Spider-Man's alter-ego Peter Parker, who was bumped off last year in the popular comic book series, is set to make a miraculous comeback in the franchise.
Thirteen months after he was fatally squashed in the pages of his comic book, Parker is about to make a recovery in the relaunched "Amazing Spider-Man" series of the comic that debuts this April, the New York Daily News reported.
The nerdy Queens-born super hero had gone out losing to the nefarious Dr Octopus — who had trapped his arch-enemy's mind in his own dying body. Doc Ock, aka Otto Octavius, survived in Parker's body to take up the mantle of Spider-Man.
Writer Dan Slott had known Parker's demise was not permanent but he had to endure reaction ranging from death threats to Internet backlash to childrens' tears while maintaining secrecy.
"To do that for a solid year of my life, that's the hardest thing I've had to do — to look small children in the eye at a convention and lie to them," Slott was quoted by the daily as saying.
He did, however, cave under the pressure when he met actor Andrew Garfield on the set of the movie "Amazing Spider-Man 2."
After the actor who plays Parker on the big screen expressed his shock over the death of the beloved character, Slott admits he dropped some secretive hints.
"(Parker's coming back) just in time, fancy that, for a major Spider-Man motion picture," quipped Slott.
Bumping off the face of franchise, though, was a risky move.
Ever since Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (and possibly Jack Kirby) launched the awkward super hero in 1962's "Amazing Fantasy" # 15, Parker even more than Spider-Man has been the publisher's most popular creation.
"It would have been great if you took a photo of my face at that time. I was not very thrilled," says Marvel Editor in Chief Axel Alonso of Slott's initial pitch, during an editorial retreat several years ago.
"Let's just say that as cynical as the hard-core fanboy was, I was more cynical."
Alonso, however, said after five decades of stories that featured Parker battling a recurring set of villains and personal problems, "I do feel people will appreciate him a little more after this. I do think people have been taking him for granted."
Over the past 13 months, the unthinkable happened: many fans gravitated towards the meaner, more arrogant Doc Ock version of Spider-Man — some maybe even prefering him to the goodie-two-shoes original.
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