The prelude for Spider-Island came out today and I just finished reading it up and it looks like Spidey is going to have a full plate when he has to start dealing with all the other "Spider-Men".
Spider-Island is Spider-Man's new event going on at the moment that involves citizens of Manhattan obtaining powers that are similiar to those of Spider-Man thanks to the work of Professor Miles Warren, also known as the Jackal who was also behind the clones of Spider-Man. The Jackal infects Manhattan with genetically altered bed bugs that contains Spider-Man's powers.
Ever since Spidey lost his spider-sense, he's been training with Shang-Chi who's been helping Spider-Man create his own fighting style. It is then revelaed that Madame Web, who is now Julia Carpenter, that her and Shang-Chi have been helping Spider-Man prepare for "tomorrow" which is when the Jackal plans to hit Manhattan with something. Madame Web also hints that Peter will have to kill someone in order to end this catastrophe, something he promised he'll never do.
Near the end of the comic, we find out that the Jackal has brought back Kaine from the dead as his mutated spider slave. Along with that, it's revealed that there is a benefactor helping out the Jackal as he bring back another clone of Peter from the dead.
Spider-Island leaves a lot of questions in the air, such as: Who is the benefactor? Who will Spider-Man kill? And who is the second clone the Jackal has revived?
It's speculated that the benefactor is no other than Julia Carpenter, if you look at her text bubble, it's red and that's usually only used for spider related characters. As for who will Spider-Man kill, it's believed that it will have to be one of the clones that Jackal made - Kaine or the one and only...Ben Reilly. It is believed and hinted that the second mutated spider that the Jackal has resurrected is Ben Reilly since this clone is referred to as "the real firstborn of this era".
Those aren't the only questions that are in the air, there seems to be some writing mistakes. Jackal calls Kain the 3.0 clone, meaning there's a 1.0 and a 2.0 version of the clones. But Kaine was the first clone, so he would be the 1.0 clone, so I'm not sure what's going on there. Another problem is how does Jackal exactly know who Spider-Man is? The Jackal calls him Peter, but how can that be possible when Dr. Strange helped wipe everyone's mind of who Peter really is?
It's not really sure if that's Ben Reilly or if Julia Carpenter really is the benefactor, it's all just speculation at this point. Madame Web being the benefactor really is questionable at most, but at this point, speculation is the only thing we have until the next issue. And don't forget to check out the list so you can keep track of which comics Spider-Island crosses over to.
