What if Peter Parker was robbed of his chance to be Spider-Man?
Everybody knows Spider-Man’s origin story. Peter Parker, bitten by a radioactive spider, gets superpowers and decides to use them for good—something about great power and great responsibility. But what if he hadn’t been bitten by that spider? What if a malignant, time-travelling force robbed Peter of the heroic life he was supposed to live?
And what if, twenty years later, he was offered a chance to become the man he was always supposed to be?
Such is the premise of Ultimate Spider-Man. To cut to the chase, this is one of the best Spider-Man stories I have ever read. If you love Spider-Man, read this book. If somebody you love loves Spider-Man, get them this book.
But it’s been a long road to this point, so I’d like to provide some context for the story as I review it that will hopefully enlighten new readers and provide them with a solid footing to fully enjoy it.
"Face It Tiger, You Hit The Jackpot"
Let’s start with the name. ‘Ultimate’ is essentially a Marvel Comics shorthand to let the reader know that the story is taking place in a different universe from their primary shared universe where 99% of their stories occur. And in this Ultimate Universe, Peter Parker never became Spider-Man. In fact, he’s married to his long-time love Mary-Jane, and has two kids, Richard and May.
This is obviously a huge shake-up from the regular status-quo. For a long time now, Marvel has had a bizarre dictate for their main universe’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man, who has been swinging around since the 1960s: he can never marry Mary Jane. Their reasoning is that this ‘ages up’ the character too significantly, and risks making him less relatable to a younger audience.
This has frustrated many fans of the comics over the years as Marvel refuses to let Peter’s most important relationship progress and evolve. But in creating this new Ultimate Spider-Man story, Marvel are able to have their cake and eat it too. Finally, fans can enjoy a version of their favourite character in a stable, loving relationship without knowing that the rug is going to be pulled out from underneath them at any moment.
As a Spider-Man fan, it’s fun exploring this fresh dynamic between Peter and MJ, but as a fan of good writing of any kind, it’s even more fun exploring a version of Peter that, while happy, feels like something important is missing from his life. Peter has always been a great character, but there is something extra-inspiring about this version. Initially, this a quieter, more subdued Peter Parker, but one of the great joys of the story is watching him self-actualise as the narrative progresses.
You might be wondering, ‘If he wasn’t bitten by the radioactive spider, then how does he become Spider-Man?’ I won’t spoil the specifics, but this is where I feel the need to point out that Ultimate Spider-Man isn’t the only ongoing story set in this new universe.
Ultimate Tangent
There is always a desire from new readers to be able to pick up a book and fully enjoy it without worrying that they’re missing out on some important piece of character history. I understand, and I do think that Ultimate Spider-Man can be read without worrying about other series, but there is as an asterisk to that statement.
See, the first page of Ultimate Spider-Man is a short ‘Previously On’ paragraph that serves to catch the reader up with the goings-on of this Ultimate Universe up until this point which, to be fair, isn’t a whole lot.
Before the release of Ultimate Spider-Man, writer Jonathan Hickman spent some time writing a four-issue series called Ultimate Invasion that set up the specifics of this new world, including the reason why Peter wasn’t bitten by his radioactive spider all those years ago. As a big Marvel Comics fan, I thought this miniseries was incredible, but I’ll concede that it might be bit dense on Marvel lore for a brand-new reader, especially a younger reader.
All I’m saying is that this story is there if you want it. Ultimate Invasion has a collected edition currently on shelves, and the story is directly continued in the series The Ultimates, the first collected edition of which is coming out in February 2025.
There is a fascinating world behind the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man. You don’t need to know all the details to enjoy the story, but an interested reader will get decent mileage from expanding their reading horizons to encompass all of the Ultimate comics currently being published.
I'm Something of a Green Goblin, Myself
But that was all a tangent to the main event. Ultimate Spider-Man is an exciting new take on a familiar story. It features many entertaining twists on the conventions of Spider-Man stories which open up the possibilities and potential of this new world in really exciting ways.
One of these comes in the form of the Green Goblin—a villain character any fan of the Spider-Man movies will love and recognise. The relationship that forms between Spidey and the Goblin is totally different to how it’s been done in the past, though. This time, Green Goblin appears to be a hero. Spider-Man learning from Green Goblin (and about him, too) is a really engaging relationship.
One of the highlights of this book for me is the art, though. Marco Checchetto previously did amazing work on Daredevil, and it is so good to see him back on an A-List series like this. The grit, facial expressions, and small background/foreground flourishes that he adds to story bring it to life in a way that made me fall in love with the medium of comics all over again. David Messina, who has done great work on Star Wars and X-Men comics, fills in for Checchetto for a couple of issues and I literally gasped aloud at one of his panels. This really is a beautiful book.
Another highlight is Peter’s relationship with his young daughter, May. It’s very cute, very wholesome stuff. I really appreciated how Hickman didn’t relegate Peter’s children to background characters. May, surprisingly, drives some of the best plot and character beats of this book. His son, Richard, hasn’t quite received the same spotlight, but give it time. This is only the first collection of a series that is still ongoing. I’m sure Richard will have his time to shine eventually.
Overall Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 1: Married With Kids is a fantastic collection of brilliant comics and also a jumping-on point for a new series that might just go down in history as not only one of the best Spider-Man stories, but one of the best series that Marvel will put out this decade.
Thanks for reading my review. If you liked it, consider checking out my wishlist or buying me a cup of coffee at https://ko-fi.com/kieranobrien or below.
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