Ultimate Spider-Man

History

Creation and development

Story arcs, issue numbering, and collected editions

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• Peter Parker / Spider-Man – A shy, withdrawn and academically-gifted high school student, who lives in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May Parker.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.
• Mary Jane Watson – Peter's girlfriend and next-door neighbor. She is the first person Peter reveals his secret identity to, and the one who often fixes his costume and treats his injuries. Although Peter and Mary Jane love each other, Peter's life as Spider-Man is often a burden on their relationship. She was once transformed into the Demogoblin after being kidnapped from her bedroom by a facially disfigured clone of Peter Parker, who is determined to give her powers so that she is no longer in danger from his enemies. He pumps in her bloodstream an unquantified amount of OZ, the drug responsible for the creation of the Green Goblin, the Hobgoblin and also Spider-Man. Upon learning this, she becomes very angry and transforms into a huge, hairy, horned, red goblin-type creature. When the real Peter Parker and Spider-Woman show up, she calms down and resumes her original form, just in time for Peter to render his evil clone unconscious. MJ is taken to the Fantastic Four's Baxter Building and when she wakes up, she is afraid and angry, causing another transformation. When she spots the Peter clone who was in the building, she calms down once again and reverts to her normal self. She is then given by Reed Richards what is believed to be a cure to the effects of the OZ formula, yet the ordeal has left her badly traumatized, and she is shown to be affected by panic issues and haunted by the scarred visage of Peter's disfigured clone.
• May Parker – Peter's independent aunt, who is in her 50s working as a secretary and regularly sees a therapist to deal with the death of her husband Ben. May used to hate Spider-Man because she believed he had no regard for innocent bystanders and hid his face behind a mask. In Ultimate Spider-Man #99, she learns Peter's secret identity, something that initially makes her angry, but after some time she accepts it. Aunt May seems to be scared of the idea of Peter risking his life on a constant basis, but supports him anyway. After the death of her nephew, she and Gwen Stacy emigrate to France. Writer Brian Michael Bendis based his depiction of Aunt May on his mother.
• Gwen Stacy – A street-wise girl who befriends Peter and Mary Jane. Mark Bagley's rendition of Ultimate Gwen Stacy was inspired by an early-career Madonna. Mary Jane is initially jealous of Gwen for the time she spends with Peter, but Gwen ultimately reveals that she loves Peter only as a surrogate brother. Her father is NYPD Captain John Stacy. He is killed by a criminal in a Spider-Man suit, and she blames the real Spider-Man for his death because he became someone criminals could copy in order to hide their identities. Aunt May opens her and Peter's home to Gwen after her mother refuses to take her. While living with the Parkers, Gwen is killed by Carnage, which instills in Peter even more guilt. In Ultimate Spider-Man #98, Gwen Stacy appears again mysteriously, alive and well, and in Ultimate Spider-Man #100, she is revealed, in a hideous twist of fate, to be the new Carnage, her mind having been preserved within the symbiote before getting a new clone body. In Ultimate Spider-Man #128, the Carnage symbiote is absorbed back into Venom and an examination of Gwen by Tony Stark reveals that Gwen is a 'molecular copy' and is the real Gwen come back to life rather than being a simple clone. The examination also reveals no trace of the symbiote.
• Harry Osborn – The troubled son of Norman Osborn, who is Peter's best friend and one of the few friends he ever had in school, who helps him out from being picked on by the school bullies and has known him since they were children. Having witnessed the accident that turned his father into the Green Goblin, he was trained by a psychiatrist to repress these memories. Disturbed by recurring images of his past, Harry develops hallucinations of a man named Shaw, who serves as Harry's guide to avenge his father's downfall. After being exposed to the OZ formula during his father's first transformation accident at Oscorp a few months prior, Harry becomes the Hobgoblin during a verbal confrontation with Peter, turning his skin orange with the ability to produce fire. After reverting to his regular form, Harry is detained by S.H.I.E.L.D, much to the dismay of Peter. As the Hobgoblin, his powers are similar to the Green Goblin's. When he first transformed, he was much larger than his father's original form; when he returns in issue #116 he is much smaller. He is seemingly murdered by his father in Ultimate Spider-Man #117. However, as revealed by a revived Green Goblin that the OZ makes him and Spider-Man immortal, it is possible that Harry might be alive somewhere.
