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168-425: While out web-swinging, Spider-Man sees a brilliant purple light from a distant warehouse, and investigates it to find Mysterio ranting about how he missed out on one chance to kill Spider-Man already. Although Spider-Man quickly defeats him, when examining Mysterio's equipment, he is shot at by Mysterio, causing him to fall through the rift created by the equipment. When he regains consciousness, he discovers that it

336-598: A Doctor Doom mask-wearing Reed Richards work to undo what Maker has done. Marvel Comics later revealed in June that following the end of Ultimate Invasion, a one-shot called Ultimate Universe #1, written by Hickman and drawn by Stefano Caselli, will release in November and set the stage for a new line of Ultimate Universe comics. The plans have been laid out by Jonathan Hickman, Bryan Hitch, and C.B. Cebulski. In September 2023, Marvel revealed that one of these new titles would be

504-646: A freelance photographer by Mr. Jameson to take pictures of Spider-Man, with him being unaware that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. Spider-Man fights his enemies , including superpowered and non-superpowered supervillains —his archenemy and nemesis Green Goblin and then Doctor Octopus , Sandman , Chameleon , Lizard , Vulture , Kraven the Hunter , Electro , and Mysterio , defeating them one by one —but Peter finds juggling his personal and superhero life difficult. In time, Peter graduates from high school and enrolls at Empire State University (a fictional institution evoking

672-548: A healing factor that allows him to recover from injuries sustained during battle. In the aftermath of the 1989 " Acts of Vengeance " storyline, Spider-Man was said to have "superhuman recuperative abilities" that sped up his recovery from the exhaustion he suffered in defeating the Tri-Sentinel. Ultimate Marvel Ultimate Marvel , later known as Ultimate Comics , was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics , featuring reimagined and modernized versions of

840-530: A story arc depicting the negative effects of drug use. In the story, Peter Parker's friend Harry Osborn becomes addicted to pills. When Spider-Man fights the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn, Harry's father), Spider-Man defeats him by revealing Harry's drug addiction. While the story had a clear anti-drug message, the Comics Code Authority refused to issue its seal of approval. Marvel nevertheless published

1008-482: A "Superior" Spider-Man. A portion of Peter survived in his original body in the form of a subconsciousness. Later, realizing that he failed in his role as the "Superior" Spider-Man, Otto willingly allows Peter to reclaim his body in order to defeat Osborn and save Anna Maria Marconi, Otto's love. In the aftermath of these events, Peter began to amend the relationships damaged by Otto's arrogance and negligence, both as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. He additionally took up

1176-399: A "sixth sense", which warns him of danger, the inspiration for Spider-Man's "spider-sense". Although at the time teenage superheroes were usually given names ending with "boy", Lee says he chose "Spider-Man" because he wanted the character to age as the series progressed, and felt the name "Spider-Boy" would have made the character sound inferior to other superheroes. He also decided to insert

1344-586: A 2013 storyline. The story, however, is largely a team-up of characters from the Ultimate and mainstream Marvel universes, with only a superficial relation with the plot of the crossover. Matt Little from CBR suspected that the story may have been conceived at some earlier point, and then slightly modified to serve as a tie-in for Secret Wars . Aaron Davis , Morales' uncle, makes his first Marvel-616 appearance in Spider-Man #234. The Maker , an evil Reed Richards ,

1512-483: A CEO of the Wizard magazine: reboot the heroes to their original character premise. Marvel's editor-in-chief Joe Quesada preferred to start an imprint with new heroes, but accepted Jemas' proposal. The working title for the imprint at that point was "Ground Zero". Unlike previous reboots, there was no in-story explanation for the existence of the imprint, and the standard comic books were still being published, unaffected by

1680-457: A Marvel creative team, beating out Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on Fantastic Four . Ultimate X-Men was also launched in 2001. It was initially delayed by the search for a creative team, and even Bendis' proposed scripts were rejected. The new title was finally given to Mark Millar , who had a controversial run in DC's The Authority . The two authors had conflicting styles: Bendis sought to modernize

1848-414: A Spider-Man tryout in what Lee, in numerous interviews, recalled as what would be the final issue of the science-fiction and supernatural anthology series Amazing Adult Fantasy , which was renamed Amazing Fantasy for issue #15 ( cover-dated August 1962, on sale June 5, 1962). In particular, Lee stated that the fact that it had already been decided that Amazing Fantasy would be canceled after issue #15

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2016-479: A billion dollars in 1993, had declined to 270 million. Comic books were briefly seen as valuable investments and sales shops flourished, but prices dropped as the speculative bubble popped in the early 1990s. In addition, the poor reception of the Batman & Robin film cast doubts on the prospects of any other comic book cinematic adaption. Marvel Comics went through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, many notable artists left

2184-631: A black costume with a white spider design on his chest. The new costume originated in the Secret Wars miniseries on an alien planet where Spider-Man participates in a battle between Earth's major superheroes and supervillains. He continues wearing the costume when he returns, starting in The Amazing Spider-Man #252. The change to a longstanding character's design met with controversy, "with many hardcore comics fans decrying it as tantamount to sacrilege. Spider-Man's traditional red and blue costume

2352-551: A blue being of energy and the depiction of Harry's transformation into Green Goblin. The 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is based on the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy , in particular the design of Galactus . The franchise was rebooted in 2015 with Fantastic Four , which is strongly based on the first arcs of Ultimate Fantastic Four . Sony made an animated Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Into

2520-436: A coma. Peter, desperate to save her, exhausts all possibilities and makes a pact with the demon-lord Mephisto , who saves May's life in exchange for Peter and Mary Jane agreeing to have their marriage and all memory of it disappear. In this changed reality, Spider-Man's identity is secret once again, and in #545 (Jan. 2008), Mary Jane returns and is cold toward him. The controversial storyline "One More Day" rolled back much of

2688-408: A costume and, as "Spider-Man", becomes a novelty television star. However, "[h]e blithely ignores the chance to stop a fleeing thief , [and] his indifference ironically catches up with him when the same criminal later robs and kills his Uncle Ben." Spider-Man tracks and subdues the killer and learns, in the story's next-to-last caption, "With great power there must also come—great responsibility!" In

2856-441: A couple of things going on. First, Miles is meeting someone who's the closest flesh-and-blood thing to his actual biggest hero. Second, he's being shown a window into an entire new universe. That's mind-bending stuff for a young kid to come to terms with." Alonso went on to reveal that "there's a super-cool villain involved in all of this and it's mind-bending, twisted stuff that puts these two in each others' orbit. We don't break down

3024-423: A distance-dependent interaction between his body and surfaces, known as the van der Waals force , though in the 2002 Spider-Man film , his hands and feet are lined with tiny clinging cilia in the manner of a real spider's feet. Spider-Man's other powers include superhuman strength, agility, and balance and a precognitive sixth sense referred to as his "spider-sense", which alerts him to danger. Spider-Man has

3192-504: A high school student from the Queens borough of New York City, as Spider-Man's secret identity, whose "self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness" were issues to which young readers could relate. While Spider-Man was a quintessential sidekick, unlike previous teen heroes Bucky Barnes and Robin , Spider-Man had no superhero mentor like Captain America and Batman ; he had learned

3360-509: A high school student to attending college to currently being somewhere in his late 20s. Peter has been a member of numerous superhero teams, most notably the Avengers and Fantastic Four . Doctor Octopus also took on the identity for a story arc spanning 2012–2014, following a body swap plot in which Peter appears to die. Marvel has also published comic books featuring alternate versions of Spider-Man , including Spider-Man 2099 , which features

3528-487: A hoax. Shortly afterward, in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #13 (#454, Jan. 2000), Mary Jane is killed in an airplane explosion. She is revealed to be alive in volume 2, issue #28 (#469, April 2001), but she and Peter are completely separated in the following issue. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski began writing The Amazing Spider-Man , illustrated by John Romita Jr. , beginning with volume 2, #30 (#471, June 2001). Two issues later, Peter, now employed as

