There is little doubt that J.J. Abrams' newest comic book collaboration with his son Henry Abrams is an exciting one for fans. After all, Spider-Man #1 shows us the future for Peter Parker. Unfortunately, it's not a happy one.
WARNING: Spoilers from Spider-Man #1 ahead, proceed with caution.
In Spider-Man #1, we are introduced to a new villain with the odd name Cadaverous who proves to be a little too much for Peter. Although Mary Jane tries to help Peter, she is killed right in front of him by the mysterious baddie. Not surprisingly, the death of MJ forces Peter to give up being Spider-Man so he can be a good father to his son Ben. However, young Ben is haunted by visions of his dead mother, leading to Aunt May showing him his father's old suit.
Does that sound familiar? It's another take on the "women in refrigerators" trope that comic book storylines seem to favor. Women are usually killed in comics to further a male character's storyline. Interestingly, Henry is well aware of this trope and told Entertainment Weekly that they wanted to explore how the tragedy affects more people than just Peter and Ben.
"We understand what some tropes are in superhero origin stories and with giant, mysterious, ominous villains. With this, our hope is to double-down on who these people are and why they do these things," Henry said. "What brings people together in this world? What tears them apart? How do you recover from a tragedy that's so immense? It just doesn't affect one family, it affects a whole city and world who feel the absence of this iconic superhero."
Although the effects of MJ's death are still seen on a personal level in Spider-Man #1, there is a huge chance that we'll get to see its bigger effects in the next issue.
Spider-Man #1 is currently available. The second issue will be released on October 16.
Related: J.J. Abrams' and His Son's Spider-Man Comic Gets Epic Trailer
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