Warning: SPOILERS for Marvel’s Voices
Marvel’s Voices #1 (inspired by the podcast of the same name) highlights how the work of creators of color has helped build the Marvel Universe, but in his contribution to the anthology, writer and accomplished actor James Monroe Inglehart (Marvel Presents) actually transforms it by reinventing a crucial aspect of Spider-Man’s origins. Joined by artist Ray-Anthony Height (Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, X-Men: Wakanda Forever), their story “Inspiration” brings even the most dedicated Spidey fans something a little new and different.
It is safe to say that Spider-Man has had a few origin stories in his time, spanning a variety of different universes and realities. Honestly, what superhero hasn’t? Though especially on the big screen, Spider-Man has perhaps gotten more than his fair share in the past few decades. Once an essential part of the Spider-Man mythology, even Peter Parker is no longer a requirement of the Spider-myth having passed the torch on to characters like Miles Morales. Generally, however, the story still begins with great power, great responsibility, and a very important spider…
That very important spider is the focus of Inglehart’s “Inspiration,” and she completely changes the way readers might think about Spider-Man’s origins. Apparently, when she bit both Peter Parker and Cindy Moon, empowering them with her arachnid abilities to become Spider-Man and Silk respectively, the spider also absorbed their human abilities. This not only made her larger and endowed her with Cindy and Peter’s great intellects but also gave her, in her own words, “the ability to be more than I am.” While scientists initially named her Hulk-Spider (or Spider-Hulk upon further aesthetic reflection), when given a chance the spider herself chose the name, Goddess. (The new member of the Spider-Family was not the only “Goddess” that Inglehart worked with given his shoutout to the brilliant mind behind Marvel’s Voices, Angélique Roché, that in retrospect gave fans a little pre-release easter egg.)
Strangely enough, there is some precedence in the far reaches of the Spider-verse for this transformation. (At least more than the “Spider-Hulk” connection, which has its own kind of backstory). Debuting in Marvel Tails Starring Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, a one-shot set on “Larval Earth,” Spider-Ham was a spider that was bitten by May Porker, an irradiated anthropomorphic pig, that gave him superpowers. While there are some notable differences, this story does have an unwitting spider becoming a strange kind of superhero through a chaotic mixture of radiation and a well-placed bite. Unlike Spider-Ham, Goddess retains her spider form and, unfortunately for criminals, some of her more spider-like instincts.
Goddess has the potential to either cure fans of there fear of spiders or further intensify it. Thus far, it seems like the verdict could go either way, but the spider’s well-sketched emotional journey is definitely stirring. The implications of her creation through the dual transference of powers has the potential to ripple out across the breadth of the Spider-verse. Are there other super-spiders like Goddess? She got a double dose from Spider-Man and Silk, but would bites from characters like Spider-Gwen change the effects of the two-way transformation? Or, is it only the particularities of this universe that allowed her to even exist?
Goddess is a fascinating character, and it would not be a huge leap to imagine many fans wanting to see her again beyond her one-shot debut (again like Spider-Ham). Either way, Spider-Man once again has a new origin story, and Inglehart and Height have given Spidey fans and creators alike some serious “Inspiration.”
Marvel Voices #1 is on sale at your local comics shop and online.
More: The REAL Reason Spider-Man Villains Are Based on Animals
