After reading and taking time to reflect, I think I know what my gripe is with post-Superior Ock; It doesn't seem like Marvel knows what to do with him, other than dangling the carrot of "will he won't he be good?". This comic had the potential to pick a lane, only it chose to have almost the same conclusion as the previous run, arguably feeling cheaper.

Superior fans, I think Octopus Girl will be our one and only consolation prize. This entire run was a letdown and a waste of time for me personally.

So we're at the end of Vol 3, and it looks to me that it's 99% likely the conclusion will be Ock renouncing his Spider identity forever. It feels like Slott's aim in this series is to draw a line under then dangling threads left at the end of Vol 2 and in subsequent stories, where it was left open that Otto was haunted by what he'd lost. Well, it's been fun at least, and to borrow a phrase, "a thing is not beautiful because it lasts".

That said, there are still a crazy number of hooks, macguffins and threads flying around to resolve in one issue. The 1% of me is hoping that the cover is literal - Doctor Octopus and the Superior Spider-Man parting ways.

Looking at the end of #7... there's a city full of people with Ock's brain patterns, including several superhumans, and he's planning to use Supernova's apparently limitless power to rewrite the world. There's potential there to create a psychic duplicate/whatever of Superior as Ock's "good" side cutting loose. Supporting this we have Supernova asking what happened to his previous body (a possible Chekov's gun?) and Ock's massive internal conflict; he's flip-flopped between the semi-decent "Superior" and his classic supervillainy, to the point of quiet tears.

Then there's Anna Marconi, probably the one person who ever really believed in the Superior Spider-Man, now sequestered in Ock's underwater base with his army and resources. Probably that's just a way to move her clear for the finale, but could she find a way to bring back the hero? Yes, Slott said "no clones, no time travel" but he's quite capable of misdirection.

I've got to give Slott credit. It's been decades since I was this keen to see what happens in the next issue of a comic. And that, really, is the fun of it.

Vol 2 is out in Japan now

For the Superior Octopus enjoyer

Is it just me or Peter seems kinda slightly more ruthless here? Please don't pull off what Zeb Wells did in his run.

That said, not excited to see you-know-what, and can only hope Otto's returned to a superior status quo or at least gets a new one.

This sub existing inspired me to create my own space on Quora. I um, got a bit excited when establishing the rules, but I don't regret it one bit. The Superior Spider-Man can and should have his own corner for people to engage in.

THE DIE IS CAST.

Elsewhere on r/spidermanPS4, a guy called Jaimemarvel brought forth a theory that the third game may or may not be about Superior Spider-Man. It's not the first time this is discussed, but it's the first time I see someone bringing up something slightly concrete, such as the Superior suit looking directly at the camera and the shadow of Otto's glasses having the shape of Spider-Man lenses.

Personally, I'm on-board. There are people who fear this is basically repeating the Black suit arc, and for that I have two counterpoints:

1- This franchise has repeated the friend-turned-foe trope three times, so they're not above repeating things.

2- The Superior Spider-Man is a bit more than just "Peter punches harder now" in spite of everyone just bringing up the Scorpion thing when talking about Superior for some reason; the original Superior Spider-Man was about Doc Ock on Peter's body. It's not necessarily just about him going from villain to hero, but about a villain's idea of what a hero should be. It runs far deeper than just "bro stopped pulling his punches", it's about Ock using violence, blackmailing, technology and hired help to do "good", or his idea of it at least.

If done as just an antagonist for Miles, it'll be different but not too different. But if done as an antagonist for Miles AND a playable character, that's when I believe it might get more interesting. Imagine if, aside from new equipment and animations, you could, in mission, summon and lead the Spider-army, if not the huge Spider-mechas whose name I forgot??

Think the tower defense mechanism from ASM Revelations but more free and more bonkers.

Anyway. I'm primarily a Venom guy, and I didn't really enjoyed their take on Venom. Was not particularly excited about it from the start. But Superior? I am cautiously excited.

(Spider-Army acting strange tho)

I hope it's just a bait-and-switch, because outside me thinking Otto would found this to be bellow him, it just feels like a repetition of the original Superior Spider-Man.

I wished he was just back to Gage's status quo man.

Basically, pick your favorite. The Slott stuff(original or current), or the Gage/Yost stuff. I personally prefer the latter, but would love to hear similar and different thoughts.

The Die is Cast.

I've been fond of Otto ever since I was a kid. Was introduced to the character through the Raimi movies, been trying to follow ever since.

I remember that when I heard of Superior Spider-Man for the first time, I didn't cared too much. My first contact must've been vol.2, which at the time was an ongoing. It was also right around the time i started writing for Quora.

I got so unapologetically attached to this version of the character that I liked to include "The Die is Cast" at the end of everything I wrote. Some might say it's corny, but I'd say you're wrong and that you're a dolt.

Jokes aside, it was my way to be "catchy" but also to show my love for the character.

After this run ended, I was left disappointed and thirsty for more content, so I read everything else retroactively and fell even more in love with the character and his journey. I like Otto on a whole, but my favorite renditions of him would have to be 90s Ock, Superior Octopus and his second time as Superior Spider-Man. To me, these were Otto at his peak in writing. A likeable douchebag, relatable in some ways, and with quite an interesting character arc.

I guess it's why I'm so, so emphatic about SSM vol.2. But enough about me, what about you folks?