Well I had some free time today so I took that time to re-read Slott's run on Spider-man to try and grasp who the new Spider-man could be. I have literally gone through every male candidate that I can think of. This is not a speculation thread as such but simply going through every character it could be and eliminating them 1 by 1 as they don't fit. This should allow us to end up with a rough idea of who it might be.

What we know about Superior:

1. Smarter, stronger and faster than Peter
2. Not Peter
3. Doesn't like children
4. Has claws
5. Has less morals
6. We've seen this character before/has serious Spider-man pedigree
7. This has been building up since 600 and over Slott's run
8. Carlie knows whoever he is (whether she knows who's under the mask is another story but she knows him out of costume).
9. Has experience using his powers

The Candidates:

• Phil Urich
• Norman Osborn
• Harry Osborn
• Peter Parker
• Pete-Ock
• Rodrick Kingsley
• A Clone
• Curt Connors
• Miguel O'Hara
• Alistair Smythe

Phil Urich:

Why it could be him:

Phil is Peter's polar opposite. He's selfish, egotistical and a complete a$$hole. However he does bare some similarities to Pete. He has a Uncle Ben he loves and wants to please and he takes videos and photos of himself in the Hobgoblin costume to make money (much like Spider-man use too). Phil is basically Negative-Peter there is no better way to describe him. Of course for those of us who remember Phil was once a good guy but he had a slight mental break down and took a trip to loony town which gives us the psycho we have today. Slott has made it his mission to make Phil quite a big part of Spider man as of late playing a big part in Spider man's life in and out of the suit so he does have the build up. Although he doesn't have Spider-powers he did have access to the Spider-tech that Osborn was designing including claws for wallcrawling. We have had no indication that Phil hates kids but I don't think he would particularly like them given his attitude. Ontop of that Carlie knows Phil out of the suit! Phil does tick a fair few boxes (2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9) Will Phil see the error of his ways and become Spider-man?

Why it can't be him:

Well first off Phil is not smarter than Peter. In fact he's as thick as plank in comparison to Pete. So already that makes him an unlikely candidate. Not to mention anyone who read the end of Danger Zone will know that Kingsley has hired Urich to be the new Hobgoblin officially so I don't see him taking up 2 identities. Although Phil was a hero now he is completely psychotic. I honestly don't see him changing his ways that quickly. Thus I think we can rule out Urich as Spider-man.

Conclusion: Not Spider-man

Norman Osborn:

Why it could be him:

Norman Osborn has been designing Spider-technology (most notably claws that allow you to climb walls) ontop of that Norman is smarter than Peter. Perhaps not scientifically smarter but this is the man who took over SHIELD and brought the Avengers to their knees (twice). He has even demonstrated speed and strength to match Spider-man (after the gathering of 5 Peter was taken aback by how strong he was when not holding back). Norman Osborn is smart enough, strong enough and fast enough to be Spider-man. We also know he's not really a child person (look what happened with Harry), not to mention he has SERIOUS Spider-man pedigree. Norman ticks a lot of the boxes! (1.2.3.4.5.6.9)

Why it can't be him:

There is only 1 real reason Norman is unlikely to be Spider-man. He has not played a big part in Spider-man as of late. He got a mention in Big Time and in a few other arcs but thats about it.

Conclusion: Norman could be Spider-man

Harry Osborn:

Why it could be him:

Harry is Peter's best friend and a good guy at heart however we saw a slightly darker side of him when Vin threatened him. He has the perfect mix of Morals to be Superior as he's not a flat out killer but he doesn't take crap either. Harry like his dad has SERIOUS (it needs to be in capitals) Spider-man pedigree. He also has experience with powers and being a hero. He became American Son during Dark Reign and beat the hell out of his dad. due to his days as the Green Goblin he has access to all his dad's tech including the Spider-tech. He ticks a few boxes (2.4.5.6.9)

Why it can't be him:

First Harry likes kids he even has one. He is not smarter than Peter. Peter had to help him through school. Harry isn't anywhere near Peter in intelligence. Apart from a very recent one in Danger Zone he hadn't had any real connection before hand.

