Spider-Man To Gain First Ever Sidekick, Codename ‘Alpha’

Spider-Man has managed to go the majority of his comic book existence as a solo hero.  He never needed a team to help him fight crime.  Marvel decided to change this years ago by having Spider-Man join The Avengers.  Marvel saw The Avengers as their flagship title and team, and wanted to incorporate their biggest stars into the title (Wolverine joined also).  Spider-Man has also recently joined the cast of The Fantastic Four after the “death” of the Human Torch (who has recently been found to be alive the entire time).

Joe Quesada (formerly editor-in-chief at Marvel) was never a fan of Spider-Man/Peter Parker being a married man.  Quesada felt this made Spider-Man come across as an old man, and younger fans would not be able to relate to him.  Plus Quesada felt there were better stories to tell of Spider-Man as an unattached single guy.  So the decision was made to split Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson up in the horrible story called “One More Day”.  The short version is Aunt May is critically wounded and near death, so Peter makes a deal with the devil (Mephisto in the Marvel universe) to save Aunt May’s life.  In return, Peter forfeits his marriage to Mary Jane.

Of course, there was backlash to this event.  Many fans declared they’d never read another Spider-Man story ever again.  Luckily, Spider-Man debuted in his “Brand New Day” with excellent stories & character moments. The outrage over the termination of his marriage subsided.

Now Marvel seems to have changed their minds and want readers to think of Peter Parker as an old man again, because he’s going to be gaining a sidekick for the first time ever.  This all takes place in August’s Amazing Spider-Man #692, first reported by Marvel on Fox Nation.  Spider-Man’s new sidekick, Andy Macguire (codenamed Alpha) gains his powers after visiting Peter’s Horizons Labs, where an accident occurs.  This mirrors how Peter first gained his powers over 50 years ago.  Marvel has big things planned for the 50th anniversary of Spider-Man.

Via Fox Nation, “in this story, we find that Peter Parker’s days as photographer for the Daily Bugle are behind him and he’s now a scientist at a research firm. Andy is part of a student field trip that visits Parker’s lab. He’s in the wrong place (or perhaps the right place) at the wrong time when Parker’s invention malfunctions and zaps him with great power. Parker – haunted by the way he got his own super abilities and how his failure to use them led to the murder of his beloved Uncle Ben so many years ago – feels an even greater responsibility to help young Andy. He feels he must help him discover his powers and teach him how to use them responsibly.”

“Part of it is that Spider-Man is grown up,” said Axel Alonso, Marvel editor-in-chief, explaining the development. “He’s older, more seasoned, but young at heart. He’s still a young man, but he’s been around. It’s interesting because it flips the paradigm. Teen hero Spider-Man is now responsible for this teen hero sidekick. He’s responsible because one of his inventions caused this kid to get his powers. He’s directly responsible for the responsibility this kid now has with his new powers. He feels he has a responsibility to make sure this kid walks the right path, which won’t prove easy.”

Here’s my two cents on the whole deal….I believe Marvel has created Alpha as an ally for Spider-Man so they can eventually kill him off in the future.  Spider-Man is known for losing friends close to him.  It’s what has defined him to this day, whether it is Uncle Ben or Gwen Stacy.  Marvel has tried to kill Aunt May on a few occasions, but always end up undoing it.  This way, they have an entirely new character that they can build up, have the fans (and Spidey) get attached to, and then WHAM!  Besides, Marvel loves killing characters.  They feel for an event to have “impact” it has to included a beloved character biting the dust.

What are your thoughts on Spider-Man’s new sidekick, Alpha?  Let us know in the comments section below.

Timdogg

#ComicBookChronicles @CBChron founder. Editor-in-Chief of @thekliqnation. Comic book reviewer, podcaster #RABBLERABBLE