Ultimate Spider-Man (2024)

Ultimate Spider-Man
Cover of Ultimate Spider-Man #2, with Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Green Goblin (Harry Osborn).
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	January 2024
No. of issues	13
Main character(s)	Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Creative team
Written by	Jonathan Hickman
Penciller(s)	Marco Checchetto David Messina
Letterer(s)	Cory Petit
Colorist(s)	Matthew Wilson
Editor(s)	Wil Moss

Ultimate Spider-Man is an ongoing comic book series about Spider-Man, part of the Ultimate Universe imprint, written by Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by Marco Checchetto. It began publication in January 2024. The series follows an older Peter Parker who becomes Spider-Man for the first time later in life, already a father of two children and married to Mary Jane Watson, as opposed to his early/late teens like in the mainline. The series is part of the new Ultimate Universe timeline, which puts several Marvel characters in a radically altered sociopolitical status quo, including elements of alternate history.

Publication history

Ultimate Spider-Man is the first ongoing series from the Ultimate Universe imprint, following the Ultimate Invasion miniseries that introduced it. Despite the similar name, it has no relation with the Ultimate Spider-Man comic that ran from 2000 to 2011. The former comic was a reinvention of the Spider-Man character as a teenager still attending school, in contrast with the older character from the main continuity. The new comic uses a similar angle, but makes Spider-Man older instead of younger, and also married and with two kids. Hickman said that he was inspired by the version of the character seen in the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Another significant departure is that Uncle Ben, a character that usually dies during Spider-Man's origin story, is alive in the new continuity. Although Harry Osborn keeps the Green Goblin identity in the new continuity, he is reimagined as a superhero, closer to the classic portrayal of Iron Man.

Plot

"Married with Children" (#1–6)

Following the "Ultimate Invasion" plotline, Peter Parker is a married man living in New York City with his wife Mary Jane "MJ" Watson and his two children Richard and May. His Aunt May has recently died as one of the casualties of a false flag attack orchestrated by the Maker's Council on Stark Tower, with the media framing Tony Stark as a terrorist and the culprit. Stark reveals to Peter that he was supposed to be bitten by a radioactive spider and become a superhero in his youth. He has retrieved the spider and offers Peter a chance to become a hero. Meanwhile, J. Jonah Jameson and Peter's uncle Ben Parker have resigned from the Daily Bugle over their creative differences to set up their own investigation into a series of apparent assassination attempts on the Daily Bugle's owner Wilson Fisk. Later, Peter reveals his identity as Spider-Man to armored vigilante, the "Green Goblin", who unmasks to show himself as Harry Osborn. Osborn is married to Gwen Stacy who works in PR. As Peter reveals his identity to MJ, she suggests calling himself "Spider-Man".

"The Paper" (#7–13)

