https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxn_KQ_lP8J/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_linkSo I'm at a bit of a crossroads. I am essentially 98% done with my massive "Seven Groups of Seven" Spider-Man collection (which is already closer than I thought I'd get) and with Spider-Ma'am completed I'm officially down to one final figure. As things stand, that open slot is for a Spider-Man (freed up by me moving Ultimate Peter to the Symbiotes) but I can move some figures around to make room in either the Superiors or Spider-Women as well. I have a few ideas on what I'd LIKE to do, but they vary from terrifying to boring to problematic and I'm very torn. I doubt anyone will respond, but I'm going to lay things out there for the sake of my sanity.
Sp//drIf you had told me last year that this was not only a character I was considering for the last spot on my shelf, but the top contender among other very good options, I'd have laughed in your face. She was the character I was least excited to see in the lead up to Into the Spider-Verse, as I have no love of the character in the comics (Sp//Dr? Really? Really with that name? Come on now), the suit design is ugly, and I have zero attachments to Evangelion or any other mech anime the character's creation was attempting to homage. And, to be honest... I still don't like her, even in ItSV. She's a walking anime and asian stereotype, who I think only works in the film because, like Noir, she's SO different from a lot of Spider-people that she stands out and injects the film with a style it didn't already have with the other characters.
But at the same time... there's something to be said for the fact that she's the ONLY character from that film I don't have represented. And while I do think some of the decisions border on questionable... dang if I'm not drawn to including her on the shelf for the same reasons. I've mentioned this before, but part of the reason I did Ultimate Peter in the first place was because I saw no reason to have two versions of the same costume next to each other. Peni/Sp//dr is different than anything else on the shelf, and wildly so.
However... there's still a problem. The comic design of Sp//dr is still garbage, and that's what the ML figure is based on. And you'd think "well, they made toys for the ItSV movie, it was popular, surely there's a Sp//dr that's at least PASSABLE right?" but you, my friend, would be a fool.
THIS is the monstrosity that is the movie toy. The paintjob is awful, the proportions DON'T match the film, the fun, expressive digital screen is replaced with generic Spider-face that's sculpted in, all on top of the fact that this thing is apparently 9.5 inches, meaning it would TOWER over all my other figures. The amount I would have to do to this monstrosity just to make it passable (cutting away and resculpting most of the torso, detaching and trimming down the limbs then adding clear blue separators and devising a complex system of magnets to better match how it works in the film...) and having Sp//dr as my final figure makes me feel like someone running a marathon and be feet from the finish line, only for the finish line to suddenly move 2 miles further ahead.
Spider-Man: IndiaSo before Spider-Ham took his place, Pavitr Prabhakar was going to be my last "Spider-Man." While it might seem insane that I'd place him above the more well known Ham (and, in hindsight, it kinda was) Pavitr was, even among an army of Peter Parkers, probably one of the smartest Spider-Men in Spider-verse, bar none. I also loved his self-aware discussion with UK concerning all the Parker variants. And as I've mentioned in the past, there's not a ton of Middle Eastern superheroes period, so having one I like and who had a major contributing role to SV seemed like a no brainer.
However, what ultimately led me to move away from the character is still relevant. For one thing, his design is... well, it's Spider-Man with different pants. With classic Red and Blue Peter already on the shelf, not to mention sever others aping his color scheme, I don't feel like Prabhakar would be sufficiently unique to stand out. Plus, since there isn't a figure right now, I'd have to customize him... and while I'd really, REALLY rather not customize the last figure, if I'm gonna do it, it'll be for something more creatively satisfying than Spider-Man with new pants.
Spider-PunkSo I'm gonna be honest... I do not understand why this version of Spider-Man caught on as much as it did. Before the official figure came out, I saw more customs of this spike headed uber-punk than of most other Spider-verse characters. And like... I hate the spiked mohawk thing (it's not even like Hobbie has a mohawk. Dude's got a huge afro that must be a nightmare to fit in that mask, ESPECIALLY with those dumb spikes), I hate the denim jacket over spandex, I hate the Air Jordan tennis shoe nonsense.
But despite how awful I find the costume, I don't hate the character. There's a charm in Hobbie's in your face, stick it to the man because they control the whole world shtick. As a character and as a foil for other Spider-people, he works. And I DO already have a figure of him, even if I only bought it for a Lizard piece (I was considering using the shoes for another custom but I went a different direction with that one). But... MAN do I hate his stupid, stupid costume. It doesn't help that it's even more like Peter's costume than Pavitr's, at a glance anyway.
Honorable Mentions A couple characters even less in the running but are still up there are Assassin Spider-Man and Mangaverse Spider-Man. The former was going to be the last of my Superiors before the six armed Norman Osborn Spider-man came in and pushed most of the others out of his way (for the record, SV2's Spiders-man is only not a contender because his costume is JUST Peter's with spiders inside and around it). That said, his costume was kinda boring and he was only really a contender because he was in Otto's inner circle, but he's barely a character in the story and his design is kinda plain. Mangaverse fairs better in that regard, with a more unique take on the design... but because there is no figure we again run into that hole where if I'm going to put in a level of effort, I'd rather go all in on the insanity that is Sp//dr.
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