As part of Marvel's "Next Big Thing" at San Diego Comic-Con, it's revealed that X-Men, villains-turned-heroes like Venom, and even new heroes-turned-villains with Ben Reilly, Marvel's Dark Web event promises to be far bigger than the Webslinger's normal crossovers.
Currently in the Marvel Universe, Spider-Man has been adjusting to a bleak new status quo following a major event that has yet to be fully revealed. Forced to make a difficult decision in the 6 months between the Spider-Man Beyond run and the current run from Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr., Peter Parker is currently estranged from Mary Jane Watson who surprisingly now has a family of her own. Even Aunt May has been having tensions with Peter. Meanwhile, Spider-Man has been fighting Tombstone in an attempt to prevent New York's next big gang war.
Keeping that in mind, the darkness will seemingly continue based on Marvel's new SDCC announcement. Coming in November of 2022, Spider-Man will be caught in the all-new Dark Web crossover from Zeb Wells. While very little info was revealed in the way of story details, promotional art from artist Ryan Stegman showcases the ensemble cast of heroes and villains who will be involved. Wearing his new armored and yellow-eyed suit courtesy of a reformed Green Goblin in issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man swings into the forefront opposite Chasm, the dark version of Peter's clone Ben Reilly who transformed into a new spider-foe following the end of Spider-Man Beyond. However, the two Webslingers are also ed by Venom, Black Cat, and Mary Jane Watson. The newly elected X-Men team will is featured as well along with Spider-Man's Amazing Friends Iceman and Firestar.
While the inclusion of mutants and symbiotes is all very exciting for what's effectively a t Spider-Man/X-Men crossover, the X-villain at the center of the artwork is incredibly intriguing: Madelyne Pryor, the clone of Jean Grey. As was teased in this year's Free Comic Book Day with Spider-Man/Venom #1, Chasm and Madelyne are seemingly planning to torment both Peter Parker and Jean Grey. As such, it looks like the clone duo will become a big enough threat to warrant the X-Men ing with Spider-Man to take them both down.
While Dark Web is still a few months out, this new Marvel preview at SDCC is an exciting first look at what's to come for Peter Parker and his mutant allies. It will be lots of fun to see Spider-Man forces with the X-Men who are based in New York once more rather than their island nation of Krakoa. Likewise, it will be exciting to see how Venom factors into the story as it will likely be the new Venom host Dylan Brock. Marvel's Dark Web begins with a prelude issue releasing this November.
