Marvel 30-Day Challenge, Day 21

Most Memorable Comic Book Death

There’s an unspoken rule in comic books: the only person who stays dead is Uncle Ben. Characters get killed off and brought back all the time in the comics. It’s gotten to the point where I can watch Jean Grey die for the umpteenth time and not bat an eyelash. Effects of desensitization aside, there’s one character that I consider to be the most memorable death in Marvel history.

THE DEATH OF ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN

The hardest part of being a hero is having to make the ultimate sacrifice, and that was the way the Ultimate version of Peter Parker went out. While the Avengers and the Ultimates are fighting a civil war, the Green Goblin uses the chaos to escape from prison along with some of Spider-Man’s worst enemies. Their only goal was to kill Spider-Man and his loved ones. Already wounded, Spider-Man pulls out all the stops to save his family, leading him to destroy the Goblin in a fiery explosion seemingly. Tragically, the injuries he sustained are fatal, and Peter Parker dies in the arms of his girlfriend, MJ.

Marvel had announced their plans to kill the Ultimate Spider-Man ahead of time, but it still hit us right in the feels. Watching Peter Parker die, saving his Aunt, his friends, and his girlfriend was more emotional than the death of Superman. After he died, all of New York City came to see him laid to rest at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, showing just how much the young hero meant to the city he protected.

Unlike many comic book deaths, watching the Ultimate Peter Parker die felt different. In the Ultimate Universe, people who died had more of a tendency to stay dead. Add on the fact that Ultimate Spider-Man had started the Ultimate Marvel Universe, this was a big moment. That’s what makes it the most memorable death for me. I felt like he was gone for good.
The Ultimate Peter Parker did end up coming back. He chose to let Miles Morales be the new Spider-Man while he and MJ ran away together. That’s a happy ending in my book.

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