For weeks now, Marvel Comics has been teasing a mysterious new Spider-Man event to eager fans: Spidergeddon.
The name itself is a clue. The event will be a successor of sorts to 2014’s Spider-Verse storyline, which introduced now-fan-favorite characters like Spider-Gwen and Silk to the Marvel Universe. “Spidergeddon is nigh!” cries the teaser image, featuring more than a dozen permutations of Spider-Man from different parallel versions of Marvel’s main setting, Earth-616.
But one silhouette remained mysteriously blank.
Today Polygon can exclusively reveal the identity of that Spider-Person: None other than the Spider-Man of Spider-Man, the upcoming action-adventure title from Insomniac Games, with his distinctive white spider-emblem.
In Spidergeddon, Insomniac’s Spider-Man will adventure alongside other marvel Spider-Heroes against the threat of ... well, we don’t know yet. But he’ll make his Marvel Comics debut a few weeks after the game is released, in Spidergeddon #0, drawn by Clayton Crain (Ghost Rider, Carnage) and written by Christos Gage (Daredevil on Netflix, The Amazing Spider-Man), one of the writers behind Insomniac’s Spider-Man.
“Since I have been writing for the video game for the past three years (along with the ever-amazing Dan Slott, Jon Paquette, and Ben Arfmann), it seemed like a perfect time to bring that Pete into the mix,” Gage told Polygon by email. ”There are other reasons based in character that make some of the interactions between him and other Spider-folks really juicy and interesting, but I can’t say too much without spoiling the game. It’s great story fodder though — this is definitely not shoehorning a character in where he doesn’t belong. In fact, it seems like an important next step for him.”
Those other Spider-Folks include the main universe’s Spider-Man, of course, and mainstay spider characters like Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen and Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider. But there are other, deeper cuts involved in Spidergeddon, like Peni Parker of Earth-14512, known as SP//dr; and Hobart Brown, the Spider-Man of Earth-138, also known as Spider-Punk, who is featured as an alternate costume in Insomniac’s Spider-Man.
Nevertheless, Gage says, the idea is that Spidergeddon will be fun for all readers, not just the ones who can identify every niche character. And if you’re wondering if you should finish Insomniac’s Spider-Man game before reading Spidergeddon, don‘t worry.
“We’ll try to avoid huge spoilers for anyone who may read the comic before finishing the game,” Gage said, but he did confirm that Spidergeddon takes place after the events of Insomniac’s Spider-Man, and “that will inform where Pete’s head is during the event.”
Spider-Man will come out for PlayStation 4 on Sept. 7, and Spidergeddon #0 will hit digital and physical shelves on Sept. 26. The event will also feature a series of variant covers drawn by Insomniac Games artists, each of which will pay homage to classic Amazing Spider-Man covers.
Of course, after Spidergeddon, there’s one more very Spider-Man-y, parallel earth-y thing coming out this year. But when I asked whether any characters from Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse would be making appearances in the event, Gage said that he couldn’t give me “definitive” answer.
One thing seemed clear: Whether it’s Miles Moreales, Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy from Into the Spider-Verse or not, we may not have seen every Spider-Person involved in Spidergeddon just yet.
Get a better look at the full cover of Spidergeddon #0 below: