Ultimate Spider-Man Is Recreating a Classic Marvel Romance Without Peter Parker

Marvel's other Ultimate Spider-Man is stumbling his way into pop culture's next awkward romance.

With the titular hero of Ultimate Spider-Man #14 nowhere to be seen in New York City, it has fallen on his son, Richard Parker, to swing across the skyline in the hopes of finding some clue as to where Peter might be. Unfortunately, taking up his father's suit has made Richard a prime target for Spider-Man's next nemesis, the Black Cat. Or rather, it would if he was the Spider-Man that she is looking for, although he might become just that if things keep going well between them.

Ultimate Spider-Man #14

• Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
• Art by MARCO CHECCHETTO
• Colors by MATTHEW WILSON
• Letters by VC's CORY PETIT
• Design by JAY BOWEN
• Main cover art by MARCO CHECCHETTO & MATTHEW WILSON
• Variant covers by MAHMUD ASRAR & MATTHEW WILSON, CARMEN CARNERO & NOLAN WOODARD, and GERARDO SANDOVAL & DAVID CURIEL

The original, primary Marvel Universe iteration of Felicia Hardy, better known as the Black Cat, made her comic book debut back in 1979's Amazing Spider-Man #194 by Marv Wolfman and Keith Pollard. The daughter of the infamous thief Walter Hardy, Felicia spent much of her formative years believing that her father perished in a tragic plane crash. After discovering the truth about Walter's incarceration and past crimes, Felicia decided to follow in her father's footsteps, even being trained by his old mentor, the Black Fox. Before long, Felicia was making a name for herself as one of the world's greatest thieves, not to mention one of Spider-Man's fiercest romantic interests.

Unlike the original Black Cat, the Felicia Hardy of the Ultimate Universe, or reality of Earth-1610, has been thrust into her new position by Walter himself. In this reality, Walter Hardy rose through the ranks of the criminal underworld to become one of the members of Wilson Fisk's Sinister Six. After facing off against the Green Goblin and Spider-Man, however, Walter was left battered, broken, and unable to continue on for the time being. As such, he passed on not just his mantle as Black Cat, but his place within the Sinister Six to his still teenage daughter.

Like Felicia's decidedly different trajectory in life, Richard Parker's entire existence is a byproduct of the Maker's tinkering with the world events that came to shape Earth-6160 as a whole. By preventing Peter Parker from becoming Spider-Man at a young age, the Maker opened the door for him to live a happy, uncomplicated life with his wife, Mary Jane Watson, and their two children, Richard and May. When Peter and Harry Osborn were kidnapped by Kraven the Hunter, Richard took it upon himself to don his father's high-tech, sentient Spider-Man suit and search for any signs of his father's whereabouts.

Ultimate Spider-Man #14 is available now from Marvel Comics.

Source: Marvel Comics