Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Dark Web #1Marvel Comics' Dark Web event is here and it's chock-full of prime nostalgia for Spider-Man (as well as the X-Men). Featuring clones and symbiotes in a supernatural showdown for the ages, Dark Web is the Christmas crossover comic that's the perfect gift for Peter Parker fans as well as Krakoa's premier team of heroes. Thanks to the dark union between Chasm and the Goblin Queen, Spider-Man and the X-Men will have no choice but to join forces to save New York.
Previously in Marvel's Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker has been trying to put the pieces of his life back together after doing something terrible which alienated him from most of his allies and loved ones. While readers don't yet know what he did, whatever it was happened shortly after the Spider-Man Beyond arc where Peter's clone Ben Reilly lost several of his copied memories from Parker, becoming corrupted as the dark villain known as Chasm. Since then, Ben has joined forces with Madelyine Pryor's Goblin Queen, the dark clone of Jean Grey who's become the new ruler of Limbo. Seeking to push the limits of her rule and fragile truce with the X-Men, Pryor has agreed to help Chasm steal Spider-Man's soul.
Now, Dark Web #1 from Zeb Wells and Adam Kubert is here, kicking off a major demon invasion in New York from the realm of Limbo thanks to Pryor lending her forces to Chasm. It very much resembles the X-Men's original Inferno event from the 1980s, an infusion of nostalgia that will see the mutants working with Spider-Man to save the day. However, Pryor has also struck a deal with Eddie Brock's Venom, agreeing to help him find his son Dylan if he helps Ben. While Eddie's been a hero for years in the Marvel Universe, it seems Pryor and Ben went too far manipulating his mind to make him a pawn, reverting Venom back to his classically primal state and more monstrous self. As such, Spider-Man is about to fight both Ben Reilly and Venom in this new event, an exciting remix of Peter Parker's greatest hits from the past.
Spider-Man Brings Back The Classics With Clones and Symbiotes
Essentially, Dark Web is the dynamic combination of an Inferno redub, a dark continuation of the Clone Conspiracy, and the exciting return of Venom's OG form before he became Marvel's King in Black. As such, this crossover will be a major onslaught of foes attacking all at the same time, something Spider-Man couldn't have been expecting given everything else he's been dealing with. After all, he had no idea what became of Ben in the aftermath of Spider-Man Beyond where Reilly fell into a pool of psychoactive goo.
As such, it makes perfect sense that Peter Parker will be joining forces with the X-Men in future issues of Dark Web. There's no way he'd be able to handle Chasm and Pryor on his own, let alone Venom and the new villain Hallow's Eve as well. At any rate, the Spider-Man nostalgia is at an all-time high now that the Webslinger is facing clones and classic symbiotes simultaneously this Christmas. Dark Web #1 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.