Follow Marvel Comics' big Spider-Man panel from NYCC 2023
Get live updates from Marvel's Amazing Spider-Man - Gang War panel at New York Comic Con
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It's New York Comic Con once again, and Team Popverse is running around the Javits Center making sure we get all of the most important news to you. And, in this case of some of the more exciting panels, that means bringing you live updates from inside the room. Which room? The room where Marvel Comics' Amazing Spider-Man - Gang War panel is taking place on Friday October 13, 2023 at 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM Eastern!
The official Marvel Comics panel description reads: "Executive Spider-Editor Nick Lowe web-slings by to host a scintillating symposium on everyone’s favorite wall-crawler – and the latest mess of trouble he’s gotten himself into in the thrilling Gang War comics crossover! A war has erupted among the gang lords of the Big Apple, and only Spidey’s hand-picked team of heroes (including Miles Morales, She-Hulk, Daredevil, Spider-Woman, and Luke Cage) can stop them. So join Nick, Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski, and an array of other arachnid aficionados including Zeb Wells (Amazing Spider-Man), Erica Schultz (Daredevil: Gang War), and Greg Pak (Deadly Hands of Kung Fu: Gang War), to get the lay of the land for this show-stopper of a crossover! PLUS, stay to the end for an exclusive giveaway!"
Sounds like exciting stuff, no? But if you can't get into the room yourself, don't worry. You'll get any amazing announcements about the Gang War crossover live if you follow along with our liveblog below.
Popverse will be providing wall-to-wall coverage of New York Comic Con 2023, with an all-star crew of writers, editors, and video producers there all four days (and nights), as well as in advance of the show. You can follow along to this coverage as well as the panels we're streaming with our NYCC Popverse coverage guide.
...and that's a wrap! Thanks again for joining us!
Why isn't Moon Knight in Gang War?
"You can't join in the Gang War if you're dead," Nick Lowe, alluding to the upcoming death of Moon Knight storyline.
Panel is asked about their favorite dark versions of Spider-Man.
Lowe says Spiders-Man...the pile of spiders that share Peter Parker's conciousness.
C.B. says Spider-Ramen.
(both of those are on Popverse's weirdest Spider-Man list)
Will we see the consequences of Mary Jane's powers if she gets three skulls on her Jackpot slot?
"We'll have to wait and see if she gets lucky...or unlucky," Nick Lowe
He says Celeste has some cool ideas for MJ's powers that will be explored in the Jackpot book.
Any plans for Kaine?
"That is an interesting character. There are plans afoot," Zeb Wells
Spider-Woman asks how heartbreaking things will be on a scale 1-10.
Ellie Pyle says Steve's script "get it right"
Fan asks about Big Wheel....
"If you put Big Wheel on Gang War, everyone knows who is going to win," Lowe.
Kid makes the audience and panel laugh when they say "AIM makes very Advanced Idoitic Mistakes!"
Zeb says the kid has better ideas than he does.
Kid asks if Venom or Thanos will be in Gang War, Zeb says no.
C.B. jumps in, reminding the audience that Peter has had mulitple girlfriends, and it's all part of the roller coaster.
Next question is also a Peter and Mary Jane shipping questions...
Why did you break them? Fan calls it "taunting fans"
"It's a drama. Things happened. The unexpected has to happen, or you get bored," Nick Lowe
Will Spider-Man and Mary Jane get back together?
"Whatever the answer to that question is, you will have to pay $4.99 to see," Zeb Wells
Lowe argues that foreshadowing too much takes away the element of surprise.
The idea to kill and bring Kamala back came from a Marvel retreat, and Nick felt there was no bigger stage than Amazing Spider-Man.
"We didn't know this when we put her in Amazing Spider-Man #7," Nick
Fan asks why the Kamala Khan death wasn't foreshadowed. He felt it wasn't planned well.
"It's a balence wanting to plan, but then allowing for ideas," Zeb Wells.
He goes on to explain that you have to allow for organic ideas and things building.