Now friends, Harry Osborn introduces Peter Parker to Dr. Otto Octavius who tells Harry and Peter that their suits are based on Stark/Stane designs and run on the same network, along with Iron Lad - Tony Stark. Meanwhile, the Kingpin and his assistant James Wesley meet with Kingpin's lieutenants Black Cat, Kraven the Hunter, Mister Negative, Mole Man, and Mysterio and discussing the issue with vigilantes Spider-Man and Green Goblin interrupting their plans. J. Jonah Jameson and Ben Parker launch "The Paper" including their investigation into the different crimes being stopped by Spider-Man and Green Goblin while using former co-worker Robbie Robertson as their inside person. Elsewhere, Otto offers Spider-Man and Green Goblin a way to free themselves from Stark/Stane, only for the pair to be ambushed by Black Cat. During the fight, Black Cat is blasted off the building by Green Goblin and is loaded into an ambulance. Jameson and Ben meet with Wesley in an attempt to arrange a negotiation with his boss. Then they speak to Gwen Stacy about how Stark/Stane was sold off cheap. Later that night while having dinner with Peter's family, Ben speaks to Mary Jane about their meeting with Gwen. Two days later, Harry visits "The Paper" and advises Ben and Jameson not to write the Osborn story. He does cave in on the identity of those who actually killed Harry's parents and Ben's wife while giving them a USB drive about it. Under Harry's advice, they write out the story under the alias of "Ben Reilly" as they begin to run it. After brainwashing some people at the bank into attacking Spider-Man, Mister Negative tells Wilson Fisk and his fellow lieutenants about it as Black Cat recuperates in a wheelchair. After Mysterio is told by Walter that he has not given up his seat yet, Walter reveals that he brought his daughter Felicia Hardy to act in his place. While visiting Memorial Park, Peter learns that Uncle Ben knows about his Spider-Man activity when Harry Osborn visited "The Paper". He allows Peter to continue his and Harry's fight against Fisk. On December, Uncle Ben and J. Jonah Jameson attend the Parker family's Christmas party with Madeline Watson, Anna Watson, and Gayle Watson present. Mary Jane keeps avoiding calls from Gwen Stacy while dealing with Gayle being bitter that she and Parker is still married while Gayle is going through a divorce. When Mary Jane starts answering the phone, Gwen tells her that she hasn't heard from Harry lately. When Mary Jane taps Peter, she finds that Peter is actually his sentient picotech suit who then quotes "Merry Christmas". It is then shown that Peter and Harry are captives of Kraven the Hunter. Richard Parker is later trained by the picotech's A.I. in operating as Spider-Man at the time when his dad was missing as he can't track Peter down. Below Staten Island, Mole Man learns from Kraven the Hunter that he has Peter and Harry in his clutches where he will have his great hunt on them in Subterranea which is now filled with dinosaurs and other strange creatures. Mysterio crashes their meeting wanting to see his captives. Kraven the Hunter takes them back to the surface to see Peter and Harry who have bomb collars on them and feeding them their last meal before the hunt. In addition, he revealed their true identities to Mole Man and Mysterio. Kraven the Hunter begins the hunt to determine the fate of their loved ones and even encourages them to try to take him out. Upon being dropped into Subterreanea, Peter and Harry's bomb collars come off as they start dodging the Velociraptors. Meanwhile, Richard is confronted by Felicia Hardy as she introduces herself as the new Black Cat and the daughter of the first Black Cat.

Characters

Main Characters

• Peter Parker/Spider-Man: This iteration of Peter Parker from Earth-6160 was meant to bitten by a radioactive spider at his teens, and become the Amazing Spider-Man. However, the Maker caught that spider, as Peter grew up happy and healthy, raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in the wake of his parents' death. He married Mary Jane Watson and had two kids with her, named Richard and May. However, Peter's life takes a turn when he receives a package and message from Tony Stark. He learns of the destiny that was taken away from him, and feels that he's not who he should be. After some (unknowing) words of encouragement from Uncle Ben and Mary Jane, Peter allows the spider to bite him as always intended, and becomes Spider-Man.

• Mary Jane Watson-Parker: Mary Jane Watson is the wife of Peter Parker and the mother of Richard and May Parker. Mary Jane used to be a model and began handling her own branding. People liked what she was doing, which led to her being hired by Bayham-Laroche and subsequently poached by Smith and Altmann's executive suite. At an unspecified time, she quit her job and started her own marketing firm.

• Richard Parker II: Richard Parker is the son of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson and the older brother of May Parker.

• May Parker II: May Parker is the daughter of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson and the younger sister of Richard Parker. 

• Ben Parker: In the Ultimate Universe, Ben Parker and his wife May took custody of their fifteen-year-old nephew, Peter. Although still heartbroken by the tragedy, the couple raised Peter with unconditional love and affection. Due to the changes that the Maker, a time traveler from another universe, altered the history of Ben's world,i nstead of dying at the hands of a burglar which would led his nephew into an inspiring journey of being the superhero Spider-Man, Ben lived with his wife and watched Peter grow into adulthood, become a husband and then a father. Ben eventually became the managing editor of Wilson Fisk's Manhattan newspaper, The Daily Bugle, where he worked and developed a close friendship with J. Jonah Jameson. However, Ben quit the Bugle alongside Jonah once Fisk decided to make changes to the company that conflicted with his ethics.

• J. Jonah Jameson: A newspaper editor and good friend of Ben Parker.

• Harry Osborn: Harry Osborn was the son of former Oscorp Industries CEO Norman Osborn and his wife Emily, and is currently married to Gwen Stacy. He becomes the vigilante Green Goblin after the deaths of his parents.

