Ultimate Spider-Man is a superhero comic book that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2011. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of the company's Ultimate Marvel imprint. Ultimate Spider-Man exists alongside other revamped Marvel characters in Ultimate Marvel titles including Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four and The Ultimates in the fictional setting of Earth-1610.
Orphaned at the age of six, Peter Parker is an outcast and withdrawn teenaged science prodigy, who lives in Queens, New York. While attending a field trip to a scientific corporation, he is bitten by a genetically-modified spider and as a result, begins to develop spider-like superpowers, including enhanced strength, speed, agility, stamina, durability and reflexes, along with the ability to crawl solid surfaces and a sixth sense, which warns him of imminent danger, all of which he decides to utilize for personal gain. When an armed thief, whom Peter had encountered earlier and refused to stop out of spite, later murders his foster father/uncle in a robbery, a guilt-ridden Peter is later driven to use his abilities to atone for his partial responsibility in his uncle's murder, as the costumed vigilante Spider-Man. Now equipped with a responsibility to do good and help others under his Spider-Man alter-ego, Peter struggles to balance high school life and studies, his job as a web designer for the Daily Bugle, his relationship with his girlfriend Mary-Jane Watson, his family life with his widowed aunt, and his double life as Spider-Man, as he faces off against both superhuman and criminal threats to his home of New York City and contends with the hostility of the general public and the police authorities.
Ultimate Spider-Man first saw print in 2000 under veteran Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley and writer Brian Michael Bendis, who expanded the original 11-page origin story into a 180-page, seven-issue story arc. This duo continued to collaborate until issue #111, when Mark Bagley left the book and was replaced by Stuart Immonen.
The series was an unexpected commercial success, selling roughly 20 million copies worldwide and received critical acclaim from readers and critics, with specific praise to Bendis’s writing, Bagley's and Immonen's artwork, and the updated re-imagining of the classic Spider-Man mythos. Bendis and Bagley's run on Ultimate Spider-Man set the record for the longest continual run on a Marvel Comics series by two people, an honor previously held by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on Fantastic Four. After issue #133, the series was relaunched, still written by Bendis with art by David Lafuente, though this relaunch was short-lived. It resumed the Ultimate Spider-Man title with issue #3 and continued with the original numbering with the 16th issue (#150) before the series was again cancelled with #160. It relaunched as Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man with artist Sara Pichelli in 2011, centering on the character Miles Morales. The direct edition of Ultimate Spider-Man #1 is a highly sought after comic book and considered to be one of the most valuable comic books of the Modern Age. The Ultimate Spider-Man branding would later be re-used in 2024 for a new comic book series set on Earth-6160, written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Marco Checchetto.
Contents
History
Creation and development
Ultimate Spider-Man was the first series to be published in the Ultimate Marvel line. Publisher Bill Jemas wanted to re-invent the Marvel Universe because he felt that, with over 40 years of backstory, it had become inaccessible to new readers, and he wanted to start with a re-invented Spider-Man. Initially, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada was skeptical because 1998's Spider-Man: Chapter One, a previous attempt at re-envisioning Spider-Man's early adventures, had failed both critically and commercially.
Though Spider-Man's original origin story in Amazing Fantasy #15 was only 11 pages long, Bendis' retelling of Spider-Man's origin was seven issues long. Bagley was at first wary of Bendis' notoriously slow pace in advancing plot, describing it as a "real shock" at first. Jemas originally intended the comic to feature single-issue stories only, but Bendis chose to make each story roughly six issues long.
The first several issues were greeted with enthusiasm from fans and critics, sold well, and gave Ultimate Marvel a boost in credibility. After the release of Ultimate Spider-Man (along with Ultimate X-Men), Quesada and Jemas broadened the Ultimate Marvel line with The Ultimates (a re-imagining of the Avengers) and Ultimate Fantastic Four. Ultimate Spider-Man #1 was voted the "ninth-greatest Marvel Comic of All Time" in 2001 by readers of Wizard: The Guide to Comics. In addition to critical success, Ultimate Spider-Man grew to outsell the flagship Spider-Man title, The Amazing Spider-Man. Bendis would later describe issue #13, in which Peter tells Mary Jane his secret identity, as his favorite issue because it showed the trust that the Marvel editorial staff had in him.
As the series progressed within the next two years, reception and sales stayed strong, helped by the fact that Bendis and Bagley quickly found chemistry and enjoyed working together. Over the years, many 'mainstream' characters were introduced, often with different origins, costumes, and/or personalities.
