Spider-Man's Strongest Enemy Just Got A Huge Power-Up
In the latest issue of Amazing Spider-Man, Morlun has returned and may have just become the most powerful he's ever been.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Amazing Spider-Man #53.LR
In the latest issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man has been taken captive by the demonic villain Kindred. While he did release his hold on all of Spider-Man's Spider-Allies known as the Order of the Web, the classic and recently resurrected villain Sin-Eater still thinks that they're all still corrupted by Kindred. As such, Sin-Eater's taken steps to make sure that he can take them all down. To do so, he's set his sights on Morlun, the original Inheritor and an insanely powerful villain who feeds on Spider heroes. As a result, Morlun just became more powerful than he's ever been before in this new issue thanks to Sin-Eater.
In recent issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man has been tormented by Kindred, a demonic entity that has been revealed to somehow be Harry Osborn. Kindred has been making plans and setting things into motion for the better part of the last two years, and now it looks as though he's unleashing his endgame against the web-slinger, going after his friends and loved ones (and morbidly not just the ones currently living). A big part of Kindred's plans has involved Sin-Eater, an old foe whom the demon resurrected. Using his powers, Sin-Eater cleansed the sins and collected the powers of several super-villains, including Norman Osborn (who has since been looking to atone for his past as Green Goblin). What Sin-Eater didn't know was that all of the powers he gained were for Kindred to absorb and take for his own, using the collected sins to turn the Order of the Web into his personal Spider-Demons under his control. While he first used them to wreak havoc on the city, he soon set them on each other, threatening to have them tear one another apart. Desperate to save his friends, Spider-Man gave his life for theirs and is now in Kindred's grasp after freeing the Order.
Now, Amazing Spider-Man #53.LR from Nick Spencer, Matthew Rosenberg, Federico Vicentini, and Takeshi Miyazawa sees Sin-Eater resolved to continue his crusade, seeking to eradicate the demonic Spiders once and for all, not realizing that they've already been freed from the sins he collected. Injecting his followers with the same agent that created Spider-Island, they transform into giant spider monsters, meant to serve as bait and a feast for the fearsome Morlun. Like clockwork, Morlun soon arrives, as he's unable to resist the hunger for Spiders that drives him. He gorges himself on their bodies, just as Sin-Eater hoped he would.
After consuming so many Spiders (which is how Morlun maintains and grows his power), it's safe to say that Morlun has becomes the most powerful he's even been. To put it into context, when Morlun first fought Spider-Man, his fists could wind the Webslinger, hitting him with the force of a freight train and harder than the Hulk, and that was when Morlun was hungry. Spider-Man could barely sustain a hand to hand fight with the massively strong foe, and now that Morlun has eaten so many Spiders in one sitting, there's no telling how strong he's become (which is exactly what Sin-Eater wants).
While Morlun may have gotten a massive upgrade, Sin-Eater will be the one to use the power as he rigged his gun to hit Morlun in the back which incapacitated him, allowing Sin-Eater to take all of Morlun's strength and powers for himself. Now that Sin-Eater has the powers of Morlun at peak performance, he's now ready to go after the Order of the Web. With all of that power at his disposal, he could actually win when he makes his move against Spider-Man allies in the upcoming issues from Nick Spencer.