Webhead, Wall-crawler, Spidey, Spider-Boy, Punk in a Onesie
Abilities
Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, reflexes, coordination, and balance
Clinging to solid surfaces
Accelerated healing
Genius-level intellect
Proficient scientist
Utilizes wrist-mounted webshooters
Precognitive spider-sense
Master hand-to-hand combatant and acrobat
Spider-Man (Peter Parker) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a modernized, alternate universe counterpart of Spider-Man who is in his youth, a superhero first created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962. The Ultimate version of the character originated in Ultimate Marvel, a line of comic books created in 2000 that is set in a parallel universe with a narrative continuity separate and independent from the main continuity of Marvel Comics stories that began in the 1960s.
Ultimate Spider-Man, the first and flagship title of the Ultimate line, was created by the writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mark Bagley, and debuted in September 2000, which featured the first appearance of the Ultimate version of the character. Based on the original Spider-Man who debuted in 1962, he was bitten by a genetically-mutated spider, which gave him superhuman spider-like abilities which led him to become the superhero Spider-Man, and fight crime after the tragedy of his late Uncle Ben. The biggest difference is that this version of Parker is killed at the age of 16, being Spider-Man for a span of almost a year before being replaced by the 13-year-old Miles Morales. However following the Secret Wars storyline, Miles and his family were retconned into the history of the prime universe and Peter who had been resurrected had resumed his superhero role. To differentiate him from other incarnations, Peter Parker from this universe is commonly dubbed Ultimate Spider-Man.
Fictional character biography
At around the age of six, Peter Parker was orphaned after the death of his parents in a plane crash and was raised by his father's brother, Ben Parker, and his wife May. Nine years later, Peter grew to be an exceptionally bright teen and a high school genius, being particularly skilled in physics and chemistry. However, he was also an introverted outcast among his peers and was frequently bullied and tormented by Fred "Flash" Thompson and Kenny "King Kong" McFarlane. On a school field trip to the scientific corporation Oscorp, he was bitten by a genetically-mutated spider, which gave him spider-like superhuman abilities. The head of Oscorp, Norman Osborn, discovered this and experimented with the same mutagen injected within the spider's bloodstream on himself, but the experiment went awry, mutating him into a monstrous, green-coloured and hulking goblin-like creature later known as the Green Goblin.
After discovering his new abilities, Peter used his powers for personal gain, like his standard counterpart, to financially support his family as a professional wrestler and to become popular by becoming the school's top basketball player thanks to his enhanced spider-powers. However, he began to selfishly utilise his abilities and started to act irresponsibly, which adversely affected his studies and behavior, all of which worried his aunt and uncle. Peter was later fired from his job as a wrestler under suspicions that he was responsible for a recent robbery, much to his chagrin and disappointment. Later that night, as he was walking to his house, he encountered an armed robber escaping from a nearby convenience store, but refused to stop him out of spite and continued to walk home. After returning home and having a heated argument with his aunt and uncle over his failing grades and increasingly reckless nature, Peter ran away from home out of anger. After regretting his argument with his aunt and uncle, he returned home intending to apologise and reveal his spider-powers to them, but upon arriving, he saw a police car and an ambulance parked outside his house, and to his horror, he discovered that Uncle Ben had been murdered by an armed thief. Fueled with rage and a thirst for vengeance, a masked Peter hunted down his uncle's killer. After cornering the criminal within an abandoned warehouse, Peter managed to subdue him and found out, to his shock, that the killer was the same robber whom he refused to stop earlier that night. He then handed over the killer to the arriving police. Guilt-ridden, Peter vowed to follow his uncle's motto, "with great power comes great responsibility", and became the masked vigilante Spider-Man in order to utilise his spider-powers for a noble purpose and to atone for his uncle's death.[1]
In his first year as Spider-Man, Peter encountered the Green Goblin, who later disappeared into the river below the Brooklyn Bridge, following his defeat.[2] Peter Parker later got a job as a web designer for the Daily Bugle upon being hired by J. Jonah Jameson, the snarky and cynical editor of the Daily Bugle, who disliked Spider-Man and constantly ran defamatory smear campaigns against the vigilante.[3] Later, he confessed his identity to his classmate, crush and childhood friend: Mary Jane Watson and they formed a close romantic relationship.[4] Peter Parker later met Gwen Stacy, which initially put pressure on Spider-Man's current relationship with Mary Jane Watson. This issue was later resolved and the three became good friends.[5]
Writer Brian Michael Bendis signing a copy of Ultimate Spider-Man #1, featuring the character's first appearance, at Midtown Comics in Manhattan.
