One of the most interesting aspects of Spider-Man at the moment is just how many Peter Parker stories are being told by Marvel. Some would consider it overkill, but with the Spider-Verse coming under the threat of Shathra and her Wasps, Peter having to ally with Morbius, and the webhead learning just how Norman Osborn would be as a partner, there are some dynamic stories being crafted.
Deadly Neighborhood Spider-Man is another example, delving into the psyche of Pete in one of his most mind-bending adventures ever. It’s all due to him finding a relic that’s having some sort of supernatural effect. Deadly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2 (by B. Earl, Juan Ferreyra, and VC’s Travis Lanham) raises the stakes in a massive way, though, by turning Pete into something similar to an Infinity Stone, teasing a scary future to come.
Spider-Man Gets Connected to a Mystical Rock
This journey has Pete in Pasadena, running the academic route with a fellow scientist named Crystal. However, after finding a mysterious rock at the mansion he’s staying in, Pete begins hallucinating. He’s unsure what’s real and what’s not, all while becoming plagued by the Demon Bear that often feuds with Dani Moonstar and the New Mutants. Pete seems to think he’s got a handle on things after an artist, Ada, helps him understand what the spirals on the rock mean.
Sadly, when Pete wakes up, thinking his meeting was all a dream, the rock has embedded itself in his chest. It seems this foreshadows him turning into a monstrous wall-crawler, with flaming eyes — something his visions brought to life. Now, in the dream, Ada told Pete this rock connects to existence, and creation and acts as a symmetry point for the entire Multiverse. Thus, if Pete does bond with it, he could become an avatar for creation itself, bending space and time. It’d explain why he’s being prophesied here to find a pocket dimension, where he’ll battle the bear for the fate of all reality.
Spider-Man May Have Become a Pseudo Infinity Stone
Admittedly, it’s a concept Marvel has used already, with Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel being a living, breathing Infinity Stone in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But outside that Space Stone arc, the Infinity Gems in the comics have also had human hosts. Hector Bautista, for example, was a criminal who ended up being the vessel for the Time Stone after they were thought to be destroyed after Infinity Wars. This allowed him to freely use powers of time manipulation.
The point is, these relics were retconned to be sentient, in a sense, so per Ada’s words, the rock could be as well. Ultimately, this would make Pete either a god or something more demonic, as his visions tease, allowing him to tap into power like never before. Hopefully, he’ll honor Uncle Ben’s mantra and be responsible, but with the bear stalking him and Pete apparently a puppet on a string, one can only hope the truth and his potential master don’t use him to inflict mass harm.
