Ultimate Spider-Man



Ultimate Spider-Man, part of the Ultimate Marvel line, is a retelling of the original Spider-Man comic written by Brian Bendis and drawn, originally, by Mark Bagley and later by Stuart Immonen. The Bendis and Bagley collaboration, which lasted for 111 issues, holds the record for longest continual run on a Marvel Comics series by two people.

Was known as Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man after a six-month timeskip following Ultimatum until the comic reached its 150th issue (counting both pre- and post-Ultimatum issues), and is now back to its original numbering and naming format. The original series, under either name, lasted for 160 issues, from November 2000 to August 2011.

There's also the 2005 tie-in game, which introduced Ultimate Beetle & was marketed as being in continuity with the series; this has since been the subject of Canon Discontinuity, with several events in the game later being adapted to the comics, and others officially never taking place. And on the subject of video games, Ultimate Spidey also made an appearance in 2010's Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions as one of the four playable characters (On home consoles).

Not to be confused with the Ultimate Spider-Man animated show, which has a different premise; though as with most Marvel adaptions it does have some Ultimate Universe elements incorporated into it.

'''Please Note: Due to the comic changing main characters at the end of Volume 2, tropes for the first two volumes of the title are separate from tropes for the third volume. As such, all tropes relating to the second Spider-Man will be collected under the tropes for Volume 3, and spoilers relating to the end of Volume 2 will be unmarked in that section.'''

Volumes 1 & 2
"Peter: Huh. I thought he had super powers or something. Showbiz phony."
 * Acquired Situational Narcissism: Immediately after getting bit by the spider, Peter is a jerk. It doesn't last long.
 * Adaptation Distillation: On occasion, especially the Clone Saga.
 * Alliterative Name: The same ones carry over from the original comics: Peter Parker, Betty Brant, Otto Octavius, "Robbie" Robertson, and, at the top, J Jonah Jameson.
 * All of the Other Reindeer
 * All There in the Manual: The short-lived Ultimate Marvel Team-Up and the Ultimate Spider-Man Super Special that closed out the series contained Ultimate Spidey's first run-ins with the Lizard, Black Widow, Blade, Daredevil, and Man-Thing (though the Blade encounter did get revisited in the "Morbius" arc). The Special also wrapped-up the class assignment subplot seen in the inital Doctor Octopus/Kraven arc of the main Ultimate Spider-Man series.
 * Animal Motifs: It's the same rogues' gallery.
 * Anticlimax Boss: Kraven the Hunter. He's built up as a highly skilled warrior who decided to take down Spider-Man. Peter isn't even remotely interested in fighting him (he'd just beaten Doctor Octopus at the time) but when Kraven insists, Peter simply dodges a few times then knocks him out with a single blow.

"Johnny: (to Peter and Kitty) Oh wait, and you two used to...
 * Arch Enemy: Norman Osborn, Kingpin, Dr. Octopus, Mysterio.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Notable in the Venom arc, when Eddie Brock's former roommate lists off the reasons why he hates him; he always lies, he freaks out when girls reject him, and he gets Cheetos crumbs on everything.
 * Art Shift: The switch from Bagley to Immonen was noticeable, but no so jarring that it was untenable since the basic premise art-style and coloring remained the same. The subsequent shift from Immonen's more realistic style to Lafuente's more cartoonish style was far more jarring.
 * The series is notable for averting this trope for several years. The series holds the record for longest consistent creative team on a Marvel comic.
 * Author Appeal: Kitty Pryde's main reason for becoming a main character in the comic is because Bendis always liked the character and had a crush on her as a kid. Might overlap with Creator's Pet, but mileage varies.
 * Axes At School: When Gwen first sees Peter getting bullied by Flash and Kong, she pulls a knife on the two.
 * Badass Bookworm: Peter Parker
 * Beat Panel: Used regularly (Decompressed Comic and all that), but possibly most amusing in 118:



Johnny: And now you're-- And she's--



Johnny: Oh."

"Jean: Until now...
 * Another brilliant instance is when Jean Grey tells Peter he's the first guy in months not to immediately picture her naked.

Peter: Sorry.

Jean: Are you done?



Peter: I'm done.



Peter: Okay, now I'm done.



Peter: Okay, now."

