5 Times Spider-Man Overcame Great Odds (And 5 Times He Quit)
4. The Inferior Spider-Man
The comic book community was shocked in 2012 when Doctor Octopus found a way to switch minds and bodies with Peter Parker, leaving the hero to die within Doc Ock's cancer-ridden body while giving birth to the newer, darker 'Superior Spider-Man'. Otto vows to do everything better than his clown of a predecessor, despite the fact that Peter, in ghost form, still exists as a lingering memory in Otto's brain.
After discovering Ghost Peter in Superior Spider-Man #8, Otto commences with a Parker-echtomy to remove all traces of the former hero. Otto and Peter square off in the mindscape in Superior Spider-Man #9. During the battle, Otto preys on Peter's trademark guilt and sense of responsibility. He brings up a moment from the previous issue where Peter almost prevented Otto from performing surgery on a dying little girl. Peter claims he only hesitated for a second, primarily out of fear that he would be discovered by Otto's brain scanner helmet.
Otto uses this fleeting moment of hypocrisy to crush his despondent opponent. Peter essentially gives up and is wiped from existence. We don't hear from Peter again until Superior Spider-Man #25, when his ghost reappears, revealing he only has 31 memories left thanks to Otto's Parker-echtomy.