Ultimate Spider-Man #1

History

The series was announced at New York Comic-Con in October 2023, with writer Jonathan Hickman — who had already architected the Ultimate Invasion miniseries that built the Earth-6160 framework — paired with artist Marco Checchetto, fresh off an acclaimed Daredevil run. Hickman has stated that his primary creative inspiration for the adult, married Peter Parker was the alternate-universe Spider-Man depicted in the 2018 animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The imprint itself grew out of a project originally associated with writer Donny Cates that was reassigned to Hickman after Cates suffered a serious car accident, and Hickman restructured it entirely, ignoring prior Earth-1610 continuity. Issue #1, published January 10, 2024, ran 48 pages in full color with colors by Matthew Wilson, and served as the flagship launch title for what Marvel positioned as a new line of Ultimate Comics distinct from the 2000–2015 Ultimate Marvel imprint.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Written by Jonathan Hickman with art and cover by Marco Checchetto; colors by Matthew Wilson. Published January 10, 2024 by Marvel Comics (48 pages, full color).
• First appearance of this iteration of Peter Parker / Spider-Man of Earth-6160: a 35-year-old married father who had never previously gained spider-powers, due to the Maker's temporal manipulation preventing the radioactive spider bite.
• First appearance of Ben Parker (Earth-6160): in this continuity Uncle Ben is alive and serves as managing editor of the Daily Bugle alongside J. Jonah Jameson, inverting the traditional origin in which his death catalyzes Peter's heroism.
• First appearance of May Parker and Richard Parker (Earth-6160) as Peter and Mary Jane's two young children — a reversal of the canonical role of those names in mainline Marvel continuity (where May is Peter's aunt and Richard is his father).
• First appearance of Matt Murdock (Earth-6160): depicted as a blind Catholic priest rather than the vigilante Daredevil, with the implication that the Maker's alterations prevented him from developing his martial abilities.
• Peter's origin-trigger in this universe is Tony Stark (operating as Iron Lad), who delivers a picotech stealth suit and a live radioactive spider inside an orb, framing Peter's transformation as a deliberate, informed choice rather than a teenage accident.
• Wilson Fisk (Kingpin) and a masked Green Goblin — whose identity (Harry Osborn) is not confirmed until a later issue — both appear in the issue before Spider-Man himself debuts on the final pages, with Fisk revealed as a controlling board member of the Daily Bugle.
• The issue is the debut title of Marvel's second Ultimate Universe line (Earth-6160), making it the first ongoing series of that imprint; it went to at least three printings within two months of its January 2024 release.

Cast · 14 characters

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