Warning: Spoilers for Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #2!Old-school Spider-Man villain the Chameleon returns to solidify Spider-Gwen’s place in official Marvel canon. Thanks to the Spider-Verse – both the comics and the movies – the Spider-Gwen character has grown immensely popular with audiences. Of course, because she’s an alternate universe version of Gwen Stacy, there was only so much Marvel could do with her in canon, until they decided to move her to Earth-616 permanently.

Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #2 – written by Stephanie Phillips, with art by Federica Mancin – introduces the Multiverse-hopping hero to her first enemy as a member of the mainstream Marvel Universe, who turns out to be Spider-Man’s first official supervillain, the Chameleon. The previous issue suggested that her first rival would be Kraven the Hunter, but as it turns out, it was never Kraven. It was always his brother in disguise.

Gwen facing Spider-Man’s first foe as her first canonical enemy certainly isn’t a coincidence, as it solidifies her as the perfect heir to the Spider legacy.

The Chameleon Returns: Spider-Man’s First Villain Welcomes Spider-Gwen To The Marvel Universe

Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #2 – Written By Stephanie Phillips; Art By Federica Mancin, Matt Milla, & VC’s Ariana Maher

Following Spider-Man’s swift growth in popularity following his debut in Amazing Fantasy #15, Marvel decided to push Spider-Man into an official series within their canon. Without counting the burglar who took his uncle’s life in his debut appearance, the first supervillain that Peter Parker combated as a costumed vigilante was the Chameleon, in The Amazing Spider-Man #1. Now, Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #2 perfectly mirrors that with its protagonist, introducing her to the Marvel Universe proper by having her battle the Chameleon.

Like Spider-Man before her, Gwen’s popularity led Marvel to launch her first solo series within the Earth-616 timeline, the publisher’s main canon. Once more, the Chameleon has been afoot using his disguises to cause confusion and commit nefarious crimes. As readers witnessed in The Ghost Spider #1, Chameleon was hired by the Black Tarantula to take revenge on the Ghost-Spider for thwarting their bank heist. While Carlos LaMuerto will prove to be the larger overarching villain as a result, Ghost-Spider will, for now at least, be in direct conflict with Chameleon.

Spider-Gwen Solidifies Herself As Marvel’s Next Great Spider-Hero

Heir To Peter Parker’s Legacy

As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same: six decades after Spider-Man’s introduction, Spider-Gwen is tackling his first foe as her own. Such a full circle moment suggests Marvel has big plans for the Ghost-Spider’s future, possibly even making her the true heir to the Spider-Man’s legacy. This isn’t to take away from Marvel’s other Spider-heroes, but Gwen Stacy has the popularity to justify Marvel pushing her to the forefront. The direct parallel is just the beginning, as her move to 616 could put Spider-Gwen on par with Spider-Man in position and popularity.