Marvel Is Officially Fixing Spider-Man’s Most Dangerous Flaw

A longstanding and often accurate critique of superhero storytelling, whether in comics, movies, TV, or video games, is that the protagonist/titular character can be back-burned among others, typically whichever villains are appearing. This was a critique that has been loudly made about Jonathan Hickman’s Ultimate Spider-Man run, too, and it seems this was a deliberate decision all along.

In an interview with CBR, Hickman confessed to what he considers himself “guilty of” in the storytelling process. Likewise, Hickman states that there is method to his madness concerning what little growth Peter Parker is perceived to have had in Ultimate Spider-Man’s high-stakes story thus far.

Ultimate Spider-Man Is An ‘Ensemble Book,’ For Better Or Worse

Ultimate Spider-Man wouldn’t be what it is without Peter’s friends and enemies

All Spider-Man comic book runs inevitably mutate into ensemble books in one way or another due to how many supplementary characters, love interests, or antagonists there usually are. Ultimate Spider-Man is no different, and, in Hickman’s own words, he’s conscious of how large a role the book’s supporting cast has played in contrast to Peter himself:

“Well, I tend to write ensemble books, whether I’m supposed to or not. […] But there’s kind of a point that we’re making there that becomes very obvious towards the end of the run. Don’t want to spoil it or anything like that, or talk about it too much, or, worst of all, explain the story. But all of that is kind of addressed in both a very meta and literal way as we get to the end of the book.”

Indeed, one of the louder criticisms this current run of Ultimate Spider-Man has had, besides its now-understandably abrupt pacing, is that Peter hasn’t developed that much as a character.

In particular, Peter has more or less been static in comparison to some of the characters with whom he shares the book, such as Ultimate Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben or Harry Osborn. Readers wouldn’t be completely wrong to have worried all this time about whether Peter will develop more or why other characters have been more dynamic, though, and Hickman addresses this plainly with a mild tease:

“You know, why is this Spider-Man book seemingly about all these characters changing around him while he’s being the universal constant of Spider-Man? We’ll find out.”

Ultimate Spider-Man Has One Issue Left To Provide Closure

Will ‘One Last Day’ be enough?

It’s exciting to know that there are plans for the conclusion of Ultimate Spider-Man that will hopefully make sense of the narrative direction the book has taken. That said, even with Ultimate Spider-Man’s final issue delay pushing that conclusion to February, there is only this singular, last issue for a semblance of closure.

Not just for Peter, either, but for all the characters who’ve become so paramount to the book. Ultimate Spider-Man’s 24-issue run is arguably an abrupt and short one, not to mention how beloved it is and how successfully it rejuvenated the character, and it will be interesting to see how all its interpersonal relationships culminate.