After being defeated by Spider-Man in a sudden reappearance, the Green Goblin was apprehended and incarcerated in the Triskelion alongside Doctor Octopus, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, and Sandman. They escaped from the Triskelion and formed the Ultimate Six. When the Green Goblin threatened to harm Aunt May, Spider-Man reluctantly allied with the Ultimate Six and they attacked the White House. When Captain America confirmed that Aunt May is safe, Spider-Man assisted the Ultimates in fighting the Ultimate Six.[6]
In a later encounter with Nick Fury, Spider-Man learned that Nick Fury learned his secret identity upon finding evidence including footage of the spider that bit Peter Parker and the fact that Doctor Octopus was ranting in his cell about Peter Parker being Spider-Man.[7]
During the "Ultimatum" storyline, Peter and those in his life survived the Ultimatum Wave caused by Magneto where Peter became Spider-Man to help save the drowning civilians.[8] While Spider-Man was doing heroic acts, J. Jonah Jameson started publishing his heroic acts. While working with the Hulk, Spider-Man found the body of Daredevil, who became one of the casualties of the Ultimatum Wave. When the two of them arrived at the ruins of the Sanctum Sanctorum, Spider-Man and the Hulk found a rift open where Dormammu and different demons were emerging at the time when Doctor Strange was possessed by Nightmare. When the Hulk caused an explosion during the fight, Spider-Man was caught in the explosion.[9] Following the death of Magneto, the Ultimates found Spider-Man unconscious while searching for survivors.[10]
As Spider-Man was no longer having problems with the police following the Ultimatum Wave incident, Peter Parker had to take a temporary job at the Burger Frog when the Daily Bugle was temporarily shut down during the Ultimatum Wave incident.[11]
During "The Death of Spider-Man" storyline, Spider-Man found that Norman Osborn had reformed the Ultimate Six with Vulture replacing Spider-Man. While searching for them following Doctor Octopus' death, Spider-Man threw himself in front of Captain America when he was targeted by Punisher and got shot. Upon dressing the wound, Spider-Man fought the Ultimate Six where they injured him further. Before Electro could attack Spider-Man, Aunt May shot him enough for him to discharge energy that knocked out Kraven the Hunter, Sandman, and Vulture. Spider-Man and the Green Goblin continued their fight which led to them mortally wounding each other. Before dying, Peter was surrounded by Aunt May, Mary Jane, the Human Torch, and Gwen Stacy as he quoted that he saved them where he was unable to save Uncle Ben. While Mary Jane cradled Spider-Man's lifeless body, she, Aunt May, and the Human Torch cried uncontrollably while Norman Osborn's dead body was seen with a smirk where he died knowing that he won.[12]
During the "Ultimate Fallout" storyline, the public became aware of Peter Parker being Spider-Man as the Daily Bugle was the first to print the news about Spider-Man's death. When it came to his funeral, Tony Stark paid for the funeral while Captain America approached Aunt May, remorseful over the fact that he blamed himself for Spider-Man's death. Thor claimed that he saw Peter Parker's spirit in Valhalla. At the same time, an Afro-Latino boy named Miles Morales, who had developed powers before Peter died and was now feeling guilty that he could have helped the latter, used a copy of the Spider-Man costume to defeat Kangaroo. Nick Fury even blamed himself for Spider-Man's death when he visited Mary Jane, who threatened to expose him.[13]
Sometime later, under unknown circumstances, Peter awoke in an abandoned laboratory and made his way back to New York City where he reunited with Mary Jane. To investigate if he was still dead, they went to his grave to find that somebody dug his body out of his grave. Not wanting to surprise Aunt May, Peter went to retrieve his web-shooters from Miles Morales' apartment, only for Miles to enter his room. Both of them fought over the part of telling Aunt May, which led to a short scuffle ending with Peter knocking Miles out and making off with his web-shooters. After the also-resurrected Green Goblin ambushed Miles in Queens, Peter came to his aid, finally clad in his old costume. Peter's intervention on Green Goblin attempting to kill Miles surprised those who witnessed his return. It was discovered that the OZ Formula that affected Peter and Osborn had apparently given them virtual immortality. After Green Goblin was defeated, Detective Maria Hill shot him and immolated his body for good measure. Peter officially retired as Spider-Man and gave his web-shooters to Miles, as well as his blessing to uphold the Spider-Man mantle. Bidding farewell to Aunt May and Gwen, Peter and Mary Jane left New York to find out how he came back to life.[14]
Following the Secret Wars storyline, the Ultimate Universe was restored and Peter Parker resumed the mantle of Spider-Man, as Miles now resided in the prime universe. After helping the Ultimates fight and detained the Green Goblin oce more, Peter Parker attended a party that welcomed Kenny McFarland home from the army.[15]
Other versions
In November 2023, writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Marco Chechetto announced they would be relaunching the Ultimate Universe under the new designation of Earth-6160. Following the events of Ultimate Invasion, the Maker created a new universe completely devoid of superheroes, having gone back in time and personally prevented the origins of several famous heroes. One such hero was Peter Parker, whose spider bite at the Oscorp Research Facility was prevented by the Maker.