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3696-538: A hyphen in the name, as he felt it looked too similar to Superman, another superhero with a red and blue costume that starts with an "S" and ends with "man" (although artist Steve Ditko intended the character to have an orange and purple costume). At that time, Lee had to get only the consent of Marvel publisher Martin Goodman for the character's approval. In a 1986 interview, Lee described in detail his arguments to overcome Goodman's objections. Goodman eventually agreed to

3864-485: A less notable degree. The film Spider-Man was released in 2002, two years after the start of Ultimate Spider-Man , and also provided a higher character development for Uncle Ben before killing him in Spider-Man's origin story , while also modifying the character's origin story, by writing a genetically-modified spider, instead of a radioactive spider, as the source of his spider-powers and replacing Mary Jane-Watson, as

4032-457: A lie. Fury sends Peter away with Miles to explain this world's history to him. Just as Peter asks Miles if his counterpart is dead in this world, they are attacked by Mysterio's avatar. Both Spider-Men face off against Mysterio's Avatar. Due to Miles' lack of experience, he is easily thrown back into Peter, and they both end up in the East River. Mysterio deploys weapons that create the illusion of

4200-562: A mob of Spider-Man's enemies from both realities attacking them. Peter figures out the trick and demands Mysterio return him to his home universe. Mysterio decides to instead strand Peter in a world where he is believed to be dead. The avatar self-destructs, rendering Miles unconscious; when he wakes, the Ultimates and Nick Fury are on the scene. While his version of Tony Stark works on deciphering Mysterio's dimension technology, Miles asks where Peter went. Fury surmises that he went off to find out

4368-457: A multitude of print and video interviews, Lee stated he was inspired by seeing a spider climb up a wall—adding in his autobiography that he has told that story so often he has become unsure of whether or not this is true. Besides the name, the Spider was wanted by both the law and the criminal underworld (a defining theme of Spider-Man's early years) and had through years of ceaseless struggle developed

4536-406: A notable landmark in the comics being featured in the film. Spider-Man: Homecoming also had aspects of the comics like Parker's age, a younger Aunt May , introducing Aaron Davis and revealing the presence of Miles Morales and Stark mentoring Spider-Man though without S.H.I.E.L.D. and other heroes being involved like in the comics, and in the same film where Stark sports an armor reminiscent of

4704-496: A note on the letters page of issue #125 states: "It saddens us to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her." The following issue, Spider-Man vengefully attacks and overpowers the Green Goblin, who kills himself accidentally in the ensuing battle with Spider-Man. Working through his grief, Peter eventually develops tentative feelings toward Mary Jane, and

4872-530: A plane crash. Lee, Ditko, and later creators had the character deal with the struggles of adolescence and young adulthood and gave him many supporting characters , such as Flash Thompson , J. Jonah Jameson , and Harry Osborn ; romantic interests Gwen Stacy , Mary Jane Watson , and the Black Cat ; and enemies such as Doctor Octopus , the Green Goblin , and Venom . In his origin story , Peter gets his superhuman spider powers and abilities after being bitten by

5040-465: A possessed Silk, agrees to help Spider-Man. However, Peter dies when fighting Kindred. While dead, Peter's consciousness remembers the fateful day of the start of One More Day ; Kindred is willing to resurrect Peter. "People often say glibly that Marvel succeeded by blending super hero adventure stories with soap opera. What Lee and Ditko actually did in The Amazing Spider-Man was to make

5208-429: A radioactive spider. These powers include superhuman strength , agility, reflexes, stamina, durability, coordination, and balance; clinging to surfaces and ceilings like a spider; and detecting danger with his precognition ability called " spider-sense ". He builds wrist-mounted " web-shooter " devices that shoot artificial spider-webs of his own design, which he uses both for fighting and travel, or "web swinging" across

Spider-Men - Misplaced Pages Continue

5376-498: A real-life mock wedding using actors at Shea Stadium , with Stan Lee officiating, on June 5, 1987. David Michelinie , who scripted based on a plot by editor-in-chief Jim Shooter , said in 2007, "I didn't think they actually should [have gotten] married. ... I had actually planned another version, one that wasn't used." Peter publishes a book of Spider-Man photographs called Webs , and returns to his Empire State University graduate studies in biochemistry in #310 (Dec. 1988). In

5544-608: A relaunch of Ultimate Spider-Man written by Hickman and illustrated by Marco Checchetto and will begin publication in January 2024. This iteration of the story will focus on Peter Parker, having been bitten by a radioactive spider in adulthood as opposed to a teenager, balancing his heroics with his dedication as a family man towards raising his two children with his wife Mary Jane Watson . The following month during New York Comic Con , Cebulski and Hickman announced Ultimate Black Panther written by Bryan Hill with art by Caselli and

5712-516: A relaunch of Ultimate X-Men written and illustrated by Peach Momoko to begin publication following Ultimate Spider-Man in February and March 2024, respectively. Titles in this section are organized by approximate publication date and line title. Brian Michael Bendis wrote the first comic book of the Ultimate imprint, Ultimate Spider-Man , launched in 2000. This was his first work for Marvel Comics. He later worked in other comics of

5880-500: A robotic avatar and sends it after Peter. Back in the new universe, Peter fights with the other Spider-Man, but his superior experience and training is outmaneuvered by Miles' new powers, culminating in Peter being knocked out by Miles using his venom sting. Waking up in a cell, Peter meets this world's Nick Fury and explains his theory that he is from another universe, which Fury accepts as nobody would come up with something that ridiculous as

6048-465: A search for Miles' counterpart in his world and is shocked at the result. Initially, the Ultimate Marvel imprint had no crossovers with the mainstream Marvel comics. At the 2005 San Diego Comic-Con , Joe Quesada said that if the mainstream and Ultimate Marvel universes ever crossed over, it would signify that Marvel "had officially run out of ideas." Brian Michael Bendis and Axel Alonso made

6216-519: A separate creation to the one he saw in the five pencilled pages that Kirby had completed. To support this, Ditko used the analogy of the Kirby/Marvel Thor, which was based on a name or idea of a character in Norse mythology: "If Marvel's Thor is a valid created work by Jack, his creation, then why isn't Spider-Man by Stan and me valid created work, our creation?" Kirby noted in a 1971 interview that it

6384-453: A sixty-year continuity, a bar that not all fans could reach and which scared away some new readers. The usual style of superhero comics with pages of garish colors, fantastical villains and convoluted plots was of little interest to young adult audiences, who preferred the style set by the Matrix franchise. Most superheroes were adults, even those that started as teenagers, such as Spider-Man and

6552-529: A successful run on The Avengers , starting with Avengers Disassembled . He created Jessica Jones in the Alias comic book, part of the R-rated MAX imprint. He wrote major crossover events such as House of M , Age of Ultron and Civil War II . He wrote Cataclysm , the last crossover event within the Ultimate imprint, and Ultimate End , that closed it. He moved to DC Comics in 2017. Mark Millar

6720-459: A supporting cast largely based on their Ultimate counterparts. Despite the name and the involvement of Bendis, Ultimate Spider-Man is a different work (although Peter Parker is modeled after his appearance in the comics though with a slightly bulkier build), aimed primarily at a younger audience. Being criticized by this, Bendis said that the show was made for Disney XD and "not for Showtime ". The series adapted some specific storylines such as

6888-575: A teacher at his old high school, meets the enigmatic Ezekiel Sims , who possesses similar spider powers and suggests that Peter, having gained such abilities, might not have been a fluke—that Parker has a connection to a totemic spider spirit. In vol. 2, #37 (#478, Jan. 2002), Aunt May discovers her nephew is Spider-Man. Peter and Mary Jane reconcile in (vol. 2) #50 (#491, April 2003), and in #512 (Nov. 2004)—the original issue numbering having returned with #500—Parker learns his late girlfriend Gwen Stacy had had two children with Norman Osborn . He joins