"Zeb and I when we planned out ASM, it was around the time the last Kamala book ended its run. We were both fans of her, so we wanted to put her in Oscorp," Nick Lowe
SECOND QUESTION IS ALSO BEN REILLY
Lots of clone fans in the house. Fan asks if we will see Ben Reilly again soon. Wells promises in the next year.
Lowe said it was the plan "from the beginning."
"I don't know if I'm completely comfortable calling him a villain, to be honest," Nick
"What can we say with two Peters? We're not done with the Ben Reilly story. What we have is a Peter Parker who doesn't have Uncle Ben's lessons or Aunt May's nurturing," Zeb Wells
Starting with a Ben Reilly question. I love it! Spicy.
Fan asking why Ben became a villain again.
Questions and answer time!
WHO WILL TAKEOVER NEW CITY?
A graphic has the various suspects, which is a who's who of Marvel crime lords.
My money is on Kingpin. It would be a cool tie-in with the stuff happening in the X-Men books.
Spider-Man Unlimited #19 (the digital Infinity Comic) will be a Gang War tie-in featuring Spider-Boy.
It will be written by PReeti Chhibber (I LOVE HER STUFF) with art by E.J. Su.
Spider-Boy will be defending his home at the F.E.A.S.T. Center.
Jackpot #1 talk now.
The series will be written by Celeste Bronfman, who Zeb Wells met in the She-Hulk writers room. He introduced her to Nick Lowe, who was impressed by the backup stories she wrote.
"A lot of times when people try to use supervillain societies for good, things go wrong," Pak.
Shang-Chi will have problems with heroes and villains.
"The key to war is deception. You won't know who is deceiving who until it's too late," Pak
Pak reminds us of Shang Chi's new status quo. He's now in charge of his dad's old weapons society.
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1 by Greg Pak and Caio Majado drops in December 2023.
Reveal of Luke Cage's new costume on Luke Cage: Gang War #2....he's wearing a metal mask that cover part of his face. Will New Yorkers be able to tell that this is their mayor?
"Jess has a history with HYDRA and they found a new way to hurt her, by bringing some of her past into the present," Pyle.
Spider-Man #2 will kick off her Gang War tie-in.
Ellie Pyle reveals that issue one puts Jess against HYRDA drug runners, which puts her on a warpath going into Gang War.
Daredevil: Gang War #1 by Erica Schultz and Sergio Davila is due in December 2023.
Erica reminds us that Elektra (who is now Daredevil) promised Matt that she wouldn't kill. Gang War will be a big test of that.
Lowe compares it to Dark Web, where different events weave into different books. Miles will have his own Gang War storyline similar to how other heroes did during Dark Web.
Miles will be dealing with Gang War in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #13 and 14.
Brooklyn is a mess, and Miles will be trying to keep it together.
"Non-stop action," Tom Groneman
Lowe assures us that won't happen this time. No Daredevil disguising as Kingpin. He just likes bringing it up.
Nick Lowe reminds everyone of the moment from the 1986 Gang War storyline where Daredevil wore a fat suit to disguise as Kingpin...prompting someone in the audience to say "OH MY GOD" loudly.
(it was me. I said that loudly)
ASM 41 cover reveal...
Kingpin and his wife Typhoid May and Kingpin facing a threat.
ASM 42 cover
New Beetle (?) holding a defeated Tombstone
Lowe and co remind everyone that the cover is an homage to Uncanny X-Men #210, which is also by John Romita Jr.
He invited the audience to guess the title and number.
"Every gang lord has a territory, and they're trying to get as much of it as they possibly can. We're having Johnny draw as much of the chaos as humanly possible," Zeb
He teases that Spider-Man will have an unexpected team-up with a villain.
He also mentions a costume redesign for the Beetle.
Amazing Spider-Man #39 preview pages from John Romita Jr. are being shown now. Absolutely stunning.
Luke will be undercover, and will have to wear a disguise, due to some superhero laws leftover from Fisk's mayoral tenure.
Now we're talking about Luke Cage: Gang War, a mini-series by Rodney Barnes and Ramon F. Bachs.