Years later, following a terrorist attack that killed hundreds of civilians (most notably the Aunt May and Norman Osborn of this world), an older Peter, now married to Mary Jane Watson with two children named Richard and May, is visited by a hologram of Tony Stark, who presents Peter with the same spider the Maker had captured nearly twenty years earlier. Providing him with a synthetic stealth suit, Stark's message encourages Peter to let the spider bite him and transform him into the hero he could've been before the Maker took that away from him.
Elements of Ultimate Peter Parker / Spider-Man and his universe are used in The Spectacular Spider-Man, such as Peter Parker and his friends being teenagers in high school for the majority of the series, his personal relationship with Eddie Brock, and Spider-Man bonding with the Venom symbiote while it was kept in a secured lab.
Elements of Ultimate Peter Parker / Spider-Man are used in an unrelated animated series of the same name,[16][17] with the series' primary versions of Peter Parker and the Green Goblin either closely resembling or incorporating design aspects of their comic book counterparts. Moreover, Harry Osborn serves as the Venom symbiote's primary host rather than Eddie Brock along with the black suit being the form Harry Osborn takes, as well as Spider-Man being the first host of the Carnage symbiote rather than Cletus Kasady. Additionally, the four-part episode "The Spider-Verse" features a variation of the Ultimate universe, in which its Peter Parker had died fighting the Ultimate Green Goblin while his mantle was long since taken up by a guilt-ridden Miles Morales. Furthermore, Gwen Stacy was also a close friend of his before she eventually became Spider-Gwen.
Film
Elements of Ultimate Peter Parker / Spider-Man and his universe are used in Spider-Man (2002), such as Peter Parker and Harry Osborn being friends in high school and the latter protecting the former from bullies, Parker being bitten by a genetically-altered spider during a school field trip and him letting a burglar escape due to his disappointment after participating in a wrestling exhibit.
Elements of Ultimate Peter Parker / Spider-Man and his universe are used in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), such as Peter Parker's angst-ridden personality, being bitten by a genetically-altered spider at Oscorp, storming off from a conversation with his Uncle Ben about his father Richard Parker and the importance of responsibility, Peter letting a thief steal from a convenience store, and Gwen Stacy dating Peter during high school.
In the sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), Peter discovers an old recording of Richard on a computer inside an abandoned subway station lab, which explains why he had to leave Peter at a young age and his fears that his research will fall into the wrong hands. While Richard created Venom as a cure for cancer in the comics, the film depicts him creating the mutated spiders that would go on to give Peter his powers. Furthermore, Peter's friendship with Harry Osborn is also modeled after that of his and Eddie Brock Jr.'s, being childhood friends who had not seen each other in a long time and whose fathers worked together before Norman Osborn betrayed Richard.
In the sequel Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Nick Fury adopts a mentor role towards Peter like in the comics while Peter's classmate MJ, who is inspired by Mary Jane Watson, deduces his identity like her and only confirms her suspicion once he indirectly reveals it to her.
Ultimate Peter Parker / Spider-Man appears in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), voiced by Chris Pine. This version is blonde, lived into his mid-20s, married Mary Jane Watson, and licensed his likeness to merchandising to provide funds for his superheroics, allowing him to build an underground lair beneath his house to fashion tools and spare costumes.[18] While fighting a monstrous Green Goblin and Aaron Davis / Prowler, Peter gives a flash drive containing a kill code for the Kingpin's Super-Collider to Miles Morales before being trapped under rubble and dying at Kingpin's hands. Following this, Morales is eventually galvanized into becoming the new Spider-Man.
