In Sinister War, a Spider-Man villain has created his own version of the Suicide Squad, even putting a new spin on Amanda Waller’s signature move.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Sinister War #2, available now from Marvel.
Spider-Man has been enduring a living hell as of late, due to the maniacal machinations of Kindred. The demon that was once Peter Parker’s best friend has returned seeking vengeance against those who have slighted him, and the web-head tops his list. To enact his plans, Kindred has literally wormed his creeping tendrils into the minds of some of the wall-crawler’s greatest enemies, turning them into his very own version of Amanda Waller’s Suicide Squad.
Spider-Man has been caught in the crosshairs of a number of his classic villains, with five unique teams of his rogues all out for his blood at the not-so-gentle behest of Kindred. As revealed in Sinister War #2 (by Nick Spencer, Ed Brisson, Mark Bagley, Diogenes Neves, Carlos Gomez, Ze Carlos, Andrew Hennessy, John Dell, Andy Owens, Brian Reber, and VC’s Joe Caramagna), the villain who was once Harry Osborn has taken the term “puppet master” far more literally than anyone ever should.
Before the villainous teams started hunting Spider-Man, many of them were taken captive by Kindred. After being felled by the demonic villain, they awoke to find themselves in a dark mausoleum with no memory of how they arrived. Kindred introduced himself to the group as their malevolent host before revealing that he had implanted some of his trademark insects in their brains, and assuring them that if they didn’t do his bidding he would instruct his bugs to begin feasting on their gray matter.
As gruesome as all of this is, it’s not an entirely unfamiliar tactic. DC’s Amanda Waller has famously employed a similar strategy to ensure the compliance of Task Force X, aka the Suicide Squad. Although she does not use insects to accomplish her ends, the bureaucratic antihero is known for implanting her criminal agents with bombs inside their heads that she will not hesitate to detonate should a member of her team act in a way that is counterproductive to her goals.
Kindred’s version of Amanda Waller’s oldest trick is certainly more horrifying than anything she has ever dreamt up, with the villains under his forced employ only having so much time to accomplish their task before the insects completely devour their brains. Even though Kindred has said that he is capable of killing the parasites before that happens, there is no way of knowing whether or not he will actually do so, especially if his agents happen to fail at their mission.
Kindred has already given his operatives the task of murdering Spider-Man, and there’s no telling what he could have planned once this goal is met. The villains that the demonic villain has under his thumb are in a position far worse than that of their DC counterparts, and they can only hope that one day they will eventually be released from his thrall.
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