Mark Bagley last issue on the book was Ultimate Spider-Man #111 in July 2007. Bagley and writer Brian Michael Bendis had worked on the series together since it began. Artist Stuart Immonen, already familiar with the Ultimate Universe from his work on Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, took over after Bagley. Issue #111, named "The Talk", featured Immonen's art for the first time. The issue was divided into two parts, with Bagley covering the art for one section, and Immonen doing the other. Issue #133 was the final issue of the series before a two-issue follow-up entitled Ultimatum: Spider-Man Requiem was released, revealing the status of the title's characters after the events of the "Ultimatum" storyline. Despite the book's apparent cancellation, in August 2009 Ultimate Spider-Man was relaunched with Brian Michael Bendis returning as writer and David Lafuente as artist. The book finished its run with #160 and subsequently was relaunched as Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man with art by Sara Pichelli.
Story arcs, issue numbering, and collected editions
The renumbering for Vol 2 #16/#150 was confusing to many readers. The letter page for Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man (2011) #8 mentions that issue 0.5 (1/2) was included in the total.
For issues 200 and 234 up, Marvel Legacy considers #54–133 and #150–160 to be wrongly numbered, and accounts for all major Ultimate Spider-Man comics written by Bendis:
1–53 Ultimate Spider-Man (vol. 1) #1–53
54–60 Ultimate Six #1-7
61–140 Ultimate Spider-Man (vol. 1) #54–133
141–142 Ultimatum Spider-Man: Requiem (vol. 1) #1–2
143–157 Ultimate Comics Spider-Man (vol. 1) #1–15
158–168 Ultimate Spider-Man (vol. 1) #150–160
Characters
Main characters
Peter Parker / Spider-Man – A shy, withdrawn and academically-gifted high school student, who lives in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May Parker. He is 15 years old and was orphaned when he was a child, after his parents were killed in a plane crash. Bookish, introverted, quiet and reserved, Peter was a lonely outcast among his high school peers, but was a good-humoured, bright and well-meaning young man, with a keen scientific intellect and was the brightest student in his class. On a science field trip to Oscorp Industries, a mutated spider exposed to the drug OZ, bites Peter in his hand. Instead of dying as expected, Peter begins to manifest various superhuman, arachnid-like powers, such as super-strength, speed, agility, stamina, reflexes and durability, along with the ability to crawl solid surfaces and a precognitive sixth sense, which detects and warns him of unseen danger. During a fight at his school, Peter blocks a punch from Flash Thompson, and this thrust of the punch accidentally breaks Flash's hand. He earns money to pay off the resulting medical bill by wrestling professionally in a red-blue costume provided by the wrestling promoters, until he was later fired from wrestling, due to being suspected of robbing the wrestling promoters' money. On his way home, Peter crosses a market. While he walks through, an armed burglar runs toward him from the market, having robbed a nearby store. When faced with the choice of stopping the armed robber or not, a spiteful Peter refuses to stop him and ignores the robber, since he was still angry from being fired from his wrestling job. The burglar later kills his Uncle Ben in an attempted home invasion. Wracked with guilt, he managed to apprehend his uncle's killer. Driven by his uncle's motto that "with great power comes great responsibility", he modifies his wrestling costume and decides to use his powers under the name "Spider-Man" to do good and help others in a bid to atone for his partial responsibility in his uncle's death. He manages to complete his father's research on adhesives, creating a formula used to create artificial spider webbing and utilizes the formula, as a crime-fighting tool, through the use of special wrist-worn mechanical devices called "web-shooters", which fire out strands of the artificial webbing. As he struggles from his innate guilt over his role in his uncle's death, Peter tries to balance studies, a job, a girlfriend, his family life with Aunt May and his dual life as the super-human vigilante Spider-Man, which more often than not, proves to be very difficult for him and in which he manages to barely succeed. Peter is killed in "The Death of Spider-Man" storyline, in a battle against the Green Goblin, although he is later revealed to have survived his death, thanks to his immortality, as the result of the same OZ compound that gave him his powers in the first place. Many years after the second Secret War is over where the Ultimate Universe is one of the few universes that has been restored, Peter returned to the role of Spider-Man, and is a member of the Ultimates.
Villains
Norman Osborn / Green Goblin – The unscrupulous CEO of Oscorp, an industrialist and scientist and the arch-enemy of Spider-Man. He develops an experimental drug called "OZ". After witnessing Peter's spider bite and seeing the resulting effects that OZ has on him, Osborn injects OZ into his body, and is changed into an insane, powerful, green-skinned monster. He has a physical structure similar to the Hulk's and has the ability to generate fireball projectiles from his hands. He is a scientific genius, especially in genetics. He knows Peter's secret identity, and uses that against him on several occasions. He is killed by Carol Danvers after he requested it, due to feelings of guilt over killing his own son, but is later revealed that he survived, and that neither Danvers nor S.H.I.E.L.D ever figured out a way to actually kill him after that. He eventually escapes and breaks out the Sinister Six for one final vengeful assault on Peter Parker's home, which ends with both he and Peter killing each other. This seems to be one of the first (if not the first) version of him where he does not wear a costume, but his body is actually mutated into a monster to be the Green Goblin. He is responsible for the death of Spider-Man in the Ultimate universe, prior to his revival. Like Spider-Man, the Green Goblin's OZ also gives him immortality. Brian Michael Bendis instructed artist Mark Bagley to pattern Osborn's appearance after that of actor Brian Dennehy.
Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus – One of Osborn's scientists and an industrial spy. He is described as "scary smart" by Harry. The four cybernetic arms he uses to manipulate hazardous matter were permanently melded to his flesh in the explosion that turns Osborn into the Green Goblin. He has been shown to have good fighting abilities, and once even managed to capture Spider-Man. In "Hollywood", he says that all he wanted was "a decent life". In the same story, he captures, unmasks, humiliates and tortures Peter for recent defeats and for ruining his life. During the "Ultimate Clone Saga", Doctor Octavius reveals that he played a huge role in the creation of the clones. Also during the saga, he reveals that he in fact controls metal, similar to Magneto, and does not need actual "arms", but he has become good at using his mechanical "arms". Octavius was murdered by Norman Osborn in the "Death of Spider-Man" story arc, because Octavius had decided that he no longer bore a grudge against Peter nor wished to continue being a criminal, and tried to back out as well as asking Norman to do the same and give up his vendetta.
Eddie Brock / Venom – A childhood friend of Peter Parker who goes to college and works as a lab assistant for Dr. Connors. Their late fathers were lab partners who were at the second stage of developing a genetically created "suit" designed as a cure for terminal malady, meant to bond to the user and protect them from internal and external harm. The suit is tailored for a specific DNA, and the person to whom it belongs can control the suit more easily. If, however, someone uses a suit designed for somebody else, they are constantly damaged by the suit which requires nourishment, gained by feeding on organic flesh, to function. If bonded to an incompatible host, the Venom suit begins consuming them almost immediately, forcing them to feed to sustain it or die themselves. When taking a host, the organic matter that comprises the suit completely envelops the host, regardless of resistance, temporarily blinding it, before encasing itself in a hard, purple casing, similar to a pupa, as it bonds further with the host. When the host emerges, the suit then shifts its appearance and function to assist its host, such as creating eyes for it to see through, or tries to take it over, inducing a homicidal rage and attempting to feed itself if bonded with an incompatible host. When bonded with a host and forcibly removed, the Venom suit leaves trace amounts of itself in their bloodstream, which attracts other samples of Venom to itself, and can overload Peter's spider-sense. In the 2005 video game adaptation, it is revealed that absorbing the trace amounts in Peter's blood allowed Eddie to take complete control of the suit, gaining a greater ability to talk and a spider symbol on his chest. He was captured by the Beetle and delivered to Latveria, after which he has a cameo in The Ultimates 3 attacking the team. The whole Ultimates 3 and "Ultimatum" scenarios, including Venom's attack on the Ultimates, has all been orchestrated by Doctor Doom.
In other media
Television
Before Spider-Man: The New Animated Series became a loose continuation of Sam Raimi's 2002 Spider-Man film, the series was originally going to be a direct adaptation of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. Brian Michael Bendis also worked as a producer on the series.
The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series took many elements from the Ultimate comics, such as Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, and Mary Jane Watson remaining as teenagers in high school during the majority of the series, the introduction of Kenny McFarlane into animated medium, Eddie Brock's personal relationship with Peter while working as a lab assistant for Dr. Curt Connors at Empire State University, Rhino's real name being Alex O'Hirn, Dr. Octavius working as an Oscorp scientist until his electromagnetic accident, both Spider-Man and later Eddie bonding with the Symbiote being kept in a secured lab, Venom's body being more monstrous in both size and shape, and Kraven the Hunter having his own DNA by Miles Warren which transformed him into a black-maned lion-like creature with elements of leopard and cheetah DNA.
An unrelated animated series of the same name aired in the United States on Disney XD from April 2012 to January 2017. The four-part episode "The Spider-Verse" also featured a variation of the show's Ultimate universe, which confirmed that Ultimate Peter Parker had died fighting an unspecified threat while his mantle was long since taken up by a guilt-ridden Miles Morales. This series' Peter Parker is modeled after his appearance in the comics. Also in this series, Harry Osborn is the host for Venom instead of Eddie Brock and takes the form of Spider-Man's black suit, as Spider-Man's suit does not bond with the symbiote.
In the 2017 Spider-Man series, there was also a season one episode with the same name and that this show's Kraven the Hunter had TV show-hosting traits of his Ultimate Marvel version.