Conclusion: Not Spider-man

Peter Parker:

Why it could be him:

Well why couldn't it? There are so many things that could happen over the next couple of issue to explain these new morals and abilities. There's no point in me going in depth here as this isn't theory thread and i'm pretty sure you can all guess for yourself why it could still be Parker.

Why it can't be him:

Have heard numerous accounts that it isn't Peter under the mask. However these could just be red herrings or a play on words.

Conclusion: Peter could be Spider-man

Pete-Ock:

Why it could be him:

As anyone who read ASM 698 will know Doc Ock is currently in Peter Parkers body. This could be permanent or maybe Peter's and Ocks minds meld into one. Either way Ock is smarter than Peter, he would be just as strong, would have less morals, he has serious Spider-man pedigree, his story has been building up since issue 600 and he has experience with superpowers.

Why it can't be him:

Doc Ock is in Pete's body thus has his ability to climb walls. So why would he need claws? Slott has said that it all gets pieced together in issue 699 which means if Pete-Ock is Superior he's played his cards very early which is something I don't think he'd do.

Conclusion: Not Spider-man. (yes he ticks a lot of boxes but the few he doesn't are very damning)

Roderick Kingsley:

Why it could be him:

I know this seems quite random but think about it. Kingsley's stroy began in 649 when Phil Urich killed his brother so he has been padded out for a while. He spent the remainder of the time in Mexico pretending to be someone called Devil-Spider. He does have serious Spider-man pedigree and he has a lot of experience using his super-powers. He has access to the Goblin lab's thus access to the Spider-tech. Another thing we know is he's recently gone into business becoming other super-villains. Would he consider becoming Spider-man?

Why it can't be him:

Although we have seen him a few times Roderick hasn't had a huge impact on Spider-man until recently I think it would be to out of nowhere for him to become Spider-man. Not to mention he has recently started up a super-villain business would he have time to be Spider-man? He also has no motivation to do good at all.

Conclusion: Not Spider-man

A Clone:

Why it could be one:

This is of course an immense cop-out in my opinion but Superior could be a new Spider-man clone. the Jackal has been brought back by Slott and his influence has been felt. We know that not all Spider-clones have Peters Morals or Powers *cough*Kaine*cough* a clone could potentially tick all the boxes.

Why it can't be:

Slott has said what is being done with Superior hasn't been done before and we already had a clone as Spider-man. Plus as I said this would be a big cop-out. While Kaine would be a logical choice for Spider-man (and to be quite frank the chance of Kaine not becoming Spider-man one day are very low) he currently has his own pretty successful ongoing series so to take him out of that would be silly.

Conclusion: Not Spider-man

Curt Connors:

Why it could be him:

Curt has recently revealed that he's stuck in the Lizard body but is back to being himself. If he managed to cure himself of the lizard physicality he has the stats and abilities required to be Spider-man. As a gifted geneticist it wouldn't be a push to say he's smarter than Peter. Due to the recent death of his son (by his own hands) Curt may feel a bit dodgy around children. The death of his son Billy has freed his character from emotional ties and commitments allowing a writer to build from that. Coincidence? Superior's eye lenses could be a result of enhanced vision and the claws are self-explanatory.

Why it can't be:

Connors has only been in one major arc since Slott's run began and even then it was to co-inside with the Amazing Spider-man movie which feature him as the antagonist. So his story hasn't really been built up. Like a few of the others he seems to randomly thrown in to be Superior.

Conclusion: Not Spider-man

Miguel O'Hara:

I am only including him here because people keep asking me why I haven't included him so here i'll explain why

Why it could be him:

Aside from Kaine, Miguel is the only other person with Spider-man heritage. He is most likely smarter than Peter due to his professional capacity. He also has claws to climb walls and enhanced vision (in his comics he had to wear glasses to protect his sensitive eyes. Could that be the reason for the weird lenses?) Miguel has a hell of a lot of experience using his powers and his morals are more laxed than Peter's leading to a more violent approach to his enemies. Although Miguel is currently stuck in the 2099 timeline the X-men have recently time-skipped could this be what happens here?

