Editing Doctor Octopus (section)

===Dying===
When Doctor Octopus learns that he is dying due to the years of punishment his body took in his villainous career, facing superhuman foes when he is fundamentally human once getting past the tentacles, he becomes increasingly despondent and brazen in his final plans. Intending to leave a lasting legacy, he attempts to exert control over New York City by using his newly minted Octobots, but while he consciously intends to help, his subconscious drives him to turn the city's resources against Spider-Man, and he also targets May Parker aggressively (deeming her guilty of being due to marry J. Jonah Jameson's father J. Jonah Jameson, Sr.), subtly disrupting the planned marriage. Spider-Man is eventually able to take control of Octavius's planned network, forcing Octavius to flee while vowing revenge.<ref name="ASM600">''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #600. Marvel Comics.</ref>

In his desperate attempts to prolong his life, Octavius reforms the Sinister Six, wishing to acquire [[Menace (Marvel Comics)|Menace]]'s unborn son, hoping to synthesize a pure strain of the Goblin Serum,<ref>''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #642. Marvel Comics.</ref> only to be thwarted again by the efforts of Spider-Man and the guilty conscience of the Lizard,<ref>''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #646. Marvel Comics.</ref> reigniting his bitterness towards his foe, but gaining a grudging acknowledgment of his abilities.<ref name="The Amazing Spider-Man #648">''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #648. Marvel Comics.</ref> Octavius and Spider-Man keep crossing their ways during the following months, with the Avengers fighting a new iteration of the Sinister Six,<ref name="The Amazing Spider-Man #648"/> Doctor Octopus sending a remote Octobot in John Jameson's shuttle,<ref>''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #653. Marvel Comics.</ref> and Octavius contacting [[Iron Man]] to force him to find a cure for his degenerative condition.<ref>''Invincible Iron Man'' #501. Marvel Comics.</ref> However, when Iron Man genuinely offers to have the brightest minds in the Marvel Universe find a viable cure,<ref>''Invincible Iron Man'' #502. Marvel Comics.</ref> Octavius smugly refuses, in favor of witnessing Stark admit that he cannot do it and beg for mercy to disarm a device that Octavius had claimed was a bomb, basking in this "proof" of his (supposedly) superior intellect.<ref>''Invincible Iron Man'' #503. Marvel Comics.</ref>

His attempts to prolong his life, however, do not hinder a more vast and sinister plan, in which he has the Sinister Six fighting the [[Avengers Academy]] for a piece of [[Hank Pym]]'s technology,<ref>''Avengers Academy'' #14. Marvel Comics.</ref> the [[Future Foundation]] for a piece of [[Mister Fantastic|Reed Richard]]'s technology,<ref>''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #660. Marvel Comics.</ref> and the Intelligencia for the ''Zero Cannon'', a powerful antigravity weapon,<ref>''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #676. Marvel Comics.</ref> later revealing to have gained something useful from his early foray in John Jameson's shuttle.<ref>''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #681. Marvel Comics.</ref> All this careful preparation came to fruition during the "[[Ends of the Earth (Marvel Comics)|Ends of the Earth]]" storyline,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comics.ign.com/articles/121/1214698p1.html|work=IGN |time=Dan Slott discusses the next big Amazing Spider-Man storyline|date=December 13, 2011|title=Comics Reviews, News, Heroes, Villains, Superheroes & Toys}}</ref> where the apparently mismatched pieces of technology stolen are used to build a satellite net, the ''Octavian Lens'', able to alter the world's climate by enhancing or smothering solar rays.

Doctor Octopus at first claims to have a benevolent intent, wishing to halt the [[greenhouse effect]] in exchange for gratitude and recognition,<ref>''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #682. Marvel Comics.</ref> but he is soon exposed by Spider-Man (having enhanced himself with new technology created be Horizon <abbr title="Laboratories">Labs</abbr>),<ref name="The Amazing Spider-Man #683">''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #683. Marvel Comics.</ref> the [[Black Widow (Natasha Romanova)|Black Widow]] and [[Silver Sable]], who provoke him into revealing his real plan: immolate a great part of the entire population to prevent anyone from surviving his impending death, having the survivors remember him in perpetual fear and awe.<ref>''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #685. Marvel Comics.</ref> Playing over his ego, Spider-Man manages to stall him, by reminding him that, even if anyone managed to survive a drastic heating of the entire Earth, the survivors would likely be brain-damaged, and as such unable to remember his actions.<ref>''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #687. Marvel Comics.</ref> Spider-Man then roughly defeats him, in retaliation for Silver Sable's death, openly mocking and berating his efforts by claiming that, because of the Octavian Lens' destruction and his declining health, he is now going to die alone, forgotten and without a legacy.<ref>''The Avenging Spider-Man'' #8. Marvel Comics.</ref>