10 Most Tragic Deaths In The History Of Spider-Man

10. Doctor Octopus

When the new of Superior Spider-Man broke, readers were sure of one thing: it was gonna suck. Writer Dan Slott had already proven he knew his way around the webhead, but the storyline where a dying Doctor Octopus swapped brains with his nemesis - leaving Peter Parker to pass away in his withering body, and Otto to live on as Spider-Man - was beyond the pale. So, what, the original Spidey is just dead now? The one that we knew and loved and grew up with? That stinks! That is total BS! Oh, wait, no, he came back after six months and everything went back to normal. The thing is, we actually kinda liked the Superior Spider-Man. After a good half century of Peter Parker behind the mask, it was kinda refreshing to get a new spin on things. Otto Octavius, having shared the memories and mission of old Petey Pants during the brain switch, realised that he wasn't gonna be a total villain any more. In fact, he was going to apply his mad genius intellect into eradicating crime from New York completely, something the previous owner of that body never managed. The Superior Spidey had his ups and downs but, ultimately, he did try and make the world a better place. He also fell in love with a charming young woman called Anna Maria Marconi, all of which means that when Peter eventually takes back control of his body, it was a lot more bittersweet than we were expecting. Sure it's nice to have the original Spidey in the driver's seat again but, as the wallcrawler himself notes mournfully at the end of the story, "someone had to die." Ock redeemed himself, and had to go anyway. Pretty tragic is you ask us.