Warning: contains spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man #89!
Marvel’s Spider-Man is known by his many fans as a hero who can never catch a break, and this is true in both the Marvel Comics and Marvel Cinematic Universe variants. From the Spider-Man of the comics losing his ten-year marriage with Mary Jane to a literal deal with the devil to the Spider-Man of the movies being unable hold down a steady job, the character is seemingly cursed with an endless string of bad luck. But in Amazing Spider-Man #89, the writers actually embrace Peter’s status as a perpetual loser.
Peter is spending his days in a hospital bed, recuperating from a deadly attack after a fight with the villainous U-Foes. While confined, Peter’s clone Ben Reilly is New York’s new official Spider-Man, sponsored by the morally-nebulous Beyond Corporation. With Peter out of the picture, Black Cat decides to battle New York’s newest villain alone: a horrifying mind-controlling Queen Goblin (unleashed via the Beyond Corporation, but Peter is entirely unaware of Beyond’s involvement).
Despite his condition, Peter makes his way out of his hospital room. While Black Cat is persuaded via the Queen Goblin’s mind-control powers to walk off the ledge of a building, Peter catches her with a decisive blast of his webshooter. The Queen Goblin escapes from the fight and both Mary Jane and Black Cat wonder if Peter is ready to take on such a powerful villain in his condition. This prompts Peter to respond with “That’s my secret, Cat…I’m never ready.”
Aside from containing a callback to the Hulk’s most famous moment in 2012’s The Avengers, the quote shows just how immature Peter can truly be in a dangerous situation. Indeed, he is rarely ready for fights against supervillains, but even less ready to solve real-world problems such as balancing superheroics with his personal life. In that respect, Peter is certainly never ready to move past his days as a teenager who believed himself entitled to a normal, happy life. But as all Spider-Man fans know, the themes of great power and responsibility do not necessarily go hand-in-hand with personal gain or satisfaction.
For some time now, Marvel has painted Spider-Man as a character in desperate need of change. With the tease that his relationship with Mary Jane is on the rocks, perhaps this time for good, Peter might actually undergo a radical shift in status quo. Perhaps then Spider-Man can be “ready” to move past his massive flaws for good.