"Gwen: Who the hell are all these skanks?"
 * Betty and Veronica: More like a pair of Betty and Veronica balls. At any given moment beyond a certain point, Peter will be torn between two of the following: Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, Black Cat and Kitty Pryde. Though who plays what role and to what extent there is an actual Betty and Veronica role is thoroughly explored and played with, this trope sees a lot of general use throughout.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: More so than in the original series!
 * Big Damn Heroes: The Fantastic Four in the Clone Saga.
 * "The Death of Spider-Man". One question - Does have to shoot a punk?
 * Big Eater: Peter of all people. He has been shown several times cramming his face with food, and even mentions that it's most likely because of becoming Spider-Man that it happened.
 * Big No: Peter gives a big one on the last page of #125 when
 * Biting the Hand Humor: the Freaky Friday Flip mini-arc has a pretty funny front with Bendis making the Editor's assistant apologize for it...and then say bendi's spelling was perfect.
 * Blessed with Suck:
 * Book Ends:
 * Body Horror: Venom.
 * Carnage arguably counts as well.
 * You know how Deadpool wears the mask? He wears it for a good reason. After being turned into a cyborg, his face has no skin and muscle and his brain is exposed. The human shape of his face from under the mask comes from a thin, but tough dome around his head.
 * Boring Failure Hero: So far averted. Most notably after Ultimatum Wave, where Jameson sees Spider-Man swing into the worst of the disaster to save civilians, presumes him dead, and prints an issue actually admitting that Spidey is a hero. While outraged when it turns out Spider-Man isn't dead, the reputation boost has stuck so far. Case in point; one issue has Spidey be caught by guards that were just knocked out by Mysterio in a thwarted attempt to rob a gold shipment. In his mainstream universe, they would have immediately leapt to the conclusion he was the one responsible and his reputation would have suffered yet-another-low. Here? The next panel is a newspaper article showing that they actually heard him out and believed him.
 * And then someone stole his Spider-Man identity and created chaos all over the city, so he's back to this again.
 * Perhaps not. After  the Chameleon   shoots Jameson in the head, Spider-Man struggles to save JJJ's life, revealing his secret identity to him in the process. In hospital, Jameson tells his reporters that he knows who Spider-Man is... but he's not going to reveal his identity, as Spidey has convinced him that he truly is a hero. Instead, he swears to put out the truth -- that the "evil Spider-man" who caused chaos all over the city was actually an imposter -- and vows that he will use his newspaper to help Spider-Man.
 * Bounty Hunter: Silver Sable and her crew. Silver Sable's father was a Nazi Hunter.
 * Breather Issue: USM #65-71, which followed the Carnage arc. The first issue dealt with featured Peter and the rest of the Six-Student Clique reacting to ; and the six issues that followed served as a breather arc before the Hobgoblin arc, and featured the first meeting of Spider-Man & the Human Torch.
 * The Death of a Goblin arc, featuring was followed by the lighter Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends arc.
 * Broken Bird: Gwen Stacy and later Kitty Pryde.
 * Building Swing
 * Butt Monkey: Formerly the Shocker, but it seems this will cease after a recent issue.
 * The Enforcers also frequently get owned. Special mention to Fancy Dan for getting owned the same way every time.
 * To a lesser degree, Kraven is also relegated to this role, to the point that Spider-Man goes out of his way to call him the most embarrassing foe he's ever faced. The other bad guys even put him down to his face and make it clear they're being generous just letting him hang around.
 * Canon Discontinuity: The game was originally planned to tie in to the comic directly, but was almost completely overwritten by the 'War of the Symbiotes' arc. Still not a bad game, though.
 * Kitty Pryde makes a big deal out of meeting Spider-Man for the first time in the Irresponsible arc. At this point, she is an established member of the X-Men. However, one of the first issues of Ultimate X-Men after she joins shows her accompanying the X-Men to save Wolverine from a group of decommissioned Weapon X soldiers. Spider-Man is the one who made the distress call and is there when she arrives.
 * Nick Fury's temporary disappearance to another dimension does not seem to occur at a consistent point in the timeline either.
 * These are both forgivable though, since they are continuity issues brought about by tie-ins rather than the individual series itself. For example, Ultimate Power takes place after the Clone Saga but features.
 * Catgirl: Black Cat had a brief run as a major character.
 * Character Development: Elektra seems to have mellowed a bit between her first and second appearances. She actually smiles. Multiple times.
 * Chekhov's Gun: The Oz serum - no-one is quite sure of the extent of its capabilities, but Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus and all three Goblins gain their powers from some sort of application of it. Keep in mind that whilst the Peter got his powers from a spider used in Oz testing and has only displayed the traditional Spider-Man powers thus far,, and . As of the time of this entry, ; but when Peter talks to SHIELD about the necessity to keep the Osborns imprisoned after , and is told outright that
 * Justified in the case of the supposed cure.
 * Chick Magnet: Possibly Peter. At one point he runs through a short list of the hot girls he's met through being Spider-Man.

"Lori: We're the Bombshells and we're about to @#$@# your !$@$ so bad you won't be able to @% unless you have a tube and a @#$!"
 * Chronic Hero Syndrome: After, Peter decides to give up being Spider-Man because he feels he's not making any difference. This lasts less than a week when he comes to the immediate realization that he simply can't ignore people in distress, no matter what.
 * Cloning Blues: The Clone Saga, which features a total of five clones of Peter, one of which is female, and a . The latter two became major characters.
 * Cluster F-Bomb: The Bombshells are a mother/daughter supervillain pair who both (especially Lori the daughter) swear like marines. Peter constantly call them out on it. They are cute, though.
 * Cluster F-Bomb: The Bombshells are a mother/daughter supervillain pair who both (especially Lori the daughter) swear like marines. Peter constantly call them out on it. They are cute, though.

"Peter: God! You know why people hate you? It's not because you're mutants!! It's because you're all a bunch of @#$@#$ $@$%@ ##@$!! That's why!! You $^$%^ $%^$ $^$%^ $%#^% #$ $% ^#$%^ $%%^!!! AAAGGHHH! *swings off*
 * Peter also gets really pissed off with the X-Men after they finally undo a Freaky Friday Flip:

Colossus: Why am I an #$@#$@? I was just standing here."

"Spider-Man: Seriously, imagine if you took all this cool stuff you do and applied it to something that wasn't stupid."
 * Cool Big Sister: Ultimate Gwen Stacy comes across as this rather than a Love Interest.
 * Until she became the Love Interest.
 * Comes Great Responsibility
 * Come with Me If You Want to Live: Kitty Pryde even gets to say the line during the Ultimatum plotline.
 * Composite Character: Harry Osborn, who became the Green Goblin in the original series, becomes the Hobgoblin in Ultimate Spidey. Similarly, Spider-Woman takes the role of Ben Riley, who in this version is an older black man who helped make Peter's clones instead of being a clone himself. The Scorpion is also a clone.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: Aparently the real villains of the series, as pointed out by Shocker in his Motive Rant. Norman Osborn, Justin Hammer, Bolivar Trask and Donald Roxxon just for starters, although Roxxon comes across as more of an idot than outright evil.
 * Crossover: Not surprising considering it connected to the other Ultimate Marvel series. The usual show up: X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, The Ultimates, etc.
 * Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Averted this time- Norman WANTED to be recognised for his work in this version (he never had any crazy plans about taking over the criminal underworld) but there was just two problems with his plan to sell his super-soldier goblin formula to the government: a) his formula sucked and b) he was a psychotic murderer.
 * Lampshaded when Mysterio is introduced.

