The new Ultimate Spider-Man is here, and as promised, it stars a very different version of Peter Parker who is married to Mary Jane Watson, with two kids. Along with Peter and MJ, the new Ultimate Spider-Man #1 checks in with many of the most well known Spider-Man supporting characters and sets up Peter's new origin.
And just as with Peter and MJ, everything about the new Ultimate Spider-Man and his world is different from the core Spidey in exciting and often unexpected ways, including some big changes to Peter Parker's closest relationships.
Spoilers ahead for Ultimate Spider-Man #1
Ultimate Spider-Man #1 by writer Jonathan Hickman, artist Marco Checchetto, color artist Matthew Wilson, and letterer Cory Petit hinges on a few major changes to Peter Parker's life that go beyond his ongoing marriage to Mary Jane Watson and their two kids. For one thing, as previously teased, Peter Parker doesn't have his powers when the story starts, opening with Peter around 35 years old, working at the Daily Bugle, and powerless.
The Daily Bugle, a mainstay of Peter Parker's life in core Marvel continuity, is also part of his life in the new Ultimate Universe, but with some big changes to what we know from classic tales. Like in the regular Marvel Universe, J. Jonah Jameson is the Bugle's editor-in-chief. But working alongside him is none other than Uncle Ben, Jonah's best friend and the Bugle's managing editor.
Yes, that's right - Uncle Ben is alive in the world of Ultimate Spider-Man. And in an even bigger twist, Aunt May is dead, having been caught in the so-called terrorist attack for which Tony Stark was framed in Ultimate Universe #1 (which actually revealed May's death in a news scroll). Along with May, Norman Osborn and his wife Emily, with their son Harry Osborn - a stranger to Peter Parker in this reality - giving a eulogy at a memorial for the victims of the attack.
These changes set the stage for what comes next, with Peter Parker receiving a strange chrome sphere which plays him an Obi-Wan Kenobi style message from Tony Stark, who tells Peter that he has been framed for the attack, and that the orb is from five days in the future.
Stark's message informs Peter that he would have been one of the world's greatest heroes if not for the interference of the Maker. But if Peter wants the power he could have had, and a chance at the heroic life he could have led, all he has to do is open the sphere, which contains the spider that will give him his powers as well as a "biotech stealth suit" that will help him hide his secret identity as Spider-Man.
Fatefully, Peter stands atop his roof and opens the sphere, declaring to himself that he does want the life that was taken from him. He frees the spider, allowing it to bite his hand, and we next see the silhouette of Spider-Man as Peter has presumably donned the new suit.
The story continues in Ultimate Spider-Man #2 on February 21.
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