Let's discuss, speculate, and debate the identity of Nick Spencer's overarching antagonist in light of the recent Amazing Spider-Man issue to drop today. In the most recent comic, we have now learned what exactly Kingpin was so desperate to retrieve from Boomerang, which was revealed to be the locations of The Lifeline Tablet fragments. The Lifeline Tablet is an ancient magical artifact with untold power, most notably giving the user control over life and death itself. This may be a crucial clue in identifying whom Kindred is. Let's review what we know as fact
>Kindred has intimate knowledge of both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, including personal relations.
>Kindred's hatred towards Parker itself feels very personal, like a familiarity you'd find in one of his friends or family members.
>Kindred has a deep rooted hate towards Norman Osborn. Interestingly, Norman considers Kindred a worthy successor.
>Kindred DOES NOT want to harm Peter's loved ones, claiming Peter does that enough himself.
>Kindred has several magical abilities, including illusions and reviving the dead. Notable resurrections include Mysterio and The Sin-Eater.
>Kindred has visited Hell
Discuss
Spider-Man: The Kindred Mystery
We talked about it in the storytime
And one user has a huge theory
Kindred is Randy. He was affected by the lifeline tablet and become the Egyptian guardian of death (who uses centipedes)
I think Kindred is female, the way they say "Pete" has a very feminine tone too it.
Yeah, the point is to bring the discussion to a new thread and leave the story time behind. That user himself called for this new thread.
Well at this point, I don’t know who else it could be other than Randy or Gwen.
Just noticed this now but the way the centipedes come out of Kindred's back kind of remind me of Doctor Octopus's arms a little.
I know, I'm the guy who pitched it haha. I'm actually surprised my tablet theory panned out, and I think there's real tangible evidence towards the Egyptian stuff. As for who Kindred is, I still can't say for sure.
Thought we could devote a thread to speculating.
This is another good point to bring up. Given the nature of Kindred's appearance, we cannot be certain of his/her gender.
Kindred is Gwen, screen this
I still say it is Peter and MJ’s kid killed by OMD and dragged to hell
My money is on Peter himself being Kindred through alternate reality hi jinks.
Spencer mentioned before that we shouldn't be asking "who Kindred is" but "what does Kindred actually want".
So....what the hell would Kindred want other than to make Peter's life miserable again?
>yfw you realized "Pepe Silvia" was Charlie not being able to read the word "Philadelphia"
>Peter and MJ’s kid killed by OMD and dragged to hell
At this point I feel like storytiming OMD just so people can understand what the fuck it was about.
Kindred has said that it wants to protect Peter's loved ones from himself, and I think the chapter where he revives Sin Eater he said something about Peter redeeming himself.
>a little
more like a lot
Kindred is going to revive Ben and Gwen Stacey isn't it? What's interesting though is that it seems to be unraveling everything
Marvel revived Gwen a couple of years ago, why would they do it again in such a short time? And for all the shit that Marvel gets they know that reviving Uncle Ben is a no go.
Good question! From what we've seen thus far, Spencer has been essentially cleaning up the past decade of Spidey canon (giving importance to Kraven's Last Hunt again, Peter back with MJ on the verge of purposing, etc). So with this in mind we can ask ourselves; "Will Spencer wipe away One More Day or Sins Past?". Issue one of his run foreshadows the previous at least, "Brand New Day" seen in the background. So perhaps Kindred is in turn a representation of the fans, demanding Peter answer for his irresponsible behavior during OMD.
It's actually him misreading "Pennsylvania"
I don’t think they’re risk another character assassination of Gwen on the same level of Sins Past. By now they realize probably realize that she’s better off staying in the ground, especially if they would straight up publish a comic where JMS flatly states that Sins Past is his greatest regret. That’s also why I count Gabriel out. Norman has no reason to be “proud” of her.
Norman is also never proud of Harry. Plus I find it hard to believe Harry would be Kindred if he put a stop to CarnageNomran from killing Pete, but wouldn’t stop him from killing his son Stanley.
Randy is a spicy theory, but it’s we’ll have to see where this tablet stuff goes. Another user took a shot in the dark last thread and guessed it was the clone thrown down the smokestack that Ben buried. A clone meshes with the Peter’s soul idea and could have a beef with anybody.
Randy makes so much sense.
And I find it funny how he’s been in the background of the comic as just a seemingly friendly roommate. Really turns the dagger even harder.
Though I wonder why he hates Peter so much? Did the Tabley corrupt and he sees Peter as some imbalance to the order of life/death? Maybe having to do with Mephisto (dude has been showing up a lot in comics). Or did Peter just piss off Randy in a different way?
He probably wants Peter to answer for all his crimes and sins. From Gwen Stacy to maybe even OMD/OMIT.
Could be one of Gwen's twins she had with Norman? They both probably went to hell and have a good excuse to have a vendetta against Norman
>They both probably went to hell
They're still alive and well post OMD.
Maybe Randy had a crush of Gwen Stacy and is pissed and blames Peter for her death?
an aunt may clone
who even cares anymore. 40+ issues of nothing
I'm going to lay out the Randy theory. He's been lingering around this entire run, and so many things tie back to him
>His father fires Peter
>Roommates with him and can even watch over/manipulate Boomerang
>Character debuted THE SAME ISSUE as The Lifeline Tablet
>Debut issue was immediately after a Mysterio story, another pawn in Kindred's plan.