Why it can't be him:

If there was a line in the sand representing how far removed a character was removed from the current storylines Miguel wouldn't be able to see the line he'd be out in tropical tundra regions of sand. He has no prior connection to Slott's storyline. Even more damning is the fact that Superior has artificial webshooters and Miguel has biological ones. Its not that I don't want him to be Spider-man in fact I made a post detailing why he deserves to be Superior (check it out here if you're interested http://www.comicvine.com/myvine/strider92/why-miguel-deserves-to-be-the-superior-spider-man/87-85932/) but given the circumstances its very very unlikely it will be him.

Conclusion: Not Spider-man

Alistair Smythe:

Why it could be him:

There is a reason I saved him for last and its because i'm about to attempt to mindscrew you! It mind screwed me when I came to this conclusion. Smythe ticks EVERY box! Everything we know about Superior fits with him! Everything! We saw in Big Time that Smythe is smarter, stronger and faster than Spider-man, he doesn't seem like a kid person given his attitude, he has retractable talons that he uses to climb walls (in Big Time we see him scaling a wall using claws), he has less morals, he has SERIOUS Spider-man pedigree (he used to build robots with the sole purpose of hunting Spider-man. He knows how the web-head acts and moves), Smythe has given himself Spider-powers if you reread the Big Time arc he gives all his creatures a Spider-sense which Superior has no been confirmed to have not only that he has a huge Spider icon on his new suit!!!!! Smythe has played a huge part in both Slott's major arcs (Big Time and Spider-Island) his story has been built up by Slott quite a bit, Carlie knows Smythe due to the whole Spider-Island and Big Time mess. He of course has experience using powers infact he can go one better! He has experience using Spider-powers! Alistair is also not a complete villain. He helped out during Spider-Island to cure the virus and his motivations are not purely evil so turning over a new leaf could be possible. One last thing is that Mr. Smythe is currently being held on the Raft along with other villains but guess what happens in ASM 699-700 thats right a break-out! Is Alistair getting out with the rest?

Why it can't be him:

There is honestly no reason why it can't be him. He has more experience using Spider-powers than anyone else around and even has a spider-sense. Heck he even has Superior's weird goggles that he can use for scanning and his claws!! Smythe also wants vengeance on Doc Ock for ruining his plans with the Spider-Slayers(during the Big Time arc) if he finds out Ock is in Spider-man's body.....things may go badly. I cannot find single thing that prevents him from being the new Spider-man.

Conclusion:

Edit: as @kingjoeg keenly observed both Smythe and Superior have the same feet:

Gallery

Is this more clues that Smythe is Superior? Another thing that I noticed from that image of Superior Spider-man is that he has artificial web-shooters (take a close look at his hand) thus that truly does eliminate Miguel as he has organic webbing.

Edit: This might be hint too. He says he can build a better spider and he has Superior's Spider on his back:

Edit: Guess who may have escaped the Raft!:

@TheAcidSkull: There's also other evidence! Look at the Spider on the back and the front of Smythe's suit. Seem familiar?:

And he even states that he could build a better (superior? Spider). These scans are all from Slott's run.....are these clues!?

I think I just got mindf***ed lol.

@TheAcidSkull said:

@Strider92: did you re-read slotts whole run back? :D

Hah not all of it. Just Big Time through Spider-Island :)

Mindblown again, Strider92 you are brilliant!

@Strider92: There is actually one thing that doesn't check out with Smythe, though, apparently in one of the issues its hinted that the Superior spider-man is working with Jameson, and doesn't Smythe hate Jameson?

Stop mindfucking people!!

Its really immoral from you!......WHO IS SUPERIOR SPIDERMAN FOR GOD SAKES!!!????

I think it's going to be either Harry Osborn or Eddie Brock.

Originally I was thinking Eddie Brock. After reading this article, and checking over the Smythe scans, I think its safe to say that Alistaire Smythe will be the new Spider Man!

@PunyParker said:

Stop mindfucking people!!

NEVER!!!!!

@StMichalofWilson said:

I think it's going to be either Harry Osborn or Eddie Brock.

I had considered Eddie but the current writer of Venom says he's going to have a big role in the Venom series. So I highly doubt its him. Hence the reason I didn't include him.

