Doctor Doom has just taken on the biggest role of his lifetime, and his first decree should finally end the worst thing that Marvel Comics ever did to Spider-Man. In Captain America #16 by Chip Zdarsky and Valerio Schiti, the “Hell’s Angel” storyline came to an end. This story saw Captain America trapped in Mephisto’s realm of Hell after his fight with Red Hulk left his physical body in a coma on Earth. Cap ending up in Hell made no sense, but it was soon shown that it was Doctor Doom who dragged Steve Rogers’ soul to the realm as he attempted to end Mephisto’s tyrannical rule of that land. This issue finished that story.
Doctor Doom tricked Mephisto when he and Steve Rogers agreed to sell their souls to the demon lord. While it seemed like the last thing that Steve ever would have done, he did it to save the world, which fit his character’s idea of sacrifice. That said, it was all according to Doom’s plan as he infected Steve’s soul with the Antidivine, a weapon that could fell any angel or demon. As Mephisto was dying, Doctor Doom caught him, and instead of killing the demon, he made a deal with the Devil. This time, Doom had the upper hand, and he took over as the new ruler of Hell. His first decree was to make all of Mephisto’s deals and contracts null and void.
Steve Rogers was not happy that Doctor Doom had taken control of Hell, and he planned to stop him. There was nothing he could do, and Doctor Doom said he planned to rule over Hell as he did over Latveria. This also meant that he wanted all the beings in Hell to be there because they wanted to be there. Doom said that Hell will not have the “flawed democracy” of the United States, but it will be a choice. Doom then exclaimed, “All of Mephisto’s contracts are now null and void. All of Hell’s inhabitants are now free to go or to stay and join Doom in building the greatest realm in all of the cosmos.”
Steve was panicked when he saw many evil beings leaving Hell, and he had no idea where they could be going. This will likely be a decision that Doctor Doom comes to regret later, as his actions will have very dire consequences. However, it is the idea that Doctor Doom made all contracts null and void that is the more interesting creative decision here. The biggest thing to note is that there was one panel that didn’t fit into the rest of the story, and it likely has to do with Doom’s decision. After Doom sent Cap back into his body, there was one panel that showed Spider-Man swinging over the town when he suddenly said, “What’s– What’s happening…?” With that, questions abound about what this means for Spider-Man.
Spider-Man has always been someone Mephisto has feared. This is because, at least in one timeline, Spider-Man’s daughter Mayday Parker was the one hero who finally stopped Mephisto’s reign when he eventually conquered Earth. Knowing that Mayday was going to one day defeat him, Mephisto found a way to ensure she would never be born. During “Civil War,” after Iron Man convinced Peter to reveal his identity to the world, Aunt May was shot by an assassin hired by the Kingpin. With Aunt May dying, Mephisto arrived and offered Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson a deal. He promised to save Aunt May’s life, but only at the cost of Peter and MJ’s marriage. When they accepted, Mephisto changed time so their marriage and all memories of it ended, and “Brand New Day” started.
Now that all of Mephisto’s contracts are null and void, what does this mean for Spider-Man? It could be said that the past was already changed, so the only thing that changes here is that Spider-Man and Mary Jane’s deal with Mephisto has ended, but it won’t alter the changes that were made to their past. This wouldn’t have shown Spider-Man if this weren’t going to come into play. Spider-Man was in an earlier issue as well, sitting on a ledge. What made that panel so important is that it was shown right after Mephisto made a comment about how Steve wasn’t the only good man to make a deal with him.
That makes this the second time in the Captain America storyline where Mephisto’s deals and contracts were mentioned, with a cut to a panel of Spider-Man. Nothing is coincidental, and it seems to hint that changes might be coming to the controversial “One More Day” storyline that fans hated so much. If the contracts are voided, does this mean that Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson can finally return to their relationship and nothing is standing in their way? If that happens, Doctor Doom might have just saved Spider-Man, despite doing so inadvertently.
What are your thoughts about Doctor Doom’s proclamation in Hell? Let us know if you think Marvel will ever fix Spider-Man and Mary Jane’s relationship in the comics in the comments below.