>Norah Winters, Randy's ex, is also significant in this run. Currently Norah is being strong-armed by The Chameleon.
>Randy is dating Janice Lincoln, The Beetle, and daughter of Tombstone. Beetle recently was after Boomerang.
The only thing that doesn't add up is Randy being connected to Norman Osborn. Kindred HATES Norman, and has a familiarity only someone like Peter, Harry, or Gwen would have. In fact Randy is more connected to Hobgoblin, Phil Urich
If Kindred is all about death, I could see him being fucking pissed off that Peter Parker literally altered the timeline to save Aunt May, especially when you consider how many others have died or been hurt around him. And fuck off Joe Q it doesn't make any sense that literally nothing changed with the marriage not happening.
Also I hope you anons are ready to stay off the internet leading up to #850 because you know that shit is going to leak early.
That’s a weakness to the theory desu. There’s a lot of pieces matching him, but a motive is missing. Like user above said: What does Kindred want? Evidently Kindred wants Pete’s friends and family safe, as well as some confession/penance/redemption for past wrongs. Kindred also wants Norman dead, wanted Stromm dead, wants Mysterio in Hollywood, and Fisk to shit himself.
Does Kindred even want Fisk to have the tablet? Beetle was about to deliver Boomerang to Fisk. If Randy was Kindred, he’d probably have a stake in that outcome and would have done something about it.
Harry.
Harry is a much better fit than Randy.
That doesn't exactly track because Norman would never compliment Harry, or see him as a worthy heir
Maybe he had a secret crush on Gwen? Love makes people do crazy things.
I've done it before.
They can't understand it. They are just too stupid.
It's a really shitty story, it definitely doesn't need people adding even shitter headcanons too it
Could be Stanley Osborn?
If that were true, he was about to let Norman tear his son's spine out.
We should also ask ourselves if the plot points surrounding Chameleon, Teresa Parker, Norah Winters, Foreigner, Chance, and the clairvoyant tech is relevant to the Kindred endgame
At this point I can’t tell if Randy is legit or just another curveball by Spencer.
>whisper back the promises you made yourself
>you made me feel so powerless
>you spent your days high up in a tower
>remember what you said next?
that's very specific. it's not randy.
>Egyptian God magic going on
Moon Knight appearance soon? I'm thinking a Moon Knight appearance soon
Well Teresa is Peter’s family so I would think he would “protect” her from Peter. I could see him having eyes on her.
Here's the thing though, nothing directly has called out Randy. However I may have just found another clue that points to him.
>Mysterio on trial
>Janice Lincoln appears to represent him
>Kindred later states he tipped her off
Randy is currently dating Janice.
Very true. However I can't help but feel that the Norman conversation was meant to throw us off. But you're right, unless there's some yet to be known connection between Randy and Norman, its far too personal to be him.
>It's a really shitty story, it definitely doesn't need people adding even shitter headcanons too it
It's pretty annoying to have to borderline defend OMD to explain what the fuck the story was about.
It would be pretty cool but I don't know about that.
>yet to be known connection between Randy and Norman
does randy appear in the new gwen mini?
>it'll be just you and me
>like it should have been all along
is randy gay for peter?
I think that's more part of 2099 or just its own separate arc. I don't think Kindred has anything to do with any of them. Spencer probably just wants a grand Chameleon scheme after he gave Kraven his proper due. Not everything has to point to Kindred.
This.
it's not just an unknown connection, kindred references specific scenes, like this one, meaning he was here. so it's one of the people at this party.
The tablet theory worked out, from this point onward everything is related to Kindred until proven otherwise.
the funny thing is, while we cannot tell for sure, i thought "it's too good to be true" was said by harry, not norman (as kindred suggested)
what if this is spencer trolling us? SCREENCAP THIS
btw who died in #400? was it a clone or a double? been 25 years, sorry
I hope that in resolving the Kindred problem Spencer will be able to reverse OMD.
That is my only wish.
it's three, not four arms though
did doc ock die before? with one of his arms ripped off maybe? i'm rambling
I think it was an actress that Norman hired.
Now that I think about it, Norman is dangerously close to Thawne levels of pettiness.
Fisk was already established to be part of Kindred's web of associates a long time ago, so Boomerang, Beetle, and Randy are fair game and can still fit into the picture as well. Chameleon's stories have shown no overlap whatsoever with Kindred for the entire run so far. I don't see him involved.
>did doc ock die before?
Yes, it killed the Amazing Spider-Man series for a bit.
another crazy theory: look back at this page - see the bandages, coat, colors
no, before that... clone saga? does that fit the kindred timeline?
There are only two issues thus far, I haven't read them yet.
Was Randy at the party? The timeline would fit.
Is that Robbie in the background?
I don't want it to be Randy. Know why?
Because Peter used to have a massive cast of non super hero supporting characters, more than your typical super hero. And over the decades they've all been killed off for drama and not getting replacements, or just being ignored by writers.
We could reach a point where Peter has no social life outside of close hero buddies and his family.
But the majority of Peter's cast still remains?
>MJ
>J Jonah
>Robbie
>Harry
>Norah
And so on. Who exactly is missing to you?
Flash was always one of my favorite characters, even before Venom stuff.
Eh, he'll be back. Agent Anti-Venom was cool, and its piss easy to revive him considering what that symbiote can do. I think Slott was being a cunt to him because he was leaving the book