Marvel Removes Hyphen From Spider-Man in Midnight Imprint as Peter Parker Becomes The Spiderman Marvel drops the hyphen from Spider-Man in its new Midnight imprint, renaming Peter Parker as The Spiderman in a horror reimagining launching October 7. Marvel is officially removing the hyphen from Spider-Man in its new Midnight imprint, renaming Peter Parker as The Spiderman. The change arrives as the publisher launches Midnight: Spider-Man, Midnight: X-Men and Midnight: Fantastic Four on October 7, reimagining its biggest heroes with a horror slant. In Midnight: Spider-Man, innocent people are transformed into animal hybrids through experiments by the Oscorp Corporation, and Peter Parker is one of the first victims. Why Marvel Dropped the Spider-Man HyphenWhen Spider-Man debuted in 1962, DC characters Superman and Batman were already well known, and co-creator Stan Lee wanted to distinguish his new hero. Lee initially tried the two-word version Spider Man before settling on the hyphen. That hyphenated name has been misspelled so often that Marvel has a running joke that Spider-Man can sense when someone leaves it out.Now that special sense will be working overtime. According to solicitation information for issue three, Peter Parker will be known as THE SPIDERMAN in the Midnight storyline. The title of the comic will continue to use the hyphen, but the character receives an official codename meant to evoke the Wolfman.The renaming distinguishes the regular canon Peter Parker from this new horror hero. It is not entirely unprecedented. Peter's multiversal ally Gwen Stacy has appeared across multiple Spider-Gwen series even though that was never her official codename.Horror Experiments Reshape Peter ParkerAnnounced details for Midnight: Spider-Man have so far focused on Peter and Oscorp. The series centers on experiments that turn people into monstrous animal hybrids, a premise that naturally points toward several major Spider-Man villains. Doctor Octopus, Scorpion, Vulture, Lizard, Rhino, Chameleon, Black Cat, Beetle, Kangaroo, the Jackal and White Rabbit are all primed for animal transformations.Others such as Hammerhead, Kraven the Hunter and Swarm also invite similar mutations because of their animal names or nature themes. Kraven has already received this treatment in multiple pieces of Spider-Man media, including the original Ultimate Universe, where after being humiliated by Peter Parker he paid a fortune for werewolf-like powers.Meanwhile, the X-Men title will deal with a war against vampires, and the Fantastic Four will tangle with a Lovecraftian version of Galactus. Marvel's Midnight line positions familiar heroes in darker, horror-driven scenarios that differ sharply from their main continuity stories.The Spiderman Redesign and October LaunchSpider-Man comics have often noted that Peter named himself after an animal that inspires fear and disgust in many people, despite his heroic and optimistic outlook. His red and blue costume has always communicated that he is a superhero through and through.That changes in Midnight: Spider-Man. The new design leans into horror, with a gigantic spider fused to his chest and a mask that looks more like bloody bandages and stolen goggles than a traditional helm. As the Spiderman, Peter's powers and identity appear far more bound up in biological horror than in friendly neighborhood heroics.Midnight: Spider-Man #3 arrives December 16 from Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appeared in Amazing Fantasy. Over the decades, the alias has been used by Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, Otto Octavius, Yu Komori, Kaine Parker, Pavitr Prabhakar, William Braddock, Miles Morales and Kurt Wagner. The hero has been associated with the Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Secret Defenders, Future Foundation, Heroes for Hire, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers and Web-Warriors.