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A Spider-Man villain almost tricked the Avengers into handing them a major upgrade — reminding the Marvel Universe how dangerous they really are.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Devil’s Reign #3 by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Marcio Menyz, and Clayton Cowles, now on sale from Marvel Comics
Spider-Man has one of the most infamous collections of villains in the superhero genre. Even his most overtly silly ones can be revealed to be heartbreakingly tragic, while remaining quite dangerous.
Even some of Spider-Man’s least powerful foes have the ability to gain an edge over entire teams of heroes — as Chameleon just did. Chameleon was just revealed to have infiltrated the heroes’ underground movement in Devil’s Reign #3 — reminding the heroes (and readers) just how dangerous and effective the Spider-Man foe can really be.
Devil’s Reign features attempts by the MU heroes to upend Wilson Fisk’s plans to expand his control of New York to potentially the rest of the United States. Perhaps the best idea the heroes could come up with to combat Fisk was to do so legitimately. With the upcoming New York City mayoral election coming up, the heroes decided to volunteer one of their numbers as an alternative candidate against Fisk. Although Tony Stark came up with the idea and volunteered to take on the role, he was voted down by his fellow heroes. Instead, they wanted to push the less problematic Luke Cage to the forefront. It turns out this was a good idea for another important reason, however.
When the heroes went to confront Fisk, Doctor Octopus and his three multiversal variants attacked the group — seemingly seriously wounding Iron Man in the process. But when Captain America rushed over to help him, he discovered that it was actually Spider-Man’s villain Chameleon underneath the armor. It turns out Doctor Octopus had recruited Chameleon to infiltrate the heroes and secretly become their leader, using them to steal power from Kingpin. It’s a insidious scheme and one that was barely prevented by the heroes by accident. It’s only due to their natural hesitations about Tony that Chameleon didn’t get their sponsorship to become Mayor. It’s a good reminder of the sheer danger posed by the Chameleon. One of Spider-Man’s oldest foes, Chameleon has largely operated behind the scenes recently, manipulating events to the benefit of others.
Chameleon previously helped bring chaos into Spider-Man’s world, was recently at the center of the “Chameleon Conspiracy” storyline, and has come close to upending any number of’ lives in the process of his plans. Even with the Avengers pushed to a new limit by the current events happening in New York City, they should have been on the lookout for someone like Chameleon. The fact that he was even able to commandeer an Iron Man suit and then do such a good impression that his longtime teammates couldn’t spot him speaks to his skill. Even Daredevil — someone with the ability to be a living lie-detector — wasn’t able to spot him among their number.
With his skills, Chameleon could theoretically sneak into any heroic organization and upend all of their plans. While he may not be the most physically intimidating of Spider-Man’s enemies, he might secretly be one of the most dangerous. Especially when it comes to the rest of the Marvel Universe, Chameleon could trick a group of heroes into committing terrible acts or arranging for an accident to claim their lives. He came close to effectively handing Doctor Octopus control of New York City with the blessing of longtime Avengers. If Chameleon got a little more ambitious, he could be the key to bringing down pretty much any heroic organization.
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