The war for the fate of New York City in Ultimate Spider-Man is already reaching a boiling point, and it’s only just getting started. Gwen Stacy and her Order of Mysterio has declared an open battle against the Kingpin and his men, and as much as Harry Osborn supports his wife, he also wants to stop her from going too far. To do that, he recruits Spider-Man to back him up and make sure everyone is held accountable as they fight to free their home from Fisk and the Maker’s wicked regime. Of course, there are multiple aspects to every side of this war, and young Richard Parker, now called Venom, is caught up in the middle as he tries to help his new girlfriend, Black Cat. Unfortunately, helping her might just mean betraying his dad and everything he stands for.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The Spiders Are Swinging Again
Ultimate Spider-Man #18 starts with Harry and Peter finally reuniting in the Parkers’ hiding spot in Arizona. Not just that, but Harry brought Uncle Ben and J. Jonah Jameson along to help look after the family while Spider-Man and Green Goblin clean up their city. Peter wishes his family goodbye, and loads up with Harry to head back home. Unfortunately for his sanity, Richard snuck on board with his invisible Venom suit. He was texting his newly-minted girlfriend Felicia, who begged him to come back to New York and help her get out of some serious family trouble. What teenage boy/fledgling superhero could ever not respond the same way Richard did?
Regardless, after they get back to NYC, Harry and Peter hit the streets to take out some low level villains. They also stop by Peter’s house, where they find Otto Octavius squatting ever since Gwen fired him from Oscorp. Peter leaves the insanely smart scientist webbed up in his house for the crime of stealing his slippers, then leave to actually meet up with Gwen. Venom, for his part, swings his way to the place where Black Cat asked him to meet. He expects to find her in some kind of trouble, but instead he finds Kingpin and the rest of the still-loyal Sinister Six waiting for him alongside Felicia. Fisk tells Richard that he doesn’t need to be afraid, and all they want is for him to help them get to Spider-Man. Felicia had been reporting back all of their texts to the Six, and Richard got comfortable enough to slip up and let them figure out he’s connected to the Web-Slinger in some way. Betrayed and hurt, Richard asks Felicia if she lied about the two of them, but she says no. She really does like him, but she smiles and says that this betrayal is just in her nature.
Venom May Be Spider-Man’s Next Enemy
Things definitely aren’t looking good for Richard right now. He obviously doesn’t stand a chance against anyone in that room on their own, let alone if they all work together. Richard probably didn’t give out any sensitive information about his family, but at this point that hardly matters, considering Fisk is intending to squeeze that out of him right now. I can’t imagine Richard willingly telling them anything, but that might not even be an option. When Peter and Harry were kidnapped by Kraven before, he used a mix of torture and drugs to force them to reveal their secrets, and while the hunter is dead, I can’t imagine Fisk doesn’t have similar ways of making people talk. Even if he never tells the villains anything, the best case scenario is that the Sinister Six take him hostage, but maybe Richard and his Peter AI can lead them on a goose chase to give his dad a chance to save his bacon.
Kingpin might be about to learn everything there is to learn about Spider-Man, and it’s hard to imagine a worse person knowing his secret identity. The format for all the Ultimate Universe books is to skip forward to a new month every issue, and I don’t have any idea how they’re going to handle this cliffhanger with that kind of time jump. Still, I am more than excited to find out.
Ultimate Spider-Man #18 is on sale now!
