Ultimate Spider-Man #2

History

The series was announced at New York Comic-Con in October 2023 as the flagship launch title of Marvel's revived Ultimate Universe imprint, itself introduced in the Jonathan Hickman-written miniseries Ultimate Invasion. Hickman has cited the version of Peter Parker depicted in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as an inspiration for an older, domestic Spider-Man, and the creative team was given latitude to redesign every character from the ground up for the new Earth-6160 continuity. Artist Marco Checchetto designed both the Ultimate Shocker's bomb-squad-influenced suit and the Green Goblin's armored look from scratch, publicly sharing design sheets alongside the issue's preview pages in January 2024; he described deliberately building in a 'dawn of a new storytelling universe' aesthetic to each villain's look. Editor Wil Moss oversaw the title, with colors by Matthew Wilson and lettering by Cory Petit rounding out the core production team.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published February 21, 2024 by Marvel Comics; written by Jonathan Hickman, art and cover by Marco Checchetto, colors by Matthew Wilson, letters by Cory Petit, edited by Wil Moss.
• First appearance of the Ultimate Universe (Earth-6160) version of the Shocker (Herman Schultz), redesigned by Checchetto with a bomb-squad protective suit layered over his signature vibro-gauntlets to reflect a character early in his criminal career.
• First substantive appearance of the Ultimate Green Goblin in action — confirmed across multiple variant covers and story context to be Harry Osborn operating as a vigilante hero, motivated by the murder of his parents Norman and Emily Osborn, which he has come to believe was orchestrated by the Maker's Council rather than Tony Stark.
• Peter Parker loses to the Shocker twice across two consecutive nights, establishing his inexperience; this is the first time the character has been portrayed as a genuine novice hero who fails his opening bouts with a relatively street-level villain.
• Peter accidentally reveals his Spider-Man identity to his young daughter May Parker at the end of the issue, making her the first member of his family to learn his secret — a significant inversion of the classic dynamic where MJ or Aunt May typically serve that narrative role.
• The issue establishes Uncle Ben Parker — alive in this continuity — as an investigative journalist partnered with J. Jonah Jameson, both of whom are independently investigating the Green Goblin and Wilson Fisk's suppression of news about the Goblin's attacks on Fisk Tower.
• Wilson Fisk (Kingpin) is depicted as the Maker's Council-appointed 'Shadow Governor' of Manhattan who controls the Daily Bugle, while Henri Dugarry (Captain Britain) appears as a Council representative admonishing Fisk to manage the emerging vigilante problem.
• Variant covers for this issue include a Mark Bagley connecting variant (part of a multi-issue connecting image), plus covers by Dike Ruan (with virgin edition), Mateus Manhanini, and Elizabeth Torque — the Manhanini variant was widely noted for strongly implying Harry Osborn's identity under the Goblin mask before the story confirmed it.

Cast · 11 characters

Full credits

Variants (10)