Marvel Confirms Peter Parker Gave Up on Being Spider-Man

Being Spider-Man is no easy task. When your grades aren't low because you didn't have time to do the homework, your Aunt is feeling sick, your best friend wants to fight you, and your one true love might leave you for someone else—all while you risk your life to save others. Peter Parker has to experience all of this on a day-to-day basis. But while the friendly neighborhood hero is usually strong enough to endure all the hardships that come with the job, a few times it all just becomes too much. In those instances, Spider-Man is suddenly no more and all that remains is Peter Parker.

We've witnessed no shortage of stories where Peter tosses the red and blue costume aside forever... or until another civilian needs saving, that is. However, I wasn't expecting another one to come so soon. In fact, I went over it without even realizing that Peter was quitting on being Spider-Man altogether and not just on his ongoing mission. That being said, Marvel itself put all doubts aside and confirmed what we all dreaded: the wall-crawler is gone for the time being.

Spider-Man quits in The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #65

The Eight Deaths of Spider-Man is the ongoing arc in The Amazing Spider-Man comic book saga. In the past, Doctor Strange made a deal with a god named Cyttorak to protect Earth from cosmic threats. In exchange, the Sorcerer Supreme would need to battle the god's eight scions at the beginning of each Crimson Calendar. Strange accomplished this task countless times before until Doctor Doom took his place, and the supervillain chose Spidey to be the new Champion who'd save the world. There's only one teeny tiny problem: Battling each scion usually ends in death, so the wall-crawler will have to die eight times in a row to protect Earth from a great danger.

While each encounter has its own unique thematic and "gimmick", perhaps the most ruthless has been the one that didn't involve physical punches. During The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #65, the wall-crawler faces Cyra who represents the inevitability of death. Such a trial requires Peter to watch the future deaths of those he has ever loved and held dear, including Aunt May, Mary Jane, Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, J. Jonah Jameson, and then hundreds of strangers. When it's all said and done after the trial, Peter makes it very clear to Stephen Strange that he's done being Earth's Champion.

Now, when I initially read this issue I assumed Peter simply didn't want to face the eight scions of Cyttorak anymore (which even then was disappointing). However, a new blog post by Marvel reveals he didn't just walk away from the mission, but he quit being Spider-Man altogether... all because of hypothetical futures that can still be changed. Now, I know the comic book isn't trying to imply Peter quit because his friends and family could die horrible deaths. Instead, he's realized how ephemeral our time on Earth is and—no matter how many lives he tries to save—his impact will be rather small in the great scheme of things. But even then, this just feels wrong.

For starters: Spider-Man usually quits on his crusade to save the world because of real consequences. Whenever Spidey wins, Peter loses. His personal life crumbles whenever he keeps New York City safe. However, in The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #65, the wall-crawler is presented with hypothetical futures that he could very well fight to change—especially now that he knows how things could pan out. But most importantly: Spider-Man should know the worth of every single life—no matter how ephemeral it may be on a cosmic scale—due to the loss of Uncle Ben, Captain Stacy, and Gwen Stacy.

It feels out of character for Spider-Man to quit fighting the eight scions of Cyttorak and potentially doom Earth to a terrible fate even when nobody has been seriously hurt in this arc (yet). But drop the Spider-Man mantle altogether? Yeah, now that's a bit too much. On the bright side, we don't have to wait long to see how things pan out and if there's a satisfactory payoff at the end of the road. But for the moment, things aren't looking very promising.