I don't want Norman to knocked up MJ too!!

I just don't understand why a villain would become Spider-man....I mean we know that Superior is going to be working with the Avengers so why would Smythe or Ock or Norman or Kingsley switch sides? what would their motive be?

@danhimself said:

I just don't understand why a villain would become Spider-man....I mean we know that Superior is going to be working with the Avengers so why would Smythe or Ock or Norman or Kingsley switch sides? what would their motive be?

That is exactly the reason I discounted Kingsley. He Has no motive.

Norman on the other hand does. He has continuously thought of Peter as his heir due to the fact that Peter has challenged him at every turn. Although he is without a doubt Peter's nemesis in every conceivable way Norman does respect him in his own twisted psychotic way. He even tried to convince Peter to become his son and the Green Goblin once. It wouldn't be far fetched for Norman to decide to become his greatest enemy to prove he could do a better job. Kraven became Spider-man once for this exact reason remember.

Smythe is interesting because although what he does is blatantly wrong he is not evil per-say. He was motivated by revenge for his farther to commit bad deeds. He still loves his farther and does nearly everything he does simply to avenge him. It honestly wouldn't take much for him to have a change of heart by asking himself would his dad truly want him to do what it is he is doing at the moment when Smythe always said he wanted to help people.

He may be the one.... I smell a forced play here by Dan Slott. He is not aligned to good or evil so he could fit that position. Nice Theory Strider92.

@Strider92: nice scan but id perfre it to be miguel or if it werent him harry or anthoer good guy but i guess it still would be awsome to have a dark spiderman so i really dont care who te identy is it just want them to reaval it :/

im seriously leaning towards Smythe, how long is that gonna last? and i swear if they bring Pete back in time for the next movie Marvel will officially PISS ME OFF!!

@Strider92: is miguel o'hara definitely off the list of possibilities?

Eh...

@HushoftheWind said:

and i swear if they bring Pete back in time for the next movie Marvel will officially PISS ME OFF!!

Dude.....i never thought of that.....really its a possibillity....

This is awesome! Not many people are confident enough to make these kind of predictions, and no one else has figured this out. I'm pretty convinced it's Smythe now.

@SoA said:

@Strider92: is miguel o'hara definitely off the list of possibilities?

For me he is. Slott said recently in a interview that the Miguel tweet was a red herring. That in my eyes was the only thing keeping him as a possibility. Aside from that he has no real connection to Slott's run or 616 Spider-man at all as mch as i'd love to see him. I don't think we will.

@gotwillpower said:

This is awesome! Not many people are confident enough to make these kind of predictions, and no one else has figured this out. I'm pretty convinced it's Smythe now.

Yeah when I saw how Spider-like he was now (what with having a spider-sense and all) he seems like a very good candidate. Then when he appeared in both Slott's big arcs it got me thinking as to why. He wasn't necessary so why go to the trouble of giving him spider-powers and a spider-sense when he could have just stayed a Spider-Slayer? Something is up there!

O_O H-holy... This really makes sense, nice! You're a genius, Strider92. LOL

@Strider92: Everybody call you a genious.....(i know you are an imposter Mr......SLOTT....yeah thats right, i never forgot it....you ARE Dan,and you are just tricking us....OPEN YOUR EYES PEOPLE!!!)

@PunyParker: Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

@Strider92: I felt that i need to tell the truth!! IM AN HONEST MAN GOD DAMN IT!!!!

That left a huge cliffhanger.....

@PunyParker said:

That left a huge cliffhanger.....

Nah Bendis has had nothing to do with Slott's run on Spider-man (thankfully) so i'm 100% sure its not Miles.

@Strider92: Why?.....maybe he asked Bendis to do that,so he can prepare Miles to be the Superior.....(if its Miles,i will hate them,really.....establishing Morales as a all-universe Spider-Man is irratating.....annoying,even....)

The Spider that turned Peter into Spider-Man is going to be Spider-Man. :p  Joking aside wasn't something mentioned about everyone missing something from the first issue. 
Heh Peter's last name was different IIRC. It's going to be that guy.
 
Nah It's Batman.