Video games
Ultimate Peter Parker / Spider-Man appears on the instructions booklet pages in Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro.
Elements of Ultimate Peter Parker / Spider-Man and the comic book are used in the Spider-Man (2002) film tie-in game.
Ultimate Peter Parker / Spider-Man appears in a self-titled video game, voiced by Sean Marquette. At the beginning of the game he bonds with the Venom Symbiote until rejects it. He also is the host of Carnage after he was injected makeshift symbiote sample by Adrian Toomes.
Ultimate Peter Parker / Spider-Man appears as a playable character in Spider-Man: Toxic City.
Ultimate Peter Parker / Spider-Man appears as a playable character in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, voiced by Josh Keaton. 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 before joining forces with the Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man Noir, and Spider-Man 2099 to stop Mysterio after he claims the reassembled tablet. This section is not included in the Nintendo DS version.
Elements of Ultimate Peter Parker / Spider-Man and his universe are incorporated into the Marvel's Spider-Man video game series developed by Insomniac Games. Similar to his Ultimate counterpart, Peter Parker was born to a pair of government agents who were killed in action during his childhood, in a publicized plane crash incident. Parker also became friends with Harry Osborn and Mary Jane Watson from childhood, though this iteration befriended them during middle school as opposed to high school or college. His scientific idol and eventual mentor Otto Octavius, retained his affiliation with OsCorp, though was revealed to be the corporation's co-founder alongside Norman Osborn as opposed to an employee. Peter also becomes acquainted with Miles Morales following the death of his father and NYPD police officer Jefferson Davis, and goes on to mentor him as a second Spider-Man after he is bitten by a genetically altered spider accidentally recovered from an OsCorp lab, much like how Peter and Miles in the Ultimate universe gained their respective abilities.
Miscellaneous
An amalgamated incarnation of Spider-Man based on his Ultimate and mainstream counterparts appears in an interactive attraction built in Niagara Falls as part of "Marvel Superhero Adventure City". His appearance is based on the Ultimate version, but he is more experienced like his mainstream counterpart.[19][20][21]
Reception
Brian Michael Bendis' modernized re-imagining of Peter Parker/Spider-Man has been met with a widely positive response from fans and critics, with many considering the Ultimate Marvel version of Spider-Man to be the one of best modern interpretations of Spider-Man and has even influenced other non-comic Spider-Man adaptations in the television, video game and cinematic mediums. Many critics and fans praised Ultimate Peter Parker/Spider-Man as a fresh, unique and distinctively contemporary, but familiar and faithful twist on the classic Spider-Man mythos, being called as a well-rounded and likable, but also vulnerable, humanly flawed and struggling everyman teen hero, with a commendable character-arc from being a selfish, angry teen who irresponsibly uses his super-powers for his own personal gain to a more heroic and altruistic figure as Spider-Man and accepting his new life as a solo teen superhero and the consequences and negative side-effects that comes from it, his relatable struggles, internal conflicts, the constant mental self-doubts about his responsibilities as a superhero and his struggles with said responsibility and the realistic depiction of how being a superhero would negatively affect an individual's life and his relations with his close ones, similar to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's original depiction of Spider-Man in the early 1960s Spider-Man comic-books.
Related Research Articles
Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson, commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15, the character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, playing an influential role in the Spider-Man comic books.
Gwendolyne Maxine "Gwen" Stacy was a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in those featuring Spider-Man. A college student and the daughter of George and Helen Stacy, she was the first romantic interest for Peter following his high school graduation before she was murdered by the Green Goblin. Her death has haunted Peter ever since, and stories published long afterwards indicate she still holds a special place in his heart. Gwen was posthumously subjected to numerous cloning experiments by her former professor Miles Warren, Peter's clone Ben Reilly, and an A.I. of Harry Osborn, the latter resulting in the creation of the Kindreds, and Ben briefly resurrecting Gwen in "Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy" (2016–2017), with the embodiment of Death herself confirming in Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider (2017–2018) that all clones Ben created of deceased people had their souls intact on being brought back, while clones of living people had unique souls of their own. In the alternate realities of Ultimate Marvel and Spider-Gwen, a still-living Gwen respectively becomes their universe's versions of Carnage and Spider-Woman.
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