This article contains spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man #44.
Spider-Man's dream stalker is getting seriously creepy. Nick Spencer's Amazing Spider-Man has introduced a monstrous new enemy called Kindred, who's pursuing a vendetta against the wall-crawler. The mystery of Kindred's true identity has been bubbling in the Spider-Man comics for quite some time, but matters finally seem to be building to a head.
Kindred appears to be a supernaturally resurrected foe, with ties to classic Spider-Man villains including the Kingpin. His powers are quasi-demonic in nature, and he's been haunting Spider-Man's dreams for some time now. Kindred killed Mysterio, and projected the murder into Spider-Man's mind to terrify him. During a confrontation with Kraven the Hunter, Kindred projected illusions of a bloodied Mary Jane into Peter Parker's mind, an effective method of psychological torture.
This week's Amazing Spider-Man #44 sees Kindred become even more creepy. Spider-Man finds himself a passenger in a car driven by the Z-list supervillain Overdrive, a petty crook noted for driving around in souped-up cars. Overdrive is on the run from brutal enemies like the Sin Eater, beings who have been resurrected by Kindred to serve him and plague Spider-Man's life. In a shocking twist, though, Overdrive reveals he isn't being pursued for himself - but because he can lead Kindred and his people to Spider-Man. The car crashes - and then Peter Parker wakes up.
What follows is truly chilling, as a disturbed Peter gives Mary Jane a call. She doesn't pick up, but he leaves a lengthy, nightmare-induced message on her answer phone - and holds a wedding ring, imagining asking her to marry him. Then, everything goes crazy again, as Peter begins to choke, and something emerges from his chest - in a scene reminiscent of Alien. It turns out this was all a dream within a dream, and Kindred is still torturing him. Writer Nick Spencer has presumably been recently watched Inception, with the idea of layers of dreams, but this one is far more sinister than anything in Christopher Nolan's movie.
One final twist: This isn't Spider-Man's dream at all. Kindred has decided to up the ante, and is now torturing all Spider-Man's closest friends with knowledge of what Peter is going through. This shared dream was experienced by Spider-Gwen, Jessica Drew, Miles Morales, Madame Web, Spider-Girl, and Silk. This is a fascinating escalation, suggesting Kindred somehow has access to the Web of Life and Destiny, and he is tugging on the strands of the web, potentially rewriting past and future. Not only is Amazing Spider-Man #44 one seriously creepy comic, it also suggests Peter has yet to even imagine the scale of Kindred's threat.