"Firestar/: I don't know what to do.
 * Peter actually does this quite often, thanks to taking the "Power and Responsibility" message very seriously. It's averted again when he tries it on Shocker Shocker, who IS actually a mechanical genius, tells Peter how he had a legitimate job at Roxxon Industries inventing powerful weapons, until they took his stuff and fired him.
 * Cute Bruiser:
 * Da Editor: Good ol' triple Jay.
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy: Captain DeWolfe, Kingpin, Hammerhead, Nick Furry, and Spider-Man himself all have shades of this.
 * Dating Catwoman: Black Cat has the hots for Spider-Man, until she finds out his age when he takes off the mask.
 * Bobby Drake spends most of the fight with the Serpent Squad hitting on the various members, but unfortunately because most serpents are cold-blooded creatures which need heat, meaning dating a man made of ice probably doesn't appeal.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Spidey, of course, and sometimes during his inner monologues, too!
 * The villains have their moments too. When he first met Vulture, Spidey commented that he wishes for a day when he can meet someone who doesn't try to kill him, to which Vulture casually replies "It's nice to have a dream."
 * Death by Origin Story: Guess.
 * Word of God states that.
 * Demoted to Extra: Flash Thompson plays a far less prominent role here than the mainstream universe.
 * Dirty Cop:
 * Distressed Damsel: Mary Jane, as always.
 * Inverted in issue #122: The Worst Day in Peter Parker's Life, where the Shocker manages to capture Spidey, so Mary and Kitty team up to save him.
 * Spidey actually gets kidnapped a lot throughout the entirety of USM. First by Doc Oc, then by silver Sable (twice by her if you count the game), there was an incident with Deadpool, once by the Kingpin, another time by the Six, and again by the Chameleon.
 * Don't You Dare Pity Me!: When Peter tells Shocker that he feels bad for him (sincerely, not in a joking "you suck" way) because he had no idea of what Shocker had gone through, he only suceeded in making him REALLY angry.
 * A similar trait has been reused more recently.
 * Dope Slap: From chapter 119, while talking to a certain fire-wielding character who's having a bad day:

Iceman: We could get some marshmallows.



Spider-Man: "

"Peter: Is he dead?
 * Dropped a Bridge on Him: 's death, so much so that Bendis.
 * Also who were not only killed off with casual disdain but whose deaths weren't even given more than a moment's acknowledgement.


 * Tsk. Yeah.

Peter: Oh man... this is so weird.


 * Oh my God... they both are.

Peter: This is weird. Well, let's go."

"Spidey: I thought I got revamped there for a second!"
 * That's not paraphrasing, that's the actual dialogue.
 * Also in Ultimate Comics #1,
 * Downer Ending: as of issue 160,
 * Embarrassing First Name: "I didn't know your name was Herman!"
 * Fan Disservice: Most of the villains have fought Peter in the nude (see below). Considering the fact that most of them are middle-aged men, this is some intense Fan Disservice. Not so much when Carnage was depowered in the middle of a fight and revealed to be a
 * YMMV Kraven, Norman Osborn, and Flint actually look attractive, the old Vulture looking Adrian Toome, the full body scarred Electro and Doc Ock on the other hand....
 * Evil Counterpart: In this universe, Eddie Brock's parents died in the same plane crash as Peter's parents. However, whilst Peter was raised by his Aunt May & Uncle Ben with the ideals that lead to him becoming Spider-Man, Eddie was less fortunate & his upbringing saw him become a Jerkass.
 * Fandom Nod: In Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, after much fan complaint over the way Lafuente drew Peter's hair, Bendis decided to write up a scene with Mary Jane, Kitty, and Gwen forcing Peter to get a haircut, using several arguments fans used to bash his hairstyle.
 * Fantastic Racism: Liz hates mutants, apparantally because her uncle was a mutant & he died..
 * The mutants suffer this, especially after Ultimatum. By the time Ultimate Comics picks up, mutants have effectively been forced to go into hiding, and Kitty is only allowed to continue attending Midtown High if she doesn't use her powers.
 * Figure It Out Yourself: Kong does this within the first 14 issues, in regards to Peter being Spider-Man. It's worth noting that he's the only person to figure out that Peter's Spider-Man, even though their entire class saw Peter get bitten by a spider they had just been told was part of an Oscorp experiment roughly a week before Spider-Man showed up.
 * Five-Bad Band: The Ultimate Six though never named in-story.
 * The Big Bad: Norman Osborn.
 * The Dragon: Electro, in terms of power and personality.
 * The Evil Genius: Doctor Octopus, who is The Dragon to Norman in terms of rank.
 * The Brute: Sandman, who has almost no lines and mostly attacks stuff. Shares this with Electro.
 * The Dark Chick: Kraven the Hunter, the weakest and most emotional of the group who only wants to kill Spider-Man.
 * Team Pet:
 * Sixth Ranger: The Vulture joins the group for The Death of Spider-Man
 * Freak Lab Accident: One occured in the first arc, when Norman tested the Oz serum on himself - Caught in the explosion was Otto Octavius.
 * Freak-Out: goes into a pretty epic one in chapter 10 of Ultimate Comics.
 * Freaky Friday Flip: Wolverine and Spidey. Apparently, Jean got so fed up with Wolvie hitting on her that she sent his brain to the place he least wanted to be. His brain picked Peter.
 * Freudian Excuse: Jonah's reasons for hating Spider-Man are much more believable, and much more tragic, in this version.
 * However Bendis has stated that he doesn't see Jonah as someone who 'hates' Spider-Man, rather he simply uses him and his inherent publicity to sell papers.
 * Full-Frontal Assault: Usually accidental or out of necessity. Examples include Sandman, who cannot turn his clothes into sand, Electro and Hobgoblin, who burn through their clothes, and the Green Goblin, who gets big enough to destroy his.
 * Funny Background Event: During Peter and Kitty's argument over the phone in the first issue of Ultimate Clone Saga, there's a panel where something (possibly intended to be someone on a lawn chair, although it's very indistinct) is floating outside Kitty's window on big orange balloons.
 * Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: Nick Fury pretty much outright says this during the Death of a Goblin arc.
 * This goes to the point that we discover that there's an entire section of S.H.I.E.L.D prison dedicated to containing "illegal genetic tampering", something which Spidey himself is considered (although, because he's a good guy, Fury plans to instead initiate him into the Ultimates when he comes of age, as opposed to arresting him). Another storyline had Dr. Conners drunkenly muse to Peter as to whether or not it's coincidence that so many people have screwed with their genetics and wound up evil from it.
 * Several characters also muse that maybe the sudden influx of super-powered insanity is a sign that something big is coming, like a harbinger of the apocalypse. It's first mentioned by Kong, who uses Ghostbusters as part of the analogy. Peter later quotes this.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom: Norman Osborn, during his transformation
 * Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!: Aunt May, in the Bagley era. In some issues, she appears to be the mid-fifties to early-sixties woman that she's supposed to be. In others, she's got slight age-lines around the corners of her mouth and is otherwise drawn like pretty much every woman in a superhero comic.
 * Happier Home Movie: The "Venom" arc starts with Peter finding & watching some old home movies, filmed before the deaths of his parents & Uncle Ben.
 * Heel Face Door Slam: How did  really think Osborn was going to react when he said they shouldn't go after Peter?
 * Hero Insurance: Yeah, Spidey doesn't have this.
 * Heroic BSOD
 * Heroic Bystander: Hollywood: A black stunt double in a Spider-Man costume brains Doc Ock with a camera.
 * Heroic BSOD
 * Heroic Bystander: Hollywood: A black stunt double in a Spider-Man costume brains Doc Ock with a camera.

