Kindred Speculation

[AngelJD]

Reading people say "a piece of/part of his soul" makes me think:
Piece of Gwen, Piece of Harry, Piece of Peter, piece of Flash ect... but the worst pieces.
Such as that 'good and evil on our shoulders' maybe when a person dies the evil dirt on the souls is washed away before going to the afterlife and Kindred is a product of: Gwen, Harry, and all that has died but knows Peter personally. Thus having memories and a link to him as there are many Peter has a history with that has died and some that came back from death. Even the 'worse parts of Gwen and harry loves Peter but being what it is a messed up kind of caring. Pieces of souls bonded together forming bugs and the bening Kindred that was task to torture Peter's villains in the afterlife out of hate and vengeance.

[Desmark]

Evil Peter will start the "One More Secret Empire" story arc once he frees Stevil

The World's Vilest! Lol

[NC_Yankee]

As someone who liked Go Down Swinging, I agree that that twist was unnecessary and didn't amount to anything. So I thought about Emily being Kindred in today's issue as a way of doing something with that twist, but Kindred has too much of a proximity to Peter to be Emily, so I discarded her as a possibility. I think Kindred's monologue to Osborn shortens the list of suspects. Kindred is someone that is close to Peter and was afraid of Norman in the past, so Ezekiel can't be Kindred either. Now that we know that Kindred knows Norman Osborn, he killing Stromm in such a horrendous way could gain a new meaning

EDIT: Oh, and this issue's flashback taking place in a story published after George Stacy's death makes me doubt that he's Kindred

Harry has to be Kindred Prime Suspect #1. He fits all of the clues: Close to Pete and Norm, male, was dead, concerned about MJ, has empathy for innocents, knew Pete is Spider-Man, is very good at trickery, was around in Ditko's run and is aware of Gwen. That said, Harry is a little too obvious, and I am still looking at Mephisto himself, Grey Goblin and Richard Fisk as possibilities ( I do not see Uncle Ben, Captain Stacy or Gwen as realistic Why? If for no other reason, why would they be in Hell? Unless there is something we are unaware of, they did nothing to deserve it). I really think the entire arc is a way to eventually restore the marriage ( and undo not only OMD/BND but Dan Slott's run), and we will find out that Kindred is really Mephisto. Why? Look at the anger about Pete telling Felicia about his identity, Mephisto popping up with Miles and Otto ( interesting that Superior is being undone with another deal, and we know how Slott loves Otto), and look at what he did with Mysterio. One other thing about the issue is Spencer thru Kindred did the impossible: He had me take a level of pity for Norm.

[NC_Yankee]

As someone who liked Go Down Swinging, I agree that that twist was unnecessary and didn't amount to anything. So I thought about Emily being Kindred in today's issue as a way of doing something with that twist, but Kindred has too much of a proximity to Peter to be Emily, so I discarded her as a possibility. I think Kindred's monologue to Osborn shortens the list of suspects. Kindred is someone that is close to Peter and was afraid of Norman in the past, so Ezekiel can't be Kindred either. Now that we know that Kindred knows Norman Osborn, he killing Stromm in such a horrendous way could gain a new meaning

EDIT: Oh, and this issue's flashback taking place in a story published after George Stacy's death makes me doubt that he's Kindred

Harry has to be Kindred Prime Suspect #1. He fits all of the clues: Close to Pete and Norm, male, was dead, concerned about MJ, has empathy for innocents, knew Pete is Spider-Man, is very good at trickery, was around in Ditko's run and is aware of Gwen. That said, Harry is a little too obvious, and I am still looking at Mephisto himself, Grey Goblin and Richard Fisk as possibilities ( I do not see Uncle Ben, Captain Stacy or Gwen as realistic Why? If for no other reason, why would they be in Hell? Unless there is something we are unaware of, they did nothing to deserve it). I really think Kindred is Mephisto. Why? Look at the anger about Pete telling Felicia about his identity, Mephisto popping up with Otto and Miles, and look at what he did with Mysterio and Norm. Speaking of Norm, one thing about the issue is Spencer thru Kindred did the impossible: He had me take a level of pity for Norm.

