Any longtimeSpider-Manfans would be forgiven for sighing after watching the first trailer forMadame Web.
Not because of itsPG-13 horrortones or soap opera vibes (both familiar parts of superhero comics).
No, they cringe because of the movies big bad, Ezekiel Sims.
For most viewers, the trailer serves as their introduction to Sims.
But fans of the Spider-Man comics might recall him from the days long beforeguys like Pauldrove readers nuts.
Ezekiel Sims debuted inThe Amazing Spider-Man#30 (2001), written byJ.
The spider acted as part of a mystical, supernatural order that put Spider-Man within a larger food chain.
because he became the Spider-Totem, which pulled him into conflict with other types of Totems.
Spider-Man learns this secret history from Sims, a man who had been studying the Totems since young adulthood.
The vampiric Morlun and his family hunt Spider-Totems across the multiverse, feeding on their energy.
However, the shift proved too audacious for most readers.
This storyline finds the Totem overtaking Peter and making him more beastlike, eventually becoming a literal giant Spider.
He gets better, of course, and gains movie-appropriate organic web-shooters in the process.
Fans at the time rejected the premise and eventually, he returned to the familiar status quo.
I promise!).
Madame Webhits theaters on Feb. 16.