• Gwen Stacy-Osborn: Gwen Stacy is the wife of Harry Osborn and CEO of the North American Union corporation Oscorp Industries.

Antagonists

• Wilson Fisk/Kingpin: A member of the Maker's Council, who controls Manhattan as its appointed "Shadow Governor". Fisk owns several businesses such as The Daily Bugle.

• Martin Li/Mr. Negative: He is the CEO of F.E.A.S.T. Foundation, though in actuality he's the leader of a gang known as the Demons. Li joins the Sinister Six as a lieutenant of Wilson Fisk, he operates in Queens.

• Sergei Kravinoff/Kraven The Hunter: A billionaire oligarch exiled from the Eurasian Republic with his family during the Rasputin Purge. Sergei is a hunter born of a long line of hunters and, as such, he has hunted and killed everything that can be, always hunting in pairs, killing one and saving the other. As time went on, he eventually arrived at Staten Island in the North American Union, where he met Wilson Fisk and joined his Sinister Six, taking Staten Island as his territory. Kraven owns a zoo that serves as his lair, and were he displays his hunting trophies to the public.

• Walter Hardy/Black Cat I: An infamous thief and one of Fisk's lieutenants, who controls the Bronx until the Green Goblin pushed him out of a roof that left him paralyzed during a fight between him and Spider-Man. As a result of his downfall, Walter's daughter Felicia, takes the mantle of the Black Cat and replaces him as a member of the Sinister Six.

• Harvey Elder/Mole Man: The oldest and most loyal of Fisk's lieutenants who rules the (literal) underworld, a secret borough beneath New York known as The Underground, also controlling the Moloids.

• Quentin Beck/Mysterio: Quentin Beck, known as Mysterio, is a member of the Sinister Six, led by the Kingpin, taking Brooklyn as his territory. Mysterio's secrecy is such that the Kingpin knows nothing of his identity and personal life.

• Felicia Hardy/Black Cat II: Felicia Hardy was the daughter of Walter Hardy, secretly known as the Black Cat, the greatest top-floor thief in the world, and Lydia Hardy. Her mother tragically passed away, leaving Felicia and her father behind. She becomes the new Black Cat after her father's paralyzation and joins the Sinister Six.

• Herman Schultz/Shocker: The Shocker was a vibro-gauntlet wielding bank robber from the city of New York in the North American Union.[1] He came into possession of his gauntlets after breaking into the apartment of a man who seemingly died of a heart attack after receiving a package from Tony Stark containing a holographic message and the gauntlets themselves.

Minor Characters

• Otto Octavius: Doctor Otto Octavius was an employee of Oscorp Industries, bound by a non-disclosure agreement. Upon the sale of Stane/Stark Industries to Oscorp CEOS Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy-Osborn by philanthropist Wilson Fisk, Octavius provided assistance to the couple in their research of their acquisition. This ultimately led them to an off-the-books room, which was powered entirely by an Arc Reactor, previously utilized by Howard Stark to store his Iron Man Armor.

• May Parker: At some point in her life, Maybelle married Benjamin Parker. When her brother-in-law Richard Parker and sister-in-law Mary Parker passed away, May and Ben took custody of their fifteen-year-old nephew, Peter. Although still heartbroken by the tragedy, the couple raised Peter with unconditional love and affection.May died as a result of a supposed terrorist attack in New York, publicly blamed on Tony Stark, but actually carried out by the Maker's Council.[3] A funeral was held for her as well as the other victims.

• Norman Osborn: Norman Osborn was the CEO of North American Union corporation Oscorp Industries, and husband to Emily Osborn and father to heir Harry Osborn. In the years that followed, Norman and his wife were unfortunate victims of an attack on Stark Tower perpetrated by a secret cabal comprising leaders from the seven different continents that constituted the world. This was achieved through the utilisation of a Stane/Stark Industries orbital station, which framed the terrorist event as the fault of the believed deceased Tony Stark.

