In Symbiote Spider-Man, a forgotten Marvel villain’s return proves that the path to the King in Black crossover began decades ago.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Symbiote Spider-Man – King in Black #1 by Peter David, Greg Land, Jay Leisten, Frank D’Armata, and VC’s Joe Sabino, on sale now.
In the lead-up to Marvel’s King in Black crossover, the symbiote god Knull has cast a heavy shadow across the Marvel Universe. And while Knull will define Marvel’s immediate future, his shadow has also fallen on Mister E, a forgotten villain from the past in Symbiote Spider-Man – King in Black #1.
This flashback story picks up sometime shortly after the events of 1984’s Secret Wars. In this period in time, Alistair Smythe, the Spider-Slayer, has been in the Ravencroft Institute since his most recent defeat at the hands of Spider-Man. He sees a vision of his deceased father, which informs him that it needs a new host. If Alistair agrees, it will give him a formula that will allow the paralyzed villain to walk once again. Alistair agrees and soon begins working on the mystery formula, making a dosage for himself to inject as well as a larger batch to introduce into the ventilation system of the institute.
Peter Parker and Ned Leeds are sent by Jonah Jameson to the Ravencroft Institute, having gotten word that Smythe has developed some sort of treatment that could help those with injuries such as his own. Once they arrive, Peter stops to take a look at the surprise eclipse taking place while Ned goes inside. The formula that Smythe created has already begun working its way through the building, and Smythe gloats as the people around him begin gasping for air.
When Peter goes inside, he sees everyone around being overtaken by shadowy black tendrils, gradually become dark silhouettes that greatly resemble his own black costume. With too many foes to take on at once, Peter makes his way up the elevator shaft, heading straight for whatever is sending his senses into a frenzy. Once he’s reached the source, he’s confronted by Smythe. As the black tendrils envelop the former Spider-Slayer, he proclaims that he shall now be known as Mister-E.
Although Spider-Man openly mocks Mister E’s name, the shadowy figure has already made an impact on the Marvel Universe. Mister E’s only meaningful previous appearance came in 1980’s Marvel Spotlight #9, by Bill Mantlo, Steve Ditko, Ben Sean and Jean Simek.
Mister E was a creature from the Shadow Dimension that faced off against Steve Coffin, the powerhouse hero Captain Universe. Mister E emerged from the Shadow Dimension and hijacked a shuttle by possessing its astronaut pilot, attempting to use it to produce a steady stream of negatron particles that would turn the Earth’s Sun into a black star. Even though Mister E had seemingly died after his defeat at the hands of Captain Universe, this new King in Black tie-in has found a way to retcon that story without doing any damage to preexisting Marvel canon.