The Spider-Verse expands before it ends in Edge of Spider-Verse #1 preview

The Spider-Verse is set to expand its web this summer, though Marvel and returning writer Dan Slott warn that it won't be for long: The End of the Spider-Verse is slated for later this year, and it will apparently end the multiversal Spider-family for good.

Edge of Spider-Verse #1 cover (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

We'll see...

Beginning in August, Slott will play point guard for a five-issue anthology limited series, Edge of Spider-Verse, which employs the same name as the 2014 anthology series which introduced beloved characters like Ghost-Spider and Spider-Man Noir. 

In the original limited series, creators introduced alternate-Earth variations of Spider-Man, and this new series will also introduce new Spider-characters, as well as "redefine" characters like Araña, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Gwen/Ghost Spider, and Spider-Man: India.

Issue #1 features four stories, 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' starring a new Scottish Spider-Man variant Spider-Laird by Slott and Martin Coccola; 'The Hero Within' starring Araña by Alex Segura and Caio Majado; 'Spider-Rex' starring the new dino-Spider-Man variant of the same name by Karla Pacheco and Pere Pérez; and 'My Dame... My Destiny' starring Spider-Noir by Dustin Weaver and D.J. Bryant.

Check out a lettered preview of pages from each of the four stories along with some additional first look pages.  

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Each issue will then feature new stories by various creative teams starring different Spider-variants, although some stories will be bridged by an overarching saga written by Slott.

New additions to the Spider-Verse canon include classic antagonists with new powers. Night-Spider is a new persona for world-class cat burglar Felicia Hardy, from a world where she got spider-powers instead of Peter. Her costume is designed by Kris Anka. Then there's Hunter-Spider, aka Sergei Kravenoff, created by Mark Bagley, who receives his Spider-powers in an unusual way. 

It's probably best not to get too attached to these new spider characters, however. Marvel and Slott are promising Edge of the Spider-Verse brings the story of the Spider-centric Multiverse to a close and that later in the year readers will see "The End of the Spider-Verse."

Check out a gallery of Edge of Spider-Verse #1 variant covers.

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That said, it seems unlikely that Marvel will totally do away with one of its most successful multiversal properties, especially with the two-part Across the Spider-Verse film production at Sony coming in 2023 and the MCU beginning to pay with multiverses in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But we'll see what Marvel and Slott have up their sleeves.

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Hunter-Spider character design by Mark Bagley (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

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Night-Spider costume design by Kris Anka (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

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Edge of Spider-Verse #3 variant cover by Kris Anka (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

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Spider-Laird character design by Martin Coccolo (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

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Edge of Spider-Verse #2 cover by Josemaria Casanovas (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

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Edge of Spider-Verse #1 will hit shelves August 3, with the rest of the limited series following on a bi-weekly schedule. 

Will these new characters measure up to the weirdest versions of Spider-Man from across the Marvel Comics Spider-Verse?