The mastermind behind ABC’s convoluted sci-fi drama Lost and Fox’s interdimensional sci-fi series Fringe, Jeffrey Jacob Abrams, has become an influential force in the modern popular science-fiction genre, spending the last decade directing two-thirds of Paramount Pictures’ internally rebooted Star Trek series as well as two-thirds of the Sequel Trilogy in Lucasfilm’s multigenerational Skywalker Saga of Star Wars films.
While he’s never been involved in a traditional superhero movie, J.J. Abrams and his 20-year-old son Henry recently signed on with Marvel Comics to cowrite a five-issue Spider-Man limited series titled “Bloodlines.” With artwork by long-time Ultimate Spider-Man illustrator Sara Pichelli and covers by House of M artist Olivier Coipel, the first issue of the book debuted on September 18th of 2019, with issue #2 following on October 16th, and issue #3 following on December 18th.
The fourth issue, which had already been delayed until February 19th, 2020, has now been pushed back again, scheduled to premiere on April 8th of this year, with the fifth and final issue, which had once been scheduled for release on January 29th before being postponed to an April 15th release date, is now slated to hit shelves on May 27th.
The Abrams Spider-Man story takes place in a future in which Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson are married with a son, Benjamin Parker II. In a confrontation with the destructive supervillain Cadaverous, Peter finds himself powerless to stop a shocking death that ultimately drives him to give up the mantle of Spider-Man entirely. Twelve years later, however, his son discovers his family legacy and, with a bit of guidance from Aunt May, assumes the responsibility of once more confronting the villain that shattered his family.
The story unfolds in the alternate universe of Earth-TRN759, which refers to Marvel’s Temporary Reality Number designations for timelines that have not yet been given official numeration. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, for instance, is Earth-199999, while the divergent reality created when Steve Rogers went back to 1948 to live out his life with Peggy Carter at the end of Avengers: Endgame is currently designated Earth-TRN736.
The first three issues of this third volume of Spider-Man are available now, with the fourth issue currently scheduled for release on April 8th and the fifth issue set to debut on May 27th.