In this issue of The Amazing Spider-Man #65, Peter…quits?
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #65
Writer: Joe Kelly
Artist: CAFU
Main Cover: Mark Bagley
Variant Covers: Elizabeth Torque, Luciano Vecchio, Skottie Young Page Count: 20 pages
Release Date: January 8, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Cyra begins The Amazing Spider-Man #65 by saying that she believes the trials are a waste of time, but it is inevitable. Callix attempts to continue his trial, but Cyra and Peter both shut him down, and they move on. Cyra’s trial seems simple: hold onto her red orb and see its visions until it has nothing left to show. The orb begins by showing him the death of his Aunt May, who dies sometime in the future after being infected with a plague that sweeps the earth. The next is Mary Jane, who dies in a fight against a villain in Peter’s arms with many regrets.
Peter realizes that these deaths are not set in stone, and Cyra confirms this, saying that though he knows everyone has to die, now he can feel it. As Peter sees the deaths of Jameson, Randy, Elizabeth Brant-Leeds, Shay Marken, Felicia Hardy, and Norman Osborn, he begins to wonder what they will leave behind after they’re gone.
It’s the deaths of Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, and Bailey Briggs that push Peter into anger. He chases after Coulson, who has been there for each death, following him from death to death, trying and failing to stop him until his anger gives way to sadness, and he falls to the floor and cries in front of Coulson.
The trial ends, and Cyra begins to apologize, but Callix jumps in, claiming that her distraction worked, and he will tell their father of her help, but he will kill Peter himself. Though Cyra calls out to him, Callix kills Peter, calling for his father to see him. Peter uses a reed and leaves without responding to Coulson speaking to him, and Doctor Strange tells him to redouble his efforts sometime after his revival.
Peter asks why they do any of it, and despite Doctor Strange trying to tell him that he knows that it hurts, but they have to keep going, Peter concludes that they, as people, are meaningless and he quits.
Analysis
The Amazing Spider-Man #65 was a more serious issue than the last one. Though it has some funny moments in the beginning, it’s clear that the story wants you to take it seriously. They make it clear that the deaths may or may not happen the way that Peter sees them during the trial, but it isn’t about the deaths. It’s about the realization that, eventually, memories of everyone will fade. And it makes Peter ask: what’s the point?
This isn’t new for Peter. He’s given up before and carried the weight of a hero and the weight of loss. Almost every superhero has gone through that moment several times in their own stories. We know that the outcome is that he will find his purpose again and return to the trials, but this is still a moment I feel like we needed to see.
This arc has been much more about Peter as a person than Peter as Spider-Man, and this is another one of those moments. He has spent this arc bettering himself, working on his personal life, making time for those he loves, memorizing spells, and preparing for each trial just to be told that none of it matters anyway and that the work he and his friends do will one day be forgotten. I would have been more frustrated if he hadn’t reacted strongly.
The Amazing Spider-Man #65 also draws an interesting parallel between him and Cyra. At the beginning of the trial, she seems apathetic, a huge difference between her and her siblings. She just wants to get the trial over with and return home. It’s almost funny at first, watching Callix do everything he can for another shot at the fight while she wants nothing to do with it. But in the end, as her brother kills Peter while she does nothing to stop him save for calling out to him, you realize that she came to the same conclusion as Peter: that none of it matters. I hope she returns later in the story. Her outlook on the trials, demeanor, and attempts to apologize to Peter make her stand out among her siblings, and she’s the most interesting Scion by far.
I think the one downside of this issue was the deaths themselves. The concept was great, but a couple of things pulled me out of the moment. First, they tell us the deaths ‘may or may not happen.’ I completely understand the importance of not deciding how a character with years of legacy still to come permanently dies. Still, I feel like that was a revelation that could have been saved for later or brought to the reader’s attention in a better way than a cutaway to Peter and Cyra after seeing Mary Jane’s dissatisfaction in the death that Peter sees.
They also put Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, and Bailey Briggs’ deaths in the same event on the same panel. These are meant to be the deaths that break Peter’s resolve, but instead of giving them each a moment and letting Peter’s feelings build, it puts all their deaths during the same event and focuses the rest on Peter’s anger. The shift from anger into despair is done well. It’s just the catalyst for his outburst that I wish was done a little differently.
This issue marks a change in artist, and it shows in every panel. CAFU’s style is more realistic than that of McGuiness’. I enjoy both for different reasons, but the shift worked well for this issue. This issue feels like a wake-up call, a bucket of cold water that snaps you out of the silliness of the last one. Though it was less of a stylistic choice and more of a result of the change in artist, the shift into a more realistic style works with the change of tone. it makes it seem like the story wants to feel more real and human in this moment.
Final Thoughts
The Amazing Spider-Man #65 explores a different side of Peter’s humanity and chooses character over action, but missteps a few times in how it handles the emotional moments.
