Spider-Man has some truly dangerous enemies, but few are more intelligent or dangerous than Otto Octavius. Doc Ock is one of the smartest men in the Marvel Universe, and unfortunately for everyone, he uses that intelligence for evil. However, it seems he hasn’t reached his full potential yet, as one multiverse variant of Octavius points out that Earth-616’s Ock is lacking one obvious power upgrade.
In Devil’s Reign: Superior Four– by Zac Thompson and Davide Tinto – Otto travels the multiverse, draining the intellect of any counterpart he comes across. One variant he encounters managed to keep Spider-Man’s body, following the events of Spectacular Spider-Man. This Otto seems entirely aware of Octavius’ history, and even expresses surprise that Octavius’ mind is in such poor shape.
Otto states that Octavius hadn’t bothered to reconstruct his spider-sense. This is something that Octavius has never even considered, but this Otto states that it’s fully possible, revealing a key deficiency holding back the main continuity version of the villain.
As Spider-Man, Peter Parker has absurd strength, which allows him to easily lift trucks over his head. Yet, his true power is actually his spider-sense. This ability allows him to sense any danger seconds before it hits. Combine this with his enhanced agility, and it’s practically impossible to hit Spider-Man, even when attacking by surprise. It’s an incredibly powerful ability and has even allowed Peter to do insane feats, such as defeating the original X-Men roster with no problems. This power is one of Spider-Man’s strongest, which is why it’s so alarming that it seems Doc Ock could get it too.
Spider-Man once had his body stolen by Doc Ock, who then became the Superior Spider-Man. This granted Doc Ock access to all of Spider-Man’s powers, including his spider-sense. After Doc Ock returned to his own body, he lost these powers, but it seems like he didn’t have to. After having experienced spider-sense first hand, Doc Ock should know exactly how it feels, and should be able to recreate it through his skills in science and invention. Doc Ock is already a dangerous combatant due to his robotic arms; adding prescience to that would make Doc Ock Spider-Man’s most dangerous foe by far.
Devil’s Reign: Superior Four makes it clear that Doc Ock should recreate Parker’s spider-sense, instead focusing on trying to steal either Spider-Man or Spider-Boy’s body instead. Should this plan fail again, as it likely will, Doc Ock might just need a change of tactics. Instead of continually trying to steal the body of someone who will always just manage to get it back, there’s little reason why Doc Ock can’t just recreate Spider-Man’s powers in his own body – and with this one simple power up, Otto Octavius would easily be able to defeat Spider-Man.