"Peter: Well there's bad and there's bad... And I thought today was about as bad as bad could get... Then this happens. This is so me it's not even funny..."
 * Hilarious in Hindsight, of course.
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * He Who Must Not Be Seen: The Big Man, Frederick Foswell, never shows his face in the comic. It's usually shown partially shaded by his hat. When the hat comes off, he's immediately given a mask and killed.
 * High School AU: This version of Peter Parker has gone through most of the regular Spider-Man's Rogues Gallery... And he's still in high school. Not just still in high school, but still a couple years from graduating. It works.
 * Hopeless Suitor: Kitty Pryde in Ultimate Comics. Gwen Stacy.
 * An Ice Person: Iceman, who becomes a Transplant character from Ultimate X-Men early in Ultimate Comics.
 * Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: The Shocker, particularly after his big Motive Rant. To a lesser degree, the Hobgoblin (very sympathetic, but not really around enough for the perennial failure necessary to be this trope. Worth an honorable mention though).
 * It Got Worse: Describes Peter's life pretty well, lampshaded during Ultimatum:

"Spider-Man: What was your name again?
 * And after
 * Also the whole "Ultimate Chameleon" arc.
 * The series take on the Clone Saga felt like it had the unspoken goal of seeing just how much they could torture Peter. Mid-way through, while running from Nick Fury, he wonders why he doesn't lapse into a coma or something from the shock of it all happening in one night.
 * It's Always Spring: Except for when it was Fall. The characters are never shown on summer vacation.
 * Because its all set in about the same six months, yeah, Decompression at its finest.
 * Bendis stated when the series hit 100 issues that his intention was for 100 issues to equal roughly 1 year.
 * ~It's Not You, It's My Enemies~: Peter for this reason, exacerbated by the fact that  To an extent he's right, but he eventually realizes that.
 * Subverted, when he started dating Kitty & he tried to pull this on her - she pointed out that it's not a problem with her as she's one of the X-Men, and she can turn intangible.
 * Jerkass: Flash Thompson
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The Hulk. He may be "prone" to violent outbursts but he still has a soft side for kids.
 * Karma Houdini: Played with in the case of Kingpin. He flees the country after Peter gets hold of a video showing him committing murder and sends it to the authorities. After Ultimatum, however, the evidence is destroyed and Kingpin steps right back into his old position.
 * Killed Off for Real:
 * Last-Minute Hookup:
 * Averted,.
 * Like Brother and Sister: Gwen told MJ that she and Peter were like this
 * Love Dodecahedron: To the extent this becomes a full-blown one depends entirely on one fact: Does an  count as "him" for the purpose of scoring? If yes, that takes Peter's serious, persistent love interests almost to Ranma's levels. In fact, if just one more girl shows up, he'll have tied the pigtailed wonder.
 * And one more girl has indeed showed up : Lana Baumgartner,, new transfer student. Time will tell if she will really be a part of the equation, but things are off to a good start!
 * Male Gaze: Peter is standing in a lift next to Elektra and can't stop staring at her but glances away every time she looks at him.
 * Male Gaze: Peter is standing in a lift next to Elektra and can't stop staring at her but glances away every time she looks at him.

Elektra: Stop staring at them.

Spider-Man: What? No. What? I was--

Elektra: (Smirks, gives Aside Glance)"

