Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Amazing Spider-Man #54.LR from Nick Spencer, Matthew Rosenberg, Federico Vicentini, and Takeshi Miyazawa.

In the latest issue of The Amazing Spider-Man from Marvel Comics, a very important flashback is featured right from the start. This look into the past is actually a panel-for-panel recreation of Harry Osborn’s abduction of Mary Jane Watson from 1993’s Spectacular Spider-Man #200 when Harry became the new Green Goblin. Now it carries quite the large impact for the events taking place in the present, since the villain Kindred has been revealed as Harry, Mary Jane Watson is walking into a trap, and Spider-Man himself is powerless to help her. Furthermore, it also confirms that the darkness and pain all three of them share has always been present, even during Spider-Man’s earliest and most formative stories.

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In The Amazing Spider-Man #54.LR, Kindred has taken Spider-Man captive, forcing him to witness his Spider allies and love of his life Mary Jane walk right into a trap set by the Sin-Eater. All the while, Peter himself can do nothing to prevent it and save them, as Kindred keeps breaking and killing him, only to resurrect Spider-Man again and again with every death. This demonic version of Harry Osborn continues to torment Spider-Man, trying to force the Webslinger to confess his greatest sin, which appears to be the demonic deal Spider-Man made with Mephisto during the One More Day storyline. That barter retconned away several aspects of Spider-Man’s life, the big ones being his marriage to Mary Jane, as well and the death of Harry himself.

Harry’s death before One More Day actually took place in Spectacular Spider-Man #200, the same issue that this flashback is from, which happened just beforehand. During Harry’s past abduction of Mary Jane as the Green Goblin, he took her to the same bridge where his father killed Gwen Stacy, However, Harry’s Green Goblin had no intention of killing MJ in the slightest. Having taken an advanced and volatile version of his father’s Goblin serum, Harry was incredibly confused and unbalanced (it’s also what caused his death). Despite carrying a burning hatred for Spider-Man, he promises MJ in this 1993 issue that whatever might happen between him and Peter, he would never hurt her. He also wishes the three of them could return back to the days of Spider-Man’s earliest stories, back when things were supposedly simpler and they were all more innocent. However, MJ helps Harry realize that the darkness was always there, even in those first stories from creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

It’s more than logical to assume that the presence of this flashback here will have a big impact on the current events happening between Harry, MJ, and Peter. Not only is it a memory from before One More Day (which is becoming more and more of a focal point with every issue of this arc), but it also could serve as some strong foreshadowing for future issues from writer Nick Spencer going forward. It seems as though this resurrected and demonic version of Harry remembers his life before Spider-Man’s deal with Mephisto, despite the fact that he shouldn’t. He shouldn’t even remember the deal itself, considering that not even Spider-Man nor MJ (the ones who made the deal) are able to remember it.

Regardless, if Harry can remember his life before One More Day, that means he should remember his promise to MJ in Spectacular Spider-Man #200. Hopefully he’ll be true to his word and no harm will come to her while she tries to reason with him and save Peter. However, the issue also reveals that Harry’s own father, the actual Green Goblin, is working with the Kingpin and using MJ to find Kindred, fully intending to destroy him. While Marvel has reminded readers that the darkness in Spider-Man’s life and those around him has always been there from the start, it looks as though it’s only going to get darker as this current Spider-Man series continues from Marvel Comics.

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Kevin Erdmann
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Kevin Erdmann is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers. With a major in Cinema Studies and a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin is pretty sure he’s writing for the right site. While Kevin is a huge Marvel fan, he also loves Batman because he’s Batman and is a firm believer that Han shot first. Disney also shares a big part of his fan patronage. Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

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