"We can expect some not-mayoral behavior. What fun is Luke sitting behind a desk? The gang war is going to draw Luke out into the fighting. He's going to get back to his roots. He will not be alone. He will be putting together a team with Jessica Jones, Danny Rand, Cloak and Dagger,"
"We're getting Jess on a mission that is very personal to her," Pyle
"If you read ASM 31, then you know she's being going hard on HYDRA, looking for something, looking for someone," Pyle.
Nick is now talking about the new Spider-Woman series, which launches in November. The room CHEERS.
Series will have the creative team of Steve Foxe and Carola Borelli.
Miles joins the conflict in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #12.
"While Miles has his hands full, there are more neferarous and even more dangerous forces rearing their heads for the gang war," Tom Groneman
Nick also says there are threads in this issue that will play out for Miles in the next year.
"You don't have to read this before you read Amazing Spider-Man #39, but you would be a fool not to," Nick Lowe
This all leads to Spider-Man: Gang War - First Strike #1, by Zeb Wells and Joey Vazquez
"The tempreature is slowly being turned up. This is where we see the fuse lit and explode. People are hurt. Spider-Man relationships are changed. We see the reunion of Spider-Man and Miles after Peter has been doing his own thing for a while. I don't think you will be dissapointed," Zeb
Madelyne Pryor sends demons to call them (Sinister Six) back, and they cause bigger problems.
Lowe says the demon is called the Reposesser. They are seen on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #38.
"While Spider-Man is having this adventure, Gang War bubbles in the background," - Nick Lowe
"He's trying to be the Amazing Spider-Man...very poorly. In this story he's fighting a version of the Sinister Six who are also demons, and who are also very dumb." - Zeb Wells.
"We start leading leading up to it in extreme fashion in Amazing Spider-Man #37 and #38" - Nick Lowe.
The covers displauy on screen, with some Rek-Rap. The audience cheers when Lowe and Wells mention Rek-Rap. People love him!
Zeb reveals that this was been building since Tombstone appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #1 (2022)
Ryan Stegman promo image for Gang War is on display, leading us into a cool Gang War trailer.
C.B. reminds everyone that Iron Man just got married and says "See, Marvel isn't afraid to bring people together."
Some in the audience groan, others laugh. This is C.B.'s second reference to the Spider-Marriage during the con. Yesterday he made a similar joke during the Avengers panel.
Last but not least...editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski is introduced.
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu writer Greg Pak is introduced. Nick asks if he's from Brooklyn and Pak replies "I'm from an undisclosed location in New York City."
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu writer Greg Pak is introduced. Nick asks if he's from Brooklyn and Pak replies "I'm from an undisclosed location in New York City."
Erica Shultz, writer of Daredarevil: Gang War is roasted by Nick for being from New Jersey. She reminds Nick that he's from Chicago.
"Tell me you're at the panel, and I'll sign whatever you've got," Zeb Wells.
Panel being introduced....Ellie Pyle, who is back editing Superior Spider-Man and Spider-Boy.
Tom Groneman, editor Miles Morales: Spider-Man.
Amazing Spider-Man writer Zeb Wells.
"New York Comic Con is Marvel's favorite conventions! Don't tell the other ones," Nick Lowe
"DO WE HAVE ANY SPIDER-MAN FANS OUT THERE," editor Nick Lowe shouts as he unbuttons his shirt to reveal a Spider-Man t underneath.
The panel is coming onstage....I think we're about to begin!
(speaking of Spider-Man, I'll let you all in on a little secret - I had a great interview with Dan Slott earlier today. You'll be seeing it on Popverse in the future!)
If you need a refresher on the events leading up to Gang War, check out this article I wrote.
There have been lots of fun Spider-Verse cosplayers throughout the con. I saw a Spider-Man India with a cup of chai.
Hi everyone! Joshua Lapin-Bertone reporting from the front row of room 409! Getting ready to hear some Spider-Man news! Is everyone looking forward to the gang wear storyline?
