Ultimate Spider-man

Peter Parker was the son of scientist Richard Parker and his wife Mary. While Richard worked alongside Ed Brock on medical research, their two families grew close; though several years older, Eddie Brock Jr. was close friends with Peter. Tragedy struck when both sets of parents were killed in a plane crash; Peter was taken in by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May, and lost touch with Eddie. Inheriting his father’s intellect, Peter grew to be a quiet, bookish, boy. His best friends at Midtown High, his school in Queens, were Harry Osborn, son of industrialist Norman Osborn; and Mary Jane Watson, a fellow brain who lived across the street.

Peter’s relatively normal life changed abruptly during a school trip to Osborn Industries, Inc. The company had been working on a super soldier serum, the Oz Compound; a spider exposed to it escaped and bit Peter before it was destroyed. Peter soon discovered that he had been mutated, gaining superhuman strength and agility and various spider-like powers. After Peter accidentally broke jock Flash Thompson’s hand in a fight, the Parkers were hit with expensive medical bills; to help pay them, Peter secretly took up a wrestling challenge, wearing a mask to hide his youth and identity. The fight promoter gave him a more colorful costume and dubbed him Spider-Man, but his new career was cut short when he was accused of stealing money. Peter allowed a robber he encountered on the way home to escape because of his bad mood, an action that would later haunt him. He subsequently argued with his uncle over his slipping grades and recent poor attitude, and ran off to cool down; but when he returned home, he learned that a burglar had slain Uncle Ben in his absence. Overhearing some cops mention a cornered criminal who might be the burglar, Peter donned his costume and raced to capture him, only to find it was the same criminal he had allowed to escape earlier. Guilt ridden, Peter finally accepted the great responsibility which came with his powers, becoming a crime fighter as Spider-Man.

Norman Osborn transformed into a monstrous, Green Goblin-like menace after mainlining the Oz Compound and attacked Peter’s school, battling Spider-Man until he was shot down by police marksmen and presumed dead; Harry vanished into police custody for protection and questioning. Spider-Man encountered the criminal Shocker, the mutant Wolverine (on the run from Weapon X) and the rampaging Hulk. To help his aunt pay the bills, Peter tried to sell photos of Spider-Man to the Daily Bugle, and ended up hired to maintain the newspaper’s website. Learning that Uncle Ben’s killer worked for Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime, Peter set out to bring him down. After trying to get information from the Enforcers, he learned the Kingpin’s whereabouts from ambitious underboss Mr. Big. Breaking into the Kingpin’s office while Fisk hosted a party elsewhere in Fisk Tower, Spider-Man was spotted on the security cameras, defeated by Fisk’s superpowered henchman Electro, unmasked, and thrown out a window. Kingpin figured out who had provided his intruder’s information, and personally murdered Mr. Big before having the body dumped in the river wearing Spider-Man’s mask. Peter inquired about the security cameras in the Internet and sent them a letter going by the name Arthur Simek. He then learned that the security cameras record everything on CDs and that they were stored in an armored cabinet. Peter returned to Fisk’s building, and after defeating Electro, the Enforcers and Fisk in the building's basement, sent the Daily Bugle security footage he had stolen showing the murder of Mr. Big; Fisk swiftly went into hiding.

Peter soon revealed his dual identity to Mary Jane, and they began dating. He fought alongside Iron Man at the U.N.; ran into Daredevil in Hell’s Kitchen and helped apprehend the Punisher, a killer vigilante; encountered a lizard creature and a monster composed of swamp vegetation (both transformed scientists) in the sewers; and was mesmerized by Xandu into attacking the sorcerer Dr. Strange. He encountered the former Russian spy, the Black Widow, who stole his webshooters; met the martial artist Shang-Chi; ran into a vampire and unidentified vampire slayer; and prevented a murder by the assassin Elektra. A new girl, Gwen Stacy, whose policeman father had investigated Uncle Ben’s killing, joined Peter’s school; soon after, Peter went to the mall with his friends, where they bumped into the off-duty X-Men after Wolverine recognized Peter. Parker next faced the twin threats of Otto Octavius, alias Doctor Octopus, an Osborn scientist who had gained powers at the same time as Osborn himself; and Kraven, a reality TV show hunter who announced his intention to hunt and kill Spider-Man. After losing his first fight with Octopus, Spider-Man soundly defeated both him and Kraven outside an illegal genetic research lab, in front of a horde of assembled press. The televised fight and a quick interview afterwards helped turn around negative public opinion about Spider-Man; minutes later, he fought one of the lab’s rogue creations, the Sandman.

The next day at school, Harry returned—but Peter’s joy evaporated when Norman resurfaced, too. The senior Osborn offered Peter a stark choice: work for him or see his loved ones killed by the goblin. The following day, Peter learned from General Nick Fury that S.H.I.E.L.D. was monitoring him, and was aware of the Osborn situation, but could not intervene unless the goblin made a public move. Spider-Man confronted Osborn to say he would not be intimidated, unaware that Harry had invited Mary Jane over; the goblin seized her and carried her to the Queensboro Bridge, then dropped her off it, and Spider-Man only narrowly managed to catch her. Facing both Spidey and S.H.I.E.L.D. attack helicopters, Osborn fled back home and overdosed on the serum, mutating further. Peter pursued but was nearly killed before Harry walked in on the fight and saved him by driving a spike into the goblin’s back. The pursuing helicopters shot the goblin, who turned back to Osborn and was taken into custody. In the aftermath, Nick Fury told Peter that when he turned 18 and was an adult, he would be forced to work for S.H.I.E.L.D..