Major Character Returns in Amazing Spider-Man #18

Everyone is getting in on the Clone Conspiracy action.

By Jesse Schedeen

More key developments unfolded in Amazing Spider-Man this week as the series continues its buildup to The Clone Conspiracy.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man #18!

Marvel has made little secret of the fact that Otto Octavius will be returning during Clone Conspiracy. This issue took a step back to explore what the former Doctor Octopus has been up to lately and how he laid the groundwork for his resurrection during the Spider-Verse crossover. Otto currently exists as a digitized backup stored within the memory banks of his old robot butler, The Living Brain. That backup was created at the climax of Spider-Verse, after Otto's discovery that he was doomed to lose possession of the body he stole from Peter Parker. Because of that, this version of Otto has no memory of what transpired during the final months of Superior Spider-Man.

Otto's mission is now to transfer his consciousness into a new host body and resume his old life with Anna Maria Marconi. Unfortunately for Otto, he currently has three problems. One is that only his old body or Peter Parker's can accept this digitized consciousness. The second is his realization that Anna Maria doesn't love Otto Octavius, only the man she she knew when Otto had control of Peter's body.

Art by RB Silva. Marvel Comics.

The third and final problem is Otto's discovery of how exactly he died in the finale of Superior Spider-Man. That Otto sacrificed himself after finally learning the crucial lesson about power and responsibility. This Otto never had that epiphany, and he's none too happy to learn that he threw his new life away.

This issue wraps with Otto destroying his robot body and slinking away to track down the Jackal. His hope is that by joining forces with Jackal and sharing in his new cloning technology, Otto Octavius can truly live again. One way or another, it looks as though Doctor Octopus is just one more villain Spider-Man will have to contend with during the course of The Clone Conspiracy.

If you haven't already, check out our review of The Amazing Spider-Man #18. And also check out our recent interview with writer Dan Slott and editor Nick Lowe about what to expect from The Clone Conspiracy.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

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