"Spider-Man: Seriously, lizard girls? Serpent Crown? Now I gotta go home and wiki you. (That came out dirty.)"
 * Made of Iron: Moon Knight. The man gets and every time, he will not go down.
 * Mama Bear: Aunt May.
 * Meganekko: Mary Jane in Ultimate Comics.
 * Mentors: After issue #150 of Ultimate Comics, The Ultimates.
 * Cynical Mentor: Captain America
 * Big Brother Mentor/Cool Teacher: Iron Man
 * Mood Whiplash: Issue 9-10 of Ultimate Comics.
 * Mythology Gag: Richard Parker is drawn to resemble Peter from the mainstream universe.
 * Never Found the Body: Nick Fury tells Peter that this is one of the very few rules of the superhuman life after  disappears. Unsurprisingly, he's right.
 * Never Mess with Granny: May has a "chat" with Jameson, resulting his response to Peter being "You can have your job back, and please never make me talk to your aunt again." Subverted on attempting to threaten off Eddie with a hand cannon, who overpowered her.
 * Then played straight during when she 
 * New Transfer Student: Gwen. The Transplanted characters also transferred, but we met them before they did.
 * Also,
 * No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: The Kingpin does this when Spider-man swings by his building for no reason while contemplating his life. Electra shows up and invites him in... where Kingpin offers him pizza.
 * Spidey returns the favor later in the story arc when he shows up sitting across Kingpin at a fancy restaurant to talk. He ends the conversation by webbing Fisk's feet to the floor under the tablecloth.
 * No Dialogue Issue: USM #133, which
 * Not So Harmless: The Shocker, normally Peter's own personal Butt Monkey, gets a bit of his own back and shows he's not just an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain. He also gets quite a good Motive Rant in while he's at it.
 * Official Couple: Peter and MJ. Doesn't matter how many times they break up, this is telegraphed almost from the very beginning.
 * One Hit KO: Spider-Man's first fight with Kraven.
 * In The Death of Spider-Man, the Human Torch does this. To the Green Goblin.
 * Only Six Faces: Usually averted, but not always. Bagley's rendition of Sue Storm during the Ultimate Clone Saga looked identical to Gwen Stacy (particularly noticable as ). Even more noticeable was the way Immonen drew Jessica Drew WAY too close to Kitty Pryde- just look at the scene where Jessica glomps Kitty when they meet at the end of Ultimatum. If it wasn't for their costumes they'd be identical.
 * It isn't restricted solely to the girls either- during the beach scene in chapter 118 it's almost impossible to tell Johnny and Bobby apart (Immonen again). Fortunately this was rectified when they switched to Lafuente, who draws Bobby COMPLETELY differently.
 * The creepy eyeless girl in Moon Knight's visions looks an awful lot like Mary Jane.
 * Opposite Sex Clone:.
 * Out of Focus: In spite of being a rather memorable player in Spidey's Rogues Gallery in the main canon, Sandman only appears in one story arc of the Ultimate Books and barely has any lines. It's implied that the reason he doesn't talk much is due to some form of brain damage from his transformation.
 * Our Vampires Are Different: Averted when Morbius made his debut--unlike the classic incarnation, Morbius really is a traditional vampire in the Ultimate Universe. Oh and he's
 * Person of Mass Destruction: What OZ does... even the smartest people in the Ultimate Universe can't seem to figure out what it can do, let alone cure it. Originally developed as a way to create a Super Soldier, here are a few examples of what it has done in the series so far:
 * Gave Peter Parker his spider powers when a modified spider bit him.
 * Mutated Norman Osborn in the Green Goblin. He himself has evolved throughout the series, starting as a Hulk-lite who could throw fireballs, becoming aware of himself at a molecular level and displaying serious pyrokinetic abilities (destroying The Triskelion during his escape), and eventually coming back from the dead after getting his head blown clean off.
 * Created Doctor Octopus, who has hyper-sensitive vision (and serious scarring to go with it), could initially control his Tentacle Harness telepathically, and was eventually revealed to be much more powerful than that... being able to control metal with his thoughts.
 * Turned Harry Osborn into the Hobgoblin, whose aura was so hot he could melt bullets before they hit him. Not nearly as powerful as Norman,, presumably because he was only tainted with the drug.
 * Transformed  into the Demogoblin, who rampaged out of control for a while before seeing Peter snapped her out of it and she transformed back.   was supposedly cured. For now.
 * Police Are Useless: Played with and lampshaded heavily, especially in the final quarter of the the series.
 * Poor Communication Kills: During the first encounter between Peter and Jessica Drew, Peter is already angry, stressed and confused and Jessica just makes cryptic, confusing, provocative and generally useless comments. Then when Peter attacks her (quite justifiably under the circumstances) she accidentally knocks him out and leaves him buried under a pile of rubble. I'm sorry, didn't she come here to help him?
 * She herself was pretty confused, given that she had come into existence not long before and still was struggling with the fact that she was a girl and not Peter himself.
 * Put on a Bus: Liz was put on a bus to.
 * In Ultimate Comics, were put on a bus, but then  got a return trip whilst  got one to Wisconsin.
 * Psycho Serum: OZ, Norman Osborn's chemical cocktail seems to be able to do anything. Only those who absorbed the stuff through another medium (the modified spider that bit Peter, the explosion that turned Otto Octavius into Doc Ock) seem to escape the insanity that it inflicts.
 * Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Enforcers usually seem to fill this role.
 * Race Lift: Aside from characters such as Nick Fury, who are mainly tied to other titles, notable Race Lifts include Ox of the Enforcers, etc..
 * Real Life Writes the Plot: Somewhat and rather humorously for the Hollywood arc. Which is set during the during the filming of Spider-Man 2 and even uses the people who worked on the movie (Tobey Maguire, Sam Raimi). The real life equivalent of which had came out not too long ago that year. Say the least, the real Spider-Man isn't pleased when he finds out.
 * Although he's mostly annoyed that he can't get royalties from the movie, at least not without telling them his real-life identity.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: following the Symbiote War arc.
 * Redemption Equals Death:
 * Retcon: When the Blade encounter from the Ultimate Spider-Man Super Special one-shot got revisited in the "Morbius" arc, Blade was clean-shaven, wearing a movie-inspired outfit, and said his name. In the original special, Blade had a beard, an outfit that was a cross between the movie and original comics outfits, and never told Spidey his name when he threatened him.
 * Running Gag: Pretty much any time we see the inside of a police station, there's a girl (sometimes two) in a wacky superhero costume being taken away, usually shouting some kind of revolutionary slogan. These are regularly Shout Outs to big events outside the Ultimate Universe, like a 616-Scarlet Witch screaming "I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy!" at the time of House of M, or a big lady with a Flash costume screaming "I was reborn! Rebirthed!" for the Flash Rebirth story at DC.
 * Sadist Teacher: Captain America, in his first lesson to Peter, decided to give Peter "The Reason You Suck" Speech at a graveyard because he thinks Peter doesn't appreciate life and thinks Peter is too reckless.
 * Science Is Bad: Played with; in keeping with the central theme of Spider-Man, it is shown that it is very easy and very bad to be irresponsible with science.
 * Secret Keeper: Loads of them, from the obvious (MJ, Aunt May, Gwen Stacy) to other superheroes (Bobby Drake, Johnny Storm, Kitty Pride) to some surprising curveballs (Kenny and  of all people).
 * Send in the Clones: The Clone Saga, 'natch.
 * Which thankfully was handled much better here then the original series.
 * For one thing, rather than running for several years, it was tied up in less than 10 issues.
 * And for another, they make it pretty clear who the clones are.
 * Shipper on Deck: (The original) Gwen Stacy for Peter and MJ.
 * Shout-Out: Samuel L. Jackson is Nick Fury. No, seriously, Samuel L. Jackson is Nick Fury.
 * One volume of the comic is called "And His Amazing Friends" and prominently features Spider-Man, Iceman, and  as Firestar.
 * When the army tries to arrest the Hulk, Spider-Man warns them that they won't like him when he's angry.
 * In an early comic, MJ has an Angel poster. Which one is the fan, the artist or the writer? We have no clue.
 * On the first page of issue 2, Peter's history teacher recites a nearly word-for-word rendition of the Ben Stein scene in Ferris Buellers Day Off.
 * In issue 3 when Peter gets his super hero name from the wrestling announcer after winning the title he calls him "The Amazing Spider Man" and "The Spectacular Spider-Man"
 * In Issue 154, when told that thinking of anything could destroy the surrounding area, Spidey asks what happens if he thinks of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
 * Stealth Pun: There are plenty of them, but the absolute stealthiest and best is that, unlike in the 616 universe, Peter gets a job at the Bugle as a web designer.
 * Stock Superhero Day Jobs: Discussed in a conversation between Peter and after he learns Peter's identity & ; Peter remarks that, he needs a job that he can step away from at a moments notice so he can go be Spider-Man.
 * Super-Hero School: Peter has to go to this after he gets out of school. His teachers? Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man.
 * Super Serum: Oz, Norman Osborn's attempt at creating a replacement for the long-lost Super Soldier serum that created Captain America.
 * That Came Out Wrong: When Peter, Bobby & Johnny fought the Serpent Squad

