Midnight Spider-Man is a 2026 American horror-superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics, based on the character Spider-Man. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and illustrated by ScieTronc, it is one of the first three titles under Marvel's Midnight Universe imprint, which began on October 7, 2026.
Premise A young Peter Parker is transformed into a hideous human-spider hybrid and must now embrace his grotesque new form to fight against those who made him this way.
Characters Characters who appeared in Midnight Spider-Man include Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, and Black Cat.
Publication history In mid-May 2026, Marvel Comics announced the ongoing comic book series Midnight Spider-Man as one of the first three titles under the publisher's then-recently announced Midnight Universe imprint, with Phillip Kennedy Johnson as writer and ScieTronc as illustrator. Johnson said the comic reinvents the story of Peter Parker / Spider-Man transforming into a half-man, half-arachnid hybrid through "a [David] Cronenberg or John Carpenter lens", referring to those filmmakers' respective body horror films, The Fly (1986) and The Thing (1982).
Johnson stated that ScieTronc came to the project through Jean-David Morvan, a French comic book writer and scout who manages studios in France, Japan, and Korea, and who has introduced various international artists to Marvel over the years. Johnson described ScieTronc's artistic style—a blend of manga, Japanese horror cinema influences, and Korean manhwa—as a perfect fit for Midnight Spider-Man, and added that the collaboration encouraged him to read more manga, including works by Junji Ito and Hideo Yamamoto's Homunculus (2003–2011), which ultimately influenced the story of Midnight Spider-Man, noting that Japanese comics handle horror "so effectively, even more effectively than Western comics"; this was particularly helpful for Johnson in developing the character of Peter in Midnight Spider-Man, as he went so far as to create an original in-story manga that the character reads and that informs his choices throughout the series.
Midnight Spider-Man began publication on October 7, 2026.
Issues Issue Publication date #1 October 7, 2026 #2 November 18, 2026
See also Man-Spider, the name typically given to Spider-Man's mutated, monstrous human-spider hybrid form from the mainline comics. Ultimate Spider-Man, a previous Marvel Comics storyline in which Peter Parker gains arachnid powers and immortality due to an Oscorp-created radioactive spider. "The Other", a Marvel Comics storyline where Spider-Man evolves into a mutated spider.
References
External links Official website at Marvel.com