Before the retcon they were pretty much transforming him from a science-based superhero to a mystically-based superhero (kind of like black panther only with a spider totem). There was some nonsense about how the spider biting him wasn't a coincidence, and he was chosen by the spider-god or whatever.
I hope to god all of that was erased along with his marriage. I was not a big fan of Straczynski's run.
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