the book arrives.
Finally, A Peter Parker Origin Story That Delves Deeper
More lettered and colored preview pages for Midnight Spider-Man #1 were recently revealed, unveiling Peter’s thoughts as he reflects on the earliest incident in his childhood—discovering the decayed corpse of his cat Bamf, who he had accidentally let out before going on a 10-day family vacation—that taught him a character-defining lesson about ‘power’ and ‘responsibility.’ Indeed, Peter’s trauma and grief stemming from his early childhood, and not solely due to the deaths of Richard and Mary Parker, is brilliant, as it excavates the character further in a novel way.
It hasn’t even been publicly confirmed or revealed whether or not Peter is orphaned in this continuity, though it does appear as if Peter is living with his Uncle Ben beyond this unnerving Bamf flashback.
Moreover, despite it being a crucial element of Peter’s traditional Spider-Man origin story, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether or not Uncle Ben will die. We can assume with a great deal of certainty that Peter’s first thought after having an abhorrent spider latch onto and embed itself into his chest won’t be to take his newfound powers to a wrestling ring in order to earn himself a cash prize against Crusher Hogan or try his hand at show business, for instance, but Peter clearly blames himself for whatever happens and whomever it happens to:
Twelve years later, I made another mistake. A big one. And just like before, someone who trusted me paid for it.
Older And Wiser, Midnight Spider-Man Has Conviction
These incidents he refers to seem to be in Peter’s past still, suggesting that his inner-monologue narration is either omniscient or taking place soon after he becomes Spider-Man, maybe in the present day by the end of the first issue. Interestingly, this narration reveals that this second monumental incident in Peter’s origin story occurs when he’s 18 years old (a young adult, technically, as opposed to the 15-year-old who was bitten by a radioactive spider in the classic canon), as it occurred 12 years after he witnessed a spider crawl out from his dead cat’s eye socket, when he was six years old.
It’s not as if he’s all that much older in the grand scheme of things, but it’s notable nonetheless. Being a bit older and having a bit more exposure to indecencies and cruelties in Marvel’s Midnight universe has obviously contributed to Peter’s sense of self and belief system, including his stance on creepy billionaires and evil corporations.
Either way, it isn’t long now until we learn more about the Midnight universe’s Peter Parker and how he becomes the titular wall-crawler. The solicitation for Midnight Spider-Man #1 reads as follows:
A young Peter Parker is transformed into a hideous spider hybrid by the ruthless Oscorp Corporation in their pursuit for eternal life. When Oscorp begins to use the secrets unlocked by his mutation to create more human-animal hybrids, Peter embraces his grotesque new form to stop them.
Midnight Spider-Man #1 is scheduled to be released on October 7, 2026.
- Movie(s)
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Spider-Man, Spider-Man Strikes Back, Spider-Man: The Dragon’s Challenge, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Far from Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
- TV Show(s)
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Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Spider-Man Unlimited, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Spider-Noir
- Comic
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The Amazing Spider-Man
- First Film
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Spider-Man