Marvel’s Most Sadistic Villain Joins Forces With An Avenger In Brand-New Series

Published Sep 26, 2026, 10:00 PM EDT

Jared is a writer, editor, and Communications Studies graduate who loves popular nerd culture (almost anything to do with Marvel, DC, Star Wars, or The Lord of the Rings) and the interactive storytelling medium. Jared's first console was the PS1, wherein he fell for Spider-Man, Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot.

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The backstory of Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman in Marvel Comics lore is incredibly rich, including the fact that she was raised by Hydra and has an extensive team affiliation history, much less that Alias’ Jessica Jones was inspired by and originally meant to be Drew. Spider-Woman’s most recent outing was in The Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Versity, where she and Norman Osborn trained the Spider-Heroes.

Here, it was revealed that Jessica Drew had bonded with the murderous red symbiote once she separated it from Norman, who had briefly become the Red Goblin again for the first time since The Amazing Spider-Man #800. Acknowledging that she has literal power over the symbiote via her bio-electricity abilities, a brand-new era for both Spider-Woman and Carnage has begun in the pages of Spider-Woman 50th Anniversary Special #1 and will go on in Spider-Woman #1 this November.

Carnage Is Spider-Woman’s Prisoner, And Nobody Is Pulling Punches

Dan Watters, Andrea Broccardo, and Mattia Iacono’s special Spider-Woman 50th Anniversary Special #1 story, “The Mysterious Spider-Woman,” behaves as a prelude to the upcoming ongoing Spider-Woman series. Spider-Woman and Carnage’s first kill is confirmed as Francis Nero, a research assistant of the Jackal who transformed himself into what Jessica mockingly dubs “the Spectacular Spider-Failure”—clad in a white laboratory coat, Nero is basically Dr. Curtis Connors’ Lizard, had he turned himself into a spider and not a lizard.

Sensing that Jessica is in danger while she battles the giant spider creature, the symbiote manifested itself and bit off one of Nero’s eight legs before Spider-Woman kicked him off the roof, sending the spider plummeting to his death. This anniversary story ends with Jessica scolding Carnage back at her private eye office, arguing that she’s the one who’s in control. And maybe she truly is, no convincing needed, with Watters describing Jessica’s relationship with Carnage as being the symbiote’s “jailer,” rather than its host, as per Marvel.

Is Spider-Woman In Her Darkest Era Yet?

The upcoming Spider-Woman series, then, follows Jessica and Carnage’s exploits. Interestingly, Ben Urich has Spider-Woman “on retainer as a Bugle investigator,” specifically for “esoteric cases,” meaning the ones that any ordinary journalist wouldn’t be able to tackle. If Spider-Woman 50th Anniversary Special #1 was merely an amuse-bouche, it’ll be fascinating to see what else they stumble into.

Preview pages for Marvel Comics’ Spider-Woman #1 reveal that she’ll be confronting Tombstone in pursuit of the Hangman. Spider-Woman then proceeds to beat one of Tombstone’s henchmen so brutally that he begs with bated breath to be taken to a hospital, demonstrating that she has no problem dishing out a hearty helping of violence.

A side effect of being bonded with an organism that relishes bloodlust, perhaps? The goon did attempt to sneak up on Spider-Woman with a gun pointed at her, to be fair. The solicitation for Spider-Woman (2026) #1 reads as follows:

CARNAGE NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD! Spider-Woman’s 50th Anniversary celebration continues in this new series. Old foes back from the dead! Mysteries around every corner! And a bloodthirsty Carnage just barely kept contained! It’s a recipe for Spider-Woman’s darkest adventure yet. Don’t miss this electrifying first issue!

Spider-Woman #1 is scheduled to be released on November 4, 2026.