Well, those maniacs went and did it. Spoilers past this point, but in Marvel Comics Ultimate Endgame #3, which is out today, the Deniz Camp written issue featuring art by Jonas Scharf and Terry and Rachel Dodson killed off Ultimate Spider-Man. And it sure seems like the death was for real… But was it? Is Peter Parker dead in the Ultimate Universe? Let’s discuss/speculate.
In the issue, Spider-Man — among other characters — is inside the temporal dome that ostensibly has been keeping The Maker (the evil Reed Richards who crafted this new Ultimate Universe) trapped for millennia. Towards the end of the issue, The Maker reveals that “all of this is my design,” and that includes the picotech that powers Peter’s costume. And of course, The Maker uses that knowledge to take over the suit.
Not only that, The Maker reveals that Peter is nothing special. “You wonder why you were number one on the list,” The Maker says. “You wonder about your special destiny. You wonde what it means. Let me tell you.“
And with that, he turns the suit from Spider-Man into Carnage, explaining that it means “nothing… You were a box on a to-do list.” Impaling the now defenseless Peter Parker, he furthermore explains that Peter “left your family for nothing. Wasted your last years with them for nothing.”
Peter angrily throws an invective back at The Maker, who impales Peter further, killing him. And in case it isn’t clear, The Maker says, “You died for nothing,” and Iron Lad adds, “You killed Spider-Man!” The dead body of Peter Parker falls to the ground, at which The Maker gleefully says, “Oh, the carnage! Isn’t it beautiful.” You get it.
Meanwhile, to further drive the point home, Mary Jane is in the Savage Land, crying in the middle of the night and she doesn’t know why. “I didn’t know that I was,” she tells her son on her tears. “I guess I was just lost in the stars.” Richard, her son, points out they’re underground and there aren’t any stars, with the implication that there’s no hope, no light, nothing left. Oh no!
But wait, there’s more, to triple down on Spider-Man being “Dead” with a capital “D.” A note in white text on black ends the issue from Peter, to be sent in the case of his death. The note makes jokes about Peter making Mary Jane a “widow” and how he’s written letters for the kids. He also notes that “maybe it was all a mistake” and he should have spent more time with his family… He also releases Mary Jane, telling her she’s free to move on. “I hit the jackpot, MJ. I didn’t need you to tell me. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you. And every year, the prize just got bigger and bigger. Waking up was winning the lottery. Every day. ‘You and me against the world.’ Always. Love you forever, Peter.”
So, let’s get to the speculation, and present the case for and against Spider-Man being either dead, or comic book dead, (i.e., dead for now).
The Case For Spider-Man Being Dead In The Ultimate Universe
This one is pretty simple… As noted above, the issue goes out of its way to be extremely, one hundred percent clear that Spider-Man is dead. They show the body, they say it out loud, they have Mary Jane realize her husband has died hundreds of miles away and far underground, and even include a death letter from Spider-Man.
Adding to the evidence, the Ultimate Universe is ending with Ultimate Endgame #5, meaning they can have Peter die and it stick, versus in the main universe. There’s also — if Marvel is pulling shenanigans — Richard waiting in the wings as the fill-in Spider-Man. And the previous Ultimate Universe also killed Ultimate Peter Parker, leading to the introduction of Miles Morales. So there’s precedent.
Last piece of evidence is Spider-Man is absent on the covers to Ultimate Endgame #5, so it’s entirely possible he’s important in that his death gives everyone a focal point, something to avenge, if you will. So they can be Avengers. As is, it seems pretty clear they killed Peter Parker for real, and we need to work under that assumption.
The Case Against Spider-Man Being Dead In The Ultimate Universe
…That said, there is major time travel and causality loops at play in this comic. In this issue alone, a future version of Tony Stark from centuries in the future called Kang shows up, and explains that they’ve played out this loop hundreds if not thousands of times. Whenever you have a plot point like time travel and loops at play, death is never as permanent as it seems. While I’d personally speculate Camp will use Peter’s death to spur on our heroes against The Maker, there’s a very easy out there if they want to bring him back at the last second.
Will Peter Parker return? Or is he dead for real? We’ll find out as the Ultimate Universe barrels to its conclusion in June, with Ultimate Endgame #5.
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