The new Ultimate Universe has revamped several classic Spider-Man villains in new forms. Chief among these is Harry Osborn as a heroic Green Goblin and Otto Octavius as his loyal scientific advisor. However, several story elements in Ultimate Spider-Man #7 suggest that symbiotes and a new Venom could arrive shortly.
Written by Robert Kirkman, with art by Marco Checchetto, Ultimate Spider-Man #7 opens with Otto explaining his analysis of the two heroes’ super-suits. Both are StarkTech, though the picotech costume Tony Stark gave Peter Parker is more advanced, being “highly adaptable and transformative.” By contrast, Harry’s Green Goblin armor was reverse-engineered from the Iron Man armor of Howard Stark.
Beyond confirming the costumes’ pedigree, Otto discovers they both have dormant artificial intelligence. Otto believes the AI can be mapped to an existing personality and offer them “combat analysis, life support, (and) any kind of higher-function problem-solving” once activated. Ultimately, Harry asks for an AI modeled on his father, Norman, while the Ultimate Spider-Man requests one based on his own mind.
This scenario references several classic Spider-Man story elements. Beyond the joke about Peter talking to himself (as in his trademark inner monologue), we see Harry being harangued and bullied by a virtual Norman Osborn. However, there are subtle signs that this is only the start of Otto Octavius’ experiments, which also teased the arrival of Venom in Ultimate Spider-Man.
Could Otto Octavius become Ultimate Venom?
While explaining his discoveries, Otto takes a sample of the nanites comprising Peter’s costume, muttering to himself that he will “save you for later.” This would seem sinister enough, even without a bit of artistic foreshadowing. As they discuss the super-suit artificial intelligence, Peter’s profile suddenly shifts to a shadowy outline. This resembles the classic Black Spider-Man suit that was later revealed as the Venom symbiote. Curiously, the text balloons for Peter’s AI are white text on a black background, just like the word balloons of Venom. The Ultimate Spider-Man AI also refers to itself as “we,” like Venom.
It is worth noting that other Spider-Man adaptations have played with these elements in a similar fashion. The Spider-Man video games, for instance, introduced Venom as the result of an Oscorp project, and Doctor Octopus famously sought to replace Peter Parker and prove himself the Superior Spider-Man. Given all that, it is not improbable to consider that the “highly adaptable and transformative” super-suits with their own AI could become synthetic symbiotes. It is also easy to see Otto Octavius becoming a new variant version of Venom.
Ultimate Spider-Man #7 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
