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Marvel’s new Midnight universe makes DC’s Absolute comics look “pretty polite,” says Spider-Man writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Midnight Spider-Man writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson says the upcoming Marvel Midnight line will go even farther with its reinvention of its heroes than DC’s Absolute line
NewsbyGeorge Marston, Contributing writer
Published on Mon Aug 17 2026
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Marvel’s Midnight line is shaping up to feature some of the most bloodcurdling versions of the publisher’s heroes ever put to paper, so much so that Midnight Spider-Man writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson, who creates the title alongside artist ScieTronc, says that it makes even DC’s often brutal Absolute line look “polite.” In fact, he says he’s never seen Marvel make a bigger change to a character’s status quo than in the Midnight line.
“The danger of big two comics is that it’s a monthly periodical that just goes on forever, right? And the danger is that you just sell the same comics over and over again forever. So sometimes there has to be a big shake-up. There has to be some kind of big change to make the comics look more like the world people live in. or to change the status quo drastically,” Johnson says in an interview with Cryptid Creator Corner. “And I can say, as a reader, I’ve never seen Marvel change the status quo more in a book than we’re doing here. What we’re doing here makes Ultimate and honestly Absolute too look pretty polite.”
Midnight X-Men writer and the line’s original architect Jonathan Hickman previously stated that these sweeping changes and the accompanying horror elements received little pushback from Marvel, but Johnson clarifies that he has had to fight for a few story bits, saying he had to go past his own comfort level to ensure that he would be able to create the comic he envisions.
“People are talking like, ‘What can we get away with? Like can we do this? I don’t know if we can.’ And I’m pushing pretty hard. I’m using every bit of juice that I’ve earned at Marvel to get away with stuff. Like, we’re pushing hard,” Johnsons reveals. “There’s several things about the book that I was told ‘no’ to initially. And then I just pushed harder than I was comfortable with, frankly, and then it turned into yeses. So we’re taking chances. We’re definitely not telling the same story here. When people people are making comparisons to Absolute and all that, but it’s really, I’m trying to think of a more apt comparison. I mean, the only similarity really to Absolute is that it is a reimagining. It’s like a rebirth kind of a thing. It’s similar in that we’re completely burning the script and starting over. But, what we’re replacing it with is super different.”
Midnight Spider-Man #1 goes on sale on October 7 alongside the Midnight line’s other launch titles, Midnight Fantastic Four #1 and Midnight X-Men #1.
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George Marston: George Marston is a media critic and journalist who has specialized in superheroes and comics for nearly two decades. Along with focusing on comics and superhero media at Newsarama, George has honed a critical voice exploring TV, movies, and video games with bylines at Total Film, SFX Magazine Online, Space.com, GamesRadar+, and more. During George’s time at Newsarama, the site received the 2020 Tripwire award for Best Comics-related Website / Publication. (They/Them)
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