So far, Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) has been an amazing and wholesome ride. Sure, there was that one time when the Kingpin brutally beat the friendly neighborhood hero to the point of near death. But that exception aside: It's been mostly smooth sailing for Peter Parker — especially considering how supportive his family has been. His wife, Mary Jane, came up with the "Spider-Man" title. Furthermore, his daughter, May, designed his super suit. It was all going well during the first issues of the series, but readers quickly discovered they were merely witnessing the calm before the storm.
Kraven the Hunter recently kidnapped Peter, and it's been more than one month since anybody has seen the Daily Bugle photographer. Usually, that would also mean Spidey is out of the picture as well. But in a shocking twist of events, Richard Parker — Peter's son — rose up to the occasion and took over the Spider-Man mantle. However, even such a heroic act might have big consequences down the line as revealed by Marvel itself.
Richard Parker is the the Venom suit's latest host
Since the very beginning of Ultimate Spider-Man (2024), readers were quick to theorize that Peter's suit would eventually be revealed to be the symbiote. Not only does it have evident parallelisms such as a black color palette and alien-like tendrils, but its origin has also raised many eyebrows. For starters: It is so advanced that no one truly understands how it works. Both Doc Ock and Iron Man attempted to crack the code behind the costume's technical marvels yet both failed. Furthermore, the groundbreaking invention is able to copy a person's entire psyche. We've seen multiple panels of Peter talking to a copy of himself while wearing the suit. And the cherry on top? It changes shapes at will.
Yeah, that's not terrifying at all.
Even then, readers never had an outright confirmation that this was Ultimate Spider-Man's portrayal of Venom. It could've simply been a way to throw readers off-guard until an alien symbiote eventually entered the scene. However, we now have an official confirmation that Venom is coming, and — even worse — its host might be someone Peter Parker would never dare to challenge in a fight.
When one Spider-Man goes missing, another steps in his place. See Richard Parker don the Venom suit in ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ #13, now on sale. pic.twitter.com/sn8eRZnw7m
— Marvel Comics (@MarvelComicsHQ) February 6, 2025
Remember how we mentioned Peter's son is currently attempting to cover for his missing father by wearing the Spider-Man suit? He even stopped his very first crime and crossed paths with a vengeance-seeking Black Cat. What he doesn't know is a slight malfunction in the suit might be able to corrupt him down the line — turning him into a villain in the process. But if that turns out to be the case, what could Peter do? We've seen the friendly neighborhood hero go against his best friend multiple times before. But I really doubt he'd be up to the fight if his son was on the other side.
Granted, there's always the chance that Richard Parker merely is this series' version of the black-suited Spider-Man, and someone else will take on the Venom mantle (similar to how it happened in the mainline comic book storyline). However, given that readers have yet to see a version of Eddie Brock introduced in this world, chances are we'd have to look for another candidate. So far, Harry Osborn has acted as a "hero" under the Green Goblin persona. But now that the Sinister Six have kidnapped him and learned his true identity, he's just one day away from turning into a villain.
During the events of Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Harry Osborn was the one to bond with the symbiote and turn into Venom. So could we be looking at the same scenario here? After all, Ultimate Harry is married to Gwen Stacy, who we all know had a grim ending in comic book pages. If the Sinister Six were to hurt her, Harry would undoubtedly grow resentful of Peter Parker — a hero who has been campaigning not to kill the group of supervillains. That hatred, coupled with a technologically advanced suit ditched by Richard Parker, could make up for a very dangerous combination that would mean danger not only for Peter but the Parker family as a whole.
One thing's for certain: Venom is coming, and given how amazing Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) has been so far, we can't wait to see how Jonathan Hickman reimagines him.
Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) No.14 wil be released on Feb.26, 2025.