WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Marvel Comics Presents #8 by Ethan Sacks, Marco Castiello, Dono Sánchez-Almara, VC's Joe Caramagna and Vincenzo Acunzo, on sale now.
It's been a couple of years since Jessica Drew headlined her own Marvel solo series. The last issue of Spider-Woman was published in May of 2017, though she has taken part in various company-wide crossovers and events since then. However, Spider-Woman will feature prominently as a member of a brand-new superhero team with the release of September's Strikeforce #1.
Earlier this summer, Marvel began releasing teaser art for “Marvel’s newest, most ruthless team,” spotlighting heroes such as Blade, Angela, Spectrum, the Winter Soldier, Wiccan and Hellstrom. The officially Strikeforce announcement in June brought Spider-Woman into the fold, but she looked drastically different from her most recent appearances -- instead of wearing her updated costume with a jacket, Jessica Drew was shown in the one-piece costume she's worn for the majority of her career.
There was never an official statement made as to why Spider-Woman decided on a costume change, but we may have gotten a reason why in Marvel Comics Presents #8. The main story in the anthology comic focuses on Wolverine, his recently-introduced daughter and a demon, but a Spider-Woman tale delivers the biggest clue yet for her classic suit's return.
The story titled "Misinformation on Social Media" sees a college student go viral after she dresses up in Spider-Woman's original costume and unmasks. Of course, since the footage looks legitimate, the mystery woman starts receiving death threats, forcing Jessica to search her out. Spider-Woman and Ben Urich are able to find the woman, named Diane Jenkins, on the Empire State University campus and learn the "stupid joke" was her roommate's idea.
What started as a simple joke quickly turns deadly when Hydra agents go in for the kill. The real Spider-Woman is able to foil the sniper attack, but the heroic deed allows Diane to run away. This time an evil Spider-Woman named Charlotte Winter seeks out Diane, declaring herself the one true Spider-Woman. Of course, the real Spider-Woman shows up to stop her evil counterpart.
The same scenario as before almost plays out, with Diane trying to flee during the skirmish. Unfortunately, this time it ends with death when Diane runs into the street and right into the path of a city bus. Later on that night, Jessica is browsing the Internet and finds another news bulletin for multiple copycats claiming to be Spider-Woman. The story ends with Urich calling Jessica up so they can head back out to prevent anyone else from dying.
Taking all of these events into account, it is understandable why Jessica Drew would now go back to wearing her old costume. If regular pedestrians are uploading videos of themselves in the exact same outfit, they are now making themselves targets for criminals looking to score some payback on Spider-Woman. But if Jessica dons the costume herself, she can at least try to draw their attention away from the innocents.
A better explanation for Spider-Woman's costume change may come when Strikeforce #1 goes on sale Sept. 25, but for now we're going to assume the Marvel Comics Presents #8 short story is the basis for the classic costume's return.