Warning! This article contains spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man #89
When Peter Parker finally returns to the role of Spider-Man following his debilitating injuries, he flips his darkest moment by succeeding where he once so tragically failed. Peter was taken out of commission after he went toe-to-toe with the villainous team the U-Foes. The villains put Peter in the hospital and his clone, Ben Reilly, took over as Spider-Man. Now, Peter Parker’s Spider-Man is back in action and with his first act of heroism upon his return, he redeems his most heartbreaking failure.
In Amazing Spider-Man #89 by Patrick Gleason, a new version of the Green Goblin known as the Queen Goblin is terrorizing M.J. as she was working to expose the criminal nature of the Beyond Corporation. In response to the Queen Goblin’s threat, Black Cat springs into action to save M.J. and take the villain down. Before she goes, Black Cat tells Peter Parker not to as she didn’t feel as though he was strong enough to become Spider-Man once again. However, Peter feels he is ready to be a superhero once more and chases after Black Cat while she takes off to fight Queen Goblin, a choice Black Cat is thankful Spider-Man made.
Before Spider-Man arrives at the scene, Black Cat is having trouble taking on Queen Goblin alone, and the villain is eventually able to attack Black Cat while her guard is down and throw her from the window of a skyscraper. Just in the nick of time, Spider-Man shows up and catches Black Cat with his webs and saves her life before she crashes to the ground. This scene played out #121 only with a much better outcome. In that issue, Green Goblin throws Gwen Stacy from atop the George Washington Bridge and Spider-Man tries to catch her with his webs but fails to do so safely and she dies. Gwen Stacy’s death is marked as one of the most tragic events in Spider-Man’s life and is easily his greatest failure as a hero, but now that he is back after his long hiatus, Spider-Man has redeemed that failure and proved to the world that he is ready to jump back into being a superhero once more.
Spider-Man’s redemption this issue becomes even more satisfying not only when considering how he saved Black Cat, but also who he saved her from. The Queen Goblin was created by the Beyond Corporation by taking all of the original Green Goblin’s sins and manifesting them inside a living host, effectively creating the perfect heir to the Goblin mantle since Queen Goblin and Green Goblin share the exact same villainous essence.
Even though Spider-Man couldn’t save Gwen Stacy from the original Green Goblin, he could save Black Cat from the new Green Goblin. While this most recent victory won’t take away the pain Spider-Man felt during his greatest failure, it is an impactful moment that shows he is back better and more focused than ever. Spider-Man flips his darkest ever moment by saving Black Cat where he failed to save Gwen Stacy, marking a moment of ultimate redemption as Peter Parker finally returns.
