For a brief period, Otto Octavius, Doctor Octopus, stole the body of Peter Parker and became the Superior Spider-Man in one of the web-slinger's most noteworthy stories in recent memory. Despite his villainous impulses, Otto slowly learned how to be a hero befitting the name of Spider-Man. Eventually, Otto even sacrificed his consciousness to restore Peter Parker, finally admitting his own weaknesses.
However, that wasn't the end of Doc Ock's legacy or the Superior Spider-Man. Now, CBR is taking a look back at how the character transformed into Elliot Tolliver and (tried) to become a real hero.
Despite the peace that Otto Octavius found during his final moments at the end of Superior Spider-Man, the android containing his identity served as his back- up of his chaotic mind. He reconstructed the Living Brain with his personality, ensuring that some version of him would continue no matter what happened to him. No matter what lessons Otto learned from being Spider-Man, this version remained in the background, eventually surviving Otto's sacrifice to try and threaten Peter Parker.
Otto survived by changing bodies, shifting from the Living Brain to a small Octo-Probe. This same mind eventually gained a brief copy of Otto Octavius' body during the Clone Conspiracy. Ultimately, Otto escaped and evaded the mental manipulations of the Jackal to steal a perfect clone body of Peter Parker. This allowed Otto to create a perfect duplicate of his time as the Superior Spider-Man, albeit as the new form of Doctor Octopus.
Otto quickly remade a name for himself as a villain, fighting alongside HYDRA for Secret Empire. Otto tried to use the organization to his best use, even briefly utilizing the terrorist group as his glorified henchmen. The plan worked for a brief period. But the partnership was doomed from the start, with Otto barely holding out while taking orders until he was forced to deal with the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Trying to take control of the relatively Parker Industries, Otto wasn't prepared for Peter to destroy everything to save the lives of his employees and prevent Otto from utilizing the resources of Parker Industries for Hydra. This kept all of their organizations out of the hand Hydra and forced Otto into hiding following the events of the crossover.
Otto won the favor of the other spider heroes however during the events of "Go Down Swinging." When the Red Goblin, a Carnage-powered Norman Osborn, targeted Peter Parker's loved ones, Otto was one of the people called in by J. Jonah Jameson as reinforcements. Otto proved crucial to protecting May Parker, the woman he was formally engaged to. Otto actually ended up on the verge of death in the act, but made sure to protect May. Seeing hope in Otto and wanting to repay him for his actions, Peter gave Otto a "free pass": he could recreate himself as ever as he wanted to. So long as he remaining on the right side of the law, Peter wouldn't hunt him down. With that, Otto fled New York, wounded but inspired.
Surprising to everyone, Otto tried to live to this standard even when he moves across the country. Relocating to San Francisco, Otto tried to make himself into a hero. Although he was initially confronted by other Hydra agents as Armin Zola, Otto fully committed to a new identity. Adopting the name Elliot Tolliver, Otto converted fully to become a "spider-hero" and became the Superior Spider-Man of the west coast.
As he's served more as a hero however, this Spider-Man has become genuinely noble. He's learned how to confront his affections for Anna Maria Marconi, without trying to force her to change. He accepts that his deception to her means she can never trust him, and he's trying to become a better person as a result. Even younger heroes like Miles Morales and Gwenpoole have had an impact him in Spider-Geddon and War of the Realms respectively. As Elliot, the former villain is truly learning to be a hero, even if that means he also gets his own villains, such as a multiversal version of Norman Osborn who has a grudge against Otto.
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