Warning: this article contains spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man #56!
While it doesn't get called out that often outside the comics, one of the major themes of Marvel's connected universe is the potential for redemption. Former criminals like Hawkeye and Black Widow have gone on to be Avengers in good standing, and villains as diverse as Batroc the Leaper, Dragon Man, and Doctor Octopus have enjoyed lengthy stints as heroes - or at least helped save the world when it found itself in peril.
In no place is this theme of redemption stronger than the adventures of Spider-Man. Peter Parker plays the role of the strong moral center of the Marvel Universe, often offering his villains forgiveness and redemption they've barely begun to earn, whether comforting a dying Sandman or revealing his identity to J. Jonah Jameson just so his longtime detractor wouldn't feel alone in the world. It's no surprise then that in The Amazing Spider-Man #56 from Nick Spencer and Mark Bagley, yet another of Spider-Man's former villains is turning towards the light, giving them the potential to be Marvel's coolest new hero.
The villain in question is Overdrive, who first appeared in 2007's Amazing Spider-Man: Swing Shift. Infested with experimental nanites, Overdrive - whose real name is James Beverley - is an expert driver who can super-charge any vehicle simply by touching it, making him the perfect getaway driver. Popularized in Spencer's The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Overdrive is something of an accidental villain. Though he's endangered others through recklessness, he avoids outright violence, and was deeply shaken when a recent role as a getaway driver for Inner Demon gangsters made him complicit in the murder of the police who tried to stop their crime.
That crime put Overdrive on the radar of the resurrected Sin-Eater, who temporarily purged Overdrive of his sins. Put into a coma after a revenge attack by colleagues of the officers killed in his crimes, the most recent issue of Amazing Spider-Man saw Overdrive reawaken when his sins returned, and the traumatic events - along with the kindness of forensic investigator and former Spidey love interest Carlie Cooper - prompted Overdrive to embrace a fresh start, claiming he intends to become one of the good guys; great news for Marvel fans.
Overdrive's aversion to violence and support function for worse criminals made him easy to overlook as a villain, but the incredibly wide remit of his powers - which allow him to convert any vehicle to his immediate needs - make him much more exciting as a hero, able to chase down evil-doers in even the most extreme circumstances. Not only that, but the dark consequences of Overdrive's past crimes and his outlaw status seem set to provide some thrilling adventures, as well as a likely clash with Spider-Man, who doesn't yet know Overdrive has turned over a new leaf.
An undercover hero tailor-made for smart stories that find ways to push his incredibly flexible powers to the max, Marvel fans should keep an eye out for Overdrive's return, as Spencer continues to migrate his Superior Foes of Spider-Man protagonists over to the Web-Spinners own book, finding the humanity - and perhaps actual redemption - of relatably bad people in a fantastical world.