Spider-Man is getting a new costume in 2024, but it’s coming from the absolute last Marvel character we ever would have expected. Why is Doctor Doom suddenly Spider-Man’s benefactor?
This news came as part of Marvel’s “Next Big Thing” panel at Comic-Con today, where we learned more about an upcoming Amazing Spider-Man storyline dubbed “8 Deaths of Spider-Man.” This story will play out after the conclusion of Zeb Wells’ Amazing Spider-Man run this fall, as Spider-Man/Deadpool writer Joe Kelly and artist Ed McGuinness take over the series.
In “8 Deaths of Spider-Man,” the Marvel Universe will be transformed in the wake of Doctor Doom becoming the new Sorcerer Supreme. Originally, Doctor Strange was charged with battling an ancient god and his minions once a year in order to save the world. Rather than dirty his hands, Doom tasks Peter Parker with fighting the god instead. He’ll give Spidey a new, magical costume and eight extra lives to help him in his task. And it sounds like Spidey is going to need every life he can get.
“8 Deaths of Spider-Man” begins in The Amazing Spider-Man #61 in November 2024.
Also at the panel, Marvel revealed it’s reviving the West Coast Avengers via a new series by writer Gerry Duggan (Iron Man) and artist Danny Kim (Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance). The new team will be spearheaded by Iron Man and War Machine, and some members will be villains seeking redemption. Among those is Ultron, who has suddenly and inexplicably turned over a new leaf.
West Coast Avengers #1 will be released in November 2024.
We also learned more about the future of Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe. The various Ultimate books are connected by an overarching storyline where The Maker has become trapped inside The City, leaving Earth’s heroes exactly two years to dismantle this evil Reed Richards’ global empire before he’s freed. The Ultimate line has been progressing in real-time, with that ticking clock adding urgency to the various books.
Marvel will release a new one-shot special called Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1. This issue, written by The Ultimates’ Deniz Camp, will focus on The Maker’s Council and their efforts to quell the growing superhero uprising. This issue will also introduce two major Marvel characters to the Ultimate Universe.
Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1 will be released in December 2024.
For more on SDCC, check out everything announced at SDCC so far and see what will be featured on IGN’s live show.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
