5. No Restrictions
In the first eleven issues of Marvel's 'Superior Spider-Man' Otto Octavius has been making good on his pledge to carry on the mantle of being a responsible Spider-Man. Trouble is, his idea of acting responsibly differs greatly from Peter Parker's and there have been some noticeably different behaviours exhibited by Spider-Man since Otto took over. Octavius' version of justice tends to verge on the extreme and his treatment of offending criminals accordingly reflects this. The Superior Spider-Man's encounters with enemies from Peter Parker's past have gone even worse than normal for the evil-doers. In Parker's time stopping their plans was enough, though if there was time he would often delight in humiliating them a little. Octavius is much more unforgiving, however, and has so far dished out tremendously violent beatings to the likes of The Vulture, Boomerang and even the virtually harmless prankster The Jester. This behaviour itself is enough of a departure from Pete's methods, but Octavius has taken his work one step further and actually
killed one of Spider-Man's old nemeses: Massacre. In an incredibly affecting issue, Octavius mulls over Parker's decisions to see potential for redemption in the mass-murdering gunman and eventually decides that the only true way to stop him is to turn his own gun on him and take his life. As a long time Spidey fan I was accustomed to his "no one is beyond redemption" policy and it was truly stunning to see Spider-Man, albeit a very different one, take a life. While the prospect of this story itself may be difficult for Spidey fans to digest, what it represents should be a source of excitement; there are now virtually no limits to what Spider-Man can do in the pages of these books. Most of the restrictions previously placed on Spider-Man were put there by Parker himself, but Otto has no need for such restraint. The promise he made to Peter is still intact and he
is carrying on as a responsible force for good. How he does this, however, is influenced more by his own history as Doc Ock, and less by the reputation Pete built up as the web-slinger. Old habits die hard, eh?