'Ultimate' Spoiler: Spider-Man Dies

This image provided by Marvel Comics shows a panel from "Ultimate Comics Spider-Man" No. 160, available in comic book shops on Wednesday, June 22, 2011. In the issue, written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Mark Bagley, Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, will be felled by one of his biggest foes, and die as the series concludes its nearly 11-year run. But fans of Spidey need not worry too much because Ultimate Spider-Man is a separate imprint from Marvel's ongoing adventures of "Amazing Spider-Man" who is still alive, slinging webs and crawling on walls. (AP Photo/Marvel Comics)

(AP Photo/Marvel Comics)

It was announced today that Peter Parker will fall to a longtime foe in Marvel Comics' "Ultimate Spider-Man" #160 set to hit comic book stores on Wednesday, June 22.

Despite the 'Dark'-ness of Broadway and being exterminated in the "Ultimate Comics Spider-Man" series, the webby wonder is still very much alive and spinning in Marvel's more traditional stories, notes the Associated Press.

The death, while dramatic, is not entirely unexpected. In November, Marvel said that the Ultimate Spider-Man was going to face an uncertain fate in the latest storyline by writer Brian Michael Bendis fittingly titled "The Death of Spider-Man," an eight-issue arc that saw the return of original series artist Mark Bagley. Bendis and Bagley had worked together on the series for 111 issues.

Marvel's editor-in-chief remarked that there has never been a Marvel Universe without a Spider-Man and that "killing the character is a big step."

The death of Peter Parker is significant for the Ultimate Comics universe, "and we're going to see how quickly it changes everything," he said.

Parker's death will play out in the upcoming "Ultimate Comics Fallout" as the company retools its Ultimate universe.

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By Lisa Brenner in Arts & Events on June 21, 2011 11:00 AM

Comments [rss]

rjhemedes

This isn't the original Spider-Man. This is only the Ultimates teenaged version which has been around for 10 years. The original Spidey who is an adult Peter Parker is still alive and swinging.

c.b

the whole "Ultimates" universe is a crappy idea anyway.

FarleyElliott

I'm not an avid comic book reader, but I go back and forth on big swings in comic mythology like this. On the one hand, when was the last time you heard someone talking about Archie comics, before they decided to write in an actual wedding? It's not a bad way to reboot a hero that's incredibly old, but at the same time it sort of messes with the whole illusion of superheroes at all.

Intersting choice...