Marvel Unveils First Image of Spider-Man's Brand New Costume Ahead of Next Appearance

Peter Parker's Spider-Man has an awesome new costume, as his latest appearance puts a new twist on the iconic 'Scarlet Spider' identity.

The Scarlet Spider persona was introduced in 1994 as the superhero codename of Peter Parker's clone, Ben Reilly. Since then, Ben has used it repeatedly, including in 2023's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, where the character was voiced by Andy Samberg.

Since then, the name has been used by a range of other characters: the villainous Joe Wade, the corrupted clone Kaine Parker, and the young hero trio recruited by the Avengers initiative, known as Michael, Van and Patrick. Now, it seems Peter Parker will be taking the identity for himself.

But the circumstances surrounding this costume and identity change are stranger than you might have guessed, filling Marvel fans with more questions than answers.

Peter Parker Is the Ultimate Scarlet Spider

In a recent preview of What If...? Secret Wars #1 shared by AIPT, Peter Parker is seemingly shown in a militarized version of the Scarlet Spider costume, including Shield insignia and body armor. Leaping into battle alongside the Ultimate Universe's Falcon and Iron Man, Peter appears to have been imprisoned and recruited by Nick Fury.

Coming from Alex Paknadel and CAFU, What If...? Secret Wars is set in an alternate reality which appears to rewrite the events of 2015's Secret Wars. In that story, the multiverse was almost totally destroyed, with just a few remnants forged into a final 'Battleworld' by Doctor Doom. The issue's summary reads:

WHAT IF...THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSE SURVIVED THE SECRET WARS? GOODBYE, MARVEL UNIVERSE! Starring Peter Parker, our beloved friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, as he is forced to survive in a not-so-friendly neighborhood after losing everything! What becomes of the original Ultimate Universe in a post-Secret Wars landscape? How did they defeat the Beyonder? And who does Spider-Man become after losing everything?

It appears that in this comic, the Ultimate Universe (the original version, aka Earth-1610) survived the destruction of the multiverse, with the mainstream Earth-616 Spider-Man ending up trapped in this reality. The issue's preview, below, shows Peter being educated on the Ultimate Universe's history by Nick Fury, with members of the Young Ultimates breaking into a SHIELD facility to see him.

It seems that in a world that already knew and lost Peter Parker's Spider-Man - and is now home to Miles Morales' successor - Spidey will be given the costume of his own clone as one of the world's heroes. That's a relatively simple premise, so why is this comic proving so confusing for fans?

What Is 'What If...? Secret Wars' Actually Offering Marvel Fans?

So far, What If...? Secret Wars has been something of an enigma for Marvel fans. First of all, the premise that 'THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSE SURVIVED THE SECRET WARS' makes little sense, since the Ultimate Universe did survive the Secret Wars in regular canon, being recreated alongside Earth-616 by Reed and Franklin Richards along with the rest of the multiverse.

The issue's summary also references "the Beyonder," despite this making no sense in the context of 2015's story. While the Beyonder was the villain of 1985's Secret Wars, fifteen years before the Ultimate Universe even existed, the semi-sequel pitted the multiverse against an army of Beyonders, none distinct from the others.

Part of the problem is that Marvel has handled the Ultimate Universe confusingly for years now. Secret Wars implied its permanent destruction, but it was confirmed to still exist in 2018's Spider-Man II.

Venom later implied the villainous Maker was returning to the Ultimate Universe, which was shown in a state of unexplained chaos, but he was next seen pursuing a totally different agenda. The Ultimate Universe concluded with several mysteries unanswered, and while Marvel has repeatedly teased revisiting the continuity, it's veered away from doing so again and again.

While fans of the 2000s Ultimate Universe will be glad to see it back in any form, a hypothetical What If...? story is a strange choice for a continuity that's been hinted at but left unexplored for almost a decade. It will be undeniably cool to see Spider-Man encounter this dark alt-reality, but it's also strange to pose hypotheticals about a continuity whose actual fate is still unknown.

What If...? Secret Wars #1 is coming July 1 from Marvel Comics.