10 Modern Comics That TOTALLY Changed Marvel History

What's bigger than killing off a major superhero? Killing off said hero and having a villain take his place - which is a potted summary of the events that lead to the Superior Spider-Man series, which explores a scenario in which Doctor Octopus manages to swap bodies with Spider-Man just before his frail old man body gives out, leaving the villain free to pursue the life of a superhero.

While initially the series received exactly the same response as the Clone Saga's attempt to replace Peter Parker with Ben Reilly did - i.e scorn and endless fan hatred - over time many warmed to the premise, as while Ock did pretend to be Peter Parker to many of his nearest and dearest, he also started to develop into a genuinely heroic character in his own right.

Though eventually Parker would return to his web-slinger role, the storyline did kill him off for a considerable portion of time, and would serve to eradicate one of Spider-Man's oldest villains, as even when Otto returned to the series it would be as the heroic Superior Spider-Man instead.

The series also paved the way for the Infamous Iron Man series, which would do a similar job of reforming Doctor Doom by making him play the role of Iron Man after the events of Secret Wars.