Marvel’s latest battle of the Spider-Men is about to be interrupted by one of the Maggia’s most infamous members.

After being manipulated into battling one another under the guise that each is one of Arcade’s robot menaces, Peter Parker and Miles Morales have come to a brutal standstill in the pages of Spectacular Spider-Men #5. Of course, neither is willing to cede any ground, although they are hardly each other’s biggest problem. From not so far off, the masterminds of this plot, Arcade and Mentallo, are joined by none other than Hammerhead, who is more than happy to get his own hands dirty if it means ensuring neither Spider-Man gets to walk away unscathed.

Written by GREG WEISMAN Art by HUMBERTO RAMOS Inks by VICTOR OLAZABA Colors by EDGAR DELGADO Letters by VC’s JOE CARAMAGNA Main cover art by HUMBERTO RAMOS & EDGAR DELGADO Variant covers by MARK ASPINALL, NICK BRADSHAW & MORENO DINISIO, and DAVID YARDIN

Introduced in 1972’s Amazing Spider-Man #113, the criminal mastermind known only as Joseph or Hammerhead fled the poverty he and his family suffered in the Soviet Union at a young age. Instead of finding hope in America, however, Joseph’s father took to beating the boy mercilessly with a hammer, leaving him with his iconic flat skull. Eventually, Joseph would not only kill his father, but his childhood bully as well, the latter of which gave him a place as a mob enforcer.

While Hammerhead spent years as an underling for the Maggia, he also worked tirelessly to build up his position within the criminal organization. During Wilson Fisk’s absence throughout the events of the first Superhero Civil War, Hammerhead took the opportunity to make a place for himself within the upper echelon of New York City’s criminal underworld. Although Hammerhead hasn’t been widely respected by all of his fellow mob bosses, he has still proven himself a lethally effective figure during events such as Marvel’s Gang War crossover storyline.

Over the past few months, Peter and Miles found themselves thrust into idyllic versions of their own lives. As it turns out, these were mere facsimiles of what could have been that were carefully crafted by the villains Arcade and Mentallo. Thankfully, Peter was able to figure out that he wasn’t actually living his own life, breaking the villains’ ruse, yet that only led him to come into conflict with Miles rather than genuinely freeing either hero from the trap that has ensnared them.

Spectacular Spider-Men #5 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.

Source: Marvel Comics