It isn’t every day that characters from the real world get transported into the world of Marvel Comics, but if there had to be a perfect candidate, it would be Marshall Mathers, AKA Eminem. So is this the start of an epic Marvel rap battle saga? Not quite. It’s actually just a cool variant cover featuring Eminem and Your Favourite Neighbourhood Spider-Man.
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Spider-Man vs Eminem!
This time, Spidey looks like he is going up against a different kind of foe in a battle he has never encountered before. Everyone’s favourite Web-slinger is about to face off against the iconic Slim Shady in a rap battle! Or at least that’s how it seems from the new image that’s been announced.
Depending on how you feel about Spidey suddenly becoming a rapper, there’s some good news and some bad news. If you are excited about it, it’s terrible news, and if you are worried about a weird twist in the Marvel Comic Universe’s canon, it’s good news.
Unfortunately, Spider-Man won’t be having an epic rap battle with Eminem.
Still, the image of the two facing off over the mic is the new variant cover design for Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Legacy #895), marking the launch of a new era of Spider-Man stories.
Amazing Spider-Man #1 Variant Cover
The Spider-Man #1 variant cover was illustrated by artists Edgar Delgado and Salvador Larroca and paid direct homage to Eminem himself. Additionally, the cover is directly linked to Eminem’s semi-biopic, 8 Mile, which was released in 2002. The semi-biopic won an Oscar for Best Original Song, Eminem’s Lose Yourself. Interestingly, in 8 Mile, Eminem’s character “Rabbit” goes up against “Papa Dock”, played by Anthony Mackie, who went on to play Marvel’s Falcon.
This isn’t the first time that Marshall Mathers has been involved with Marvel, as he was one of several celebrities featured in Marvel’s first “Hellfire Gala” event in 2021. This event saw the nation of the new mutants, Krakoa, inviting real-life celebrities, figures of power, and influencers to a massive gala. Of course, Eminem made the invite list and was one of the many celebrities who ended up as Easter eggs, incentivizing fans to read each chapter of the Rashomon-style story so they could spot all the famous faces tucked into the crowd.
If have a keen eye and survey the crowd on the cover, you will spot some fun cameos there, like Miles Morales / Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Black Panther, Ghost-Spider, and even Daredevil are there supporting their Wall-Crawler buddy in the fight against Eminem.
Eminem’s Response
Eminem tweeted that he was immensely proud to be included in the variant cover. “’Like Spider-Man crawlin’ upside of a wall’ HONORED to be on the official variant of The Amazing Spider-Man (2022)…drops tomorrow on shop.eminem.com @Marvel” – Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) Nov 21, 2022.
There will be 5000 print copies of the variant cover sold on The Haul and 1000 additional limited prints of the “Spotlight version of the variant comic cover”.
Almost any celebrity would be honoured to be included in a variant cover for Marvel, but it seems so fitting that they chose to have the iconic Slim Shady for this one.
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