Spider-Girl Officially Debuts in Marvel Lore, With a Vicious New Take on an Iconic Spidey Gadget

Warning: Spoilers for Spider-Boy #12!Spider-Girl, the latest addition to Spider-Man’s extended universe of Spider-heroes, is finally making her way to the page officially. Following the massive success of Marvel’s “Spider-Verse” storyline and the even bigger success of the ongoing Spider-Verse movie franchise, the constantly growing Spider-Family has quickly become an integral part of both Spider-Man’s lore and the Marvel Universe as a whole. Now it’s time for the family to introduce a new member.

Based on a preview first shared by ComicBook.com, Spider-Boy #12 – written by Dan Slott, with art by Paco Medina – will feature the on-panel debut of Spider-Girl, though intriguingly, the question of whether Spider-Girl will truly be a friend or foe to the Spider-Family remains to be answered by the full issue when it is released.

Along with hinting at Spider-Girl’s journey, this preview spotlights just how the Spider-Family has expanded Marvel lore, as well as starting to seed suggestions of what that could lead to in future storylines.

Spider-Girl Officially Arrives, As Marvel’s Roster Of Spider-Heroes Continues To Expand Exponentially

Spider-Boy #12 – Written By Dan Slott, Art By Paco Medina

More surprising than the sudden appearance of deadly MCU villain Bullseye in the preview for Spider-Boy #12 is the fact that he does not arrive alone. Out from behind Bullseye emerges a shadowy figure unleashing a bevy of spider-shurikens in the shape of spider-tracers. The unexpected onslaught catches Daredevil off-guard, knocking him out in the melee. With his mentor down for the count, it’s up to Spider-Boy to hold his ground. Just then, the mystery assailant exits the shadows to reveal herself as a Spider-Girl.

The identity of Spider-Girl behind the mask remains a mystery, but more should be revealed once the issue drops. Spider-Boy himself is a fairly new addition to the Spider-Family, one that apparently was there during Spider-Man’s entire life. Upon his Marvel debut, Bailey Briggs’ lore-breaking origin story revealed Spider-Boy as Spider-Man’s forgotten sidekick. A literal forgotten sidekick, whose memory was erased from everyone’s mind when he was stabbed by the Totem Dagger capable of erasing anyone connected to the Spider-Totem within the Web of Life and Destiny.

Bailey’s journey in the past year was to reintegrate himself into a Marvel Universe that forgot him. It was a struggle for him, but more recently, Marvel lore changed forever when Spider-Boy was re-connected to the Web of Life and Destiny, thus restoring everyone’s memories of Spider-Boy. This allowed Bailey to repair his relationship with Daredevil, who supposedly trained Spider-Boy before his memories were erased. Spider-Boy #12 sees the two back to their signature rooftop sparring sessions, until they are joined unexpectedly by Daredevil’s archrival, Bullseye.

Spider-Girl Working With Bullseye Adds Another Layer To The Mystery Of Her First Appearance

Spider-Boy #12 – Available October 23 From Marvel Comics

One thing that readers may be eager to discover is not only where Spider-Girl came from, but why she’s working with Bullseye. Keeping in theme with what readers have seen from the Spider-Boy series thus far, there’s a good chance that Spider-Girl is being manipulated to fight superheroes, likely under the doing of Madame Monstrosity. Madame Monstrosity is a mad scientist who creates human-animal hybrids via people she captures and unlawfully experiments on. Among her horror creations was Spider-Boy, giving Bailey his powers.

Madame Monstrosity has spent the bulk of this series sending her creations to combat Spider-Boy, going as far as to manipulate some of these creations to do her bidding. One prime example comes in the first issue, introducing the villain Hellifino, who was formerly a friend of Bailey’s named Eli. Bailey was able to slowly bring Hellifino back to his side, and Spider-Boy’s ability to reason with his foes could be what turns Spider-Girl into a hero. After all, he previously did so with Marvel’s new smartest hero, Toy Soldier.

Like Hellifino, Toy Soldier is introduced in the series as an enemy of Spider-Boy, but after talking sense into the aspiring hero, he starts opposing the side of villainy and becomes an ally of Spider-Boy. It’s a skill that Spider-Man has shown time and time again, and if Spider-Boy is able to tap into that skill again, he could make a friend out of Spider-Girl. Whether Bullseye is some sort of mentor of Spider-Girl or perhaps a partner in crime acting on Madame Monstrosity’s accord remains to be seen, but Madame’s involvement would certainly raise the stakes of Spider-Boy’s involvement.

Marvel Continues To Build On Its “Spider-Verse” Success

2014’s Spider-Verse – Written By Dan Slott; Art By Olivier Coipel, Giuseppe Camuncoli & More

Marvel’s Spider-Verse series first hit shelves in 2014, and it proved to change Spider-Man’s lore forever in the best way possible. After a heap of sequels, spinoffs, and onscreen adaptations, it was a great way to freshen up Spider-Man’s story in a way that has given the character longevity and more than a decade of new stories. More importantly, it has afforded the Marvel Universe with a sea of new characters, and even more importantly, a new way of approaching Spider-Man stories.

Expanding the lore of the Web of Life and Destiny itself has added an interesting new facet to the Spider-Man character, but the Spidey adjacent characters who are slowly being added to this world have proven to be a breath of fresh air themselves. Characters like Spider-Gwen, for example, have left a large enough of an impression on readers to rank her among Marvel’s most popular modern heroes, hence why she just kickstarted her own new series within Earth-616. A multitude of fascinating Spider characters have emerged in the past few years, and now Spider-Girl is the latest.

Spider-Girl’s Potential Is Already Evident, Even Before Her Official First Appearance

Marvel’s Latest Exciting New Spider-Character

Readers have yet to actually get to know Spider-Girl, but even without an indication of an origin or personality, her character is already utterly fascinating. She has a mysterious connection to a Daredevil villain that puts her in conflict with Spider-Boy and, for now at least, the rest of the Spider-Family and hero community. And this is all beforethe creative team actually dives headfirst into her origin story. Imagine how interesting Spider-Girl will be once the series fully delves into who she is and where she comes from.

So far, all readers really know beyond her alliance with Bullseye is that Spider-Girl is crafty enough to take out the Man Without Fear within seconds of meeting him, along with the fact she has some wicked cool ninja-style shurikens in her arsenal. Maybe that even hints at her training, but it certainly primes her as Marvel’s next big hero worth getting obsessed over. There is plenty for comic book fans to get excited about with Spider-Girl, as she becomes the latest intriguing expansion of Marvel’s Spider-Man lore.

Spider-Boy #12 will be available October 12, 2024 from Marvel Comics.

Source: Comic Book