Spider-Men - Misplaced Pages Continue

7056-535: Is Harry, who leaves town to raise him. One of Doctor Octopus' Octobots swaps his and Spider-Man's personality, causing Peter to become trapped in the Doctor's dying body, while he in turn claimed Peter's life for himself. Though Peter failed to reverse the change, he manages to establish a weak link with the Doctor's mind, forcing him to relive all of his memories; Otto understands Peter's ideals of power and responsibility and swears to carry on with Peter's life with dignity as

7224-537: Is a Scottish comic book writer, and started his career with British comics such as Judge Dredd . He was hired by DC Comics, and worked in several titles. His most successful work was Superman: Red Son , which reimagined Superman as a newborn alien whose ship fell in the Soviet Union instead of Kansas. This work was published in 2003, two years after his departure from DC. Millar started the Ultimate X-Men comics,

7392-484: Is a helpful vigilante or a clever criminal. Cultural historian Bradford W. Wright notes: Spider-Man's plight was to be misunderstood and persecuted by the very public that he swore to protect. In the first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man , J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the Daily Bugle , launches an editorial campaign against the "Spider-Man menace". The resulting negative publicity exacerbates popular suspicions about

7560-523: Is accidentally killed during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus (issue #90, November 1970). In issue #121 (June 1973), the Green Goblin throws Gwen Stacy from a tower of either the Brooklyn Bridge (as depicted in the art) or the George Washington Bridge (as given in the text). She dies during Spider-Man's rescue attempt, and Spider-Man swears revenge against his nemesis;

7728-606: Is also restored to life and moved to Marvel-616, where he is a recurring villain in the Infamous Iron Man & New Avengers comic books. The hammer of Ultimate Thor (lost in the Cataclysm crossover) is found by Thor Odinson , who is not capable at the time to wield his classic hammer, owned by Jane Foster . He refuses to take the new hammer, which is then lifted by Volstagg in the Unworthy Thor miniseries. Jimmy Hudson ,

7896-566: Is approached by Norman with the offer of a job within the Dark Avengers. It is later revealed that it is a ruse to coerce Harry into taking the American Son armor, whom Norman had planned to kill, in order to increase public sympathy. When Harry has the option of killing Norman, Spider-Man says to decapitate him, since Norman's healing factor may repair a blow to the head. Spider-Man also cautions Harry that killing Norman will cause Harry to "become

8064-625: Is based on his origin story from the Ultimate Universe, as both versions become the Hulk while attempting to recreate the Super Soldier Serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America. Hawkeye and Captain America's costumes were based on their Ultimate uniforms as well and elements of Captain America's origin story are adapted from the Ultimate comics such as Bucky Barnes being his childhood friend who protected him from bullies and being around

8232-490: Is bitten by a radioactive spider (erroneously classified as an insect in the panel) at a science exhibit and "acquires the agility and proportionate strength of an arachnid ". Along with heightened athletic abilities, Parker gains the ability to adhere to walls and ceilings. Through his knack for science, he develops a gadget that lets him fire adhesive webbing of his own design through small, wrist-mounted barrels. Initially seeking to capitalize on his new abilities, Parker dons

8400-399: Is daylight. After interrupting a mugging, Peter is confused when the would-be victim informs him that, while he is grateful for the rescue, it might be disrespectful to be seen wearing Peter Parker's suit after his death. Swinging away to think about what he has just heard, Spider-Man runs into another Spider-Man on a rooftop. Angered at Spider-Man ruining his plans again, Mysterio activates

8568-509: Is dead . He also mentions his relationship with Mary Jane Watson and is shocked to hear that his counterpart dated Kitty Pryde , while Miles is left curious whether he has a counterpart in Peter's world. As Fury arrives to pick Peter up, Peter sees Mary Jane watching him, but she runs away before he can talk to her. Returning to the Helicarrier , Peter learns that Stark is having trouble determining how he can identify Peter's world of origin amid

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8736-464: Is faring, he keeps the portal open long enough for Peter and the Ultimates to capture him. Despite his best efforts, Mysterio is quickly defeated, and Fury decides to keep him prisoner on their side of the rift due to his knowledge of Peter's secret identity. With the portal closing, Peter departs for his world after giving Miles his blessing as the new Spider-Man of this world. Back in his world, Peter runs

8904-473: Is the last story of the Ultimate imprint. It was produced by Bendis and Bagley, the team that started the imprint. Miles Morales, a character that originated in the Ultimate Universe to take over the mantle of Spider-Man when the Ultimate Universe's Peter Parker died, was migrated to the Marvel-616 universe, along with his supporting cast, a development that saw his mother restored to life, following her death in

9072-469: Is the original and Peter is the clone. Complicating matters, Mary Jane announces in The Spectacular Spider-Man #220 (Jan. 1995) that she is pregnant with Peter's baby. Later, however, a resurrected Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) has Mary Jane poisoned, causing premature labor and the death of her and Peter's unborn daughter. It is later revealed that The Green Goblin switched the results of

9240-515: The Fantastic Four comic book, as a result of the disputes between Marvel and 20th Century Fox over the film rights over the characters. The 2015 Secret Wars storyline concluded the Ultimate Marvel imprint. In the plot, it was destroyed alongside all the other alternate realities in the multiverse , and then recreated as a region of the Battleworld . Ultimate End , set in such region,

9408-468: The Village Voice opined in 1965 that "Spider-Man has a terrible identity problem, a marked inferiority complex , and a fear of women. He is antisocial , castration-ridden , racked with Oedipal guilt , and accident-prone ... [a] functioning neurotic ". Agonizing over his choices, always attempting to do right, he is nonetheless viewed with suspicion by the authorities, who seem unsure as to whether he

9576-609: The Daily Bugle . Subsequently, Peter became romantically involved with Mary Jane. Briefly, Peter Parker and Spider-Man split into separate beings due to an accident involving the reverse-engineered Isotope Genome Accelerator. Peter eventually manages to reverse the process, and merges his two halves back together before the side-effects worsen and result in their death. Kindred uses the resurrected Sin-Eater 's sins to possess Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Woman, Anya Corazon, and Julia Carpenter. Doctor Strange, who manages to restrain

9744-721: The Icon Comics imprint, which allowed Millar to retain the rights. Millar then created Millarworld , with his own comic books, such as Wanted and Kick-Ass . Wanted , Kingsman , and Kick-ass had cinematic adaptations. Millarworld was acquired by the American streaming media company Netflix in August 2017. The only adaptations of the Ultimate Marvel works to other media are two direct-to-video films by Marvel Animated Features , Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of

9912-541: The Marvel Universe , Parker returns to work at the Daily Bugle , which has been renamed The DB under a new publisher. He soon switches to the alternative press paper The Front Line . J. Jonah Jameson becomes the Mayor of New York City in issue #591 (June 2008). Jonah's estranged father, J. Jonah Jameson Sr., marries May in issue #600 (Sept. 2009). During the " Secret Invasion " by shape-shifting extraterrestrials,

10080-566: The Multiverse that banded together to fight the Inheritors, a group of psychic vampires who had begun to hunt down the spider-totems of other realities. During a mission to gather more recruits in 2099, the Spider-Army stumbled upon another party of spider-people led by an alternate version of Otto Octavius. Together, they neutralize the Inheritors. Peter then stops a nefarious plan put forward by

10248-529: The Secret Wars event, where he sometimes works alongside the mainline version of Peter. Spider-Man is one of the most popular and commercially successful superheroes. He has appeared in countless forms of media , including several animated TV series : the first original animated series Spider-Man , with Paul Soles voicing the titular character, a live-action television series , syndicated newspaper comic strips , and multiple series of films . Spider-Man

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10416-625: The Skrulls , Norman Osborn shoots and kills the Skrull queen Veranke . He leverages this widely publicized success, positioning himself as the new director of the S.H.I.E.L.D.-like paramilitary force H.A.M.M.E.R. to advance his agenda, while using his public image to start his own Dark Avengers . Norman, by himself, leads the Dark Avengers as the Iron Patriot, a suit of armor fashioned by himself after Iron Man's armor with Captain America's colors. Harry

