It doesn’t matter what universe he’s in, Spider-Man is subject to the ol’ Parker luck. Peter Parker loses jobs, lets down his family, and gets turned down for dates, all because great power comes with great responsibility. For a while, though, Earth-1610 seemed to be different. In this new Ultimate Marvel Universe, Peter may have lost his Aunt May, but he still had Uncle Ben and a steady job. Moreover, he had a loving marriage with Mary Jane and two great kids in Richard and May. But that may all be coming to an end.
In the first preview pages for Ultimate Endgame #1 (via AITP Comics), Peter and his family say goodbye as Spider-Man prepares to battle their world’s conqueror, the Maker. Although teen Richard tries to come along, citing the Symbiote-esque black costume he’s been using in the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man, Iron Lad refuses, forcing Peter to say goodbye. As he leaves, Peter shouts, “I’ll be home soon,” but none of us expect that to be true.
Then again, the current Ultimate Universe has been all about defying expectations. Where the original Ultimate Marvel Universe, which ran from 2000–2015, mostly started its familiar heroes from scratch and recreated classic storylines like the Galactus Saga, the new Ultimate Universe was built around a daring conceit. The Maker, Reed Richards from the original Ultimate Universe, who turned evil as he lost his connection to his fellow members of the Fantastic Four, creates his own perfect reality, in which he rules as its god.
To prevent any interference by Marvel’s mightiest heroes, the Maker interferes across time, preventing Peter from being bitten by a radioactive spider, letting most of this world’s Fantastic Four die in space (while brainwashing their Reed Richards into becoming Doom), and turning Bruce Banner into an enlightened despot. Yet, with the help of a teenaged Tony Stark who calls himself Iron Lad, powers were restored to some heroes, resulting in both fresh takes on established heroes, such as the married with children Spider-Man, and a world-wide resistance movement called the Ultimates.
