The new Ultimate Spider-Man series has been a breath of fresh air. Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto have injected new life into the Spider-Man franchise with their work. What’s been particularly refreshing is how they’ve treated not just Peter Parker but the entire franchise as a grown-up. One massive change has been that Peter Parker doesn’t have the same scientific and engineering background he normally has. This change has impacted the origins of Peter Parker’s Spider-Man suit and gear. This change opened the door for a new version of the symbiote to be introduced, as teased in this week’s Ultimate Spider-Man #8.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN PICOTECH SUIT
When Tony Stark sent Peter Parker the spider to give him his powers he also provided Peter with a nanotech-based suit. The new nanotech suit gave Peter the ability to change the design of his Spider-Man costume to whatever he desired and his classic web shooters. At first, he just wore a pure black suit but thanks to his daughter’s influence Peter was able to change his suit to the classic Spider-Man costume.
In Ultimate Spider-Man #7 we learned the nanotech used for Spider-Man’s new suit is not based on the current Iron Man tech like Tony Stark’s Iron Lad or Harry Osborn’s Green Goblin armor. As revealed by Doctor Otto Octavius, Spider-Man’s suit utilizes technology named Picotech. While not much is known about everything the Picotech can do its nanotechnology is reminiscent of MCU Iron Man’s final armor. That includes having adaptive battle capabilities to enhance Peter’s powers.
Adding to the mystery was Tony Stark revealing in Ultimate Spider-Man #8 that the Picotech is so advanced that even he doesn’t understand its full capabilities. This does put over how Howard Sark lived up to being one of the smartest people in the Ultimate Universe. It makes it even more understandable why The Maker would make Howard Stark one of his closest allies.
The unknown nature of Picotech’s full capabilities could end up being something that ties back into The Maker’s return. Tony emphasized that the Picotech was the last tech that his father developed before dying. It could be as he learned the truth about The Maker and his Council that Howard developed the Picotech as a countermeasure. Given that, Tony makes it a point to say he views Peter as a key person to make sure is ready for The Maker’s return his suit’s tech full capabilities could play a role in that.
ULTIMATE UNIVERSE A.I. POWERED SYMBIOTE
With Tony Stark, Otto Octavius, and Harry Osborn not knowing about Picotech’s full capabilities it does create a major question about its true origins. All we know is that it’s the last piece of tech that Howard Stark developed before his passing. When you factor in the A.I. integration of the new costume Picotech could end up being the Ultimate Universe’s version of the symbiote.
Just look at the way the Picotech’s A.I. spoke with Peter at the opening of Ultimate Spider-Man #8. It wasn’t just simply talking to Peter in the personality that he requested Otto Octavius to give him. The tone of speaking was very reminiscent of the dynamic Peter Parker and other users have shared with their symbiotes in the main Marvel Universe. There was certainly a “devil on your shoulder” tone to the Picotech’s A.I.
With how much effort has been made to make the Ultimate Universe a more modern-day take, it makes sense that A.I. would play such a big part in the new form of the Symbiote. A.I. has been such a major talking point in recent years and will be in the future. The Ultimate Universe reflecting this would add another layer to further differentiate its take on classic Marvel concepts.
This also goes back to what Picotech’s origins are is not simply super nanotech technology. It could be that at some point Howard Stark got his hands on a symbiote and integrated into his Iron Man tech to create Picotech. The way that the Picotech forms Peter’s Spider-Man costume is certainly reminiscent of how adaptive the symbiote normally is.
THE MAKER’S SYMBIOTE CONNECTION
Picotech being Howard Stark’s final technology development also brings back up the ties he had with The Maker. The possible Symbiote connection to Picotech is a reminder of the origin of this version of this Ultimate Universe. The last time we saw The Maker before Ultimate Invasion was in Venom #26. What makes this significant is that The Maker left Earth-616 while wearing a symbiote all his own. His possession of a symbiote was thanks to the partnership he had with Eddie Brock before betraying him to go on to create his own Ultimate Universe.
What we still don’t know is what happened to the Symbiote that The Maker had because when we next saw him in Ultimate Invasion he was not wearing it anymore. The Maker is not a character that would simply get rid of something that he finds extremely useful. He even told Eddie he could make the Symbiote better based on his knowledge of Earth-616 organic version and the original Ultimate Universe’s lab-created version.
With The Maker making a point of saying he would look to “improve” the Symbiote it could go back to Picotech’s creation. With how much trust he had in Howard Stark, The Maker could’ve given the Symbiote he had in his possession to Howard to develop new technology around. Combining the organic Symbiote with nanotechnology would explain the specific way that Peter’s Picotech suit’s A.I. speaks to him.
Whatever the case may be, there is a big mystery around Picotech that Jonathan Hickman will likely answer down the line in Ultimate Spider-Man. It may not even be Symbiote-based technology. Whatever the explanation of it turns out to be there is no doubt that Peter Parker will be playing an important role in the story of The Maker’s return in a little over a year.
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