10584-616: The Ultimate Fantastic Four , and The Ultimates . Stan Lee , creator of many characters of Marvel comics, praised his work, but also advised him: "That's great, but you should do your own characters instead of doing mine. I didn't do Superman and Batman and Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes. I went off and did the X-Men". Dave Gibbons , artist of Watchmen , was impressed by his work and started working with him in Kingsman , published by Marvel at

10752-568: The X-Men . Previous attempts to cut the long continuity did not work as expected: DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour: Crisis in Time caused several plot contradictions, and Marvel's Heroes Reborn was panned by critics and fans. The Dark Age of Comic Books tried to counter the campiness of the Silver Age with violence and shocking content, but the trend was declining as well. The idea for

10920-618: The anthology comic book Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) in the Silver Age of Comic Books . He has been featured in comic books , television shows , films , video games , novels, and plays . Spider-Man has the secret identity of Peter Benjamin Parker . Initially, Peter was depicted as a teenage high-school student and an orphan raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in New York City after his parents, Richard and Mary Parker , died in

11088-515: The " All-New, All-Different Marvel " event. Among them, The Amazing Spider-Man was relaunched and primarily focuses on Peter Parker continuing to run Parker Industries and becomes a successful businessman who is operating worldwide. In Forest Hills , Queens , New York City, Midtown High School student Peter Benjamin Parker is a science-whiz orphan living with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May . As depicted in Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962), he

11256-443: The 1939 film The Wizard of Oz . James Hunt of Comic Book Resources , who gave the issue four and a half out of five stars, called it "one of the most momentous Spider-Man stories to be published in years", praising the issue's pace and tone, and Pichelli's art. There was a second miniseries, Spider-Men II , released in 2017. It was a new team-up of Peter and Miles, now both living in the mainstream Marvel universe. It also features

11424-441: The 1950s, in which an orphaned boy living with an old couple finds a magic ring that granted him superhuman powers. Lee and Kirby "immediately sat down for a story conference," Theakston writes, and Lee afterward directed Kirby to flesh out the character and draw some pages. Steve Ditko would be the inker. When Kirby showed Lee the first six pages, Lee recalled, "I hated the way he was doing it! Not that he did it badly—it just wasn't

11592-576: The 2006 prequel Spider-Man: Battle for New York features a retelling of the story of Spider-Man and Green Goblin , in addition featuring The Ultimates and Kingpin . The 2004 video game X-Men: Legends and its 2005 sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse have the titular characters wear their Ultimate costumes as do the Brotherhood of Mutants . Other Marvel video games have also featured Ultimate influences such as Marvel Ultimate Alliance and its sequel Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 featuring

11760-581: The 2010 Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark . Spider-Man was also voiced by Jake Johnson and Chris Pine in the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , with the former reprising his role in the sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse . In 1962, with the success of the Fantastic Four , Marvel Comics editor and head writer Stan Lee was casting for a new superhero idea. He said

11928-463: The Avengers, with very little in common with the mainstream title. Captain America got a rash soldierly personality, Hulk was written as a murderous and cannibalistic monster that kills hundreds of civilians, and Thor was ambiguously introduced as either an actual Norse god (as in the main comics) or a man with stolen weapons and a psychiatric disorder. Nick Fury , originally a caucasian character in

12096-541: The Fly. Author and Ditko scholar Blake Bell writes that it was Ditko who noted the similarities to the Fly. Ditko recalled that "Stan called Jack about the Fly", adding that "[d]ays later, Stan told me I would be penciling the story panel breakdowns from Stan's synopsis." It was at this point that the entire concept of the strip went through a major overhaul. "Out went the magic ring, adult Spider-Man and whatever legend ideas that Spider-Man story would have contained." Lee gave Ditko

12264-454: The Jackal. After the events of " Go Down Swinging ", Peter's life was plagued with problems on both sides. As Spider-Man, Mayor Fisk publicly supports him, condemning all other vigilantes in order to isolate him from his superhero peers. As Peter Parker, his academic credentials were revoked after accusations of plagiarizing his doctoral dissertation from Octavius, resulting in Peter being fired from

12432-518: The Maker's attempts to bring back the Ultimate Universe, with the Illuminati reforming to try and stop him. Despite claiming that Earth-1610 would be revisited, the storyline went a different path and showed a new Earth called Earth-6160 and reshaped it into his own image before being thwarted by Howard Stark who operates as Iron Man. Afterwards, Earth-6160's Tony Stark (who takes up the name Iron Lad) and

12600-552: The Marvel-616 Universe, was modeled after the actor Samuel L. Jackson , and the new design eventually overshadowed the original one, being incorporated into the mainstream Marvel-616 universe and all new media adaptions of the characters. The main premise was to write a comic that looked the way a superhero film about the Avengers should look. At that point, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had not been created, and

12768-530: The Panther , based on the Ultimates. The plot was simplified and the political aspects of the original work were removed, turning it into a standard superhero animated film. Other animated series incorporated aspects of the Ultimate comics, despite not being direct adaptations. The 2008 animated series The Spectacular Spider-Man shared many similarities with the Ultimate version of the titular character, including his age, his personal relationship with Eddie Brock, and

12936-466: The Spectacular Spider-Man , began running parallel to the main series. A third series featuring Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man , launched in 1985 to replace Marvel Team-Up . The launch of a fourth monthly title in 1990, the "adjectiveless" Spider-Man (with the storyline " Torment "), written and drawn by popular artist Todd McFarlane , debuted with several different covers , all with

13104-443: The Spider-Verse , which starred Miles Morales. The plot is an adaptation of the 2014 storyline Spider-Verse and was released in 2018. The 2005 video game Ultimate Spider-Man is a direct adaptation of the storylines and characters from the eponymous comics. The game is centered around the Ultimate Marvel versions of Spider-Man and Venom , but also features appearances from The Human Torch , Wolverine , and Nick Fury , and

13272-487: The Ultimate comics, such as Captain Marvel and the suit of Captain America during the second season. Nick Fury was based on Ultimate Nick Fury since season 2, which was kept for the following series, Avengers Assemble which also drew influence from Ultimate Marvel comics. As for the X-Men, the 2000 animated series X-Men: Evolution also had important members reimagined as teenagers, and eventually incorporated costumes from

13440-402: The Ultimate imprint was developed by Bill Jemas . A lawyer who had worked mainly at the collectible-trading-card industry before that point, he had little interaction with the production of comic books. In his perspective, the main problem of Marvel Comics was that it was "publishing stories that were all but impossible for teens to read — and unaffordable, to boot". He worked on an idea given by

13608-441: The Ultimate version. This also extends to Spider-Man: Far From Home where Nick Fury is seen mentoring Spider-Man. Thor has similar traits to his Ultimate counterpart, such as his personality, powers, costume elements, and hammer. Thor ends up getting a new hammer during Avengers: Infinity War which is based on the Ultimate version of Mjolnir. Other films based on Marvel comics were also influenced by Ultimate Marvel, albeit in

13776-472: The Ultimates from the Ultimate universe. Bendis left Marvel Comics in 2017 and moved to DC Comics . One of his last comic books was a second volume of Spider-Men II , featuring Peter Parker and Miles Morales. The miniseries ends with the Marvel-616 Miles Morales emigrating to the Ultimate Universe to be reuniting with his lost love, following the death of her Marvel-616 counterpart, confirming that

13944-604: The Ultimates. This team would then be featured in Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates , written by Jonathan Hickman . The Death of Spider-Man features the death of Peter Parker and his nemesis Green Goblin . An Afro-Hispanic teenager, Miles Morales , becomes the new Spider-Man. He was featured in Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man , still written by Bendis. The X-Men were relaunched in the miniseries Ultimate Comics: X , which introduced Jimmy Hudson ,

14112-527: The Venom project and both were intended as a cure for diseases) and it is implied that Norman Osborn betrayed Richard much like Eddie Brock Sr. had in the comics when they both selfishly wanted the research for their own ends and being responsible, even if indirectly in Norman's case for the deaths of Peter's parents. The villains featured in the films are modeled after their Ultimate counterparts, Electro in particular being

