DC Has Their Own Spider-Man (and They’re Literally Doing Nothing With Him)

Spider-Man is the face of Marvel and one of the most popular superheroes in the entire world. He’s easily top three for most recognizable and best known, and has a fanbase so dedicated they’re willing to sit through a literal decade of terrible stories, just to get to another awesome one. He’s both someone that everyone can see themselves in and one of the best-developed characters out there. Everyone knows a little bit about Spider-Man, and almost every little kid who does wants to be him at some point. With all that said, it’s a no-brainer that DC might want to make its own Spider-Man, right? They actually already have, but I don’t blame you if you didn’t know that.

DC tried to create their own Spider-Man-adjacent character in Sideways, a teenager who gained the power to open rifts in space, time, and dimensions after falling into the Dark Multiverse. Sideways has all the personality, awesome powers, and moral journey that made the original Spider-Man great, and genuinely has the potential to be DC’s version of the amazing hero. However, instead of capitalizing on this, DC has done nothing with him, which is a major waste of talent.

A Bold New Take on a Classic Story

To a lot of people, what drives them to love Spider-Man is his story. He’s a young kid who randomly gets powers beyond everything he dreamed, and he immediately uses them to try to make some money. However, his own selfishness leads him to refuse to stop a crime, which would ultimately lead that criminal to kill his Uncle Ben, which would inspire Peter to dedicate himself to making up for his mistake by becoming a true hero. Spider-Man’s arc is one we’ve all been through: making a mistake that we regret and wishing more than anything we could take it back, but realizing all we can do is keep moving forward, the best we can, and learn from what we did wrong.

Sideways has the same type of arc, only presented in really interesting, new ways. Sixteen-year-old Derek James gets unbelievable powers after the world almost ends, and immediately becomes a streamer to cash in on his abilities and become famous. Unfortunately, his negligence in playing hero leads to Leto Dominus, the evil CEO of Dark Star Sciences, figuring out his identity and coming after him to take his powers for herself. When Derek’s mom figures out what Leto is up to, Leto has the woman killed to cover her tracks. Because of his own failure and pretending to be a hero, Derek must accept accountability for his mom’s death. 

This would be enough to break anybody, but instead of backing down, Derek uses this motivation to become a real hero and fight to make sure this never happens again to anyone else. Sideways became more than a hobby or get-rich-quick scheme; it became a lifestyle, a real chance to do good like he’d never done before, all because he could. This narrative arc has all the same beats as Spider-Man’s own, but stretched out across several issues to watch Derek grow, which also serves to introduce him into the wider DC Universe and make him feel uniquely at home there, as opposed to just being a Spider-Man knockoff. 

Taking Inspiration, But Growing Independently

Do not think that Sideways is simply a Spider-Man clone just because his journey to becoming a hero mirrors Peter Parker’s. While they share plenty of similarities, and Derek occupies that teen hero role just as perfectly as Spidey once did, Sideways is definitely his own character with his own great strengths and weaknesses. For one, his powers are totally unique and very creatively used. Not only can he make rifts to use as portals, but he can also use their edges to slice things apart and their backs to block almost any attack, and can even open one rift inside of another to cause a miniature black hole. This diversity in powers rewards creativity and inspires new possibilities, which is exactly what you want in a character’s powers.

Then there’s Derek’s own batch of drama with his side cast, from his strained connection with his dad after his mom’s death to his complicated best-friendship with Ernie. Then there’s the inherent possibilities of Sideways’s connection to the rest of the DC Universe. His powers give him a natural way to introduce an infinite number of alternate universes, and provide an easy way to travel the multiverse, with very few characters outside of the Flash or the strongest magic users being able to do the same. He could easily connect with DC’s best and brightest and offer something genuinely new and useful, but DC refuses to use him to his fullest potential.

Sideways’s last major appearance was in Young Justice (2019), a famously mid-level series with a far too big a cast. Ever since then, all we’ve gotten are background appearances during major events. He has the potential to be one of DC’s best new heroes, but instead of letting him flourish and taking a chance, DC has let him rot in comic book limbo, which I will never accept. We need more Sideways, and we need it now. What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

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