What Happened To Everyone Who Killed Spider-Man?

3. Doctor Octopus

Ultimate Spider-Man Death
Marvel Comics

Dan Slott's Dying Wish arc of 2012 was a monumental one, changing the very foundations of Spider-Man in a truly jarring manner.

In Dying Wish, Peter Parker was in some ways dead, some ways in limbo, and in other ways very much alive.

To clear things, this tale found a terminally ill Doctor Octopus who was racing towards the Grim Reaper at an alarming rate. Forever with a plan, Otto managed to swap consciousnesses with Peter.

That meant that Parker's conscious was in Octavius' dying body, while the mind of Doc Ock was in the fit 'n' healthy body of Spider-Man. As such, Parker experienced death; just it was in someone else's body.

The body of Peter Parker was alive and well, just with Doctor Octopus housed in it. As for the body that Peter's conscious had been switched to, that was now a heap of bones and lifeless flesh - leading to his conscious becoming a trapped spirit in the Ock-controlled body of Parker.

A tad confusing at a first glance, but this all worked brilliantly as Otto embarked on a mission to be a better Spider-Man than Peter Parker could dream of.

That Doc Ock iteration of 'Superior' Spider-Man managed to get his own 44-issue comic book title, before Otto Octavius finally allowed Peter to have his body back.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.