14280-487: The Venom symbiote in the comics); his signature wise-cracking and motor-mouthed sense of humor; his uncle's speech on responsibility and subsequent argument with Peter, moments before his death; a genetically-modified spider being responsible for Peter's spider-powers; his relationship with Gwen Stacy, mirroring his relationship with Mary Jane-Watson from the comics; Gwen being somewhat rebellious like her Ultimate incarnation and sticking up for Peter, albeit non-violently when he

14448-442: The adventures of Miguel O'Hara , the Spider-Man of the future; Ultimate Spider-Man , which features the adventures of a teenage Peter Parker in the alternate universe ; and Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man , which depicts a teenager named Miles Morales who takes up the mantle of Spider-Man after Ultimate Peter Parker's apparent death. Miles later became a superhero in his own right and was brought into mainstream continuity during

14616-510: The arc, Quesada said, was ...that we didn't receive the story and methodology to the resolution that we were all expecting. What made that very problematic is that we had four writers and artists well underway on [the sequel arc] "Brand New Day" that were expecting and needed "One More Day" to end in the way that we had all agreed it would. ... The fact that we had to ask for the story to move back to its original intent understandably made Joe upset and caused some major delays and page increases in

14784-436: The audiences, and hired Jeph Loeb for a third Ultimates miniseries that would lead to such event. This miniseries relied on shock value and gratuitous amounts of death and violence, instead of the political overtones of the first two. The art by Joe Madureira was standard superhero art, instead of the cinematic action provided by Hitch. The miniseries had decent sales, but was near-universally panned by critics. The series

14952-454: The character I wanted; it was too heroic". Lee turned to Ditko, who developed an art style Lee found satisfactory. Ditko recalled: One of the first things I did was to work up a costume. A vital, visual part of the character. I had to know how he looked ... before I did any breakdowns. For example: A clinging power so he wouldn't have hard shoes or boots, a hidden wrist-shooter versus a web gun and holster, etc. ... I wasn't sure Stan would like

15120-560: The character swiftly becoming a cultural icon ; a 1965 Esquire poll of college campuses found that college students ranked Spider-Man and fellow Marvel hero the Hulk alongside Bob Dylan and Che Guevara as their favorite revolutionary icons. One interviewee selected Spider-Man because he was "beset by woes, money problems, and the question of existence. In short, he is one of us." Following Ditko's departure after issue #38 (July 1966), John Romita Sr. replaced him as penciller and would draw

15288-497: The character's creation, Ditko described his and Lee's contributions in a mail interview with Gary Martin published in Comic Fan #2 (Summer 1965): "Stan Lee thought the name up. I did costume, web gimmick on wrist & spider signal." At the time, Ditko shared a Manhattan studio with noted fetish artist Eric Stanton , an art-school classmate who, in a 1988 interview with Theakston, recalled that although his contribution to Spider-Man

15456-426: The characters, Millar based his general draft of the series on the 2000 X-Men film. Jemas and Quesada paired Millar with artist Bryan Hitch , who had also worked with The Authority , but in a run that did not overlap with Millar's. They would reimagine the Avengers , who were renamed as "the Ultimates ". Unlike the simple updates of the Spider-Man and X-Men titles, the Ultimates were a complete reimagination of

15624-550: The characters. The reality of Ultimate Marvel is designated as Earth-1610 as part of the Marvel Comics Multiverse . The Ultimate Universe, as a part of a large-scale reboot of the All-New, All-Different Marvel Multiverse , ended at the conclusion of the 2015 " Secret Wars " storyline, when select characters from the Ultimate Universe moved to the mainstream universe . However, writer Brian Michael Bendis established at

15792-431: The city. Peter Parker initially used his powers for his personal gain, but after his Uncle Ben was killed by a thief that Peter could not stop, he began to use his powers to fight crime by becoming Spider-Man. Before Spider-Man first appeared in the early 1960s, teenagers in superhero comic books were usually relegated to the protagonist's sidekick role. The Spider-Man comic series broke ground by featuring Peter Parker,

15960-535: The clone test in an attempt to destroy Peter's life by making him believe himself to be the clone. Ben is killed while saving Peter, in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75 (Dec. 1996), and his body immediately crumbles into dust, confirming Ben was the clone. In issue #97 (Nov. 1998) of the second series titled Peter Parker: Spider-Man , Parker learns his Norman Osborn kidnapped Aunt May and her apparent death in The Amazing Spider-Man #400 (April 1995) had been

16128-501: The comic Civil War #2 (June 2006), part of the company-wide crossover arc of that title, the U.S. government's Superhuman Registration Act leads Spider-Man to reveal his true identity publicly. A growing unease about the Registration Act prompts him to escape with May and Mary Jane and joins the anti-registration underground. In issue #537 (Dec. 2006), Aunt May is critically wounded from Wilson Fisk 's sniper, and enters into

16296-405: The comic book by distributing it at chain stores like Payless Shoes and Walmart . The sales rose, and the comic book was acclaimed by critics. The art was created by Mark Bagley , known for his work on Spider-Man and Venom stories in the 1990s. The Bendis/Bagley partnership of 111 consecutive issues made their partnership one of the longest in American comic book history, and the longest run by

16464-503: The comic book expanded from 22 pages to 30 pages for each issue. Later on, The Amazing Spider-Man was published twice a month, beginning with #648–649 (both November 2010). The following year, Marvel launched Avenging Spider-Man as the first spin-off ongoing series in addition to The Amazing Spider-Man , since the previous ones were canceled at the end of 2007. The Amazing series temporarily ended with issue #700 in December 2012 and

16632-464: The comics as well. Similarly, Wolverine and the X-Men in 2009 had Magneto disassemble and reprogram the Sentinels like in the Ultimate X-Men storyline "Tomorrow People". Ultimate Marvel has also been a strong influence in the early stages of the Marvel Cinematic Universe . Joss Whedon said that The Ultimates brought Marvel into the modern age in a way no other book did. Tony Stark's personality

16800-650: The company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe, later known as the Ultimate Universe . Those characters include Spider-Man , the X-Men , the Ultimates (the Ultimate Marvel Universe counterpart of the Avengers ), the Fantastic Four , and others. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men in 2001, followed by The Ultimates and Ultimate Fantastic Four in 2002 and 2004 respectively providing new origin stories for

16968-420: The company, and their rival, DC Comics , topped them in sales. Brian Michael Bendis , who was hired to start the imprint, said that "when I got hired, I literally thought I was going to be writing one of the last — if not the last — Marvel comics". Comic book continuity , which had been a key to the success of Marvel Comics in its early years, turned into a problem for some readers. All stories had to fit into

17136-456: The controversial 1990s storyline the " Clone Saga ", a clone of Parker, created in 1970s comics by insane scientist Miles Warren , a.k.a. the Jackal, returns to New York City upon hearing of Aunt May 's health worsening. The clone had lived incognito as Ben Reilly , but now assumes the superhero guise the Scarlet Spider and allies with Parker. To the surprise of both, new tests indicate Ben

17304-420: The costume and thus easily identify with the character. A few months after Spider-Man's introduction, publisher Goodman reviewed the sales figures for that issue and was shocked to find it was one of the nascent Marvel's highest-selling comics. A solo ongoing series followed, beginning with The Amazing Spider-Man #1 ( cover-dated March 1963). The title eventually became Marvel's top-selling series with

17472-649: The creative decay in the Marvel/DC intercompany crossovers as a justification. The Age of Ultron crossover, between the mainstream comics, ended with Galactus displaced into the Ultimate universe. This premise started the " Cataclysm " crossover in the Ultimate imprint, which was followed by yet another new relaunch. The Ultimates disbanded after the crossover, and were replaced by a completely different team, led by Miles Morales. This team starred in All-New Ultimates , by Michel Fiffe and Amilcar Pinna. Spider-Man