• Henri Duggary: Henri Dugarry was a French nobleman, descending from Louis XIV, and the wielder of both the Sword of Might and the Amulet of Right. In addition of granting him the mantle of this reality's Captain Britain, they gave him providence over the entirety of the European Coalition, which was one of the seven sovereign bodies whose combined power governed the entire world. In turn, Dugarry was part of a secret council of world leaders under the leadership of the world's imperator, the Maker, who orchestrated geopolitical conflicts and alliances to rally their citizens together under a common cause. A few months later, Henri held a meeting with his North American Union subordinate, Wilson Fisk, to discuss the presence of two vigilantes in Manhattan: one, a web-swinging man dressed in all black, and the other, a green-armoured assailant pursuing Fisk. Duggary questioned Fisk's strategy of using the media to blind the public, and suggested he use the resources he and his associates had provided.

• Gayle Watson: Gayle Watson was the daughter of Madeline Watson and sister of Mary Jane Watson. Gayle used to said to her sister that she was lucky to have her, but not in a nice way. After Mary Jane married Peter Parker, Gayle told her that she was wasting her life and that having children would only make her mistakes permanent. Gayle and Mary Jane stopped talking for years, despite this, she invited her every year to her family Christmas party, but Gayle never assisted. Gayle married a man named Douglas. However, he had an affair for several years and after Gayle found out, she decided to divorce him.

• Madeline Watson: Madeline Watson was the mother of Mary Jane and Gayle Watson. Madeline married three times, having divorced and widowed. She is a world traveler.

• Matthew Murdock: Due to the changes of time in Earth-6160 by The Marker, Matthew Murdock would have become Daredevil, the street vigilante of Hell's Kitchen, but through the machinations of the Maker, he was now a seemingly normal blind priest. Murdock was present at the memorial for the victims of a terrorist attack on the city of New York, speaking to those affected before relinquishing his position to Harry Osborn to deliver a speech of his own.

• Tony Stark/Iron Lad: The son of the infamous Howard Stark and the leader of The Ultimates, Iron Lad sent various "origin boxes' in order to restored the population of superheroes and take the world back from the Maker and his council, several months after Stark gave Peter Parker an origin box that would turn him into Spider-Man, the latter visited him to see if he has become a successful hero.

Organizations

• Daily Bugle: The Daily Bugle is a newspaper company owned by Wilson Fisk, it is used as a conspiracy machine that gives him a great deal of influence over the city though he still has to answer to his higher-ups.

• The Paper: The newspaper company that Ben Parker and J. Jonah Jameson found in order to write articles regatding the events happening in New York City after both resigned the Daily Bugle.

• Sinister Six: With his criminal empire being threatened by the emergence of vigilantes Spider-Man and Green Goblin, Wilson Fisk has brought together five of his best and most dangerous lieutenants to eliminate this threat. With the leader of the Demons Gang, Mister Negative, the world´s greatest thief Black Cat, the Hunter of Staten Island Kraven, the illusionist known only as Mysterio, the Underground leader Mole Man and Fisk himself meet to come up with a plan against the vigilantes.

• Bullseyes: The Bullseyes are a marksman assassin group employed by the Maker's Council to eliminate individuals they considered a threat to their objectives.

• Oscorp Industries: A North American Union corporation previously owned by billionaire Norman Osborn before his death, Gwen Stacy is the current CEO of the company while her husand and the son of her father-in-law, Harry Osborn, uses the technology from Oscorp and Stane/Stark Industries to build his Green Goblin armor, weapons and glider.

Collected editions

#	Title	Material collected	Format	Pages	Released	ISBN
1	Married With Children	Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) #1-6	TPB	168	10 Sep 2024	978-1302957292
2	The Paper	Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) #7-12	TPB	136	18 Mar 2025	978-1302958282

Reception

Ultimate Spider-Man #1 sold out three times in just two months. If sales for the comics with the standard cover and alternate covers are taken separately, it got 8 places in the top 10 most sold comics. User comments in social media praised the arts and plots, and compared it favourably to the main Spider-Man comics. Those sales are higher than those of Ultimate Invasion and the Ultimate Universe one-shot published before it. Ultimate Spider-Man outsold the Spider-Man comics from the main continuity for 11 of the 12 months within the first year of release (failing only to do so in July 2024).

See also

• Spider-Man storylines
• Spider-Man collected editions
• Daredevil collected editions
• Marvel Omnibus
• Marvel Gallery Editions
• Marvel Epic Collections

External links

• Official site