Wacker Talks SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN Surprise First Appearance

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***This article contains major spoilers for this week's Daredevil #21, and recent developments in Amazing Spider-Man.***

 

Updated, 12/19: The new Superior Spider-Man made a surprise debut in the recently released Daredevil #21 — three weeks before Superior Spider-Man #1 — and we talked to Marvel senior editor Stephen Wacker, who works on both books, about the appearance.

Newsarama: Steve, was it deliberately planned to have Superior Spider-Man first appear here — out before Superior #1 and ASM #700 — as something of a tease for what's coming next, or is it just what ended up making the most sense, schedule-wise? Obviously the brief dialogue in that scene serves to fuel further speculation of who's under the mask.

Stephen Wacker: OK…ya wanna see how the sausage is made? Sure! Anything to steal a headline from new Vertigo Comics Executive Editor Shelly Bond (Congratulations, Shelly!)!

It went like this, Waid and I had planned for Superior Spidey to show up in January's Daredevil issue #22. So that was set all along.

When Waid wrote DD 21 though, he had Spidey appear in a short sequence at the end, teeing up the next issue. It made a good amount of story sense, so rather than freak out and rework everything, I spoke with Slott (who's tight with Waid from back when they both worked on Spidey) and he helped make it work so that Daredevil gave us the first in-story glimpse of Superior.

I'll warn people though it is a pretty minor glimpse. Waid and Samnee carefully crafted it so that you could read it as either Amazing or Superior Spidey.

 

Nrama: Also, since Superior Spidey is making a full appearance in Daredevil #22, and looks to be appearing in several other Marvel books in the near future including Journey Into Mystery, how important within Marvel is spreading the new Spider-Man around in other titles, to help establish him within the Marvel Universe as a whole? Seeing him pop up in other places would seem to solidify the fact that this is a big deal not just in the Spidey books, but Marvel in general.

Wacker: I don't know that we made a conscious effort to showcase Superior. Basically you'll see Spidey across the line as much as you normally do within a given month, but as this is our new status quo, when you do see him it will be the new "Superior" Spidey.

There will still be a couple months of "Amazing" Spidey appearances here and there probably since our books don’t operate on a strict "day-and-date" continuity, but over the next few weeks all the books should catch up with what Slott and [Ryan] Stegman are setting up in Superior Spider-Man #1.

Original story: A week before the release of Amazing Spider-Man #700 and three weeks before Superior Spider-Man #1, the Superior Spider-Man has made his official first appearance — confirmed by Dan Slott himself on Twitter — in a somewhat surprising place: Daredevil #21 by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee, out now.

The new Spidey appears, in shadows, in the last scene of the issue, talking to regular Daredevil supporting character Kirsten McDuffie. A full Superior Spider-Man guest appearance is slated for next month's Daredevil #22, out on Jan. 16 (preview here).

The identity of the Superior Spider-Man has not yet been officially revealed, and isn't spoiled in Daredevil #21, though the character's dialogue may provide clues. In last month's Amazing Spider-Man #698, it was revealed that Doctor Octopus has switched bodies with Peter Parker, though Marvel has not publicly confirmed whether or not that will be the Superior Spider-Man status quo. Last week, it was reported that Amazing Spider-Man #700 had leaked online 13 days before its release date.

A character debuting in a cameo at the end of an issue is something of a tradition at Marvel, with the most famous example likely being Wolverine's brief appearance at the end of 1974's Incredible Hulk #180.

Amazing Spider-Man #700, the oversized final-for-now issue of the series with a lead story written by Slott and illustrated by Humberto Ramos, is out on Dec. 26 (preview here). Superior Spider-Man #1, from Slott and artist Ryan Stegman, is scheduled for release on Jan. 9 (interview here).

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