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Amazing Spider-Man #11 set up a new Hobgoblin mystery around Ned Leeds, the man who was once framed as the original Hobgoblin.
Now, October 26's Amazing Spider-Man #12 from writer Zeb Wells, artists John Romita Jr., Scott Hanna, and Marcio Menyz, and letterer Joe Caramagna answers some of the new questions around Ned Leeds and the Hobgoblin, while also setting up and even bigger mystery to come.
And if that's not enough, Marvel is now doubling down with two Hobgoblins in this preview of interior pages from November 9's Amazing Spider-Man #13.
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Spoilers ahead for Amazing Spider-Man #12
As implied by the preview pages for Amazing Spider-Man #12 which were released ahead of the full issue, Ned Leeds is indeed putting on a Hobgoblin costume and slipping back into the brainwashed Hobgoblin persona that was implanted in his mind when the original Hobgoblin Roderick Kingsley framed Ned to look like he was actually the villain way back in the '80s.
But things are actually more serious than that. Rather than simply slipping into his Hobgoblin persona, Ned is actually operating as the Hobgoblin alongside Roderick Kingsley, who confesses to reactivating Ned's brainwashing to use him as a pawn.
It's revealed that Ned was indeed the Hobgoblin who attacked Kingsley and Norman Osborn in Amazing Spider-Man #11 - which actually seems to come as a surprise to Kingsley, who apparently doesn't even remember being present at the attack.
So what's going on here?
We actually don't have the answer to that beyond the newfound knowledge that there are currently at least two Hobgoblins roaming the streets in the form of Ned Leeds and Roderick Kingsley - and there could be more, perhaps even one of the other former Hobgoblins such as the second Hobgoblin Jason Macendale, or the third Hobgoblin Phil Urich.
Ned mentions one other interesting plot point. He claims that people are trying to kidnap his infant child, though it's unclear if this is part of his brainwashing by Kingsley.
The idea of a Goblin's child being kidnapped echoes the 2011 story 'Origin of the Species,' in which the child of Harry Osborn and his fellow Goblin Lily Hollister/Menace becomes a target of supervillains due to the unique Goblin serum in the baby's blood.
Amazing Spider-Man #13 goes on sale November 9.
Keep up to date on all the new Spider-Man comics planned for release in 2022 and beyond.
