Ever since a radioactive spider bit him as a teenager, Peter Parker has fought his way through life while saving as many people as he can in the process. Most of the time, he has faced adversities on his own with nothing but his wits and a bit of super strength on his side. However, every once in a while, superhero fans witness Spider-Man teaming up with another big hero to save the day, and the results are nothing but exhilarating.
Daredevil, Wolverine, Deadpool, The Human Torch, and many other iconic characters have fought side by side with Spider-Man. He has even joined big groups of heroes such as The Avengers or The Fantastic Four throughout his comic book history. But just when it appeared there was no way Marvel could ever deliver a more impactful arachnid team-up, Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) raised the bar even higher.
Peter Parker and his son, Richard, are the new Spider-Men duo in town
Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) is every fan's dream. This iteration of the wall-crawler is happily married to Mary Jane and even has two kids: May and Richard Parker. The best part? Peter didn't even need to hide his secret identity from his family (at least, not for too long). Everything was going great, until one day tragedy struck and Kraven the Hunter kidnapped Peter. Just like that, the Watson-Parker family was left in disarray, and New York City lost its biggest protector along the way. So, in order to fill this big void, Richard put on his father's Picotech Suit—a technological marvel with an incredibly advanced A.I.—and swung into action.
Slowly but steadily, Richard became his own Spider-Man capable of stopping crimes and keeping the city safe while his father was missing. Furthermore, he took advantage of his costume's ability to change shape and color to create his very own design (one that looks incredibly reminiscent of the symbiote look). Eventually, Peter managed to escape Kraven's twisted games and return to his family, but not without paying a big price and revealing his secret identity.
Worried that supervillains would go after him and his family, Peter took M.J. and the kids on a "vacation" to the Grand Canyon. But the Parkers weren't able to escape their bad luck even on the run. Peter comes across reports of people going missing on an abandoned military base not too far from where he is. Furthermore, people have claimed to see "Earth moving" in such a place. So, not being able to stay out of trouble, the dynamic duo swings into action.
Peter and Richard go investigate the abandoned facility only to discover it wasn't as empty as originally claimed. Someone (or rather something) was there, and it takes both web-slingers by surprise. Out of a sudden, a huge sand monster appears and starts "confronting" Peter. However, in the middle of the military base, a huge metal tower creates an electric charge that repeatedly takes the Sandman down just as he's about to "strike". Richard's A.I. suit eventually deduces that the tower brings down the supervillain just as he's about to assume its human form. At that moment, a sinister truth is revealed.
The Sandman wasn't trying to attack Peter, he was just trying to ask for help and indicate him to destroy the tower. Realizing this, Richard brings the giant structure down with the help of his Pichosuit. Finally free to transform into a man again, Flint Marko explains he was used as part of an illegal experiment that gave him his unique powers. Unfortunately, he was left trapped in the same place for almost three years without any hope. Peter then suggests that if he was able to change shapes, then turning into a big "help" sign could've actually... you know, helped.
After the encounter, both Spider-Men returned to the family's camper. At night, Peter creates a huge web which he and Mary Jane use to lay down and look up at the stars — a scene that seems to be pulled straight from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3. So, all things considered, everything went extremely well for the new heroic duo. On the bright side, Marvel has teased that we'll see more of them, and we couldn't be any more excited.
Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) No.16 will be released on April 30, 2025.