Issues 54-59

Hollywood

Learning that a movie is being made about Spider-Man, an irritaded Peter decides to crash the set. At the same time, Dr. Octopus learns of the movie's existance, with his wife serving as a consultant on the film. Both men crash the set, resulting in a fight, with Octavius being the winner. Meanwhile, MJ meets with Gwen at the parker house, elated that her mother kicked out her abusive father. They watch the fight on the TV, with MJ making a susspicious excuse that results in Gwen learning that Peter is Spider-Man. Regaining conciousness, Peter finds himself on a plane to Brazil with Octavius, with the latter toururing the former until the plane lands. Spider-Man is able to trick and defeat Otto, leaving him to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Peter stows away on a plane back to New York and returns home, only to be confronted by Gwen, stil believing the real Spider-Man was the one to kill her father. Peter manages to convince her and barely manages to change back before Aunt May returns from her own trip. Gwen accepts Peter wasn't responsible for her father's death and promises to keep his secret. Now back in S.H.I.E.L.D custody, Octavius is forced to watch his arms being melted by Nick Fury.

Did You Know?

• The scene involving the film set of the Spider-Man movie has two different variations One portrays a knockoff Spider-Man, Arachno-Man, along with fictional director Lloyd Zant and producer Griffin Foster, with the other version being a direct reference to the Raimi trilogy, with Tobey Maguire, Sam Raimi, and Avi Arad taking their respective roles. Spider-Man comments how he loves Evil Dead 2, a film Raimi directed in that version of the scene.
• This arc also shows an actor named Bruce playing the film’s villain Mysterio, one of Spider-Man’s rogues who doesn’t show up until far later. The actor’s name could be a reference to Bruce Cambell, a friend of Sam Raimi’s who plays Ash in the Evil Dead Movies and often cameos in Raimi’s other films, including his Spider-Man films. In a draft for Sam Raimi’s cancelled Spider-Man 4, Bruce Cambell plays Mysterio, with concept art depicting him being arrested by the police, who don't take him seriously.
• When asked about his favorite highlights of the series, artist Mark Bagely said this arc was one of his favorites: "The second Doc Ock storyline I thought was really compelling and fun at the same time. I sometimes feel I can’t draw a straight line, but that arc and the Hobgoblin arc I think were pretty consistent. I thought the Black Cat arc was pretty visually well done. I look back at the first 6 to 9 issues and I sometimes wish I could have another crack at them. I really think I’ve grown as an artist since then - I should hope so, it’s been like 5 years. I’m not really chomping at the bit to do any particular characters, my mind doesn’t work that way. I get off on the stories surrounding whatever characters are brought to play." [Bagely]