Films
Sam Raimi's 2002 Spider-Man film uses many elements from the Ultimate comics, such as Peter Parker going to high school with Harry Osborn and Mary Jane Watson (who much like her Ultimate counterpart remains indecisive about dating Harry at first and lives with her abusive father and depressed mother), Peter being bitten by a genetically-altered spider during a school field trip, Norman Osborn working on developing a serum to create super soldiers and later injecting himself with the same serum to become Green Goblin (albeit only as an alternate personality and not a complete transformation), Peter letting a burglar escape after a bad experience from participating in a wrestling exhibit using his powers, Green Goblin threatening to drop Mary Jane from the Queensboro Bridge as opposed to Gwen Stacy in the mainstream universe, and Green Goblin's obsession with Spider-Man at wanting to form an alliance.
The 2004 sequel Spider-Man 2, also adapts similar ideas from the Ultimate comics, such as Dr. Octavius working on behalf of Oscorp to fund his experiments, who also has a wife named Roselita (Rosie for short in the film). Doc Ock also sports a brown trench coat, which he wore for some issues in the Ultimate comics. In addition, an unused concept from earlier versions of the film's script reveal that Dr. Octavius is the creator of one of the genetically-altered spiders from the first film, and at one point also provides Peter with an antidote should he ever consider removing his own powers.
The 2007 sequel Spider-Man 3 uses minor elements from the Ultimate comics Venom arc, such as Spider-Man's anger being fueled by the death of his Uncle Ben while wearing the Black Suit, Mary Jane's jealousy over Peter spending time with Gwen Stacy, and Eddie Brock being romantically interested in Gwen.
Marc Webb's 2012 film The Amazing Spider-Man adapts several elements and aesthetics from the Ultimate comics, such as Peter Parker's personality, being bitten by a genetically-altered spider at Oscorp, Flash Thompson being a basketball player over football, Peter furiously leaving from a conversation with his Uncle Ben about his father and the importance of responsibility, Peter letting a thief steal from a convenience store, Gwen and Peter dating during high school and the Lizard and Police Captain George Stacy being visually inspired by their Ultimate incarnations.
The 2014 sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2 once again adapts several elements from the Ultimate comics, such as Richard Parker being a scientist working on a cure for diseases and Peter discovering old recordings of his father that explain why he had to leave Peter at a very young age, fearing that his research will fall into the wrong hands. Harry Osborn and friendship with Peter was similar to the one shared between Ultimate Peter and Eddie Brock Jr. His transformation in the Green Goblin is similar to his father in the Ultimate comics (with the Cross-Species spider venom being inspired by the OZ serum), and Electro and Rhino's designs are modeled after their Ultimate incarnations.
Video games
A video game adaptation also titled Ultimate Spider-Man was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, and Game Boy Advance. The game serves as a non-canon continuation of the Venom storyline, with an original story and cutscenes also provided by Ultimate comics creators Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. The game's plot would eventually be loosely recreated during issues #123-128 of the War of the Symbiotes arc in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics.
In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Venom has his Ultimate universe costume.
A handheld prequel to the 2005 Ultimate Spider-Man game titled Spider-Man: Battle for New York, was released in 2006 for the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance. The game features an alternate retelling of Ultimate Spider-Man's first encounter with Green Goblin and features both as playable characters.
A mobile game loosely based on the Ultimate comics titled Spider-Man: Toxic City was released in 2009.
Ultimate Peter Parker/Spider-Man appears as a playable character in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, voiced by Josh Keaton. In the game, Madame Web grants him his symbiote costume and uses her telepathic powers to keep it from taking over so he can retrieve fragments of the Tablet of Order and Chaos from his universe's versions of Electro, Deadpool, and Carnage more effectively. This section is not included in the Nintendo DS version.
Another mobile game loosely based on the Ultimate comics titled Ultimate Spider-Man: Total Mayhem, was released in 2011.
The Ultimate incarnation of Venom appears as a playable character in the 2013 game Lego Marvel Super Heroes.
Minor elements of the Ultimate comics were incorporated into the 2018 Spider-Man game, such as Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, and Harry Osborn having known each other since childhood and Spider-Man and Kingpin's long standing enmity, with the former trying to take down the latter ever since he became the superhero and Mary Jane's job as a reporter, an idea that was inspired by Ultimate MJ's aspirations to become a reporter. The follow-up game Spider-Man: Miles Morales is also visually inspired by the Ultimate universe and the main storyline incorporates Tinkerer's vendetta due to a family tragedy against Roxxon Energy Corporation, an organisation that plays a significant role in the Ultimate comics.
Attractions
An interactive attraction based on the Ultimate and mainstream Marvel universes was built in Niagara Falls as part of Marvel Superhero Adventure City. The ride has guests help Spider-Man stop different villains by shooting them with lasers. Spider-Man's look is based on his Ultimate version, but he is more experienced like his mainstream Marvel counterpart.