• Liz Allan – Mary Jane's best friend. For the majority of the series, she is mutant-phobic. It was recently revealed that she herself is a mutant due to her mother being impregnated by the Blob. She eventually becomes Firestar. Shortly after that, Peter revealed to Liz that he was Spider-Man.
• Fred "Flash" Thompson – A bully who torments Peter Parker, and apparently had a crush on Gwen Stacy. He was the last of the recurring characters to discover Peter's identity as Spider-Man.
• Kenny "Kong" McFarlane – A former bully of Peter, who now has an on-and-off friendship with him. Initially a big fan of Spider-Man, Kong eventually figured out that Peter is secretly Spider-Man. Although he dated Kitty Pryde for a short period, they have ostensibly broken up. Kong has not been seen for a number of issues and may have moved out to the Midwest.
• Kitty Pryde – A member of the X-Men who dates Peter after he breaks up with Mary Jane. As her identity is public, Kitty wears a green and yellow masked costume when she fights alongside Spider-Man to avoid giving away his identity. Their relationship is hard, as they live quite far away from each other. Their relationship is silently torn apart when Kitty sees Peter kissing Mary Jane. In Ultimate Spider-Man #106, at the end of the issue, Kitty turns up as the new student at Midtown High, following her leaving the Xavier Institute in the wake of Professor Xavier's death. Despite her breakup with Peter, she still retains strong feelings for him. After Peter's death, Kitty leaves with Bobby Drake and Johnny Storm to join Karen Grant in her new X-Men group.
• Johnny Storm / Human Torch – A member of the Fantastic Four and Susan Storm's younger brother. After the events of the Ultimatum wave, he moves in with Peter Parker. He also dyes his hair black to avoid exposing his secret identity.
• Bobby Drake / Iceman – The youngest founding member of the X-Men who had the ability to form ice around him. After the events of the Ultimatum wave, Bobby Drake is kicked out of his home for being a mutant. With nowhere else to go, Kitty suggests to Peter Parkers' Aunt May that he move in with her, Peter, Gwen Stacy, and Johnny Storm. Aunt May agrees and enrolls Bobby at Midtown High under the guise of Bobby Parker, one of Peters' cousins and shaves his hair off to help keep his, Peter's and Johnny's secret identities safe.
• J. Jonah Jameson – The editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle, who hates Spider-Man and runs a smear campaign against him, which stems from the death of his son John a year prior to Spider-Man's existence. His most important employees are his right-hand man Robbie Robertson, and his best reporter Ben Urich whose articles helped to take down the Kingpin. Other members include Peter Parker working as a freelance photographer and web designer, Betty Brant, who works as one of the main secretaries, and Ned Leeds, also working as a reporter.
• Nick Fury – The tough, powerful, and connected head of S.H.I.E.L.D., who wants Peter to join the Ultimates when he is an adult. In Ultimate Spider-Man #27, he tells Peter that he becomes the property of S.H.I.E.L.D. when he turns 18 whether he likes it or not, but later replies that he will work with the Ultimates when that happens. It is unknown whether Fury will hold on to his promise, as the Ultimates have broken off from S.H.I.E.L.D. At the end of the "Hobgoblin" arc, he personally told one of his subordinates that he wanted everything figured out about OZ, and after witnessing him angrily responding to Harry becoming the Hobgoblin, Fury says "I think it's about time Peter Parker loses those Spider powers". During the "Ultimate Clone Saga", it is revealed that Fury had the Tinkerer create the Spider Slayers that were created to 'handle' Peter if he lost it. After the "Ultimate Clone Saga", Nick Fury has become more supportive of Peter. However, in Ultimate Power, he was taken to another universe, removing him from Peter Parker's universe. He later returned during the events of "Ultimatum", to finish off Magneto with the help of the X-Men.
