10 Terrible Mistakes That Almost Ruined Spider-Man For Everyone

To draw in new readers and to contemporize Spider-Man's early stories , Marvel decided to reboot Spider-Man's backstory in the 1990s in a new series called Spider-Man: Chapter One.

It was neat idea in theory but it bombed in practise. Many key moments in the early comics were condensed, which made the stories feel rushed. For example, the explosion that turned Otto Octavius into Doctor Octopus also released a radioactive spider, which then bit Peter Parker. It felt like the series was zooming through the iconic moments rather than focusing on the characters or letting them develop at a steady pace.

It was also odd to reboot the series considering Untold Tales of Spider-Man, which centred around Spidey's early adventures, just concluded the year before. Although Chapter One was meant to be canonical, this idea was abandoned after the series received negative backlash.

Now, there's nothing wrong with rebooting a superhero's backstory. The series was rebooted again as Ultimate Spider-Man two years later, which was hailed as a masterpiece, but that also had the benefit of being situated in an entirely different universe.

The problem with Chapter One, really, was that it had none of Spider-Man's passion or heart, so it felt like it was made purely to make money rather than to contribute something that would enhance Spidey's history.