Ultimate Spider-Man By Jonathan Hickman
 

I've been holding my tongue on this for a while and still don't know what to say. The way Hickman says the marriage makes for a different type of Spider-Man story, coupled with the fact that it's an Ultimate book, makes me think that Marvel is phasing out its older fans that have witnessed Peter and MJ married for 20 years and doesn't care. Another jump-on point, another #1, another universe. Every time something like this pops up (ex. Renew Your Vows), the majority of the fanbase says to just make it canon in the 616 universe and to stop screwing around. I know it's "the ol' Parker luck," but it's just goddamn exasperating.

But, whatever. It's an Ultimate line. Six issues until it's revealed that the kids are Kasady's from a sexual assault.

Marvel have also discontinued the ASM newspaper comic...granted, that had been in reruns for five years since Stan died, but it was also solid marriage representation, seeing as Stan revealed Peter being single again was just a bad dream there.

Most of the movies and video games have grown Peter up with MJ, and they certainly have bigger audiences. I still think the marriage coming back to 616 is inevitable, as we've never really ever gone a year without it in the various mediums.

Preview is out

https://aiptcomics.com/2024/01/04/ex...-spider-man-1/

I am a huge fan of Hickman and I don’t mind Peter growing up but I’m not in love with the idea of him being a family man. Not yet anyway.

Bit late for that. Peter's been a family man several times over across several books for a number of years.

Spider-Girl: 1998-2010
Renew Your Vows 2015-2018
Now USM.

To say nothing of the other one-off stories, limited runs etc where he's been a dad.

Peter's been ready for a family for over half our lifetimes now, when will he be 'ready' in your eyes? It's been 60 years. If Marvel hadn't gotten cold feet, the main Peter would have been a dad in the 90s. Don't fall for Marvel's mind games. It's long overdue.

Yeah, I’m not saying it’s never happened, I’m saying it doesn’t really work for me. It’s fine if you like it.

Spider-Man works best to me as a tragedy and tragic characters work better for me when they don’t come home to a loving family every night. Do I want Peter to be miserable? A little bit, yes.

I actually think it would make sense in the 616, if characters were allowed to evolve there. If I am jumping into a new take on Peter, I’m not necessarily excited about him being the head of a family. That said, Hickman has the potential to write one of the better Spider-Man stories around so I’m giving it a chance.

I don't think Peter was ever truly consistently miserable before 1999 and then 2007 to present. He had tragic moments, but he was an everyday guy who went through all the phases of life while growing up, gaining and losing things along the way in equal measure.

Peter without MJ isn't interesting to me. That doesn't mean I have no appreciation for the original Lee/Ditko era where Betty was the love interest, or the Gwen Stacy era, or the Black Cat era, it's just that all formed the backbone of the Spider-Man I grew up with who was married to MJ and was expecting a child. I don't recognise the Peter they use now, I find it difficult to accept a reality that was created literally through supernatural means with an altered history.

I'm glad you still have a Spider-Man that gives you what you need for the time being, even if to others it can seem quite stagnant at this stage. At least you agree characters need to move a bit more forward in 616.

I didn't know this was coming out. I have read volume 1 of Bendis's run a few times on Marvel Unlimited. Hopefully this comes to that on a delayed schedule. I really enjoyed the alternate take on Spider-Man that Bendis wrote.

Still to read Hickman's Fantastic Four and other stuff - but everyone says his work is excellent.

I’m not sure I do have an ideal spider-man in the comics right now, actually. I’m looking forward to Hickman’s run though because at the end of the day the writer is going to hold more weight for me than the finer details of the premise.

The 616 continuity is a mess. I haven’t expected Peter to evolve in that world for a long time. I don’t like magic retcons like we had in OMD, because it’s too messy and complicated. Honestly I would have been fine with Ben being the real Peter, Peter and MJ getting married, or even Ock remaining as Spidey for a decade. Just stick to something. But of course at Marvel, true change is a very rare thing.

So I’m fine with the idea of Peter evolving in theory, be that getting married or even finding out he’s a clone, if it’s a well done story. My initial point is that it’s not necessarily the marriage that I care about. A lot of fans seem to want that dynamic one way or another - whether it’s 616, RYV, or this new series. I’m here for an alternate take on Peter by a great writer but it has little if anything to do with him being married to MJ. That’s not something I’m into generally speaking.

So weird how they won't commit with Peter and MJ. I mean imagine if Reed and Sue still weren't married and Sue was still Invisible Girl after all these years. Or if Scott and Jean actually stayed together without any Psylocke/Emma drama.

It’s not exactly the same imo. Peter is a character all about duality, which makes it hard to lean into when his personal life is too ideal. We are supposed to constantly see the sacrifice he makes by putting the mask on.

I’m not saying it can’t be done well but it throws a wrench in the formula. Letting Peter remain happily married is more akin to giving Wolverine all his memories back or letting the X-Men stay in the new Krakoa forever. They are somewhat natural evolutions for characters that have been around for a while, but once they’re in place, something at the core of the character is no longer in play.

