Last week, the Daily Bugle tumblr released a story that made many references to characters, some obscure, from the world of Spider-Man’s comic books, leading many to wonder if the story was actually intended to hint at certain characters popping up in the cinematic universe.

Now a week later, yet another story has been released, with readers once again wondering about hidden meanings.  Here is the article, entitled ‘Cold Blooded Killer’.

By Ned Leeds, City Bureau

A trial date has been set in the New York Appellate Court for alleged bio-terrorist Dr. Curt Connors. The former Oscorp biogenetics scientist has been indicted on twenty city and state counts, including trespassing, malicious destruction of property, theft of private property, aggravated assault, and using a weapon of mass destruction. Connors has pleaded “not guilty” to all counts. It is expected his defense attorney, Anne Weying, will claim Connors was not responsible for the actions of his genetically transformed alter ego, the Lizard.

Connors claimed that pressure placed on him by his employer, Oscorp, led him to rush his bio-restorative formula and test it on himself. He further stipulated to the grand jury that his decision to use the untested compound was made in an effort to protect the company from experimenting on innocent civilians, as directed by his superiors. Connors’ immediate supervisor at Oscorp, Dr. Rajit Ratha, has been missing since the day before the Lizard’s attack.

Oscorp spokesman, Donald Menken, responded, “We can’t corroborate or deny Dr. Connor’s claims. Dr. Ratha’s abrupt departure from Oscorp has left us with far more questions than answers. Needless to say, Oscorp has always complied with the most stringent local, state and federal regulations for all of our research and development.”

The “writer” of the article, Ned Leeds has been a supporting character in the comics almost since the beginning, as a reporter for the Daily Bugle.  He was at one time married to Peter Parker’s ex Betty Brant.  He was also, at one point, thought to be the villainous Hobgoblin, but that was later retconned when it was revealed that Roderick Kingsley was the real Hobgoblin and had tricked Ned into thinking he had been.

Also, of possible importance, Donald Menken made his debut during the first Hobgoblin story arc.

In my opinion, Ned is such an enduring character on his own without the Hobgoblin connection, so I think assuming that villain is being set up for one of the sequels might be a stretch, especially since this villain was created in the 80s to replace the at-the-time deceased Norman Osborn/Green Goblin.  Since Osborn hasn’t yet become the Green Goblin in the movies, I can’t see them bringing in his replacement, at least not yet.

Also mentioned is Curt Conners’ attorney Anne Weying.  Another fairly obscure reference, but Weying was once married to Eddie Brock a.k.a. the original Venom and at one time, became a symbiote herself, dubbed She-Venom.  (Oh nineties.  You have so much to answer for.)

And for a second week in a row, the disappearance of Oscorp’s Rajit Ratha, from ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ is brought up.  The character appears to have some significance, but is not from the comics.

But there has to be a reason these stories are being released and why these specific characters are being referenced.  As stated, some of them are fairly obscure, so someone is doing their homework.

What do you think?  Will Hobgoblin or even She-Venom appear in the movies?

Source MovieWeb