The issue starts with Miles getting violently blasted and smashed into a car on a chaotic New York street right outside a burning hospital. Revenant hovers over the wreckage and tells Miles he should have stayed out of it. In issue #1, Miles’ father used Martin Moore aka Revenant years ago during one of his undercover operations. Revenant wants revenge… or is it justice?
So how did we get here? Hours earlier, Miles is hanging out at a traditional Japanese tea house with a classmate named Valentina. As they drink tea, Miles tries to sound cultured by talking about wabi-sabi, which is all about imperfection and asymmetry. In the previous issue, Valentina asked him out on this tea date. Miles wants to impress her but, due to her bluntly asking questions, mentions (again) he just finished a relationship.
Valentina, who realizes she is blunt, points out that Miles has seemed distracted lately and asks about his family. They end up bonding over generational struggles. Valentina shares that her grandmother lied to her mother about everyone being fine after the Chernobyl disaster. Her mother found out the truth years later and did not speak to the grandmother for a year.
She tied the story to kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken things with gold to make them stronger. Valentina and Miles share trying to be the glue that holds things together. Valentina makes it clear she is not looking for anything casual. She’s only there for one year. They agree to take things slow and be honest with each other. Honesty is important to Valentina.
The relationship is already built on lies. As Miles is making the promise, a boy behind him has a Spider-Man backpack. Since Spider-Man’s identity is a secret, Miles can’t tell Valentina he’s Spider-Man, if only for her safety.
After they finish their tea and are walking past a mural, a massive explosion rips through the hospital where Miles’s mom works. Panicking, Miles leaves, telling Val that his mother works there, he has to go and to get somewhere safe. After quickly changing into his Spider-Man outfit, he swings frantically through the city, racing to the hospital and praying his mom is safe.
If Valentina finds out Miles is Spider-Man, imagine how she will feel when she realizes he left her to “be” Spider-Man.
The Past Comes Back to Haunt Them
While Miles is rushing to the hospital, we jump back in time years ago to a rooftop meeting. A S.H.I.E.L.D. operative named Caldwell gives Miles’s dad, Jefferson Morales, an assignment to infiltrate Wilson Fisk’s Mutant Growth Hormone operation in Red Hook. Jefferson initially doesn’t want to do it. The plan involves using an innocent 23 year old low-level worker named Martin Moore to gain access. Caldwell coldly brushes off the ethics, arguing that using people is how they survive against a corrupt system.
Armed tactical forces raid the facility and arrest Martin. While they pretended to arrest Jefferson, he wasn’t treated the same as Martin. Because of this, Martin quickly figured out that Jefferson was the reason the facility was raided. Jefferson knows Martin figured it out. Jefferson tried to explain this to Caldwell but she dismissed it. Jefferson feels bad about what happened but in the end… he agreed to do it.
The Climax and the Living Bomb
Back in the present, Spider-Man crashes through a window into the fourth-floor oncology ward, frantically looking for his mom and helping injured staff. Revenant is already there confronting Rio Morales. Revenant reveals his name is Martin, was Martin, and tells Rio that her husband owes him a massive debt of pain. He explains he wants her husband Jefferson to know that no one in his life is safe.
Spider-Man tries to protect the patients and his mom, telling Revenant to deal with him instead. Revenant wonders why Spider-Man keeps showing up, since he’s made it clear he does not want to hurt him. Spider-Man said, “Let’s take it outside” and pushed himself and Revenant out of the window. That sets off a fight that spills out of the building and onto the street.
Revenant overpowers Spider-Man, stands over his defeated body, saying he doesn’t want to kill him. To distract him, Revenant channels volatile, glowing energy into Spider-Man. Revenant tells Spider-Man he has about ten seconds before he explodes, effectively turning Spider-Man into a living bomb.
Desperate to protect innocent people, they are outside the hospital, a glowing and unstable Spider-Man shoots a webline and flings himself high up into the sky. The issue ends with a massive, blinding explosion lighting up the sky as Spider-Man detonates mid-air.
Potential Foreshadowing?
Hypocrisy is flowing all through this issue:
- Revenant doesn’t realize Spider-Man is Jefferson’s son.
- Revenant not realizing Spider-Man is Jefferson’s is the very reason why he can’t tell Valentina he is Spider-Man. Revenant, the villain, honestly told Rio that Jefferson’s loved ones are not safe. That would extend to the people in Miles’ life.
- It is unrealistic to think he and Valentina, or anyone, can have a “relationship”. Just like it was unrealistic for Caldwell to think Martin wouldn’t figure out Jefferson set him up.
- Realistically, it is an immature mindset to be focusing on a relationship with a stranger. It makes more sense to be friends first, get to know each other. Valentina asked, “Are we friends?”, made it clear she is not interested in something casual, said she will only be there a year and said they should take it slow. Can they take things slow if there is a time limit on how long she will be there?
- Spider-Man is going to be okay. In issue #1, Revenant did the same thing to a woman on the street to distract Spider-Man. He threw her up in the air, she came down and was fine. If this happens to Spider-Man, we know that once again that Revenant is trying very hard not to hurt Spider-Man.
Valentina is going to figure out that when she is with Miles, he keeps disappearing when Spider-Man shows up. When she figures it out, she’s not going to like the lies because she is blunt and honest. She knows how painful lies can be because of what happened with her family. While I hope they write her off, I would not be surprised if, somehow, Valentina turns into a villain.
Ethical Issues
Revenant, the humble villain, wants justice (revenge). Jefferson used him. This storyline shows how painful it can be when someone breaks your trust.
We don’t know how Martin turned into Revenant. I’m curious about his story. I hope he wasn’t experimented on. It’s interesting Martin gained his powers and Jefferson was completely unaware of it. Revenant hasn’t used his powers to be a criminal.
This storyline shows, once again, that “good people” do bad things. Caldwell’s lack of empathy and ethics begs the question: is she a good person? I would say no.
Does the end justify the means?
More importantly: will Miles repeat Jefferson’s mistake?
