Marvel Reveals New Green Goblin for Ultimate Spider-Man Reboot

A new Green Goblin rises to face Ultimate Spider-Man.

November 11, 2023, 10:47am

A new Spider-Man needs a new archvillain, and Ultimate Spider-Man #2 will provide one. The issue will introduce the new Ultimate Green Goblin. Marvel is touting Jonathan Hickman and March Checchetto’s upcoming as the most surprising Spider-Man story of the 21st century. The Green Goblin’s identity almost certainly plays into that notion, as the reported death of Norman Osborn in would seem to rule out the original and best-known character to wear the villain’s mantle. With him seemingly off the board, almost anyone could be under that green mask (or helmet, as the costume looks solid).

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Marvel Comics Checchetto’s Ultimate Spider-Man #2 cover shows the new Ultimate Green Goblin chasing Ultimate Spider-Man. You can see the cover below.

What is Ultimate Spider-Man?

Marvel Comics is relaunching its Ultimate Marvel Universe with Hickman, who previously helmed the 2019 relaunch of the X-Men line, at the forefront. Hickman set the stage for the Ultimate Marvel Universe in the . He then set up the premise of superheroes whose destinies were deferred by The Maker, the original Ultimate Marvel Universe’s Reed Richards turned villain, finally realizing their destinies. This is why Peter Parker will only become Spider-Man as an adult in this universe, after marrying Mary Jane Watson and having two children. Hickman will write Ultimate Spider-Man himself.

“When we decided that we were going to do a book about an older Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man, we really wanted to lean into him starting his super hero life from a very different place than what’s traditionally expected,” Hickman said of the premise. “Peter and MJ being married is one of many decisions we made that underline this being quite a ‘different’ kind of Spider-man story.”

What is the Ultimate Marvel Universe?

Ultimate Marvel began life in the early 2000s as a modernized take on the classic Marvel Universe and its characters separate from Marvel’s central 616 continuity. It ran for 15 years before ending when the Secret Wars event (also written by Hickman, coincidentally) remade Marvel’s multiverse. The new take on the Ultimate Marvel concept will launch with . Hickman has previously said that the goal is to subvert what Ultimate Marvel had been previously to find something fresh.

“I think it’s fair to say that both Bryan [Hitch] and I have already put in our time doing Ultimate books, so when Marvel laid this project in front of us, we both knew there needed to be a good reason to revisit the idea of ‘Ultimate Comics’ beyond telling a cool story or just getting to work together, which is something we’ve been trying to do for years,” Hickman told Entertainment Weekly previously. Both Hickman and Hitch had contributed to the original Ultimate Marvel Universe. “So with that in mind, it couldn’t be replicating or revisiting what Bryan did in the original Ultimates – creating a streamlined, modernized version that would eventually become the spine of the MCU – and it certainly couldn’t be what I did, which was a final chapter of a pre-existing universe.”

He continued. “We also thought the very idea of Ultimate Comics needed to be inverted from what the original universe was. We wanted this to be something that could really only exist in the comic space: A new way of thinking about, and enjoying, a new version of the Marvel Universe. I’m pretty happy to say that it feels like we’ve accomplished those things and we’re very excited for everyone to get to read it,” Hickman said.

Ultimate Spider-Man #1 goes on sale on January 10th. Ultimate Spider-Man #2, featuring the new Ultimate Green Goblin, goes on sale on February 21st.