[RD155]

Harry has to be Kindred Prime Suspect #1. He fits all of the clues: Close to Pete and Norm, male, was dead, concerned about MJ, has empathy for innocents, knew Pete is Spider-Man, is very good at trickery, was around in Ditko's run and is aware of Gwen. That said, Harry is a little too obvious, and I am still looking at Mephisto himself, Grey Goblin and Richard Fisk as possibilities ( I do not see Uncle Ben, Captain Stacy or Gwen as realistic Why? If for no other reason, why would they be in Hell? Unless there is something we are unaware of, they did nothing to deserve it). I really think Kindred is Mephisto. Why? Look at the anger about Pete telling Felicia about his identity, Mephisto popping up with Otto and Miles, and look at what he did with Mysterio and Norm. Speaking of Norm, one thing about the issue is Spencer thru Kindred did the impossible: He had me take a level of pity for Norm.

Totally with you on all of this, and much like you i feel Spencer is making it too obvious with issue #30. That issue is basically screaming to the reader that Kindred is Harry in such a blatant fashion that I don’t think it is if that makes sense lol. I just doubt that Spencer would make it that obvious. Whatever the case I’m still hoping and pulling for Kindred to have some type of OMD connection in some way shape or form.

[Spidey5640]

[QUOTE=
That theory would work a lot better if she didn't suddenly return in Go Down Swinging, although even without that it'd still be weird, since it'd mean that she died when Harry was born or so, and her being more obssessed with Peter than her currently alive son would be questionable, plus, there's no way she'd have suffered because of Green Goblin, she would be dead by that point, and even with the GDS retcon of her being alive, she'd still probably not have suffered under Green Goblin since she was hiding.[/QUOTE]

I agree it's a long shot with alot on holes in it but.... Dan Slott was always looking long term. I don't see him suddenly introducing a character with so much potential history going all the way back to the beginning of ASM without there being a plan to utilize them in the future. Given that he knew he was ending his run, that plan would have to have been Spencers. Slott could have used literally any character, established or some no-name throwaway for the role Emily had in Go Down Swinging.

Emily's past is a blank slate that can be used to answer every question we have about Kindred. Norman obviously wanted the world to believe she was dead, did he use an early version of the Goblin formula on her that might have given her these powers and then imprisoned her? When he enlisted Mysterio to cover for Harry's death with another body, Mysterio said he had experience in that, could he have been referring to doing something similar with Emily?

I still think the whole Hell and back stuff could be an analogy to an event or experience such as being experimented on, imprisoned by Norman or something like that. Since we don't know anything of her past, anything is possible.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I agree it's a long shot with alot on holes in it but.... Dan Slott was always looking long term.

"New writer. Who's this?"
-- Nick Spencer's hypothetical response.

I don't see him suddenly introducing a character with so much potential history going all the way back to the beginning of ASM without there being a plan to utilize them in the future.

Anyone familiar with Slott's writing methods would know that's exactly what he would do. People overexaggerate Slott as a writer with plans based on Dying Wish, when most of his other stuff isn't like that.

Given that he knew he was ending his run, that plan would have to have been Spencers.

Spencer has an idea for a new Osborn being alive...and his plan is to let another writer introduce that! That just doesn't make sense.

Slott could have used literally any character, established or some no-name throwaway for the role Emily had in Go Down Swinging.

Who can know the mind of Slott?

[Vortex85]

Harry has to be Kindred Prime Suspect #1. He fits all of the clues: Close to Pete and Norm, male, was dead, concerned about MJ, has empathy for innocents, knew Pete is Spider-Man, is very good at trickery, was around in Ditko's run and is aware of Gwen. That said, Harry is a little too obvious, and I am still looking at Mephisto himself, Grey Goblin and Richard Fisk as possibilities ( I do not see Uncle Ben, Captain Stacy or Gwen as realistic Why? If for no other reason, why would they be in Hell? Unless there is something we are unaware of, they did nothing to deserve it). I really think Kindred is Mephisto. Why? Look at the anger about Pete telling Felicia about his identity, Mephisto popping up with Otto and Miles, and look at what he did with Mysterio and Norm. Speaking of Norm, one thing about the issue is Spencer thru Kindred did the impossible: He had me take a level of pity for Norm.

I disagree about Harry being prime suspect. Harry doesn’t make sense because he doesn’t know all the other spider characters like Silk, Ben Reilly, Miles, etc. One of the biggest clues to Kindreds identity to me was that he was familiar with the Spider-verse characters enough to consider them friends/acquaintances and wanted to reintroduce himself to Peter with or through them. Harry doesn’t make sense in that regard. That’s why I keep going back to Ezekiel or a Spider themed character for who Kindred is. I feel Kindred must feel linked to all the Spider characters in some way for him to want them to all be there when he reveals himself to Peter.