• Ben Parker – Peter's kindly, understanding and avuncular uncle/father-figure, who is closely bonded with his nephew and along with his wife: May Parker, raised Peter like his own son and tries to teach him to be a good person, while also encouraging his academic pursuits and his rapport with Mary Jane. He is later killed by an armed robber early on in the series, which serves as a constant source of guilt and torment for Peter, due to his partial role in his uncle's murder, but not before he imparts Peter with the motto that "with great power comes great responsibility", which inspires Peter to use his powers for the greater good and to undertake his Spider-Man vigilante alter-ego.
• Richard Parker – Peter's late father. A brilliant biochemist, he was selected to be part of Nick Fury's team to redevelop Captain America's lost Super-Soldier Serum. He and Mary were injured in a related lab accident when Peter was an infant, which led to his adamant refusal to allow his and Edward Brock Sr.'s anti-cancer super-suit to be weaponized by Trask Industries later in life. It was during the legal battle with Trask when Richard, Mary, Edward Brock, Sr. and Edward's wife died in a plane crash. Recently, Richard resurfaced; allegedly back from the dead, claiming he did not get on the plane because he did not want involvement in the Venom project anymore. Since that time, he has been working as an underground scientist for the CIA to combat Nick Fury when and if he one day got out of control. After Gwen Stacy returns to the Parker's old house, he reappears to try to clear everything up. In Ultimate Spider-Man #103, Sue Storm tests Richard's DNA to confirm that he is really an aged clone of Peter. He is last seen in Ultimate Spider-Man #104 aging more rapidly and dying. Before he died from old age, "Richard" requested Sue Storm and the rest of the Fantastic Four to look after Peter. The real Richard Parker is still deceased. Richard was also the source of Spider-Man's "web fluid". Before his death, Richard was working on a "molecular adhesive". Peter finished the formula after becoming Spider-Man and uses it to fight crime.
• Mary Parker – May Parker's sister-in-law, and Peter's mother. She died in the plane crash with her husband while Peter was a child.
• Dr. Curt Connors – A professor at Empire State University who sponsors Eddie Brock's Venom project. He tries to re-grow the arm he lost in the Vietnam War with lizard DNA, accidentally becoming the Lizard. Using a sample of Peter's blood, he inadvertently creates Carnage, which resulted in the deaths of many people. Connors later turns himself in to the police afterward for his creation of Carnage.
• Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman – A female clone of Peter Parker. In Ultimate Spider-Man #98, while investigating Mary Jane Watson's disappearance, Spider-Man encounters a mysterious masked woman who knocks him unconscious. The character is able to shoot organic webbing out of her fingertips, without the need of web-shooters. During a panel discussion at the New York Comic Con 2006, writer Brian Michael Bendis mentioned that the Ultimate version of Spider-Woman would make an appearance during the "Ultimate Clone Saga", which ran in Ultimate Spider-Man #97 – 104. In Ultimate Spider-Man #102, she rescues Peter from being arrested, and reveals that she is Peter's female clone, called Jessica Drew, but still retained all of his memories. She leads Peter to an Oscorp building in an effort to find MJ, where they end up finding the truth about Peter's clones. Jessica also discovers, much to her disgust, that her creator is none other than Otto Octavius. Together, they manage to defeat him. However, whereas Peter is ready to turn himself in to Nick Fury, Jessica promptly leaves to escape incarceration. Peter eventually finds her again, who tells him she has finally decided to embrace her Jessica Drew identity. After Peter updates her on MJ, Nick Fury, and Aunt May, and she gives him "the most awkward hug in the history of the planet". In Ultimate Spider-Man #129, she made her public debut as a superhero. At the conclusion of the Ultimate Doom story arc, she enlists in S.H.I.E.L.D. as an agent.
• Felicia Hardy / Black Cat – A cat burglar who blames her father's death on the Kingpin. Taking revenge, she steals a priceless artifact that he was going to use on his comatose wife. Hardy is interested in Spider-Man romantically, but in Ultimate Spider-Man #85, when she sees that he is a 15-year-old boy, she vomits on his costume out of embarrassment.
• Jean DeWolff – A captain in the NYPD. She offers support and comfort to Spider-Man whenever the strain of being a crime-fighter becomes too much for him. She was secretly working for the Kingpin, and was rumored to have been his lover as well. Punisher killed her in Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #2.