WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Heroes Reborn #2, by Jason Aaron, Dale Keown, Carlos Magno, Edgar Delgado and VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.
The Squadron Supreme has always been something of a thinly veiled analogue to the Justice League within the Marvel Universe, including the team's very own winking riff on Superman through Hyperion. The last survivor of a dying planet, Hyperion was sent to Earth and raised under the civilian identity of Mark Milton, while receiving a strong, moral upbringing among the humans. And as Milton created the superhero mantle of Hyperion and leads the Squadron Supreme of America to protect the Heroes Reborn reality, Peter Parker takes on a familiar role alongside Hyperion in this rewritten universe.
Hyperion is alerted by Reed Richards and Ben Grimm that the various super-powered figures and monsters he has imprisoned within the Negative Zone have escaped back to the main Marvel Universe as the extra-dimensional realm has grown increasingly unstable. Among the characters that Hyperion rescues from certain harm from the rampaging escapees is a bookish Peter Parker atop the Daily Bugle building in Manhattan. And in this version of reality, Peter never became the Amazing Spider-Man at all, but stayed the meek, typical young man with a penchant for thick glasses and sweater vests.
More than just a random civilian rescued by Hyperion, Peter is mentioned by the superhero as being something of a figure that regards Hyperion as his pal. Hyperion notes that apart from being the unluckiest man alive, given the sheer amount of times Peter inconveniently finds himself in danger, and a photojournalist, he's actually a pretty good kid. And while Hyperion's day job doesn't place him as an investigative reporter and co-worker with Peter, it certainly provides a dark echo to the iconic dynamic between Superman and Jimmy Olsen as likeliest the closest thing Hyperion has to a human pal as he protects the world.
The Heroes Reborn reality's version of Peter Parker appears to be afraid of bugs and insinuates that he's had close calls with bugs before, as a nod to his arachnid-fueled destiny in the regular Marvel Universe. As Peter is being rescued, it is strongly implied he nearly suffers a spider bite, potentially as reality is trying to correct itself to how it back was. This also mirrors Peter's character arc in the alternate reality miniseries Marvel 1602, with an Elizabethan Era Peter narrowly avoiding being bitten by an enchanted spider multiple times over the course of the story before finally receiving the spider bite at the end, leading to his superhero destiny continuing in subsequent sequels and spinoffs.
In addition to having no powers, Peter has no memories of his past life and superhero career but, with Blade restoring the memories of his fellow heroes in this altered reality, this may soon change. Hyperion is about to lose his only pal as the heroes inevitably rise up to overthrow the Squadron Supreme of America and restore reality, with Peter potentially getting that spider bite that will make him a webslinging superhero once again. And while Hyperion hasn't shown any signs of being outmatched by any of the heroes or villains that stand in his way, Spider-Man has never been a hero that backs down from the long odds even if he has been relegated to being a poor man's Jimmy Olsen.
0 Comments