Talking about Spider-Man's unmasking

The latest Marvel teleconference just wrapped up. This one featured "Amazing Spider-Man" writer J. Michael Straczynski, "Sensational Spider-Man" writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" writer Peter David.

The topic was Marvel's Civil War" and Spider-Man's public unmasking as Peter Parker. Straczynski said Spidey will more and more doubt whether he's on the right side in the debate, to the point that Tony "Iron Man" Stark, the leader on the side favoring superhero registration, will begin to distrust him.

I wondered if the Spider-Man story line will swing readers in favor of the anti-registration camp. The writers say they are working hard not to portray Tony Stark as the "big, bad wolf" or favor one side over the other. To make characters such as Reed Richards or Stark as the bad guys would be a betrayal of characters who have been among the building blocks of the Marvel Universe, they note.