Spider-Man: Life Story features an alternate continuity where the characters naturally age after Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man in 1962 as in the original timeline. In the 1970s, Octavius gave up being Doctor Octopus after suffering a heart attack, making him afraid of his own mortality. He eventually married May Parker and was offered a job at Future Foundations by Reed Richards. However, May later divorced him due to his anger management issues, leading him to a life of crime once more. In 1995, Norman Osborn tells him Spider-Man's secret identity and reveals he has a clone named Ben Reilly in Chicago. An elderly Octavius kidnaps Peter and Ben and takes them to Oscorp (after threatening Harry for the equipment) so he could learn how to clone himself a new body. While studying them, he discovers that Peter was supposedly the clone while Ben was the original, leading Ben to lash out at him. He attempts to kill both Peter and Ben, but ends up accidentally killing Harry and runs away in shock. Peter later discovers that Norman rigged the machines Octavius was using to make it appear that he was the clone. In 2019, the dying Octavius switches bodies with the newer, younger Spider-Man, Miles Morales, to preserve his life and become a "superior" hero. He aids the older Peter Parker in activating the "Doomsday Pulse" in space to shut down Doctor Doom's technology across the planet. After they encounter a Venom-possessed Kraven the Hunter, Peter deduces that Octavius is in Miles' body from his interactions with Kraven and his technical knowledge. Octavius attempts to destroy Peter's mind, but Peter uses a memory of Aunt May to convince him to accept his life's limitations. Peter sends Octavius back to Earth with the space station's only escape pod and sacrifices himself to activate the Doomsday Pulse. After his return, Octavius willingly puts himself and Miles back in their original bodies.