Kindred Speculation

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I think Spencer has had a pretty good (but not GREAT great) run on ASM so far,

There hasn't been a single bad issue in Spencer's run from #802-829 (which is 28 issues around the same number of Roger Stern wrote). So its still high summer for him.

so I’ll keep my hopes up. But I do wonder whether the payoff will equal the buildup.

It depends on the execution. A plot twist that people guess can still wow people over if it's done in a very dramatic and consequential way.

Mystery villains in comics, and mystery stories overall, have gotten harder to do since the rise of the internet and the online community. The last big successful comics mystery villain was HUSH, and that entire story ran a bunch of misdirections and red herring even when it was quite obvious who Hush would ultimately be. The terrible thing is to cheat the audience just for a shock (which is what the horrible HUSH cartoon movie did). Likewise the Hobgoblin mystery which cheated several years worth of readers with that awful copout of Ned Leeds being the Hobgoblin and which ultimately didn't get fixed even with Stern showing it was Kingsley all along in the '90s.

The key is how our attitude to Kindred will change from Pre-Reveal to Post-Reveal. Hush for instance was cooler as Mummy-Face guy than he was as Tom "I'm Totally Evil Bruce" Elliott.The other real problem with Kindred is that so far it's a mystery that is played with the audience rather than Peter. Spider-Man doesn't encounter Kindred, doesn't confront him or has any curiosity/paranoia about who he could be (which is what the Hobgoblin mystery ran on).

So it feels like Spencer is playing this game with the audience rather than Peter.

[Junco]

I feel like it's an alt timeline version of Peter Parker himself but can't fully rectify my reasoning. Like I wanna say it's the married Peter Parker who was erased and replaced with current single Peter Parker but he's the one who made the dumb deal with Mephisto so he has no one to blame for himself.

Maybe it's time-traveling cursed Aunt May, forced to walk the earth for thousands of years because she can't ever die.

[WebSlingWonder]

I agree with Revolutionary_Jack in that Kindred's identity likely comes down to who the audience guesses, not Peter. My thinking is this repeating motif of the "Guess My Name" means Peter will get it right on the first try, because he's smart enough and experienced enough to know who this is. This could very well be why Kindred and Peter have never been face to face, because to Peter, it's obvious who this is. But to us, not so much.

When their first confrontation does happen, I can guarantee that it will most likely be when we find out who Kindred is.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I feel like it's an alt timeline version of Peter Parker himself but can't fully rectify my reasoning. Like I wanna say it's the married Peter Parker who was erased and replaced with current single Peter Parker but he's the one who made the dumb deal with Mephisto so he has no one to blame for himself.

That was initially who I thought Kindred would be. But that ended when Kindred killed people. And even then I wonder if Marvel would be willing to go there...because it would amount to the same problem the 90s Clone Saga ran into...it would confirm that the Spider-Man since BND is not the Spider-Man of AF#15 and it would also mean Kindred is the Spider-Man of AF#15 but now that character is a murderer. It's basically dodgy as hell.

I am partial to the idea of Post-BND Peter not being the real Peter but I don't see how Spencer can execute that with this setup.

But even then the timeline doesn't add up. Kindred helped Mysterio return which happened in PAD's run on FNSM. That was Pre-OMD before a part of Peter got damned. So Kindred has been active before. That also means, now that I think of it, that it's not Flash Thompson.

So far Gwen and Harry fit best timeline wise.

[WebSlingWonder]

That was initially who I thought Kindred would be. But that ended when Kindred killed people. And even then I wonder if Marvel would be willing to go there...because it would amount to the same problem the 90s Clone Saga ran into...it would confirm that the Spider-Man since BND is not the Spider-Man of AF#15 and it would also mean Kindred is the Spider-Man of AF#15 but now that character is a murderer. It's basically dodgy as hell.

I am partial to the idea of Post-BND Peter not being the real Peter but I don't see how Spencer can execute that with this setup.

But even then the timeline doesn't add up. Kindred helped Mysterio return which happened in PAD's run on FNSM. That was Pre-OMD before a part of Peter got damned. So Kindred has been active before. That also means, now that I think of it, that it's not Flash Thompson.

So far Gwen and Harry fit best timeline wise.

Exactly. This man has been active for a long, long time. Someone had a plan from the jump, rose through the ranks of Hell, tortured Mysterio into doing his bidding...this guy's organized and calculating. That tells me a lot of things.

[Michael Watkins]

so basically no one knows who kindred is.

[WebSlingWonder]

so basically no one knows who kindred is.

Except Nick Spencer and Nick Lowe.
And Mysterio. :P

[Desmark]

Maybe Blaze: Ruler of Hell also knows.

[Celgress]

so basically no one knows who kindred is.

So it would appear. No one has leaked the identity as of yet, which is impressive nowadays.

[WebSlingWonder]

Here are some conjectures of my own when it comes to Kindred's identity:

We have to look at context. Why now? Why not any of the time before with however many years it's been? Why right now? Remember, Kindred resurfaced to Mysterio when Peter and Mary Jane got back together. This villain clearly has a stake in their relationship, and knows something that we the audience don't. Why would he be interested in their relationship? Is it because of OMD? Or is it in spite of OMD? We know he was active beforehand and that he has impressive powers, wanted to team-up with the Other to destroy Spider-Man...that's a lot of grudge against someone for something that Peter did. But the context makes this an even bigger mystery.

[WebSlingWonder]

So it would appear. No one has leaked the identity as of yet, which is impressive nowadays.

The fact that his identity hasn't been revealed yet should be telling. Spencer is keeping this under wraps (no pun intended) for a long time.

[Celgress]

The fact that his identity hasn't been revealed yet should be telling. Spencer is keeping this under wraps (no pun intended) for a long time.

True, outside of Spencer and Editorial, I doubt anyone knows who Kindred is. I hope the reveal and its impact lives up to this level of secrecy. *crosses fingers*

[Lukmendes]

So it would appear. No one has leaked the identity as of yet, which is impressive nowadays.

To be fair, Spidey **** hardly gets leaked, not even something like what Superior Spider-Man was supposed to be was leaked.

[Snoop Dogg]

the marvel yakuza kept hydra cap secret until like the day before, they're too strong, all leakers are captured and locked up in guantanamickey bay where they are cursed to go on rides and sleep in nice hotels for the rest of their lives

[Revolutionary_Jack]

To be fair, Spidey **** hardly gets leaked, not even something like what Superior Spider-Man was supposed to be was leaked.

Actually Dying Wish leaked and got pirated online well before launch. So people did know who Superior was before.