The year is 2036. The place is Manhattan. The situation is bleak. In a city gripped by evil criminals, corrupt corporate kingpins, and apathetic citizens, a new hero is found, taking up the mantle of an old superhero, long thought dead. He swings through the nighttime streets, stopping crime, and striving to make amends with his own past, while keeping the present safe, for a better future to come.
Spider-Man: Next Generation is my futuristic Manhattan setting, where a new Spider-Man has taken to the skies, fighting crime, and striving to live his life, both as a teenager, and as a superhero. Note that this story is not canon with the current Marvel paradigm, and the bulk of it beyond character names and certain facts is wholesale my creation. It pulls variantly from bits of comics, television programs, and my imagination, and also has a bit of an anime flavor to it, especially in its female characters. I like anime, and it amuses me, too. It should be rather similar to Batman Beyond; that's intentional, and among my favorite DC Comics spin-offs. It sort of ignores much else of Marvel Comics, as we have reached 2036, and Apocalypse, Magneto, Sentinels, Doctor Doom, or some other force, have not conquered the Earth (or at least didn't hold it), and none of these are pivotal forces in my story. Things like Civil War and House of M, or Mephisto's colossal rewrite of history, likely never happened, or not wholly; I haven't decided yet. I intend to write several stories regarding it (one is mostly finished), and might even attempt to illustrate them someday, though I am not planning to now, as I am not that skilled of an artist.
The Bad
As well as Spider-Man, several other mantles have been carried into this time, and not all of them are good.
The Emerald Goblin: The mantle of the Green Goblin has survived, in some strange fashion, and the current bearer is much like the current bearer of the Spider-Man suit. He is a man who wears a powered armor suit, in his case one comprised of green crystal; one that is very effective against most weapons of the age (energy resistance high). He bears a similar glider unit to the original Goblins, and uses an array of explosives and shuriken, though his suit also has jet boots, and blaster weapons, and he carries a monofilament-edged sword. He is also a rather unstable individual, who even went so far as to have his body cybernetically augmented, in order to better fight his enemies, predominantly Spider-Man Alpha.
Legion: Though the man under the goo is a mystery, the goo itself is certainly a symbiote, likely a spawn of Carnage. This symbiote seems to have some variety of multiple personality disorder, and it is reflected in the ability to bud off lesser versions of itself (offspring that it retains mental control over, and can reabsorb), with varying abilities (thus its choice of name). Each lesser piece uses some power Legion doesn't have, and it can make battling him difficult. The symbiote carries both Venom's and Carnage's hatred of Spider-Man (regardless of which Spider-Man it is) and Carnage's love of wanton destruction and slaughter. It is due to Legion that the new Spider-Man often carries, if rarely uses, magnesium-laced webbing.
Jealousy: This bizarre symbiote is both descendant from symbiotes, and from Spider-Man. She blames Peter Parker for all of the bad things in her life, and there are a good few, and she hates Alpha, who she calls "brother", because she feels Parker's attention to him could have been better spent on her, her mother, and other such. She is a sultry, psychotic symbiote who is gifted with acting other parts, even to the point that, as Vanessa Riverton (Alpha knows her as V Parker when Jealousy), she attends the same high school as Mark, and no one is the wiser about her insanity. Her friends at school think she's just one more fun-loving 17-year old, and even Mark is unaware he walks past Jealousy in the halls (thankfully, she's in the dark, too). None know of the great terrors that have been done to her, or that she has done to others. Her true goal is to find Peter Parker, and exact her revenge for her, her mother, and her grandmother; the three women he failed, and she feels that her best bet is to track him through his new protégé, with whom she personally has become obsessed.
Tenebrous: Rather than being a holdover from the past, Tenebrous is a criminal of the day. With his bizarre armor, he stealthily moves through the night, pillaging and maiming at will, simply for the pleasure he gets out of being able to do it. He and Spider-Man Alpha have crossed paths several times, and Devin has learned that Tenebrous is one better avoided, when possible.
Alistair 2.7: One of the original Spider-Man's villains, Alistair Smythe was a genius who worked for various criminal forces, including the Kingpin, and created such mechanical marvels as the terrifying Spider-Slayers. At some point between then and now, Smythe, who had tired of living in his disabled body, literally "uploaded" his consciousness into a supercomputer. Since then, he has gone through several upgrades, until he now refers to himself as Alistair 2.7. In his current configuration, the computer criminal exists purely as data, and can control vast amounts of machines, operate whole construction facilities unaided, travel the Internet, and many other as of yet unrevealed powers. In a world where science and technology gain a stronger grip on everything, now, so does this cyberspace criminal.
