Ultimate Spider-Man Just Fooled Everyone (And It’s an Epic Trick)

Ultimate Spider-Man is the cream of the Ultimate crop. The Ultimates, Ultimate Wolverine, and Ultimate Black Panther are all beloved, but none of them can match the hype and quality of Ultimate Spider-Man. Ultimate Spider-Man #16 is basically a perfect comic, revealing several major plotlines for the book. Readers get the story of Ultimate Gwen Stacy, as well as the truth about Mysterio. This is a major comic, and completely changes everything readers thought they knew about the book. Reading Ultimate Spider-Man #16 reveals a major moment on nearly every page, and it closes with a massive surprise, one that undoes the most important moment of Ultimate Spider-Man. It sets several characters on an entirely new path, one that could make them into the most important villains in the new Ultimate Universe who aren’t the Maker or a member of the Maker’s Council and their retinue.

Ultimate Spider-Man #16 is a masterpiece from start to finish, with writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Marco Checchetto dropping brilliance on the reader. Ultimate Spider-Man has long been a book that is full of jaw-dropping moments, but issue #16 takes that to another level. Changes like these are going to have huge consequences in the months to come.

Ultimate Spider-Man #16 Could be the Dawn of the Ultimate Universe’s Most Powerful Villains

So, we’ll start with the first major spoiler, because that leads into the book’s huge ending. In the 616 universe, George Stacy, Gwen’s father, was a police captain killed by Doctor Octopus while the villain was fighting Spider-Man. In the 6160 universe, George Stacy is one of five Mysterios. Upon his death, Gwen took his place. These Mysterios are different from the one in the 616 universe; while Quentin Beck is one of the Mysterios, he isn’t the brilliant inventor and special effects expert. The Mysterios apparently have access to some kind of amulet that gives them power, and each of the five takes a turn with it, becoming the main Mysterio in the eyes of the world. The Mysterios seem to have a mission beyond working with the Kingpin, their place as a member of his Sinister Six revealed in Ultimate Spider-Man #8. They seem to be trying to figure out how the Maker changed the world, and they want to reveal that information to the world. Gwen is a major power in New York City, even beyond her place in OsCorp.

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Readers get to see Gwen working with the Mysterios, which finally brings us to the end of the issue. One of the Mysterios visits her and tells her that they found Harry and Peter, who had disappeared. Gwen takes the amulet and heads down to the Savage Land, where she’s able to find her husband. She’s tricks Kraven and Peter into thinking that Kraven killed Harry. Peter escapes, but Gwen decides that the only way to keep the secret of Harry being alive is by killing Kraven. Gwen and Harry have been working against the Maker’s servants since nearly the beginning of the book. Now, they have more freedom than ever; Harry is believed dead and no one knows that Gwen is Mysterio. They can now go full bore into the war against the Maker and his Council, leading Ultimate Spider-Man in a whole new direction.

Ultimate Spider-Man #16 Is the Definition of Shocking

Hickman and Checchetto have been doing a fantastic job with Ultimate Spider-Man. Right now is a great time to be a fan of superhero comics, with many books the best they have been in ages. Ultimate Spider-Man in 2025 has way more competition than it had in most of 2024, and it can be hard to make the same kind of splash as it did in the past. Ultimate Spider-Man #16 shows that this book can still wow fans, leading them to places that no one could have predicted.

Gwen and Harry are about to become the greatest power couple in the Ultimate Universe. They have a lot of power — both because of their connections to OsCorp and their costumed lives — and they have a mission to break the servants of Kingpin and the Maker. Ultimate Spider-Man has been a must-read book fill of great moments since it started out, but with this development, it’s looking like things are going to get even crazier in the month to come.

Ultimate Spider-Man #16 is on sale now.