Marvel Comics launched a new Ultimate Spider-Man #1 today and the series offers a very different take on the wall-crawler than what we've seen on both Earth-616 and Earth-1610 (the original Ultimate Universe).
A duplicate of Earth-616, this reality was corrupted by The Maker when he set out to stop the world's superheroes from ever being created. He later formed a secret council to rule the world from the shadows and when Tony Stark became Iron Lad and decided to bring the heroes back, The Maker's Council blew his headquarters up and framed the time-traveller for the death of thousands.
Among them were Aunt May, Norman Osborn, and Emily Osborn. However, in this reality, the 35-year-old Peter was never bitten by a radioactive spider and works at The Daily Bugle...alongside his Uncle Ben!
Yes, Ben Parker never died in this reality and is, in fact, good friends with J. Jonah Jameson. They both quit their jobs when The Kingpin takes over the board and decides to shift the spotlight away from what really happened during the attack (it's likely Fisk is also part of The Maker's Council).
That's not the only big change; Matt Murdock is now a Priest and Peter and Harry Osborn have only met a couple of times and aren't even friends.
Growing increasingly dissatisfied with his life, Peter talks to Mary Jane - who he's married to and has two children, Richard and May, with - and decides it's time to make a change.
We return to the previous night and learn Peter received a message and package from Iron Lad which were sent to him from six months in the future. Tony tell Peter he was supposed to be one of the world's greatest superheroes and reveals that, in six months, he will return and hopes to see Spider-Man and more restored heroes alongside him to "free the world."
Peter opens the orb sent to him; inside is the spider that was meant to bite him and a "picotech stealth suit" which looks an awful lot like a Symbiote. He realises he wants the life he lost, lets the spider bite him, and then suits up; with that, the world has regained Spider-Man!
It's one heck of a cliffhanger and we'll have to wait until next month's Ultimate Spider-Man #2 to see where this story goes next. It's a bold new take on the web-slinger, that's for sure, and one which promises an exciting new status quo for Peter Parker on the page moving forward.