The Spider-Man franchise is gearing up for another major crossover this fall. The Clone Conspiracy will pit Spidey against the Jackal once again. But this time Miles Warren has unlocked the secrets of death itself, resurrecting many of Peter Parker's deceased friends and foes. For Peter, the question isn't simply whether he can defeat his old nemesis, but whether he even wants to.

Clone Conspiracy Will be the Main Spider-Man Title

The Jackal Has Been Reborn

Doctor Octopus Is Coming Back

There Are Still

Silk and Prowler Have Big Roles to Play

Slott Wants to Redeem Clones

Jim Cheung Is the

spider-man clone conspiracy preview 5 IMAGES

Marvel held another "Next Big Thing" press call today to shed more light on this upcoming event. Both writer Dan Slott and editor Nick Lowe were present to answer questions about The Clone Conspiracy and how the rest of the Spider-Man line will factor into the crossover. Scroll down to find out what we learned on the call and to check out some gorgeous preview art from artists like Jim Cheung and Gabriele Dell'Otto.One thing that makes The Clone Conspiracy unique relative to Slott's previous Spider-Man crossovers like Spider-Verse and Spider-Island is that the story will unfold in a separate mini-series as well as the ongoing Amazing Spider-Man comic. Slott stressed multiple times during the call that readers will need to buy The Clone Conspiracy mini-series if they want to experience the full story. “While this is going on, this is the core Spider-Man title," said Slott. "This is the book you have to read."This time around, ASM is playing a supporting role. That series will see Slott and co-writer Christos Gage expand on various key revelations from The Clone Conspiracy. Slott said, “Every issue you read of The Clone Conspiracy, there’s going to be a major surprise, where you’ll say, ‘I want to know more about that.'”Luckily, those who haven't followed Slott's multi-year run on Amazing Spider-Man needn't feel intimidated about jumping on board with The Clone Conspiracy. The Clone Conspiracy #1 will feature a brief recap of Spider-Man's relevant history, and the series will also include "old-school" editor's captions where needed. As Slott put it, "We're not gonna hurt you with continuity, we're gonna hurt you with feels."Longtime Spider-Man enemy The Jackal will serve as the main antagonist of The Clone Conspiracy. However, as ASM readers have already seen in recent months, this is a very different Jackal from the one seen in Spider-Island. For one thing, he's back to human form, decked out i na stylish red suit and Anubis mask. For another, he's abandoned his usual cloning projects for a process that seems to literally bring dead people back to life."Jackal has kind of elevated himself," said Slott "He's not thinking of it as cloning, and more as really bringing people back from the dead. That's why we see him wearing the Anubis helmet, the Egyptian God of life and death."Perhaps the biggest change with this villain, however, is the fact that he now views himself as a hero pursuing noble goals. And with the power to bring the dead back to life, even Peter may be tempted to throw his lot in with Jackal despite their terrible history together. Slott said, "An adventure like this blows all that out of the water. If you can snap your fingers and bring someone back, what does that do to Peter Parker?" Slott teased that Peter's dilemma over whether to oppose or support Jackal's actions will be a major focus of the story.One of the key developments leading up to The Clone Conspiracy is the return of Otto Octavius. When Otto was last seen alive, he had taken control of Peter's body and christened hismelf "The Superior Spider-Man." Otto died after ceding control back to Peter at the end of Superior Spider-Man, though a time-displaced version of the character played a central role in Spider-Verse.Readers already learned that Otto's consciousness has survived (stored in the memory banks of his faithful robot butler, The Living Brain). And now Otto will be making his big return in the build-up to The Clone Conspiracy, specifically in Amazing Spider-Man #18 (due out September 21). Neither Slott nor Lowe were willing to ddiscuss exactly how Otto returns or what role he's meant to play in The Clone Conspiracy, but Lowe teased that this storyline will appeal directly to fans of Superior Spider-Man.Slott and Lowe acknowledged that a great many plot points have already been revealed about The Clone Conspiracy, from the identity of the main villain to the return of Doctor Octopus to the fact that characters like