But anyway I think your on the right track when looking at other possibilities.

[RD155]

I disagree. Harry doesn’t make sense because he doesn’t know all the other spider characters like Silk, Ben Reilly, Miles, etc. One of the biggest clues to Kindreds identity to me was that he was familiar with the Spider-verse enough to consider them friends and wanted to reintroduce himself to Peter with or through them. Harry doesn’t make sense in that regard. That’s why I keep going back to Ezekiel or a Spider themed character for who Kindred is.

The issue I see with Ezekiel is that newer readers won’t really be up to speed with who that is. I’m not saying it can’t be him but I just feel as if it wouldn’t carry enough weight with some readers.

Has Kaine been explored yet as a possibility ?

[SuperiorIronman]

Given Slott's on propensity for hanging out on these boards and activity on Twitter, we could just ask him what he intended in that story.
Y'know it's weird, when it came out I remember more of us being angry at Flash Thompson being here to be the character that dies than we had confusion as to why Emily was even here.

But what if it is Pre-OMD Peter? Mephisto didn't exactly explain how he did it, just that the two would no longer be married. So here's what might be a weird loophole;

Mephisto does get Peter's soul, but the Peter who made the deal.
So in this scenario, Peter's life is basically rewritten to accommodate the new timeline. Since no deal happens here (instead being changed to the other heroes wiping records) Mephisto can't get Peter's soul. But since Peter agreed to the deal in the old timeline Mephisto has a claim to that incarnation of Spider-man and what exactly does he do with the timeline he has swapped out? He molds it into his own.

[Jman27]

The issue I see with Ezekiel is that newer readers won’t really be up to speed with who that is. I’m not saying it can’t be him but I just feel as if it wouldn’t carry enough weight with some readers.

Has Kaine been explored yet as a possibility ?

ezekiel was in the orignal spider-verse and why should it even be a concern to newer readers anyway they always do recaps for reintroduction anyway

[CrimsonEchidna]

I'm starting to think that Kindred may be a resurrected Flash Thompson. With all the Mephisto shenanigans lately, I could see him being the ultimate puppet master behind all of this.

[Vortex85]

I'm starting to think that Kindred may be a resurrected Flash Thompson. With all the Mephisto shenanigans lately, I could see him being the ultimate puppet master behind all of this.

Doesn’t make sense. Mysterio was resurrected LONG before Flash died so they would have never been in hell together.

[Inversed]

Given Slott's on propensity for hanging out on these boards and activity on Twitter, we could just ask him what he intended in that story.
Y'know it's weird, when it came out I remember more of us being angry at Flash Thompson being here to be the character that dies than we had confusion as to why Emily was even here.

I could be remembering wrong, but I believe he's mentioned that he wasn't writing with the intention of specifically setting up for Spencer, he was just telling his story on his own terms and letting other writers do what they decide to choose. So Norman thinking he's Cletus, or showing Normie still having a bit of Carnage within him, isn't really to set up Absolute Carnage, just a plot thread he left open Cates later decided to utilize. Or with how GDS started with MJ telling Peter they can't be together, when that's one of the first things that happens in Spencer's first issue. So Emily feels more like one last twist using a deep-cut Spider-Man character rather than purposefully setting up a master plan for the future for someone else.

[Vaegrin]

Nick Spencer has done a great job building the mystery, keeping us guessing, maintaining engagement with hints, clues, and deeper threads without detracting from the story from one issue to the next. Here's hoping Spencer is able to bring this to a satisfying conclusion.

A few different theories are workable. Harry, or some version or piece of him. George Stacy, or someone or something associated with Gwen. Some sort of time-traveling or reality-hopping child of Peter and MJ (such as the potential-future child destroyed by One More Day, or Ben from the J.J. Abrams series).

I'm not sure I want it to be a version or aspect of Peter, and I'm not sure that's what I would expect. But it's certainly an intriguing possibility. If it's any part of Peter, the theory that would make the most sense to me is that it's not an alternate version of Peter (i.e., pre-OMD), but rather an aspect of Peter--some broken-off piece of his soul or personality. For example, a personification of his own fear, self-blame, and doubt--perhaps the very same self-loathing that brought him to the decision to make a deal with Mephisto in One More Day. That could be the portion of Peter's soul that Mephisto claimed, and Mephisto would have been more than pleased to see that portion of Peter grow and flourish, and ultimately be unleashed upon Peter's life at the very moment when Peter and MJ began to find their way back to one another.