"Peter: Those are all of the hot girls that I know.
 * There was also the time when Johnny said he'd just made out with a hot girl that Peter knew as Spider-Man, and Peter listed all of the girls he'd met as Spidey.

[Gwen punches Peter in the arm]

Peter: That I'm not dating and in love with."

"Peter:"
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Peter delivers a rather poignant one in issue #65, about why Flash is likely going to be a horrible person as an adult. Subverted, in that Flash doesn't actually hear it and it comes as a result of Kong trying to defend Flash's Jerkass tendancies again.
 * Captain America delivers one to Peter in issue #156, calling him out for acting like an immature teenager instead of a soldier & behaving irresponsibly. Whilst Cap has a point based on his own experiences with Peter, Peter is also justifiably insulted and asks if Cap's now "going say something more insulting?". Of course,.
 * In issue #160, Peter delivers one to

"Peter: You knew and you didn't tell me??!!
 * They Would Cut You Up: Defied. Spidey initially assumes this is what Nick Fury is talking about when he says that he's not going to do anything to him while he's still a kid, telling him to enjoy his solo time before he's 18. Peter takes this as a warning that he'll be imprisoned or experimented on when he comes of age, and berates Fury for this. Fury cuts him off, saying what he actually meant is that when Parker turns 18, he's going to be allowed to officially join the Ultimates as a peer and work alongside the other established heroes.
 * This Is Sparta: Some quotes in the series have examples of this trope.
 * Those Two Guys: In Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, Bobby and Johnny skirt this trope. They would very likely BE this trope if they weren't Iceman and the Human Torch. Even still, thanks to the fact they're trying to keep a secret identity, they don't get nearly as much panel time as Kitty, Gwen, or Mary Jane. In nine issues, they've helped with a grand total of one fight.
 * Time Skip: The recent six months transition from Ultimate Spider-Man to Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man.
 * Tranquillizer Dart: Played straight in the video game when Silver Sable tries to kidnap Peter Parker by knocking him out with a couple of tranquilizer darts... for a few minutes anyway. Then his enhanced metabolism kicks in allowing him to wake up earlier than he was supposed to and resist all subsequent shots. Cue boss battle where he has to fight off both Silver Sable and her mercenaries while trying not to succumb to the effects of the tranquilizers in his system.
 * Trailers Always Spoil: As far back as the letters page of issue 50, Bendis stated that Gwen Stacy would become Carnage. However, he said it in a way that would make people think he was joking.
 * As noted on the page for "The Clone Saga" in relation to his Ultimate Universe incarnation, the solicitation for #104 included its cover--revealing that the Big Bad of the arc was Doctor Octopus.
 * Transplant: Kitty Pryde from Ultimate X-Men. After Ultimatum canceled everyone else's series, the Parkers also took in Iceman and Human Torch.
 * Trial Balloon Question
 * The Voiceless: Rhino never talks in his few appearances.
 * He does speak in the game, though. Not that anyone can understand what he says...
 * "Taseros fatores! Tizeroz phatorez! Teseroz fatoris!"
 * One line in the game was definitely "I must abscond from this locus" or, in layman's terms, "get away from this place".
 * Tonight Someone Dies: "The Death of Spider-Man".
 * Too Dumb to Live: For a while, Mary Jane appeared as if she was desperatly trying to fall under this, as she completely ignored Peter's warnings to stay away from Harry Osborn & was stunned when Peter broke up with her after this led to her nearly being killed by the Hobgoblin shortly after.
 * Triang Relations: Type Four, with an added, extra suitor in Kitty Pryde, who would form a D to Peter's A. At certain points through the comic's run, the reciprocation Peter displays does switch based on events, but he's Genre Savvy or simply smart enough to realize a Type Seven would be a bad idea.
 * So let's just make sure we've got this straight: Peter wants, alternatively, Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, and Kitty Pryde, but can't be with them because they're already in a relationship with each other?
 * True Companions: By the start of ''The Death Of Spider-Man, Peter has managed to get some consisting of Mary Jane, Gwen, Kitty, Johnny & Bobby.
 * The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Taken to it's extreme, with.
 * Two Words: Obvious Trope: In the first issue of the Clone Sage, after the ending of a phone fight over whether or not Peter was still in love with Mary Jane, Kitty mutters to herself "Two simple words - 'No, I'm not in love with her.' That's all it would have taken."
 * Ultimate Universe: Well, duh - it's in the title. Bonus points, however, for the series being the first entry in the trope naming universe.
 * Unrelated Cousins: After joining the cast & moving in with the Parkers, Johnny Storm & Bobby Drake assumed the identies of Peter's cousins Johnny & Bobby Parker, as the public knew Johnny & Bobby were the Human Torch & Iceman, and having the two of them live with Peter would raise questions about just why all these superheroes were hanging around & living with Peter Parker.
 * Unwanted Harem: Played with quite a bit. At any given moment soon after Black Cat shows up, Ultimate Spidey has at least two love interests. The play comes from the fact that Peter generally resolves the issues quickly and decisively. Of course, the new Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man might be playing this straight with the byplay between Mary Jane, Gwen, Kitty, and Peter. Hilariously lampshaded in Ultimate Comics by Flash Thompson: "What, you two are fighting over HIM?"
 * Victory by Endurance: This is how Norman Osborn
 * Wall of Text: Some of the stories, especially the Annuals can be quite wordy.
 * Wham! Episode: USM #4, which ends on the death of Uncle Ben & likewise, USM #62, which.
 * USM #98-100, in the middle of the cliffhanger. #99 in particular had about five back-to-back cliffhangers, culminating in
 * How Whammy was the Ultimate Clone Saga? The HSQ for this arc was through the roof.
 * Ultimate Origins reveals . However, as it had previously been established that, this means that.
 * Issue #160.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Peter & Aunt May get to simultaneously pull this on each other during the Clone Saga.

