Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Marvel Comics, Spider-Man | Tagged: jonathan hickman, ultimate spider-man

Ultimate Spider-Man – A Power Fantasy For The Married Couple?

Last night Bleeding Cool broke the news that the returning Ultimate Spider-Man from Jonathan Hickman & Marco Checchetto would be different.

Last night, Bleeding Cool broke the news (swiftly followed up by a press release from Marvel Comics) that the returning Ultimate Spider-Man from Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto in January 2024 would be very different. A Peter Parker, married to Mary Jane, with two kids… who only then becomes Spider-Man in his thirties. Traditionally, and in the previous Ultimate Spider-Man, Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man as a teenager. He has to deal with teenage problems before growing into a young man in his twenties and never progressing further.

Back in the day, superpowers were all about wish fulfilment, empowering those who felt they were without power, and a power fantasy for kids. Spider-Man embodied that – the same age as many of his readers, who also felt frustrated in their lives and their lack of power… they call it agency these days. Maybe "agency fantasy" might be a better term.

Because power fantasies, or agency fantasies, are just as popular today. Even more, so that it's actively addressed by media and society, even if the problems aren't actually solved. Sometimes, a fantasy is all you have.

And why should those fantasies be the reserve of the teenager? Even the stunted adolescent into his forties and fifties? Might a different kind of Spider-Man address a different type of powerlessness by those who feel that life might have… slipped them by? With kids they can't afford to send to college and parents they can't afford to care for?

A bigger question, however, may be how itchy will that beard be under the Spider-Man mask? Here's the PR…

Writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Marco Checchetto's bold new take on ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN is shaping up to be full of surprises! Launching this January as the first ongoing series set in Marvel's new Ultimate Universe, ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN will star a very different Peter Parker—an older, wiser web-slinger who balances his super hero duties with his responsibilities as a husband and a father. That's right, Spider-Man is a married man!

Meet Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson—MR. & MRS. PARKER! They're one of pop culture's most iconic couples, and now readers will see them stronger than ever in the Ultimate Universe. To celebrate, Peter and MJ's romance will be featured on a series of picture perfect variant covers by Elizabeth Torque that will adorn the first four issues of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN. Spidey superstar Ryan Stegman also spotlights the whole Parker family on a new promotional piece.

"When we decided that we were going to do a book about an older Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man, we really wanted to lean into him starting his super hero life from a very different place than what's traditionally expected," Hickman explained. "Peter and MJ being married is one of many decisions we made that underline this being quite a 'different' kind of Spider-man story."

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1
MARVEL COMICS
OCT230875
(W) Jonathan Hickman (A/CA) Marco Checchetto
THE NEW ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN FOR A NEW ULTIMATE UNIVERSE!
Visionary writer Jonathan Hickman (HOUSE OF X/POWERS OF X) and acclaimed artist Marco Checchetto (DAREDEVIL) bring you a bold new take on Spider-Man, with this, the debut title of the new line of Ultimate Comics! After the events of ULTIMATE INVASION, the world needs a hero…who will rise up to take on that responsibility? Prepare to be entangled in a web of mystery and excitement as the all-new ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN comic redefines the wall-crawler for the 21st Century!    Rated TIn Shops: Jan 10, 2024 SRP: $5.99

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