Many Spider-Man fans regard the animated series The Spectacular Spider-Man as one of the best Spidey adaptations in any medium, which makes the series' untimely cancellation all the more unfortunate. But there is one silver lining after all these years. Producer Greg Weisman is returning to Marvel Comics to pen a new book called The Spectacular Spider-Men.
As the title suggests, The Spectacular Spider-Men will focus on both Peter Parker and Miles Morales as they share the mantle of Spider-Man. The series will be drawn by veteran Amazing Spider-Man artist Humberto Ramos. You can see Ramos' cover art to issue #1 below:
According to Marvel, the new series will focus heavily on the dynamic between Peter as the mentor Spider-Man and Miles as the up-and-coming protege, as the two cobine their skills to become a mroe effective crimefighting duo. The series' frist story arc will pit the two Spideys against The Jackal, which could mean both heroes will have some new clone headaches in their near future.
"I'm so thrilled to be writing Spidey again, and the fact that I get to write both Spideys, together, makes the gig doubly sweet,” Weisman said in Marvel's press release. “It's fun for me, because in this book, I see the younger Miles trying really hard to show his maturity to his mentor Peter, while the older Pete feels free to let out his inner 16-year-old with Miles. So there's a bit of role reversal to the normal mentor-protege relationship than one might expect to see. But I think both Pete and Miles still feel very true to character. And when things get serious, so do our boys (quippage notwithstanding.) What we're seeing here is the evolution from mentor and protegee to them simply being good friends. And that change of status (in process, as it is) really interests me as a writer. Oh, and Humberto's art is so damn gorgeous.”
“From a very young age, my goal was to draw Spider-Man for Marvel Comics, and now that it has become a recurring reality in my life, I enjoy every occasion in which I am called to do so, or as I like to say ‘come back home,’ and I could not ask for a better way to do that than alongside Greg Weisman who gave us the greatest Spider-Man TV series!” Ramos added. “Not only that, but in this book I not only have the joy of drawing not one but two Spider-Mans. Drawing Peter's adventures was exciting enough, I can only imagine how it will be drawing both Peter and Miles’ adventures! I love my job!”
The Spectacular Spider-Men #1 will be released on January 17, 2024.
The Peter/Miles alliance is also on full display in Marvel's Spider-Man 2. In IGN's review of Spider-Man 2, Simon Cardy wrote, "As a sequel in a spectacular series, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is both blessed and cursed. Its story of two Spider-Men is a great time and a Spidey fan’s dream to play through as comic book pages are brought to life, elegantly walking the tightrope between light humour and heavier themes. Meanwhile, Insomniac refines a successful formula of combat and web-swinging without revolutionising either in major ways, making them comfy and familiar with just enough new tweaks and abilities to elevate them to fun new heights. The part that feels like it actually needed a radical rethinking is the open world of New York City, which has been made bigger but not better, with an exhausting checklist of mostly repetitious side activities. But it’s safe to call this another thrilling Spider-Man adventure that delivers Insomniac's best tale yet, and despite its open world falling short, it's a reliably fun superhero power trip. And, you know what? Screw it. It really did make me feel like Spider-Man, too."
For more on Spider-Man 2, check out our full breakdown of the ending and learn how the Flame side quest sets up new DLC.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
