In a new announcement from Marvel Comics, Spider-Man will face off against his old foe Chameleon this summer in the Chameleon Conspiracy event. Additionally, new comic covers have been released for the upcoming arc, and one in particular from artist Mark Bagley matches a cover featuring Chameleon’s brother Kraven the Hunter from the villain’s final arc before his death. This is significant, as Chameleon swore on his brother’s grave that there would be a reckoning. Now it looks like Chameleon is finally making good on his promise to Kraven when this new storyline comes to the Marvel Universe.
Kraven the Hunter’s final arc, entitled “Hunted”, came near the beginning of Nick Spencer’s current run on The Amazing Spider-Man, seeing the classic foe capturing many animal-themed villains in order to trap them in Central Park. Calling it the Great Hunt, Kraven orchestrated the event as a gauntlet for Spider-Man, hoping to motivate the webslinger to finally kill him, freeing him from a curse that wouldn’t let him die unless Spider-Man was the one to do the deed. While Spider-Man refused, Kraven found his loophole when he chose to adopt the spirt of Spider-Man’s compassion. Dressing himself as the webslinger, Kraven met his son in combat and his son killed him without knowing it was actually his father until it was too late, as was Kraven’s wish all along.
Now it looks as though Chamelon will be getting the spotlight with the newly announced Chameleon Conspiracy. Taking place after Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man: King’s Ransom #1 where Spider-Man will be battling the Kingpin, Amazing Spider-Man #67-69 will see the beginnings of Chameleon’s plot, which will culminate with Chameleon’s own Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man: Chameleon Conspiracy #1. In addition, the cover art from artist Mark Bagley is an homage to Kraven’s final arc and the cover art for Amazing Spider-Man #17 done by artists Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado. Here’s a side by side comparison that sees Chameleon with his various disguises, just as Kraven had his various trophies:
Additionally, here’s the new cover art for Amazing Spider-Man #67-69 from Marvel Comics:
According to Marvel’s announcement for the upcoming storyline, Chameleon won’t be alone as he’ll have assembled The Foreigner, Chance, and Jack O’ Lantern to assist him as well. Likewise, Spider-Man will be joined by his spy sister Teresa Parker, as the Chameleon has been a frequent villain of Teresa’s for awhile now in Marvel Comics and she will no doubt be keen to take him down.
In any case, seeing Spider-Man crossing paths with Chameleon is going to be really interesting. Will the shape-shifting villain blame the webslinger for the death of his brother? Will Kraven’s son (who took up his father’s mantle) make an appearance and join his uncle in a quest for vengeance? The announcement from Marvel teases that Chameleon will be “making the biggest play of his super villain career.” As such, hopefully Spider-Man will be prepared to face his old foe when the Chameleon Conspiracy releases in June from Marvel Comics.
