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Wraith (Yuri Watanabe)

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Wraith (Yuriko "Yuri" Watanabe) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, typically in stories featuring the superhero Spider-Man. She was created as a replacement for Jean DeWolff, a police detective and member of Spider-Man's supporting cast who was killed off during the 1980s. Yuri was introduced as a captain in the New York Police Department (NYPD) who would occasionally work alongside Spider-Man to combat crime, although her disillusion with the justice system eventually prompts her to lead a double life as the vigilante Wraith. Sporting a costume in imitation of Spider-Man and utilizing a variety of tools, some of them taken from supervillains, Wraith would wage war on New York's criminals and, even though her methods are sometimes too brutal for Spider-Man's liking, the two have resumed their old partnership several times.

Wraith
Wraith as depicted in The Superior Spider-Man #16 (August 2013). Art by Humberto Ramos (penciller), Victor Olazaba (inker), and Edgar Delgado (colorist).
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceAs Yuri Watanabe:
The Amazing Spider-Man #600 (July 2009)
As Wraith:
The Amazing Spider-Man #663 (June 2011)
Created byDan Slott (writer)
John Romita Jr. (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoYuriko "Yuri" Watanabe
SpeciesHuman
PartnershipsSpider-Man
AbilitiesTrained police officer
Fear gas
Access to Chameleon and Mysterio's tech
Yellow elastic straps that can cling onto objects and wrap enemies

The character has been adapted from the comics into several other forms of media, most notably the Marvel's Spider-Man series of video games, in which she is voiced by Tara Platt.

Publication history

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Yuri Watanabe first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #600 (July 2009) and was created by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr. She first appeared as Wraith in The Amazing Spider-Man #663 (June 2011).[1][2]

Fictional character biography

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Yuri Watanabe was a captain in the New York Police Department (NYPD) and an ally and strong supporter of Spider-Man's like her late friend and mentor Jean DeWolff. However, she was shown to be frustrated with how the justice system and the police were unable to deal with powerful and wealthy criminals who could always find a way to escape justice for their crimes.

Shortly thereafter, a new vigilante, the Wraith (an identity originally taken by Jean's brother), starts targeting Mister Negative's criminal syndicate. During one such attack, the Wraith unmasks to reveal DeWolff's face, although this is later revealed to be one of the Chameleon's masks stolen from police evidence.[3] It is later revealed that the Wraith is really Yuri pretending to be DeWolff's ghost to scare the criminals of New York, using a costume in imitation of Spider-Man to achieve the results she sought.[4]

Wraith later accompanies forensic expert Carlie Cooper on a visit to Grand Tauró, where they pursue underworld financier Antoine Morant, searching for information on the secret bank account of the Superior Spider-Man (Otto Octavius's mind in Spider-Man's body). Carlie and the Wraith catch up with Morant shredding some documents out of fear. Carlie recovers one of the documents, discovering that all of the Superior Spider-Man's equipment and technology for the Arachnauts, as well as the order for Spiderlings, are being paid for using the secret account, putting Carlie one step closer to finding the evidence needed to prove the new Spider-Man's true identity.[5]

After Carlie is kidnapped by the original Goblin King, Yuri investigates Octavius hoping to find Carlie's whereabouts. She confronts Octavius during the Goblin Nation's attack for info on Carlie but is knocked out by the transformed Carlie. She then aids the Avengers and their ally Cardiac against the Goblin Knight with assistance from Peter Parker who eventually regains his place as Spider-Man from Octavius.[6]

In the "Spiral" storyline, Yuri's faith in the justice system is shattered when crime boss Tombstone is released from prison after gunning down one of her friends during a shootout with the police. She receives photographic evidence from Mister Negative that Judge Howell, who signed off on Tombstone's release, received a favor in return and arrests the judge without contacting the NYPD after obtaining more evidence as the Wraith with Spider-Man.[7] She continues to receive tips from Mister Negative on where big crime lords such as Hammerhead and the second Goblin King are meeting so she and Spider-Man can take them down.[8]

