Marvel promised they would kill the spider, and they delivered. Back in July 2024, the Eight Deaths of Spider-Man comic book saga was announced — a very divisive series in which readers would see the iconic hero perish and come back to life multiple times with no escape in sight. Fast-forward almost a year, and we've seen that promise come to life in an even bigger fashion than originally expected. Peter Parker's neck was broken during a confrontation, and he had no extra lives left to swing back into action. It was, by all means, a true and permanent death...
Until it wasn't.
See, we all knew Spider-Man would come back to life. He's one of Marvel's most popular heroes, after all, and his saga will undergo a soft reboot later in April. The only question remaining was: how was the wall-crawler supposed to come out victorious from such a sticky situation? Well, we finally have an answer, and it's one few fans could've seen coming when starting the Eight Deaths of Spider-Man run.
Peter Parker officially becomes a Juggernaut in The Amazing Spider-Man
Doctor Doom deemed Spider-Man "Earth's Champion" and designated him the task of challenging the eight Scions of Cyttorak — descendants of a powerful extra-dimensional being who has the power to select an "avatar" and turn it into the Juggernaut. Unfortunately, every encounter against one of these new foes always resulted in death, which is why the web-slinger was also given eight extra lives to succeed in this daunting journey. However, what nobody could've expected was that Peter's girlfriend: Shay, his close friend: Randy, his aunt: May, and a complete stranger would all get caught in the crossfire and pay with their lives.
Not willing to let tragedy define him anymore, Spidey gave all of his remaining "extra lives" to undo the four casualties and bring those closest to him to the world of the living. Unfortunately, it also meant he was defenseless against every upcoming threat. Eventually, tragedy struck and one of the eight Scions of Cyttorak named Callix snapped the hero's neck and took him down for good. Earth's Champion was no more, and the X-Men were left behind to pick up the pieces of a losing battle.
But amidst all the chaos, there was one silver lining: Another scion named Cyra grew fascinated by Peter and his devotion to protecting every single life he could. As an immortal being, she couldn't quite understand why he would sacrifice so much just to buy other people a bit more time given how ephemeral humans are in the great scheme of things. But in a moment of compassion, Cyra struck a deal with death itself and gave away her immortality in exchange for bringing Peter Parker back to life. Not only did she accomplish what she wanted, but she also bestowed upon the wall-crawler a brand new power and turned him into an unstoppable Juggernaut.
Now, all the pieces are in place for this era of The Amazing Spider-Man saga to go into its grand and explosive finale. Issue No. 70 will not only reveal how Spidey stops the rouge Scion who's set to end all life as a whole, but it will also mark the end of a chapter in the life of its titular character. With the soft reboot on the horizon, fans are eager to see what writer Joe Kelly has in store, and whether it will be better than the current tale that started all the way back in 2022.
It's no secret the Zeb Wells era of Spider-Man has been panned by critics and fans alike for its baffling narrative choices and the introduction of one of Marvel's most hated characters ever in the form of Paul. But even if the bar wasn't set really high, we all know stories featuring Peter Parker are capable of redefining the superhero genre as a whole as it's been proven time and time again before. So fingers crossed we're in for something spectacular, and not just another forgettable run that readers will drop in favor of Ultimate Spider-Man (2024), which has been stealing the spotlight for all the right reasons.
The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #70 will be released on March 26, 2025.