Gwen Stacy, Marla Jameson and former Spider-Girl Mattie Franklin will be returning to life. Despite this, Lowe promises that there are many surprises yet to be revealed during the course of the event. "We have so many surprises up our sleeve as this story goes along, that’s only the tip of the iceberg.”Lowe also noted that Marvel has been careful not to tip its hand too soon with regards to The Clone Conspiracy. That's why, when the event was first teased earlier this year , it was billed as "Dead No More" rather than "The Clone Conspiracy." This wasn't a case of Slott or Lowe preferring one title over the other, but a desire to keep Jackal's role a secret until the big reveal. Lowe said, "When we started talking about this, it was before we revealed that the man in red that Dan’s been planting since the beginning of the most recent Amazing Spider-Man #1 is the Jackal. That’s why we started with calling it ‘Dead No More.’ That was our priming the pump before we revealed it’s the Jackal. Once you know it’s the Jackal, you know there are clones involved.”Marvel included a reading checklist along with the new preview art today, and that list shows that both Prowler and Silk will be tying into The Clone Conspiracy during the fall and winter. The former series actually begins its life as a Clone Conspiracy tie-in, much as Dennis Hopeless' Spider-Woman comic started out by tying into Spider-Verse. Writer Sean Ryan and artist Jamal Campbell will build on Hobie Brown's recent death and resurrection at Jackal's hands. Lowe also teased that the book will touch on some loose ends from Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's Daredevil run.As for Silk, look for that series to focus more on J. Jonah Jameson (who will be a major player in the core Clone Conspiracy comic) as he reacts to the resurrection of his wife, Marla, and their adopted daughter, Mattie Franklin. Spider-Man has a colorful history with clones , to put it mildly. For some readers, the stigma of the infamous Clone Saga still hasn't faded after all these years. Right off the bat, Slott acknowledged Spidey's rocky history with clone storylines, referring to clones as "the third rail" of the Spider-Man franchise. "It’s the, ‘Oh my god, what are you doing? Why!?! That’s always the most fun place to be, dancing precariously towards the third rail.”Even Lowe admitted that he needed some convincing before giving The Clone Conspiracy the greenlight. “Dan literally started prepping me for that story that long ago. I know it’s been living in his head even longer than that. There are so many elements of, ‘I don’t think we can do this story.’ And he just kept at it.”Slott acknowledged that only time will really tell as to whether The Clone Conspiracy succeeds where The Clone Saga failed. However, he did say that this event is allowing him to do one of the things he loves most as a Spider-Man writer, which is reviving lesser-known characters and giving them a new spin. "One of the fun times I had working on this book is picking up characters who people hadn’t considered to be a threat, or only appeared a few times, whether it’s Cardiac or Stunner or Phil Urich. If you’re a character in Spider-Man and you’ve had a good run, of course you’re somebody’s favorite. Everything is open, anything can happen.”Slott and Lowe had plenty of praise to offer the artists working on The Clone Conspiracy and its various tie-ins. Slott noted his excitement at the fact that Jim Cheung is illustrating interior art on one of his projects for the first time. Lowe called Cheung "the perfect Marvel artist," comparing him to other influential artists like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Mike Zeck. Slott said, “If you’re a Spider-Man fan and you’re a Jim Cheung fan, you just hit the Venn diagram of awesome."Check out a gallery of Cheung's interior art from the first two issues below:The two also praised the work of Giuseppe Camuncoli, who will remain on board Amazing Spider-Man during the event. Slott noted Camuncoli's impressive speed, saying, “He kills himself to get this book out and it shows on every page."Lowe revealed that another classic Spider-Man artist will be returning to the franchise for this event. Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Girl artist Ron Frenz will be drawing a backup story in The Clone Conspiracy #1.. This tale will focus on the resurrected Gwen Stacy and certain key revelations made in the main story.The Clone Conspiracy #1 is scheduled to hit stores on October 12.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter , or Kicksplode on MyIGN