Plus it’s hard to write a married Peter because he will inevitably end up abandoning his wife constantly. How do you justify someone putting up with that? It’s one thing to be a teen bailing on your aunt. Being an absent husband and father isn’t what “with great power…” is really all about.

So again, I’m not saying it can’t be done but I am saying I don’t think it’s quite as natural as pairing Reed & Sue. I can see the appeal of keeping Peter “pure” on some level, and that’s without getting into the sliding timeline discussion which complicates things further on both sides.

That's exactly what makes the notion of that so enticing and dramatic, the idea that the relationship, be it just marriage or marriage and family, can be tested and the stakes raised far more than they ever can be if Peter goes on dates and misses his shot.

We've seen Peter bail on his Aunt a thousand times. It was played out in the 60s and 70s, we'd moved past that. In the 90s we saw Peter let his Aunt slip away and die (she got better, which led to the problems we have now, but once upon a time, Peter had to grow up)

It wasn't always easy for Peter and MJ, they were tested many a time prior to OMD, and they got up each and every time, because MJ was just that strong a character. They spent 20 years together in 616 and it took supernatural means to break her.

There have been recent stories which show her growing old with Peter, stories where Peter has been Spider-Man well into what we'd consider retirement age, all while being married. Everything that they could go through, they did go through. How can people cope with that? Maybe that's how strong human beings are capable of being, and MJ is one of the strongest characters in all of human fiction. It is now far, far too late to tell any kind of story with the pair of them that contradicts that.

The 'core' of Peter's character isn't that he loses all the time, it's not that he has continuous downs and that the responsibility contributes to his misfortune, with people that can't put up with him, the core of Peter's character is that he gets up and achieves the same goals as you and me.

Peter is the farthest thing from "pure", he sold himself and his wife out to the devil and altered reality for his own selfish desires. He is living a lie. The fiction of Spider-Man since 2007 has literally become trapped within a fiction of it's own. It has becomes a distraction from it's own reality.

I don't find it hard at all. Think of a police officer, a firefighter, a deployed soldier, a doctor on call, an ER nurse, or an EMT. These people dedicate themselves to go out at any time of the day or night and most put their lives on the line to help others. They deal with the public, whether it's hostile or not. Some of them are married, have children, have relationships, and struggle to make that life balance work. A superhero just adds a degree of fantasy. I see no real difference other than that.

Not to mention, if they get married.... MJ knew what she was getting herself into. Plus, the whole 'great power, great responsibility' thing. MJ also wouldn't want Peter to just ignore the fact that the Rhino and the Scorpion are wrecking **** when they know he can actually do something about it.

You guys make some good points. The angle with MJ has been addressed well - I like the idea of the stakes of responsibility being raised but also feel like it’s a tall order to execute for Marvel.

The children may still complicate things. The EMT comparison is interesting but still falls a little short of a perfect analogy imo.

At the end of the day, it’s important to me that Peter struggles to a great degree. That’s inherent to the character. Again, I’m not saying married people don’t struggle, I just think it’s trickier to nail the character that way - not impossible.

Just read it. A good start I feel, though maybe it is leaning a little too heavily into box-ticking the wish-lists for "grown up Peter" and overcompensating a bit.

Peter is in the bathroom, he stares at his reflection and reckons he's not getting any younger. He finds his kids and wife MJ having breakfast, his daughter is playing with a mysterious orb which Peter takes with him. We find Peter's Uncle Ben is alive and manages editorial at the Bugle, his best friend is Jameson.


Peter and his family attend a memorial for the people killed in the attack on NYC from Ultimate Invasion, which killed Aunt May. Harry Osborn gives a speech, as his father was also killed in the attack, but he is unfamiliar with him, MJ met him once at her old job but doesn't know much else. Wilson Fisk buys the Bugle and Jameson and Ben quit in protest and launch their own paper. Ben offers Peter a job, but Peter elects to stay at the Bugle for now as it pays him a decent cheque that he feeds his family with. Fisk is trying to cover up the attacks on the city that were blamed on Stark, and is attacked by Ultimate Green Goblin.


Peter confides in Ben that something is missing, Ben tells him to make things happen, he then has a talk with MJ that he feels he needs to accomplish something, MJ senses that Peter has been missing a part of himself for years, she asks if this will affect their relationship and family, and Peter swears 'never', MJ gives him her blessing and wishes him luck. Peter goes to the roof where he opens the orb...it contains the radioactive Spider. Turns out Peter was given this the previous day by a future projection of Tony Stark and told this was what he was fated to receive 20 years ago before The Maker intervened. Peter chooses in this moment to receive the powers and become Spider-Man, and allows the spider to bite him


What do you think BornAgain?

This is “Spider-Man: Remix” in my mind and it’s told wonderfully. I don’t know the last time I read a Spider-Man comic so tenderly crafted. This is the first Marvel comic I’ve been interested in following for quite a while so this is great.

Lots of changes to the classic mythos. I think there will be some definite changes to the status quo by the end of the first arc so I’ll reserve judgement there but the story is so well told that I’m along for the ride either way at this point.

