Spider-Man is about to have his first team-up with his new sidekick. Ultimate Spider-Man has been a runaway success and arguably the breakout hit of Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe reboot. Watching Peter Parker learn how to be Spider-Man as a married adult with two kids has been a joy to watch, but there’s also been a steep learning curve for the web-slinger. The Sinister Six is breathing down his neck, and a result of this is the loss of Harry Osborn, the Green Goblin. But help is on the way in the form of a new sidekick wearing the infamous black suit.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Marvel released a preview of Ultimate Spider-Man #15 by Jonathan Hickman, David Messina, Matthew Wilson, and VC’s Cory Petit. It picks up after the previous story arc that featured Peter Parker and Harry Osborn as prisoners of Kraven the Hunter. The duo was hunted by Kraven in the Savage Land, with only Peter making it out alive. But Kraven knows their secret identities, which means Peter’s family is now in danger. Luckily, Peter’s son Richard Parker stayed busy while Peter was missing by dressing up as Spider-Man in the black suit.
[RELATED: Why I Think Ultimate Spider-Man is the Best Thing Marvel’s Done in Years]
Peter takes his family on a vacation out of New York City to get away from all the danger waiting for them back home. The preview of Ultimate Spider-Man #15 finds Richard standing alone on a tall rock cliff, texting with his new BFF, Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat. Richard encountered Black Cat while out on patrol one night. They started as adversaries and then discovered they have a lot more in common, so now they’re texting. Richard lets out some bad words when his text doesn’t go through because of a bad signal, forcing Peter to reply, “Language!”
It appears that Peter has brought Richard out somewhere alone so they can do some training as Spider-Men. Peter doesn’t want what happened to Harry to happen to Richard. Richard reminds Peter that he has the black suit, which is what Peter wants to have a chat about. When Richard says they are talking about it, Peter responds that he’s not talking to his son, he’s talking to the suit. It’s a pretty brief preview, but it’s enough to send Ultimate Spider-Man fans into a flurry of excitement to see what kind of drama Peter and Richard get themselves into.
The black suit in Ultimate Spider-Man is different from the symbiote readers are used to in the main Marvel Universe. They both have a consciousness, but the Ultimate Universe black suit is a picotech costume that is AI-driven. It has a download of Peter’s consciousness, which is why it so quickly bonded with Richard while Peter was gone. That parental gene knew it had to protect the family, which is why it pretended to be Peter so they wouldn’t know he was missing.
Peter’s time away allowed Richard to get some reps in as Spider-Man, and he even had his first supervillain fight with Black Cat. There are some obvious sparks between Richard and Felicia, which should make things awkward and uncomfortable down the line once Peter finds out. Future issues of Ultimate Spider-Man reveal a team-up of Spider-Men to fight the Sinister Six.
“THE ULTIMATE SANDMAN ATTACKS!” the solicitation for Ultimate Spider-Man #15 reads. “As the dust settles from the events of recent issues, Peter, MJ and the kids take a family vacation — but nowhere is safe for Ultimate Spider-Man!”
Ultimate Spider-Man #15 goes on sale Wednesday, March 26th. Let us know what you think of the preview in the comments below!
