The Ultimate Universe has a new Spider-Man, as a shock villain joins Peter Parker and his black-suited son Richard. But with Marvel so close to ending the series, what does it mean to have yet another webhead in the mix?
Otto Octavius Is the Ultimate Superior Spider-Man
Peter Parker’s Alliance Has a Major New Hero
In today’s Ultimate Spider-Man #22 – from Jonathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto, Erick Arciniega and Cory Petit – fans see Spider-Man swinging through the city in a dark new costume. However, suspicions are raised when the amiable Peter Parker refuses to tip for his takeout, then proceeds to describe himself as “superior.” It turns out the person under the mask is actually Otto Octavius – Peter and Harry’s Ultimate ally, better known as Earth-616’s Doctor Octopus.
An employee of Harry Osborn’s company, Otto has been working to develop gadgets for Spider-Man’s alliance against the Kingpin. However, as implied last issue, he’s also been looking for a way to acquire some superpowers of his own, discovering a version of the spider that gave Peter his superpowers.
In Earth-616, Otto briefly stole Peter Parker’s body, becoming ‘the Superior Spider-Man.’ Now, the Ultimate Universe has its own take on the character. Otto is seemingly still on Peter and Harry’s side, developing a device to erase key information from the villainous Maker’s database. However, now that he’s a superhuman, is he out for the heroic alliance, or out for himself?
Otto is seen bringing takeout to Peter’s family, and previously lived in his house when his family were on the run. It’s possible the arrogant scientist is getting way too comfortable in Peter’s role.
Ultimate Spider-Man Has Assembled His Own Sinister Six
While this timeline has its own Sinister Six – Kingpin, the Black Cat, Mister Negative, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter and the Mole Man – Spider-Man’s alliance is beginning to look a lot like the Earth-616 version of the team. Mole Man and Mysterio are actually working with Peter’s team, as are Richard Parker (the new Venom), the Green Goblin (Harry Osborn), and now Doc Ock. In the Ultimate Universe, Spidey’s traditional villains are out to free the world from the Maker’s control – but what happens once they win?
This December, Marvel will publish Ultimate Endgame, officially ending the Ultimate Universe line with an all-out war against the Maker and his worldwide regime. While there are no plans to continue the story after that point, it will surely end with a new status quo for all of its characters. It’s possible that as the Maker and his allies fall, Spider-Man is accidentally setting up his team to take over criminal ownership of New York.
It would be a dark irony for Spider-Man to fight this hard to liberate his city, only for his traditional villains to take control. But with the personal morality of most of his allies on the line, it’s possible that Ultimate Spider-Man will end with the rise of Spidey’s villains and Peter right back where he started, all because he trusted the wrong people to help him.
Ultimate Spider-Man #22 is available now from Marvel Comics.
- First Appearance
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Amazing Fantasy
- Alias
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Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, Otto Octavius, Yu Komori, Kaine Parker, Pavitr Prabhakar, William Braddock, Miles Morales, Kurt Wagner
- Alliance
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Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Secret Defenders, Future Foundation, Heroes for Hire, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, Web-Warriors
- Race
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Human