One of Marvel’s most popular characters may not be long for this world.
The comic book publisher teased an upcoming storyline that will kick-off in 2011 called “The Death of Spider-Man” yesterday. Plotted by Brian Michael Bendis, the story will take place in Marvel’s Ultimate line of comics and could be the death of Spider-Man.
Bendis, who penned the story with Mark Millar, said Tuesday that the story is a “bold endeavor” and will span several issues. But on whether Spider-Man will be killed or not, Bendis and the company were mum.
“As a group and as individuals, we have made a conscious effort to create stories this year that no one has ever seen before,” he said in a statement. “I am very, very proud to be a part of this story line and very proud of Marvel for even attempting such a bold endeavor.”
The Ultimate line has a history of permanently killing off characters, including Wasp, Magneto and Wolverine. Whether this will extend to Peter Parker and Spider-Man remains to be seen. Right now, Marvel is being coy about details for the upcoming storyline.
Fans of Spider-Man need not worry much, though, because the Ultimates imprint is separate from Marvel’s bigger universe and whatever fate may befall Ultimate Spider-Man won’t count in the pages of the other series, including Amazing Spider-Man.
Mark Paniccia, senior editor at Marvel Entertainment, said the story is part of the Ultimate imprint’s mission to keep characters fresh but reinvented, updated and even killed off to advance story lines in the Ultimate universe, which was created 10 years ago and has been a best-seller for Marvel.
“We’re excited because this let’s us show the world how serious we are about change in the Ultimate universe … that we can blow up the status quo and turn everything on its ear like no one could’ve predicted,” he said.
The story is set to hit comic store shelves in February.
The story will begin with a prelude in Ultimate Spider-Man #153 and then crossover to a new Ultimate Avengers vs New Ultimates mini-series. No word yet on how long the storyline will be.
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