Warning! This post contains mild SPOILERS for Ultimate Spider-Man #22I truly can’t understand why Marvel Comics is bringing one of Spider-Man’s best eras to an end, especially when things are really getting good. After all, Jonathan Hickman’s Ultimate Spider-Man has delivered so many great things that longtime fans have wanted from Marvel’s iconic Webslinger.
Unfortunately, it was recently revealed that Marvel Comics would be bringing its latest Ultimate Universe line to a close next year, including Ultimate Spider-Man. Here’s how this current Spider-Man era has redefined what Peter Parker could be in modern comics, and why it’s so disappointing that it’s coming to what feels like a premature end.
Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man Is Everything Fans Have Wanted From The Comic Webslinger
Ultimate Spider-Man #1 was released in January 2024 by Hickman and artist Marco Checchetto, and fans immediately saw the series as something truly special.
Set on an alternate Earth that was intentionally interfered with to be without heroes and under the control of The Maker, Peter Parker never became Spider-Man, until this world’s Tony Stark learned the truth and sought to set things right, offering a more mature Peter a suit and radioactive spider to become the hero he always meant to be.
The refreshing result is that we finally now have a Spider-Man who was allowed to evolve and mature into adulthood, something we were robbed of in the main Marvel timeline in 2007 with the One More Day storyline and the subsequent erasure of Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage (and the soft reboot of the character that followed).
In the new Ultimate Universe, Peter isn’t a perpetually struggling twenty-something or a guilt-ridden loner. He’s a husband and father, living with Mary Jane Watson and their two children in this alternate reality. It’s the kind of evolution and development fans have begged to see for nearly two decades.
After 22 issues, Hickman’s Ultimate Spider-Man has crafted a Peter Parker who feels like a complete person, having responsibilities that extend beyond saving the city to raising a family and keeping his loved ones safe. It’s refreshing, heartfelt, and deeply human.
However, it seems as though this amazing and spectacular series can’t last, as it was recently revealed that Ultimate Spider-Man will be ending with its 24th issue ahead of the Ultimate Endgame crossover event, set to begin at the end of 2025.
Spider-Man Has Never Been Part Of A More Personal Team
While The Maker has been trapped for two years in The City, Spider-Man has been joined by his family and allies in a resistance movement against Kingpin and his Sinister Six, seeking to expose the truth about the world and Wilson Fisk’s service to The Maker himself.
While Spider-Man in the main Marvel timeline is more often than not a loner, he has joined teams from time to time. That said, the Webslinger has never been part of a more personal team than the one that’s formed around him in the Ultimate Universe.
First and foremost is Peter’s family. For the sake of their children, Peter and Mary Jane are very much in this fight together, sharing no secrets. Likewise, their son Richard has become Ultimate Venom, though in this universe, the black suit is made from sentient pico-tech rather than being an alien symbiote.
Harry Osborn is an ally with a suit of Green Goblin armor from Stark, and his wife is Gwen Stacy (a member of the secret Mysterio society). Otto Octavius is also an ally, maintaining Peter and Harry’s tech as a former Oscorp scientist (who recently wore a Spider-suit of his own as a great Superior Spider-Man homage).
Likewise, a still-living Uncle Ben and J. Jonah Jameson are part of the team as well, seeking to expose Fisk via their independent newspaper. They’ve even managed to turn Mole Man, once a member of Fisk’s Sinister Six, who’s been harboring the entire team in his underground domain.
One could arguably count Felicia Hardy’s Black Cat. Despite her father being a member of the Six, the younger Black Cat and Richard’s Venom have made a connection.
The most recent Ultimate Spider-Man #22 showed off the entire roster best, a small interconnected force that is slowly but surely gaining ground. However, seeing this incredible cast develop and clash with the biggest foes this universe has to offer makes it even sadder that the series is set to end after just two more issues.
Why Marvel Is Ending The Ultimate Universe (And One Of The Best Spider-Man Runs Ever)
Perhaps a two-year run and a culminating crossover were always part of the plan when it came to this newest Ultimate Universe. Even so, it truly does feel like it’s all ending way too early, and that there’s plenty of opportunity and potential for more storytelling to be had.
Assuming the universe still stands, and The Maker is defeated after Ultimate Endgame, these re-imagined heroes now have the chance to be heroes, so why not continue exploring that?
For Ultimate Spider-Man in particular, it feels like a majorly missed opportunity, with many fans left wondering why Marvel insists on keeping Peter Parker perpetually young and struggling when stories like this prove his maturity and growth can be a strength (and very much sells). It’s a complete revitalization of the character that works, making the cancellation sting all the more.
- Writer
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Jonathan Hickman
- Penciler
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Marco Checchetto
- Colorist
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Matthew Wilson
- Letterer
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Cory Petit
- Publisher(s)
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Marvel Comics
