Summary

• In Ultimate Spider-Man #2, newly empowered Peter Parker faces his first major tests as a hero, and at home, as he faces his first villain, and inadvertently reveals his secret identity.
• May Parker discovers her father is Spider-Man, creating an emotional bond and providing a new dynamic to their relationship, mirroring that of Peter and Aunt May from the original continuity.
• The new Ultimate Marvel's Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man as an adult, creating a unique remix of the usual complications that come with keeping his identity secret and trying to juggle a personal life with his heroic career.

Warning: Contains spoilers for Ultimate Spider-Man #2 (2024)

After marrying Mary Jane Watson and having two children, the new Ultimate Marvel's Peter Parker just became Spider-Man a few decades later than usual. This, of course, raises a few complications in keeping his identity a secret. Now, in only the series' second issue, the new Spider-Man has already revealed his secret to one person — and it's not who anyone expected.

Ultimate Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #2 – by Jonathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto, Matthew Wilson, and Cory Petit – picks up several weeks into Peter Parker's new life as Spider-Man. In the issue, Peter has his first confrontation with a powered villain: the Shocker.

After getting tricked by Shocker, Peter returns to his apartment, where he eats ice cream in his kitchen while still wearing his black costume. As he processes his first supervillain battle, however, he is caught by his daughter, May Parker, who is the first to discover that her father is actually New York's newest (still unnamed) vigilante, Spider-Man.

May Parker Knows Her Dad Is Spider-Man

Young May Parker learning Peter's double identity provides an emotional crux for Ultimate Spider-Man #2, as readers get to see their relationship develop through this shared secret.

The newest edition of Ultimate Spider-Man shows Peter Parker decades after the Maker prevented him from becoming Spider-Man as part of his plot to mold a new Ultimate Universe. This change led to multiple differences in this world: Peter and MJ are married, with two children. Uncle Ben is still alive, while Aunt May died in a terrorist attack perpetrated by Tony Stark's Iron Lad that Peter was meant to be something more than he is, the older Parker accepts his destiny, letting a radioactive spider bite him and grant him powers.

Ultimate Spider-Man #2 picks up weeks into Peter's superhero career, as he struggles adjusting to his new normal. Without a superhero name, or a good handle on his powers, he has yet to tell Mary Jane his secret identity; as he tells May, "I'd planned on telling her, but not just yet." By finding out that her father is Spider-Man, May is now the first person – outside of superpowered individuals like Iron Lad and the Maker – to learn about Peter's double life. For now, Peter says, he wants the secret to stay between the two of them.

Ultimate May Parker Is The Perfect Confident For Her Heroic Father

While the masked vigilante scared May at the beginning of the issue, she eventually is the one to convince Peter to continue being Spider-Man, even giving her father the idea for his costume colors – and, potentially, his superhero name.

Young May Parker learning Peter's double identity provides an emotional crux for Ultimate Spider-Man #2, as readers get to see their relationship develop through this shared secret. While the masked vigilante scared May at the beginning of the issue, she eventually is the one to convince Peter to continue being Spider-Man, even giving her father the idea for his costume colors – and, potentially, his superhero name. It is a wholesome relationship, one that capitalizes on what's most exciting about this new take on Spider-Man. Unlike the Spider-Man of Earth-616, Ultimate Marvel's Peter Parker is, first and foremost, a family man.

Ultimate Spider-Man #2 (2024) is available now from Marvel Comics.