Aunt May: You're and you didn't tell me.

Peter: You knew and you didn't tell me!!!"

"Mary Jane: Where do you know Yiddish all of a sudden?
 * Whip It Good: Montana
 * Who Would Want to Watch Us?: The Hollywood arc, tying in with Spider-Man 2 (complete with Sam, Avi and Tobey). Peter goes to the set to give them a piece of his mind, only to learn that they don't have to pay him since he's a public entity and he refuses to reveal his identity; they even film him using his powers so they can work it into the film for nothing. When Doc Ock attacks the set, the ensuing fight also gets worked into the movie.
 * Would Hit a Girl: Although rare, when Spidey gets into a fight with a female villain, he doesn't seem to have any reservations about hitting them. Then again these are women with super powers.
 * Yank the Dog's Chain: Things are looking up in Peter's life. He's well liked by the general public for once and no longer viewed as a criminal. He's getting official superhero training to prepare him for a life of government sanctioned celebrity level superheroism. He's been guaranteed a high paying job at Stark Industries. JJ knows he's Spider-Man and not only gives him his old job back but also gives him a payraise, an infinite get-out-of-jail free card that let him ditch work to be Spider-Man, and free college tuition should he survive long enough to go to college. Peter even gets his old girlfriend back as a cherry on top.
 * Yiddish as a Second Language: Lampshaded.

Peter: I picked it up.

Mary Jane: You should put it back."

"Hoodie One: What's with your costume? (referencing how he only has a mask and gloves on, the rest of the suit having been destroyed the previous issue)
 * You Fight Like a Cow: It's a teenaged Spider-Man. Of course this trope applies. After the Human Torch & Iceman joined the cast, this trope applied to them as well.
 * You Killed My Father: believes this of Spider-Man for a long time, even when it was obviously not true.
 * Your Mom: Peter once used one of these when he was confronting a gang of street hoodlums, then immediately lampshaded the fact that humour of that kind was normally beneath him.

Spider-Man: Your mom's washing it for me.

Hoodie Two: DAAYUUM!

Hoodie One: IZZAT HOW IT'S GONNA BE!? (attacks Spider-Man)"

Volume 3
"Spider-Man: You're not going to believe this... I almost wore that exact same outfit today.
 * Affirmative Action Legacy: The new Spider-Man is a half-Black/half Hispanic teen named Miles Morales.
 * And Now for Someone Completely Different
 * Alliterative Name: In true Spider-Man tradition, Miles Morales.
 * Arc Number: The Spider that bit miles was 42. The number that had Miles name on it in the lottery was 42. Likely a reference to Jackie Robinson who wore the number 42.
 * Brand X: Viewtube!
 * Call Back: As with the first issue of the original Ultimate Spider-Man series, the first scene in this relaunched series features Norman Osborn relating the Greek myth of Arachne to an underling.
 * Canon Foreigner: Miles does not have a counterpart in the regular Marvel Universe.
 * Cain and Abel: the Prowler and Spider-Man, uncle and nephew, have this dynamic. Their first meeting in their costumes leads to a violent clash, and the Prowler soon blackmails Spider-Man into bending his moral code. Needless to say, the tension between the two is quickly ascending to full-on estrangement.
 * Changing of the Guard: The shift is awkward and jarring for many characters, but Miles is slowly earning his place as a hero and successor.
 * Covers Always Lie: It's getting pretty egregious--the first five issues showed Miles in an outfit he had yet to recieve, the sixth had an alternative cover that showed an unmasked Peter Parker being Spider-Man, and the eighth and ninth issue covers showed events that did not in any way occur within those issues, nor have they occured at all before the eleventh issue.
 * Crossover: Miles will eventually meet the original Spider-Man in the upcoming Spider-Men crossover.
 * This borders on Harsher in Hindsight (and a little bit hilarious), since Miles always wanted to meet Peter. He does, just not the one who he expected.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Though Miles is in no way the supreme snarker that Peter Parker was, he is learning, and like Peter can be rather sarcastic in his inner monologues. In issue #07, he gets in a couple of battle quips during his battle with Omega Red, even mentally scolding herself for how bad they are, and Omega Red actually takes one of the quips as a sign that it's the same Spider-Man:

Omega Red: You used that line last time! I knew you weren't really dead!

