After nearly 50 issues (plus a few spin-offs), Kindred’s mysterious identity was revealed in this week Amazing Spider-Man # 50. Earlier this month, Newsarama speculated on Kindred’s identity, well …
Spoilers ahead for Amazing Spider-Man # 50.
We were right (for the most part).
Following the Amazing Spider-Man milestone # 850, Amazing Spider-Man # 50 embarks on a new arc by revealing, after two years, that Kindred is Harry Osborn.
That’s right – Peter Parker’s longtime friend and Green Goblin’s son.
Kindred has been looming in the background of writer Nick Spencer’s run since September 2018 Amazing Spider-Man # 5. Since her first appearance, Spencer has left clues about who the mysterious character might be. The biggest clue being the villain’s heated conversation with Norman Osborn in Amazing Spider-Man # 30 where Kindred expresses the pain Norman caused her.
Flash forward to This week’s Amazing Spider-Man # 50, the issue opens with a darker palette courtesy of artist Patrick Gleason and colorist Edgar Delgado. Kindred uses one of his centipede-like creatures to extract George Stacy’s body from his grave. This is overlaid with a monologue about how long it took Peter and Kindred to come face to face – a metatextual statement for how long readers also had to wait to see who is beneath Kindred’s rotten mask.
The rest of the issue deals with the aftermath of Norman Osborn and Spider-Man’s team from recent issues. Norman stays at the Ravencoft Institute and comes face to face with Sin Eater, who offers to remove his sins and “kill” the Green Goblin. Sin Eater says he did this for Kindred, but double-crosses himself as he has to endure the sins of one of the baddest villains in the Marvel Universe. Now the question is – who is Norman Osborn without the Green Goblin?
In the meantime, Spider-Man is looking to get to the bottom of his mysterious Kindred visions, which leads him to Doctor Strange’s door. It is then revealed that he also seeks to help his Spider allies as they are controlled by the dark entity of Kindred.
We then move on to a spooky visual of Kindred having dinner with the corpses of George and Gwen Stacy. He wants Peter to be surrounded by the people he loves when they finally come face to face.
The act ends seconds before Ravencroft collapses as security guards find Norman Osborn in the rubble. For once, Norman responds generously by telling the guards not to worry about him but to run away. Doctor Kafka joins the rescue team telling Norman that he will have to answer for all the secrets he was hiding from Ravencroft.
Norman says he’s a changed man. He warns Doctor Kafka about the dangers of Kindred. He wants to find Kindred because he fears for the villain’s insanity, revealing that the monster is his son.
There is still not much information about Harry’s motivation as his identity is revealed at the very end of the issue, but it could lead to a very intriguing father-to-son battle between Norman and Harry. It seems that this version of Harry inherited much of Norman’s insanity and the villain’s twisted moral compass, but now, with Norman’s sins taken away by Sin Eater, can he be a trusted ally of? Spiderman?
“ Last Remains ” continues with October 21 Amazing Spider-Man # 50.LR, then Amazing Spider-Man # 51 October 28.
Secret identities aren’t a joke in Spider-Man comics – check it all the time Spider-Man’s secret identity revealed.