17640-437: The crossover, Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four were cancelled, with a last issue for each title named Ultimate Requiem to give closure to their plots. The Ultimate Marvel imprint was re-launched, as "Ultimate Comics". Ultimate Spider-Man was renamed as Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man , and the line was joined later by Ultimate Comics: Avengers and Ultimate Comics: New Ultimates . New Ultimates featured

17808-413: The emphasis and focus on his parents and their subsequent disappearance; his father Richard Parker being a scientist specializing in biology, who worked on a secret project/experiment regarding the procurement of a special serum that was intended to cure terminal illnesses (which is depicted as being derived from the blood of genetically-modified spiders, encoded to the bloodline of Peter's family, instead of

17976-468: The end of the 2017 miniseries Spider-Men II that the universe and its superheroes still exist. Between June and September 2023, Marvel published the Ultimate Invasion miniseries written by Jonathan Hickman with art by The Ultimates co-creator Bryan Hitch . The events of the miniseries culminated in the establishment of a rebooted Ultimate Universe designated as Earth-6160 , which serves as

18144-552: The episode "Freaky" where Spider-Man and Wolverine switch bodies as in Ultimate Spider-Man #66-67. Miles Morales appeared in that TV series as well first in a cameo before becoming a major character later on for the series adaptation of Spider-Verse . Also in this series, the host for Venom is Harry Osborn instead of Eddie Brock, and takes the form of Spider-Man's black suit. As for the Avengers, some character designs from The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes were based on

18312-413: The fictional continuity at the behest of editor-in-chief Joe Quesada , who said, "Peter being single is an intrinsic part of the very foundation of the world of Spider-Man". It caused unusual public friction between Quesada and writer Straczynski, who "told Joe that I was going to take my name off the last two issues of the [story] arc", but was talked out of doing so. At issue with Straczynski's climax to

18480-467: The first crossover in 2012, after 13 years of the Ultimate Marvel imprint, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Spider-Man. Alonso described the story with: All I can say is that the Peter Parker of the Ultimate Universe casts a huge shadow over Miles' spiritual and emotional development. What will he do when he's confronted with the Peter Parker from another universe? Well, that's the story. And there are

18648-453: The first issue an 8.5 out of 10, praised the creative team, singling out the strong thematic elements set up by Bendis, and the graceful line work, cityscapes, action and comedic timing of Pichelli's art. Esposito also complimented Cory Petit's lettering, comparing his use of different fonts when Spider-Man arrives in the Ultimate Universe to the use of color that characterizes Dorothy's arrival in Oz in

18816-476: The first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man (March 1963), despite his superpowers, Peter struggles to help his widowed Aunt May pay the rent, is taunted by Flash, and continues fighting crime and saving the city as Spider-Man, but his heroic deeds engender the editorial wrath of newspaper publisher of the Daily Bugle , J. Jonah Jameson , holds a grudge against Spider-Man, and continues making false statements about Spider-Man despite his heroism. Peter gets hired as

18984-536: The first miniseries of the Ultimates and the ending of the second. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier 's design throughout the films is also modeled after the Ultimate Marvel version. The depiction of Falcon in the films is derived from the Ultimate incarnation, and Rogers' relationship with Nick Fury in Captain America: The Winter Soldier is reminiscent of the one in the comics with the Triskellion,

19152-451: The idea for Spider-Man arose from a surge in teenage demand for comic books and the desire to create a character with whom teens could identify. As with Fantastic Four, Lee saw Spider-Man as an opportunity to "get out of his system" what he felt was missing in comic books. In his autobiography, Lee cites the non-superhuman pulp magazine crime fighter the Spider as a great influence, and in

19320-495: The idea of covering the character's face but I did it because it hid an obviously boyish face. It would also add mystery to the character.... Although the interior artwork was by Ditko alone, Lee rejected Ditko's cover art and commissioned Kirby to pencil a cover that Ditko inked. As Lee explained in 2010, "I think I had Jack sketch out a cover for it because I always had a lot of confidence in Jack's covers." In an early recollection of

19488-467: The imprint, such as Ultimate Marvel Team-Up (2001–2002), Ultimate X-Men (2003–2004), Ultimate Fantastic Four (2003–2004) and Ultimate Origins (2008). He is recognized as the main author of the whole Ultimate imprint. Most characters were reimaginations of classic Marvel characters; Miles Morales was an original character of his own creation. Given the success of the Ultimate imprint, Marvel asked him to write mainstream Marvel comics as well. He started

19656-442: The lesson for himself that " with great power comes great responsibility " —a line included in a text box in the final panel of the first Spider-Man's origin story, but later retroactively attributed to the late Uncle Ben Parker. Marvel has featured Spider-Man in several comic book series , the first and longest-lasting of which is The Amazing Spider-Man . Since his introduction, the main-continuity version of Peter has gone from

19824-578: The main character's primary love interest. The series was rebooted with The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012, and Sony asked Bendis for suggestions. He proposed that Spider-Man should use artificial web-shooters, as in the comics, instead of portraying the ability as a part of the character's mutation, through the form of organic web-shooters in his wrists, as was depicted in the Raimi trilogy. The film series also featured elements and aesthetics borrowed from his Ultimate counterpart's personality and background, such as

19992-461: The main costumes of Captain America , Thor , Colossus , Invisible Woman , Mr. Fantastic , and the Human Torch based on their Ultimate counterparts as well as alternate costumes for Iron Man , Elektra , Storm , Wolverine , Moon Knight , Doctor Strange , Nick Fury , Deadpool , Magneto , Doctor Doom , Venom , Sabretooth , The Thing , Nightcrawler , Cyclops , and Hawkeye also based on

20160-417: The multitude of alternate universes. With Miles' help, the Ultimates determine the location of Mysterio's headquarters based on the energy generated by his equipment, prompting the heroes to suit up and head for the base. At his headquarters, Mysterio is preparing to cement his victory by destroying the portal and trapping Spider-Man in the Ultimate universe. Unable to resist the temptation to see how his enemy

20328-549: The mysterious Spider-Man and makes it impossible for him to earn any more money by performing. Eventually, the bad press leads the authorities to brand him an outlaw. Ironically, Peter finally lands a job as a photographer for Jameson's Daily Bugle . The mid-1960s stories reflect the political tensions of the time; early 1960s Marvel stories often deal with the Cold War and communism . Wright writes: From his high-school beginnings to his entry into college life, Spider-Man remained

20496-645: The native Miles Morales of the mainstream universe, an adult and close friend of the Kingpin . At the end of the story, the adult Morales moves into the Ultimate Marvel universe, which had been destroyed in the 2015 Secret Wars crossover. This remade the Ultimate universe, Peter Parker is now Spider-Man again, and has joined the Ultimates. Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko , he first appeared in

20664-405: The new project. Thus, Ultimate Spider-Man would contain the stories of a new teenager Spider-Man starting his career, and the usual Spider-Man titles would still contain the stories of the adult Spider-Man with nearly forty years worth of continuity. Quesada then hired Brian Michael Bendis , an artist from indie publishers, for the first comic book of the imprint, Ultimate Spider-Man . One of

20832-466: The news, he swings over to Queens where the Parker residence is currently up for sale. May Parker is seeing off Gwen Stacy to school. When they see Peter in his costume, they believe he is a lunatic disrespecting the memory of the deceased Peter Parker, and are shocked beyond words when Peter unmasks. Miles arrives and confirms Peter's story. Talking with Gwen and Miles, Peter confirms that Gwen exists in his world without mentioning that her counterpart

21000-413: The old superhero tropes, and Millar sought to critique them. While Bendis tried to write atemporal stories, Millar preferred to set his stories amid the political tensions of the time, with edgy, quick action-driven stories and making the relationship between humans and mutants more realistic and distrustful. The first issue of Ultimate X-Men sold 117,085 copies in a month. Lacking previous knowledge about

21168-459: The origin of Spider-Man in the 13-issue limited series Spider-Man: Chapter One (Dec. 1998–Oct. 1999), similar to Byrne's adding details and some revisions to Superman's origin in DC Comics ' The Man of Steel . During that time, the original The Amazing Spider-Man ended with issue #441 (Nov. 1998), and The Amazing Spider-Man started with volume 2, #1 (Jan. 1999). In 2003, Marvel reintroduced