Interesting theory. And it does make sense. It would definitely be interesting if he ends up being Spider-Man. Although I am curious as to how he could become the new Spidey.

@ComicMan24 said:

Interesting theory. And it does make sense. It would definitely be interesting if he ends up being Spider-Man. Although I am curious as to how he could become the new Spidey.

Well aside from not having the costume he is Spider-man. He has his abilities and a Spider-sense. All he needs is a motivation to do good and a costume.

@PunyParker said:

@Strider92: Why?.....maybe he asked Bendis to do that,so he can prepare Miles to be the Superior.....(if its Miles,i will hate them,really.....establishing Morales as a all-universe Spider-Man is irratating.....annoying,even....)

Because Slott has been building this up since his run began and he says we have seen him in it. He said something in an interview about finding it funny that people were suggesting people for the part of Spider-man when he had made no reference to them prior (i'll try and find the link).

@SoA said:

@Strider92: is miguel o'hara definitely off the list of possibilities?

i think spidey-ock might change his name to miguel o'hara to aviod suspison with the name parker

just a theory

@Strider92: I agree with what you are saying. And I suppose that the motivation is going to be explained in the issues to come (if it is him after all). Btw was it stated somewhere that the new Spidey can crawl on walls and instead uses his claws for this?

@ComicMan24 said:

@Strider92: I agree with what you are saying. And I suppose that the motivation is going to be explained in the issues to come (if it is him after all). Btw was it stated somewhere that the new Spidey can crawl on walls and instead uses his claws for this?

It hasn't actually been stated in black and white that he uses claws for climbing but given the pictures we've seen of Superior Spider-man's fingers damaging the walls as he scales them i'm fairly sure that is their purpose.

@Strider92: It is a fair assumption to make, indeed. Honestly out of all, the "suspects", he seems the most likely to be. And that pic with the claws was a nice find.

http://www.comicvine.com/spider-man/29-1443/my-spiderman-700-and-superior-spider-man-theory/92-728433/#1

This is my theory on Superior.

@Strider92: Ok, i believe you!.....in fact i want him NOT to be Miles....i'not interested in the guy....at all....(Bendis is my favourite writer,but.....Ultimate NOW isnt my thing....Ultimate Spiderman with Pete, is my favourite run....)

@Strider92: Okay Dan Slott, just tell us already!!

In all honesty, i think Superior will be Peter in Norman's body

Well since we are swapping bodies, maybe Pete swaps with Smythe to hunt Spidey-Ock.

@Strider92: Why no Miguel?

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

@Strider92: Why no Miguel?

Although i'd love it to be him I think he's too out-there. Slott has been building this story up over this run so if Miguel were to be the new one I think we'd have some kind of hint.

@KillerZ said:

Well since we are swapping bodies, maybe Pete swaps with Smythe to hunt Spidey-Ock.

Could be or maybe Pete's consciousness is put into one of Smythes next-gen Spider-Slayers? Smythe is basically a human/machine hybrid at the moment. Peter as a Spider-slayer would be kind of ironic.

@Strider92: I think you'v probably worked it out, nice deduction

Nice.

I think it's Curt Connors.

@jayskee said:

I think it's Curt Connors.

I had considered him as candidate but he's supposed to appear in Morbius's new series and at the moment he's still the Lizard. So I ruled him out.

Can I just say that I don't remember Smythe having a spider sense. I have the issues that have Smythe coming back, and attacking the Jamesons, eventually killing Marla (I know it has an arc name, don't remember it.) I'm pretty sure he said he didn't put a spider sense in his own slayer suit (which makes sense since he would have been on the ground in pain with everyone else when the spider sense jammer went off and Symthe killed Marla). Still a really interesting theory though, but I'm still holding on to Miguel. When he said the Miguel tweet was a red herring, that could have been a red herring in itself. Or maybe it's the Prowler (Hobbie Brown). We'll just have to wait for Superior Spider-Man.

@Strider92 said:

@jayskee said:

I think it's Curt Connors.

I had considered him as candidate but he's supposed to appear in Morbius's new series and at the moment he's still the Lizard. So I ruled him out.

he is?

@jayskee: I thought I saw it in the solicitations somewhere. I'll try and find them for you.