A first look at Ultimate Spider-Man#2

https://www.marvel.com/articles/comi...review-shocker

Black costume to start us off, and a showdown with Ultimate Shocker

Seems kinda lame to just confirm Harry is the Green Goblin like this, right? Like get the whole thing about him being the second most notable GG in the main universe and all, but I thought the implication of it being him was going to be a red herring and it was actually someone else.

Exactly, man. Exactly.

I have some mild interest in this bubbling up - first time in decades for a Spider-Man book. Although the original "Ultimates" thesis was about getting back to the core of their character, now the Ultimates books are more of a dumping ground for "What If?" style content.

Not going to buy it monthly though - I already missed the order cut-off for the first issue and unless I stumble upon it easily I will probably just let it go.

If it doesn't jump the shark in a few months with agenda-content, maybe I'll order the trade eventually...

I like the analogy but an EMT or a police officer doesn’t have the same issues with secret identity. An EMT isn’t going to have an arch-nemesis or someone waiting at every opportunity for revenge. Not the same thing.

Still, there are ways to do it if Marvel and Hickman have the stones and a great angle. They’re going to have to justify why Peter would risk his family’s safety or show up with some actual consequences.

https://twitter.com/aiptcomics/statu...352392071?s=46

Ultimate Bullseye will appear soon too

Issue two going to second print and it's not even out yet!

https://prhcomics.com/book/?isbn=75960620796100212

Ultimate Spider-Man#2 is due next week, here's a preview

https://aiptcomics.com/2024/02/16/ma...-spider-man-2/


Doesn't appear Peter has been truthful with his family after all and has kept his identity secret from them. Richard and May are looking over images of Peter in his protoform costume, Richard doesn't think he's real and it's all photoshop, and May is scared of how he looks! Mary Jane heads off to work, but notices a change in Peter and asks if he's been working out. We also learn Peter's powers have given him an increased appetite (10,000 calories eaten per day) and he's sleeping less

Spoilers for USM#2


https://bleedingcool.com/comics/what...an-2-spoilers/

I've read issue two. Overall enjoyable, and it's nice to see Peter make mistakes out in the field against Shocker while still managing to find redemption in his personal life by gaining an ally in his daughter.

Solid issue. Good art throughout and a teeny bit of development. Nothing spectacular, but it’s building. Peter did come off a bit naive (stupid?) when duped twice by Shocker but maybe it’s meant to be intentional.

Edit: on second thought, maybe they were highlighting the fact that he doesn’t seem to have a spider-sense as of yet.

Ultimate Gwen Stacy makes her debut in the fourth issue, married to Harry Osborn

https://comicsheatingup.net/2024/03/...ferent-goblin/

Another fun issue, though it did feel a little lightweight, especially in comparison to all the other books out this week where a lot more stuff was going on in the amount of pages.

So would you agree that the premise of this series (and New Ultimate in general) is more interesting than the old one?

The premise for Old Ultimate was mostly just to make a streamlined version of older stories that revised some of the outdated/silly concepts, but of course then those comics ended up growing in complexity anyway and, because they are now about 25 years old now, some of it's own concepts seem a bit dated.

The idea of Peter gaining his powers much later in life does seem like more of an idea worth exploring than just being a streamlined remake, considering it means seeing an alternate path for him instead.

It has greater potential for sure. The characters hopefully don't just stay like The Simpsons and just not budge in age or growth, the mistake of the original Ultimate Spidey was to never graduate Peter and his friends. Characters would grow and not age, but here we could see a lot of both if they're considerate enough to do so.

Ultimate Spider-Man#4 was great...and the whole thing was just the Parkers and the Osborns sitting around having dinner, a testament to how interesting Hickman can make a superhero comic without much in the way of heroing. The reception to it is also quite telling in that more fans would rather just have all this domestic fluff than put up with any of the action-oriented stuff in Wells and Bronfman's 616 offering

Don't look up Rich Johnson's Bleeding Cool articles on this issue. The dude seems to really have it out for this version of Peter, and constantly spreads misinformation about the scenes he's reading into. It's pretty typical of comics journo sites to attack anything that threatens Marvel's 'preferred vision' of Spider-Man, and USM very much is that threat as it continues to outperform ASM in sales despite just one issue per month.

Haven’t gotten to this issue yet because the change in art deflated me a bit but I certainly will get to it before Checchetto returns.

And yeah BleedingCool is very sketch.

So how is the series selling so far? Comichron has become completely useless now, so I really don't know where to find reliable data.

It's going to multiple printings with some issues, I imagine it's performing quite strongly, Marvel have enough confidence now to schedule it so it comes out the same week as the flagship 'Amazing Spider-Man' title

Ultimate Spider-Man#6, aka Marvel's regular 'Take That' to it's own Spider-Office

Ultimate Spider-Man#6 has a sales lead of 50% over last week's ASM



https://comicbookmovie.com/comics/ma...ive-50-a211638

I have read the latest issue, as in the one that is supposed to come out tomorrow.