21336-508: The original Spider-Man version to Lee, who liked the idea and assigned Kirby to draw sample pages of the new character, but disliked the results—in Simon's description, " Captain America with cobwebs". Writer Mark Evanier notes that Lee's reasoning that Kirby's character was too heroic seems unlikely—Kirby still drew the covers for Amazing Fantasy #15 and the first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man . Evanier also disputes Kirby's given reason that he

21504-442: The original numbering for The Amazing Spider-Man and what would have been volume 2, #59, became issue #500 (Dec. 2003). When the main series The Amazing Spider-Man reached issue #545 (Dec. 2007), Marvel dropped its spin-off ongoing series and instead began publishing The Amazing Spider-Man three times monthly, beginning with #546–548 (all January 2008). The scheduling of The Amazing Spider-Man lasted until November 2010, when

21672-582: The other. When the Multiverse was eventually rebuilt, these mutants became stranded in the Prime Earth, suffering from amnesia as a by-product of their transition from one reality to another. After Secret Wars , Marvel published a new comic book named Ultimates , though it bore no relation with the imprint beyond the name. The Ultimates 2 #10, renumbered as #100 under the Marvel Legacy relaunch, features

21840-416: The premise of a teenager bitten by a spider and developing powers, where Ditko would expand upon to the point he became what Bell describes as "the first work for hire artist of his generation to create and control the narrative arc of his series". On the issue of the initial creation, Ditko stated, "I still don't know whose idea was Spider-Man". Ditko did, however, view the published version of Spider-Man as

22008-466: The previous auditioners had made a word-by-word rewrite of the Amazing Fantasy #15 comic (the debut of Spider-Man), in a modern setting. Bendis preferred to avoid that writing style completely. Instead, he changed the narration style, so that it resembled a TV series more than a classic superhero comic book. There were no thought bubbles or long expositions , and the first issue did not feature any superhero costume. Jemas tried to bring more notice into

22176-600: The prospect of a film about the Avengers was remote. The series was a huge success, and became the single best-selling comic of the year. The Ultimate Marvel imprint was benefited by the contemporary topics that took place. Terrorism resurfaced into the public perception as a clear, dangerous and complex menace, which reduced the credibility of the usual supervillains of superhero fiction. Fictional conflicts involving explosions and property damage became more ominous. The Ultimate Marvel comics incorporated those topics into their plots, which would eventually become commonplace in

22344-514: The real-life Columbia University and New York University ), where he meets roommate and best friend Harry Osborn and girlfriend Gwen Stacy , and Aunt May introduces him to Mary Jane Watson . As Peter deals with Harry's drug problems, and Harry's father, Norman Osborn , is revealed to be the Green Goblin, Peter attempts to give up his costumed identity for a while. Gwen Stacy's father, New York City Police detective Captain George Stacy ,

22512-410: The reconstruction of the team, and was made by Loeb and Frank Cho . Avengers features a black-operations superhero team, and was made by Millar and several artists. There was a new relaunch shortly afterwards, named "Ultimate Comics Universe Reborn". Both teams met in Avengers vs. New Ultimates , where Nick Fury is reinstalled as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the teams merge again into a single team,

22680-429: The reins of Parker Industries, a small company founded by Otto after leaving Horizon Labs. Peter soon learns a second person had been bitten by the radioactive spider, Cindy Moon . Spider-Man tracks her down and frees her from a bunker owned by the late Ezekiel Simms. Not long after rescuing Cindy, who went on to adopt her own heroine identity as Silk, Spider-Man encounters a contingent of spider-people from all over

22848-564: The revision of the Comics Code Authority . Previously, the Code forbade the depiction of the use of illegal drugs, even negatively. However, in 1970, the Nixon administration's Department of Health, Education, and Welfare asked Stan Lee to publish an anti-drug message in one of Marvel's top-selling titles. Lee chose the top-selling The Amazing Spider-Man; issues #96–98 (May–July 1971) feature

23016-455: The same age, him found and being thawed out of ice by S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than the founding members of the Avengers . Hawkeye also has a family, a context exclusive to the Ultimate comics. The film The Avengers featured the Ultimate take on the team, as a military operation organized by S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than an autonomous superhero group. Kevin Feige based the script of the film broadly on

23184-436: The same interior content. All four versions combined sold over three million copies, an industry record at the time. Several miniseries , one-shot issues, and loosely related comics have also been published, and Spider-Man makes frequent cameos and guest appearances in other comic book series. In 1996, The Sensational Spider-Man was created to replace Web of Spider-Man . In 1998, writer-artist John Byrne revamped

23352-456: The series an ongoing novelistic chronicle of the lead character's life. Most super heroes had problems no more complex or relevant to their readers' lives than thwarting this month's bad guys... Parker had far more serious concern in his life: coming to terms with the death of a loved one, falling in love for the first time, struggling to make a living, and undergoing crises of conscience." Comics historian Peter Sanderson Sally Kempton for

23520-431: The series for the next several years. In 1968, Romita would also draw the character's extra-length stories in the comics magazine The Spectacular Spider-Man , a proto- graphic novel designed to appeal to older readers. It lasted for two issues and represented the first Spider-Man spin-off publication, aside from the original series' summer Annual s that began in 1964. An early 1970s Spider-Man story ultimately led to

23688-401: The series. Also, the science that Joe was going to apply to the retcon of the marriage would have made over 30 years of Spider-Man books worthless, because they never would have had happened. ...[I]t would have reset way too many things outside of the Spider-Man titles. We just couldn't go there.... In this new continuity, designed to have very limited repercussions throughout the remainder of

23856-566: The setting for a relaunched series of books under the Ultimate Marvel banner, which began with the eponymous Ultimate Universe #1 in November 2023. The new Ultimate imprint also encompasses new versions of Ultimate Spider-Man , Ultimate X-Men , and The Ultimates , as well as a standalone Ultimate Black Panther story. In the late 1990s, the US comic book industry had declining sales. Annual combined sales from all publishers, which had been close to

24024-459: The son Norman always wanted". Harry instead backs down, and turns away from his father forever. At Loki 's suggestion, Norman Osborn creates a rationale to invade Asgard , claiming the world poses a national security threat. He is defeated, and ends up incarcerated in the Raft penitentiary. A conflict between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus over Osborn's son ends when it is revealed the child's father

24192-413: The son of Ultimate Wolverine, is also revealed to be alive in the new continuity, though this was not explained at first, but was eventually established that during the final incursion that caused the clash between Earth-616 and Earth-1610, with both universes' planets Earth acting as the collision point of this phenomenon, Jimmy Hudson, Quicksilver, Mach-II, Armor, and Guardian fell from their reality into

24360-514: The son of Wolverine. This miniseries was followed by Ultimate Comics: X-Men , written by Nick Spencer , who explored the X-Men mythos in a setting where both Charles Xavier and Magneto are dead. Initially, Marvel resisted the idea of crossovers between the Ultimate and the mainstream universes (although the idea had been teased for what turned out to be the beginning of the Marvel Zombies series), but eventually relented. The first crossover

24528-533: The story and claimed Lee had minimal involvement in the character's creation. According to Kirby, the idea for Spider-Man had originated with Kirby and Joe Simon , who in the 1950s had developed a character called the Silver Spider for the Crestwood Publications comic Black Magic , but the character was left unused. Simon, in his 1990 autobiography, disputed Kirby's account, asserting that Black Magic

24696-443: The students with his assumed obligation to combat lawlessness as Spider-Man. As a law-upholding liberal, he finds himself caught between militant leftism and angry conservatives. Peter Parker has superhuman spider-powers and abilities derived from mutations resulting from the bite of a radioactive spider. Since the original Lee - Ditko stories, Spider-Man has had the ability to cling to walls. This has been speculated to be based on

