At the end of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #539, Spider-Man used a word that he doesn't use very often: kill. His mantra has always been that power comes with responsibility, and this has kept him from taking lives. However, with his beloved Aunt May in the hospital, suffering as an assassin's bullet slowly kills her, Peter Parker has decided that he has had enough. Bringing his black costume out of retirement, Spidey is out for blood.

Throughout his career, Spider-Man has been nearly driven to murder. He stopped himself form offing the burglar that murdered his Uncle Ben, as well as the Green Goblin after the death of his love Gwen Stacy. But with each loss he suffers, the shattering point of Spider-Man's morality has been chipped away. With the recent death of his friend Captain America, Aunt May's attack has compounded his fury. He is desperate and angry, and that combination has a tendency to lead to recklessness. Spider-Man is on a path of revenge. Neither his New Avengers teammates nor his wife Mary Jane can stop him from taking the final step into absolute vengeance.

Scouring New York City to find who called the hit on his family, Spider-Man will stop at nothing to track them down. However, when the trail of broken bad guys does lead back to the Kingpin, will Peter control himself, or will he make good on his promise and deliver the killing blow?

SPIDER-MAN 3 may be soaring at the box office, but Peter Parker is falling into the blackness.

Watch Spidey fly off the handle into the darkest chapter yet as "Back in Black" continues in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #541 by J. Michael Straczynski and Ron Garney, on sale May 30.