Spider-Man has an impressive rogues' gallery that's only been growing with the passing of time. Throughout the years, creators have needed to come up with new stories to shake up the status quo of some of these beloved antagonists and keep things fresh and exciting. However, there's no better comic book series to do it than Ultimate Spider-Man (2025). Jonathan Hickman's story has reimagined Venom like an advanced Picotech suit with a crazy AI, while Harry Osborn's Green Goblin acted as one of the good guys, helping Spider-Man keep the city safe...
Or at least he did, before his death.
Kraven the Hunter kidnapped the Green Goblin and Spidey to play a twisted game on Savage Land. Not only that, but he learnt their secret identities, putting their families at risk. The two heroes nearly managed to escape the hunt, but Kraven caught them last minute and shot Osborn point-blank in the head. This tragedy prompted the wall-crawler to escape from New York City along with his family since he was on the Sinister Six's crosshairs. As for Harry: His wife, Gwen Stacy, couldn't do anything but mourn his death... or so it initially seemed.
Gwen's Mysterio and Harry's Green Goblin team up in Ultimate Spider-Man
During the events of Ultimate Spider-Man No. 16, it was revealed that Gwen is a member of a society called "Mysterio". This secret coven consists of five individuals who all act as the Master of Illusions. They share one amulet that gives them supernatural powers, which is rotated between members every two weeks. So, after figuring out Kraven kidnapped the love of his life, Gwen used the amulet and wasted no time in going to rescue him.
Moments before Kraven was able to shoot Harry in the head, Gwen took his husband to safety and placed a magical decoy in his place without anyone noticing. Harry watched from the sidelines how his life was nearly taken from him and how Peter was devastated by such a "loss". When the wall-crawler left, Gwen revealed her true self to Kraven and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine.
The world's greatest hunter finally met his match in the form of a bullet shot right to his head. Unfortunately, the true death of the supervillain also raises new problems. The Kingpin was the mastermind of the Sinister Six, and he just lost one of his group's members... to yet another member. Harry was shocked and confused at the whole situation, but his wife then explained everything to him, and the two came to a conclusion: The best course of action was to take the fight to the Sinister Six instead of waiting to be hunted by them.
During the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man No. 17, we see Mysterio and the Green Goblin team up to sabotage Mr. Negative's bomb factory. Harry's mission was to evacuate every civilian trapped inside the building while Gwen dealt with the Demons and deactivated the bombs. The couple met in a safe place after the mission was completed, but much to Harry's surprise, things quickly took a dark turn.
The whole building in which Mr. Negative's operations took place exploded. Harry was heavily shocked by this, as innocent people could've gotten killed (which shows readers that his heroic spirit is still intact... for the moment). However, Gwen reveals that she never defused the bombs and that letting everything burn was the plan all along. She states that the Sinister Six are powerful enemies, so they don't have to hold back any punches.
During the final pages of Ultimate Spider-Man No. 17, we see Harry contact Peter and tell him to come back home because he "needs him". Maybe the Green Goblin doesn't agree with Mysterio's way of handling things, and he wants to stop the incoming war altogether. Could husband and wife come into odds with each other soon?
On a personal note, I've always theorized that the Ultimate Spider-Man series could do its own take on "The Night That Gwen Stacy Died". However, in this tale, Harry would be the one to suffer this loss the most, perhaps going mad and turning into the real Green Goblin afterwards. It would be a nice way to see what could've happened to Peter in Earth-616 after Gwen's death had he let tragedy consume him, much like it could happen to Harry. But only one thing's for certain: We cannot wait to see how this tale unfolds.
Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) No. 18 will be released on June 25, 2025.