Spider-Man notices Yuri is being more brutal in her approach and believes Mister Negative is using her. This is later proven right when Mister Negative begins to take over the territories of his incarcerated rivals and tries to frame the Wraith as a murderer. When Howell dies in prison from a stab wound, Yuri's superior confiscates her badge and she is dismissed from the force. After a fight with the Circus of Crime, she realizes she has been playing into Mister Negative's hands and kills one of his men, declaring that "Watanabe the cop" no longer exists and that only the Wraith is left.[9] When she attempts to kill Mister Negative, Spider-Man tries to convince her to change her ways. She decides that killing criminals rather than arresting them is more fulfilling and attacks her former ally, but Spider-Man knocks her out and goes on to defeat Mister Negative himself. Spider-Man later finds Yuri has abandoned her costume, but kept her Wraith mask.[10]

Powers and abilities

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The Wraith primarily used technology obtained by the police from various Spider-Man villains, including a mask of Jean DeWolff's face from Chameleon to hide her true identity, equipment designed by Mysterio, and Mister Fear's Fear Gas. Her primary weapons are elastic straps attached to her costume that wrap up her enemies and allow her to swing around the city similar to Spider-Man.[4]

Reception

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In 2021, Screen Rant included Wraith in their "Spider-Man: 10 Best Female Villains" list.[11]

In other media

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Television

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Film

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An alternate reality variant of Yuri Watanabe from Earth-65 appears in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, voiced by Atsuko Okatsuka.[12] This version is a member of George Stacy's anti-Spider-Woman task force.[14]

Video games

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  • Yuri Watanabe / Wraith appears as a playable character in Spider-Man Unlimited.[citation needed]
  • Yuri Watanabe appears in Insomniac Games' Spider-Man game series, voiced by Tara Platt.[12]
    • Introduced in Spider-Man (2018),[15] this version's father was arrested for taking bribes from Hammerhead, leading her to dedicate her career to bringing the latter down. In The City That Never Sleeps DLC, Watanabe embarks on a violent quest for revenge against Hammerhead after several officers are killed while attempting to capture him. After a failed attempt to kill Hammerhead, Watanabe is put on administrative leave and goes into hiding.[16]
    • Yuri Watanabe as Wraith appears as a boss in Spider-Man 2.[17] By this time, she has become Wraith and taken to killing criminals while locating cult leader Cletus Kasady, utilizing a kusarigama instead of elastic straps. Throughout their search and fight with Kasady, Spider-Man and Watanabe form a begrudging partnership.

References

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  1. ^ Francisco, Eric (September 7, 2018). "There's More to Yuri in 'Marvel's Spider-Man' Than You Might Know". Inverse. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  2. ^ Allan, Scoot (July 26, 2023). "Spider-Man: All Of Peter Parker's Canon Girlfriends (In Chronological Order)". CBR. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  3. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #663
  4. ^ a b The Amazing Spider-Man #664
  5. ^ The Superior Spider-Man #19
  6. ^ The Superior Spider-Man #31
  7. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #16.1
  8. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #17.1
  9. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #19.1
  10. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #20.1
  11. ^ Hernandez, Brenda (September 29, 2021). "Spider-Man: 10 Best Female Villains". ScreenRant. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  12. ^ a b c "Yuri Watanabe Voices (Spider-Man)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 21, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  13. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (July 19, 2024). "Spider-Noir: Li Jun Li Joins Amazon's Marvel Series". Deadline. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
  14. ^ Gvozden, Dan (June 4, 2023). "The Definitive List of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Easter Eggs". The Hollywood Reporter.
  15. ^ Marnell, Blair (June 12, 2017). "SPIDER-MAN Takes on Mister Negative and Introduces [SPOILER] in E3 Gameplay Trailer". Nerdist.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  16. ^ Insomniac Games (September 7, 2018). Spider-Man (2018 video game) (PlayStation 4). Sony Interactive Entertainment.
  17. ^ Robertson, Joshua (May 24, 2023). "Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Trailer Confirms Inclusion Of Wraith". The Gamer. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
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