The Zodiac Gang: This group is a member of the Chinese Triads, and they are special in that the top-ranked members have had their DNA spliced with that of animals, specifically several from the Chinese zodiac, hence their name. They may or may not also have preexisting mutant powers. Known members include Dragon (the leader; a Master of Fire who had various reptilian DNA added to him), < a href="https://www.angelfire.com/d20/vaelos/MRPG_Zodiac_Gang.html#Bunny">Bunny (a lithe, hot babe who is a lot like Black Cat), Tiger, Snake (Stretching and Invisibility), and Ox (durable charger). (Rooster, Rat, Dog, Pig, Sheep, Horse, Ox, and Monkey are still "open"). These super-powered criminals, and their unaltered minions (Red Samurai, among others), form a growing tide in Manhattan's organized crime; one that Alpha has had to thwart on several occasions.
Blade: The Daywalker isn't a bad guy, all things considered, but he is very narrow-minded about his task, killing vampires, and time has drained some of his remorse away, leaving him more cold and unyielding than before. He is aware that an old vampire lives in Manhattan (several, actually, truth be told), and he stalks the night looking for it. He became aware that the new Spider-Man seemed to have some connection with at least one when he smelled vampire-scent on him, and this has caused him to try and defeat Spider-Man Alpha, to ascertain where the vampire is hiding. Mark is compelled to save the woman he loves, and will fight Blade if necessary, but would rather avoid making another powerful enemy, especially as Blade has severely thrashed him on the several occasions they've fought, and only luck saved Mark from death. Only time will tell if Blade will stay an enemy, or if the time will come where he will become an ally of the new Wall Crawler, as he was with the old.
The Others
Nyx: Nyx is a mysterious being of the night. By day, she is a human teacher at the same school Mark Devin attends, where she teaches history and mathematics, but by night, she is a skilled warrior, and an ancient vampire. For reasons still mysterious, she chose Mark as prey, but did not then follow through, and in fact, they later fell in love. Since Peter Parker is a shattered wreck of a man, Nyx has been the one, in many ways, to actually train the new Spider-Man, taking his already extensive street fighting skills, and refining them into a more useful combat style. She has also brought a center to his life that he was otherwise lacking. Still, she is not without her dangers. While she loves Mark, and would probably die for him, if needed, she does not fight on the streets with him, and she is also not just some teacher-impersonator; she takes her educational obligations very seriously, and expects nothing less than excellence from Devin. Also, as a vampire, she has those who would destroy her, and likely Mark, too, if it became known that he had been intimate with a vampire (This is what attracted Blade). Equally threatening, if their relationship became public, it could ruin both of their lives, so they must maintain a certain degree of discretion.
Alexander Stark: For lack of a better term, Alexander Stark, the current leader of Stark Corp., is the ruler of the world. His company, which he inherited from his father, Tony Stark, is the largest multinational conglomerate on Earth (or the Moon), and he owns more land than any government. He built the devices that effectively block the Sun, leaving the world plunged in perpetual twilight or darkness, as well as the pan-dimensional gateway that transports all of the collected energy (many petawatts) into his energy-transfer systems. This takes the form of a huge orb levitating a few hundred feet over Stark Tower, the tallest building on Earth (3,486 ft. tall). For all of his money (many billions, possibly trillions), connections (many lawyers, businessmen, world leaders, and such), he is a nice enough seeming man, if a bit hard to get to see. He is also the current director of S.H.I.E.L.D., giving him paramilitary support, as well as a fine testing bed for new equipment. Truthfully, however, Alexander Stark is a lie. Tony Stark never had a son, but he built a robot, a back story, and then transferred his mind into the machine, giving himself virtual immortality, a clean slate with life, and continued access to all of his resources. The robot appears to be a man in his late-twenties (his story says 2010 A.D.), though his form can "age" at an appropriate speed, and fool any life-scan sensors (Stark built most of them, and all the best ones). He possesses all of his best suits' powers and abilities, though he never uses them in public, and hasn't arranged for a separate Iron Man, yet. Mostly, Alexander Stark is listed as "neutral" only because he does not actively fight for the betterment of the city; he spends money to improve things. He might use his power to help, or hinder, depending upon how he thinks things should unfold. He isn't a central character to the story, just a cool improvement to a Marvel oldie I like.
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