24864-399: The superhero most relevant to the world of young people. Fittingly, then, his comic book also contained some of the earliest references to the politics of young people. In 1968, in the wake of actual militant student demonstrations at Columbia University, Peter Parker finds himself in the midst of similar unrest at his Empire State University.... Peter has to reconcile his natural sympathy for

25032-495: The superhero team The New Avengers in New Avengers #1–2. After a deranged, superpowered former high-school classmate destroys their respective homes, Peter, Mary Jane, and May move into Stark Tower , and Peter begins working as Tony Stark 's assistant while freelancing for The Daily Bugle and continuing his teacher career. In the 12-part 2005 story arc " The Other ", Peter undergoes a transformation that evolves his powers. In

25200-498: The three issues without the Comics Code Authority's approval or seal. The issues sold so well that the industry's self-censorship was undercut, and the Code was subsequently revised. In 1972, a second monthly ongoing series starring Spider-Man began: Marvel Team-Up , in which Spider-Man was paired with other superheroes and supervillains. From that point on, there have generally been at least two ongoing Spider-Man series at any time. In 1976, his second solo series, Peter Parker,

25368-427: The truth about his alternate self. Peter goes to the location where his apartment in his home universe is supposed to be. Peter finds it to be converted into a store, and after stopping a robbery, he questions the cashier. He is shocked to find out that the Peter Parker of this world died in battle and that the city is still in mourning, and that it is also common knowledge that Peter Parker was Spider-Man. Distraught over

25536-462: The two "become confidants rather than lovers". A romantic relationship eventually develops, with Parker proposing to her in issue #182 (July 1978), and being turned down an issue later. Peter went on to graduate from college in issue #185, and becomes involved with the shy Debra Whitman and the extroverted, flirtatious costumed thief Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. the Black Cat , whom he meets in issue #194 (July 1979). From 1984 to 1988, Spider-Man wore

25704-644: The universe still exists. A brief glimpse of the still-extant Ultimate universe is provided by artist Mark Bagley, showing that Ultimate Peter Parker, who had been revealed alive in one of the last issues, has returned to the role of Spider-Man, and that he is a member of the Ultimates, as is Riri Williams and Hulk. The return of the Ultimate universe was used again in 2019, in story arcs at the Venom and Miles Morales: Spider-Man comic books. In February 2023, Marvel Comics announced Ultimate Invasion written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Bryan Hitch. This story involves

25872-484: The wall between the Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe lightly." The first issue was released on June 13, 2012. The series received generally positive reviews. The individual issues hold an average rating of 8.1 out of 10 on the review aggregator website Comic Book Roundup, based on 85 total reviews of all five issues, which range in rating from 7.3 (issue 1) and 8.5 (issue 4). Joey Esposito of IGN , who gave

26040-413: The whole comic book industry. Jemas was fired from Marvel in 2004, and Millar and Hitch left the Ultimates after writing a second miniseries. Sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card wrote a miniseries, Ultimate Iron Man , which was poorly received and later retconned as an in-universe television show. In 2008, Quesada considered that the Ultimate imprint needed a big crossover event to keep the interest of

26208-439: Was "almost nil", he and Ditko had "worked on storyboards together and I added a few ideas. But the whole thing was created by Steve on his own ... I think I added the business about the webs coming out of his hands." Ditko claimed in a rare interview with Jonathan Ross that the costume was initially envisioned with an orange and purple color scheme, rather than the recognizable red and blue. Kirby disputed Lee's version of

26376-413: Was "too busy" to draw Spider-Man in addition to his other duties, since Kirby was, said Evanier, "always busy". Neither Lee's nor Kirby's explanation explains why key story elements like the magic ring were dropped; Evanier states that the most plausible explanation for the sudden change was that Goodman, or one of his assistants, decided that Spider-Man, as drawn and envisioned by Kirby, was too similar to

26544-446: Was Ditko who "got Spider-Man to roll, and the thing caught on because of what he did". Lee, while claiming credit for the initial idea, had acknowledged Ditko's role, stating, "If Steve wants to be called co-creator, I think he deserves [it]". He has further commented that Ditko's costume design was key to the character's success; since the costume completely covers Spider-Man's body, people of all races could visualize themselves inside

26712-623: Was based on that of his Ultimate counterpart, and Millar and Bendis were included in the staff as consultants. Samuel L. Jackson , whose likeness was used to create the new version of Nick Fury, was cast as the character in a multi-picture deal, starting in a post-credits scene in Iron Man . The script of the scene was written by Bendis. As a comic book fan, Jackson had noticed the use of his likeness and asked to be included in some eventual film. Bruce Banner's origin story in The Incredible Hulk

26880-405: Was being bullied by Flash (though in the comics it was Kenny Kong), in addition Flash having a crush on her like he did in the Ultimate comics; his friendship with Harry Osborn being modeled after that of Eddie Brock Jr. in the comics, being childhood friends who have not seen each other in a long time and whose fathers had worked together on a project (with the name Spider-venom being a slight nod to

27048-546: Was first portrayed in live-action by Danny Seagren in Spidey Super Stories , a recurring skit on The Electric Company from 1974 to 1977. In live-action films, Spider-Man has been portrayed by actors Tobey Maguire in Sam Raimi 's Spider-Man trilogy , by Andrew Garfield in two films directed by Marc Webb , and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by Tom Holland . Reeve Carney originally starred as Spider-Man in

27216-421: Was followed by 2009's Ultimatum , a crossover between the Ultimate titles. In five issues, the story kills off thirty-four characters with an increased amount of graphic violence. The series was both a critical and commercial failure, and it has since been regarded as one of the worst comic books of all-time. The sales of the whole imprint were decreased, and never returned to their pre- Ultimatum figures. After

27384-544: Was iconic, they argued, on par with those of his D.C. rivals Superman and Batman ." The creators then revealed the costume was an alien symbiote , which Spider-Man rejects after a difficult struggle, though the symbiote returns several times as Venom for revenge. Peter proposes to Mary Jane in The Amazing Spider-Man #290 (July 1987), and she accepts two issues later, with the wedding taking place in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (1987)—promoted with

27552-511: Was not a factor and that Simon devised the name "Spider-Man" (later changed to "The Silver Spider"), while Kirby outlined the character's story and powers. Simon later elaborated that his and Kirby's character conception became the basis for Simon's Archie Comics superhero, the Fly . Artist Steve Ditko stated that Lee liked the name Hawkman from DC Comics , and that "Spider-Man" was an outgrowth of that interest. Simon concurred that Kirby had shown

27720-541: Was relaunched in Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man , which included the revivals of Peter Parker and Green Goblin. Ultimate FF ("FF" standing for " Future Foundation ", not "Fantastic Four") featured the "incursions", a multiversal threat that was being used in Hickman's run on the main universe's Avengers, and which would lead to the Secret Wars crossover. Ultimate FF was cancelled, alongside

27888-507: Was replaced by The Superior Spider-Man , which had Doctor Octopus serve as the new Spider-Man by taking over Peter Parker's body. Superior was an enormous commercial success for Marvel, and ran for 31 issues before the real Peter Parker returned in a newly relaunched The Amazing Spider-Man #1 in April 2014. Following the 2015 Secret Wars crossover event , a number of Spider-Man-related titles were either relaunched or created as part of

28056-450: Was the Spider-Men miniseries, between Miles Morales and the adult Peter Parker. It was made for the 50th anniversary of Spider-Man. All-New X-Men , also written by Bendis, had a story where the main characters got stranded in the Ultimate universe and teamed-up with Morales. However, Bendis and Fialkov agreed that crossovers should be done sparingly, to keep them interesting, and cited

28224-544: Was the only reason Goodman allowed him to use Spider-Man. While this was the final issue, its editorial page anticipated the comic continuing and that "The Spider-Man ... will appear every month in Amazing ." Regardless, Lee received Goodman's approval for the name Spider-Man and the "ordinary teen" concept and approached artist Jack Kirby . As comics historian Greg Theakston recounts, Kirby told Lee about an unpublished character on which he had collaborated with Joe Simon in

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