Warning! Spoilers for Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow #3 ahead!
In Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow #3, Kraven discovers Mysterio’s secret weakness of having to chose between witnessing his own illusions or seeing reality. The interaction occurs in Marvel’s first What If…? branded series (rather than single issue), Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow. The series explores what would have happened if Peter Parker had never been able to rid himself of the Venom symbiote.
At the start of the series, Peter has already been linked to the symbiote for some time. It has already begun to make him hateful and resentful of the world. The Venom symbiote has distorted Uncle Ben’s message and is convincing Peter Parker that as a superiorly powerful being it is his responsibility to be judge, jury, and executioner of ordinary humans. Hobgoblin pushes Peter past the tipping point when he kills Aunt May. In a fit of anger and with his mind invaded by the symbiote, Peter crosses a line he thought he never would by killing Hobgoblin. From there, Peter and the symbiote go on a rampage, killing any and all criminals they encounter. In fear for their lives, six of his enemies band together to try to kill him and form the new Sinister Six.
Made up of Kraven, Mysterio, Rhino, Electro, Eddie Brock, and J. Jonah Jameson, the new Sinister Six sets a trap for Peter. When he arrives, Mysterio uses image inducers to project an illusion. The six villains put on special goggles to allow them to still see reality. When they somehow manage to lose sight of Peter, it is Kraven who discovers the flaw in Mysterio’s tactics. He removes his goggles to see that Peter has burrowed through the illusion and into the ground. The fact that the villains couldn’t see where Peter had gone while only seeing reality exposes an issue with Mysterio’s methods that had not previously been explored. As it turns out, Mysterio has to choose to either witness the illusions alongside his enemies or only be able to see reality.
![Spider-Man’s Kraven Just Discovered Mysterio’s Secret Weakness](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Sinister-Six-Symobiote-Spider-Man.jpg)
Mysterio’s weakness can easily be exploited by his enemies. If he too has to witness his illusions, he risks being just as thrown off as his foes. If he chooses to only witness reality, he runs the risk of not being able to see how his opponent is interacting with the illusions as seen in this issue. As a hunter with refined senses, it makes sense that Kraven would be the one to realize there is a flaw in Mysterio’s illusion tactics.
In the past, What If…? stories have always been covered in single issues and never given the room to breathe in a full series. The move to giving a full series for Spider’s Shadow is likely an attempt to bring What If…? stories into the spotlight ahead of the upcoming Disney+ animated series. Series writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Pasqual Ferry prove the new, longer format is well suited for an intriguing premise with large ramifications. Three issues in, the series is packed with great character moments paired with shocking plot points. Out of continuity, anything can happen in this series. Spider-Man with the Venom symbiote has proven to be a deadly match, even easily outmaneuvering Mysterio’s illusions and dismantling the new Sinister Six. Fans will have to wait until the next issue to see if any hero or villain can stop him.
Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow #3 is available now in both print and digital.