Spider-Man: I did? *inner monologue* He did. Crazy."

"Rio: Hey...I love you.
 * Definitely in the blood. After Miles mopes through dinner:

Miles: Love you too, mom.

Jefferson: Congratulations, it's a teenager."

"Ganke: Oh my god, what time did you get in last night?
 * Death Glare: One of the residential staff in Miles' dorm gives Miles an insanely evil one for a non-villainous side-character (Miles had just sneaked around the RA and into his dorm without the RA noticing). It doesn't help that he's randomly got striking hazel eyes.
 * Evil Versus Evil: There is much more enmity between The Prowler and The Scorpion than between either and Spider-Man.
 * Fantastic Racism: Although every Marvel continuity contains at least some degree of prejudice towards Mutants, this 'verse being no exception, special mention has to go to the fact that Miles' Dad openly expresses his prejudice towards mutants. Suddenly Miles' hesitance at openly using his powers make a lot of sense...
 * Fat Best Friend: Ganke.
 * I Let Spider-Man Die: Part of the reason why Miles became Spider-Man is that he feels that his inaction when he received his powers caused Peter's death. In his mind, if he decided to meet Peter, maybe he could have saved him or at least helped him.
 * Heroic BSOD: Miles has one once his uncle The Prowler begins blackmailing him.

Miles walks away

Ganke: Dude?

Miles keeps walking

Ganke: Aw, dude."

"The Ringer captures Spider-Man in his rings
 * Idiot Ball/Distress Ball: Got tossed around a bit in the 5th issue, when Electro awakes. Iron Man tried to take him head-on, but had...some logical weaknesses. Hawkeye, likewise didn't have any plan B after "put an arrow into it" (a distraction in the first place). Spider-Woman, presumably not being experienced with Electro, just pounces on him and gets electrocuted for her efforts. Nick Fury and co. do get him pinned down, despite him being Immune to Bullets. But the absolute Emperor of this trope has to be the hospital nurse who gave Electro 10ccs of anesthetic instead of 100ccs as prescribed.
 * Irony/Dramatic Irony: The Prowler, Spider-Man's uncle, learns that it is his fault that Miles was bitten by the super spider. The Prowler then manipulates Miles into working with him, justifying it with the idea that they have a "responsibility" towards each-other. Anyone who knows anything about Spider-Man's origins can see how this is going...places where it shouldn't be going.
 * Jerkass: A recurring theme, it seems. They're everywhere; Uncle Aaron, Captain Quaid, Mile's dorm RC, Spider-Woman (though she has a reason)...
 * Legacy Character
 * Oh Crap: Multiple characters when they see the new Spider-Man, and even more when some of them conclude he's the same as the old one. The Prowler has a magnificent one in issue #9 as he gradually learns just how powerful the Scorpion is.
 * Poke the Poodle:

Spider-Man:(immobilized) Ggnn!!

The Ringer: Come on!! Come on!

The Ringer sends out an explosive torrent of rings at Spider-Man

Spider-Man: I can't!

The Ringer's rings flail around and bounce harmlessly off Spider-Man

Spider-Man: I really can't!! Hello!!"

"Spider-Man is immobilized
 * Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Non fatal example:

The Ringer: Everyone will respect me now.

Spider-Man: Not in that outfit.

SMACK"

"Spider-Man: Okay. Guy's crazy.
 * Put on a Bus: Kitty Pride, Johnny Storm & Bobby Drake all left the title following The Death of Spider-Man and joined the new X-Men team.
 * Aunt May & Gwen Stacy moved to France, to get away from the press hounding them in the final issue of Ultimate Fallout. It was mentioned however that they would return to the book.
 * Refusal of the Call: Despite his best friend's encouragement, and unlike Peter, Miles is far from happy with getting powers. Due to the fact that he knows that with great power comes giant killer robots, an arch enermy and if what happened to Peter is any indicator, before he hits twenty...
 * Running Gag: The repeated "That costume is in really bad taste." comments during Miles' first appearance.
 * Shout-Out: There's a STRONG resemblance in Miles' first Spider suit and the look of the costume from the new movie (other than the loose-fitting gloves and boots.) His official costume resembles a reworked version of Alex Ross' design.
 * Superpower Lottery: Miles has all the abilities that Peter had, plus a camouflage ability and a very handy "Venom Strike", which is essentially a debilitating stun that works through touch, meaning he can use it while, say, punching. It would probably be a lifesaver for any other version of Spider-man, but Miles is absolutely tiny at only 13 years old, so these new powers make up for his size and inexperience. There's also the fact that Miles doesn't have web-shooters and, according to the writer, his Spider-Sense is weaker then Peter's.
 * Taking Up the Mantle
 * Too Soon/What the Hell, Hero?: Miles is hit with this in his first appearance as bystanders start calling him out for the bad taste in running around in a copy of Spider-Man's costume so soon after his death. Jessica Drew, Nick Fury, Tony Stark and Hawkeye giving him the exact same treatment.
 * Twofer Token Minority: Miles is half-Black/half-Hispanic.
 * Villain Takes an Interest: The Prowler (Aaron Davis, Miles' uncle) finds out who Spider-Man really is, and very quickly starts to train him in the name of "responsibility". However, it's pretty obvious from his blackmailing Miles into it and his having pissed off the very dangerous Scorpion, that the Prowler wants to use Spider-Man as a super-powered meat-shield.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Upon defeating Omega-Red, there's a panel of Miles punching the sky in victory. Everyone around is just totally disgruntled, picking up hats and broken stuff, ignoring him.
 * When All You Have Is a Hammer:

The Ringer: YOU WILL NOT TOUCH ME!

Spider-Man: All I need to do is smack the crazy off his face and this is--uh-oh."


 * You Can't Fight Fate: The editors mention numerous times on the letter pages that the appearance of Web-Shooters is predestined and unavoidable.