Spider-Man continues to go through one of his most unique adventures yet in Marvel Comics. Some time ago, the Wall-Crawler went up against the vicious Hellgate. Despite putting up a somewhat decent fight, Spidey was bested in combat... brutally. After being quite literally punched into space by the villain, Peter decided to stay there to seek more power for an eventual rematch. There, he found a new Technarchy suit (which happens to be a sentient being from the same race as The New Mutant's Walock), and assembled a team of fellow space adventurers.
Thanks to a preview for Amazing Spider-Man #19, drawn by Pepe Larraz and written by Joe Kelly, we know Peter will soon return to Earth and go up against Hellgate one more time—this time with the aid of his new "technarachnid" duds. The issue is slated to come out January 7, 2026. However, before his return to Earth in his own book, Peter has actually already come back to our beloved planet in Miles Morales Spider-Man #41, written by Cody Ziglar and drawn by Marco Renna.
Now, the issue came out on December 3, but I wanted to hold off on discussing it until Amazing Spider-Man #17—written by Joe Kelly with art from Pepe Larraz—dropped on December 10 to have more clarity regarding the situation. After that issue dropped, I, myself, was punched by Hellgate himself into space. Making my way back to Earth proved... challenging, thus, this soul-crushing delay. So, anyway, back to the story. Issue #41 sees Miles team up with Raneem Rashad, a.k.a. Rabble, to take on the villainous—and extremely freakin' dangerous—artificial intelligence Assessor.
The villain sends an army of his clones against the two youngsters. Miles is quickly overwhelmed and beaten within an inch of his life. As he's about to die, the hero pleads for his life not to end like that. To his surprise, his prayer is answered by the Spider-God Anansi, who tells him: "And thus, the Spider-God of stories would answer your call. If one champion will not do. Then perhaps two shall suffice!" Anansi proceeds to pluck Peter from space, throwing him straight into the fight in New York. Thus, the Web-Slinger makes his triumphant return to his home planet:
Clad in his technarachnid suit, Peter teams up with Miles to fight off the Assessor's army. To dispel any doubt that this is our beloved Spidey, Peter confirms to Miles he is the real deal. After exchanging some classic Spider-Man-level banter about their respective new suits, the Spider-Men brace themselves for an onslaught of Assessor clones. And with that, the issue comes to an end.
On paper, Peter's return to New York seems straightfoward, but there's something that makes it a bit of a head-scratcher regarding how it will tie into the ongoing story: Amazing Spider-Man #19. Having read Miles Morales Spider-Man #41, I figured ASM #19 would serve as the prequel to Peter returning to Earth via Anansi. That, however, was not the case. Instead, the issue (a fantastic read, by the way) focused on Peter and Raelith exploring a planet they got stranded on after their ship was sabotaged. While exploring their surroundings, the pair are ambushed by relatively new Marvel villain Nikodimu of the Pinnacle, an ally of Hellgate.
Nikodimu sends out an army of creatures against Peter, nearly killing him in the process. Fortunately, he survives the encounter, courtesy of Raelith, who, inspired by Peter's words of encouragement, decides to stand up and fight against Nikodimu's forces. Walking back to his team, Spidey asks Rocket Raccoon if their ship is fixed. Rocket says it is, to which Peter replies: "Good... It's time for me to go home."
And that's all the lead-up we get to Peter's reappearance in New York. It seems that it's following this ending that he gets immediately thrown into Miles' battle with little to no context regarding his previous whereabouts. He will now appear in Miles Morales Spider-Man #42, releasing on January 28, 2026.
Admittedly, the upcoming issues of both Miles Morales Spider-Man and Amazing Spider-Man will likely provide more context for what happened to Peter between defeating Nikodimu's forces and being thrown back to his beloved city by Anansi. Nonetheless, it's an amusing confusion caused by the convoluted nature of comic book releases, something longtime readers are likely familiar with. Oh, but who are we kidding? We love to be somewhat confused by these incredible stories.
Peter Parker's Hellgate arc has arguably been one of the most interesting Spider-Man runs in recent years, and its conclusion promises to be a worthy one. Spidey will have his highly anticipated showdown with Hellgate in Amazing Spider-Man #19, which releases on January 7, 2026.
What did you think about Peter's return to Earth in Miles Morales Spider-Man? Drop your thoughts in the comments!