Marvel Just Gave a Shocking Character a Surprising New Version (And We Can’t Get Over It)

Books like Ultimate Spider-Man are very rare. Right now, the comic industry has multiple comics that can contend for the title of best comic of the month, but even with all of that, Ultimate Spider-Man keeps raising the bar. Ultimate Spider-Man #16 is an amazing comic, redefining several characters, and ending with a shock that has to be seen to believed. Ultimate Spider-Man #16 contains the backstory of several characters, with the story of Ultimate Gwen Stacy being told, as well as the truth about Mysterio. In telling Gwen’s story, readers get to see Harry Osborn and Gwen throughout their relationship, including showing one of the Christmases the two of them spent together. Harry Osborn gets his wife a book — The World That Is and The World That Was, by Dr. Jericho Drumm. Longtime Marvel fans will recognize the name Jericho Drumm; in the 616 universe, he’s known as Brother Voodoo.

When most people think Marvel magic, they think Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, the X-Man Magik, even Doctor Doom, but there’s a lot of lesser known Marvel magical characters out there that don’t the credit they deserve. Brother Voodoo is from that period when Marvel when all in on “blaxsploitation”, taking inspiration from Shaft, Blacula, and the films of Melvin Van Peebles. Brother Voodoo didn’t have as much luck as Luke Cage, but has had some major plotlines. It’s quite interesting that he’s been brought into the new Ultimate Universe, especially with some of the other developments of this issue.

Brother Voodoo Is More Accomplished than He Seems

In the 616 universe, Jericho and his twin brother Daniel were brought up in a Haitian village and separated before adulthood. Daniel became a houngan, a voodoo priest, while Jericho went to America and became a scholar. Jericho was called back to Haiti and found his brother on his last legs. Daniel told his brother that he had been cursed by a dark priest claiming to be the serpent loa known as Damballah. As Daniel dies, he asks Jericho to venture into the jungle and ask for the help of Papa Jambo. Jambo taught Jericho the ways of magic and was able to bond the spirit of Daniel Drumm to Jericho, the true moment that Brother Voodoo was born. The new hero was able to defeat Damballah, taking on his servant Bambu as a partner. The two of them were based in Port-au-Prince before returning to America, where he had a semi-decent career as a C-list superhero. Brother Voodoo became a Marvel deep cut, and spent years in anthology titles, teaming with characters like Daredevil, Spider-Man, Moon Knight, Deadpool, and more. His status as a master of voodoo meant that he fought supernatural forces like vampires and zombies, as well as helping out heroes in their dealings with the dead.

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However, all of that changed in the 21st century. Marvel was giving C-list characters from the ’70s, like Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, Carol Danvers, and Danny Rand, a chance to shine in New Avengers, and eventually Brother Voodoo would join them. Doctor Strange, who joined the team post-Civil War, was using dark magic, and was stripped of his role as Sorcerer Supreme. Brother Voodoo was able to get the nod, and became the most powerful sorcerer on the face of the Earth. He was able to defeat Dormammu, proving that he was worthy of the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme, and eventually joining the New Avengers after Avengers Vs. X-Men and later the Avengers Unity Division after Secret War (2015). Brother Voodoo hung around the Avengers for a while, even entering into a relationship with Scarlet Witch. Daniel, long bonded to his brother, desired a new body, and ended up joining with the Hand, helping them get their hands on the corpse of the Hulk. Brother Voodoo would play a key role in saving the day against the zombie Hulk, and Daniel would disappear. Brother Voodoo would lose his spot as Sorcerer Supreme and since then has faded from view.

Ultimate Jericho Drumm Plays Into Ultimate Spider-Man #16’s Biggest Reveal

So, spoiler time. Ultimate Spider-Man #16 reveals that Gwen Stacy is one of five Mysterios, brought into the group by her father George. While the Mysterios work with the Kingpin, who works with the Maker, they want to reveal the truth about the world. They want to show how the Maker has changed the world, and try to recreate the world without the Maker. This brings us to The World That Was and The World That Is, a book written by Dr. Jerico Drumm positing that there are two timelines — the one that they live in and the one they were supposed to live in. The book is very hard to find because of this, as the Maker’s servants keep it under wraps.

We don’t really know anything about Jericho Drumm beyond the book he wrote. We don’t know if he’s still alive — there’s a good reason the Maker’s Council may have killed him — and we don’t know if he’s Brother Voodoo. There’s also a good chance that he’s still alive, and this book is the beginning of Gwen perhaps trying to look for him. We might get Ultimate Brother Voodoo, which would be a huge development for a character that isn’t as well-known as he should be and absolutely deserves his moment.

Ultimate Spider-Man #16 is on sale now.