Whatever happened to the Ultimate Scorpion?

All of the other survivors of the Ultimate Clone Saga are still around, but for some reason the Ultimate Scorpion was bottled up by Nick Fury and has never been seen again. Is writer Brian Michael Bendis holding him like an Ace up his sleeve? Considering Peter Parker is now dead, a surviving male clone might be able to fill a pretty cool role.

Clones? Peter Parker, dead? Nick Fury? What the heck am I talking about?

This guy!

Now that's one snappy dresser

Who is he?

Meet the Ultimate Scorpion, a character who last appeared with a pretty ominous cliffhanger in a very popular comic book, but has never been seen or heard from again. He’s got all of the powers of Spider-Man (I think), along with a badass scorpion tail grafted onto his spine. Too bad he’s a little crazy. Other aspects of that clone story are still around and have very prominent roles. But for some reason, Ultimate Scorpion has been completely forgotten. Why is that? I want to know! The Scorpion is one of my favorite Spider-Man villains of all time, and his Ultimate counterpart was pretty badass, with a lot of potential. So whatever happened to the guy?

First, maybe I should explain a few concepts after the jump.

I’ve explained the Ultimate Universe before, but let’s go through it again for anyone who isn’t up to speed on their comic books. I’m going to assume that everybody has a fairly solid grasp of the normal Marvel  Universe. Where Spider-Man, Captain America, the X-Men etc. all live and fight bad guys. That’s where all the main comic books take place. Then in 2000, Marvel decided to do a side project called the Ultimate Universe. Nearly 40 years of stories had built up in the normal Marvel Universe of comics, and that can sometimes be daunting for new readers. But rather than erase everything and start over, Marvel decided to just write the Ultimate Universe on the side. They put together some of the best writers and artists in the business and had them retell the origins and stories of the popular Marvel heroes set in their own fresh continuity.

In the Ultimate Universe, there was a greater focus on modernizing the storytelling and taking time to flesh out the characters and their supporting casts. It’s also given writers and artists the chance to tweak little details here and there. For example, the Avengers in the Ultimate Universe are called the Ultimates. And whereas the Avengers are just a collection of heroes joined together to fight evil, the Ultimates are actually a government agency in which the heroes were recruited to work together.

Familiar, but still quite different. A government salary will do that

Most of the original Ultimate Universe books are really good. Tops among them is Ultimate Spider-Man, the first Ultimate book and one that’s still ongoing. I write reviews for the new version. Ultimate Spider-Man was basically the same as normal Spider-Man, even down to the costume. Only now Marvel could tell stories about teenage Peter Parker in high school, dealing with homework, girls and a part-time job. Not to mention super-villains. Most, if not all, of Spider-Man’s classic villains have been given an Ultimate makeover, like the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus.

Then in issue #97, we were introduced to Ultimate Scorpion attacking the mall!

Well jeez, Spider-Man, don't just stand there!

The Scorpion in the normal Marvel Universe is one of my favorite Spider-Man villains because I loved scorpions as a little kid. With their poisonous stinger and their pincer-like claws, scorpions were just damn cool bugs. The Scorpion super-villain is a guy named Mac Gargan, a private eye who was hired by J. Jonah Jameson to tail Peter Parker to learn his connection to Spider-Man. Then Jameson went the extra mile and funded an experiment to give Gargan super-powers, so that he can just straight-up kill Spider-Man. What’s that old lesson about newspaper editors reporting the news, not making it? Yeah, big stain on old Jolly Jonah’s career. I think he resigned over it at one point.

Anyway, so Gargan as the Scorpion became a reoccurring villain for Spider-Man, going on various adventures of his own but always returning to menace old Spidey. Along with his mechanical tail, which sometimes shot poison, he also had enhanced strength, agility and the like. He was also often portrayed as crazy.

Snarling randomly will give you that sort of reputation

Which is what we get with Ultimate Scorpion. In issue #97, he attacks the mall where Peter Parker and his friends just so happen to be hanging out. Peter dons his Spider-Man gear and the two of them tussle.

Who are you, the medication police?

Scorpion is pretty crazy throughout the fight, talking gibberish and basically just acting like a man out of control. All of Peter’s funny quips just fall on deaf ears. What a shame. But considering he’s Spider-Man, he wins in the end. The Scorpion is defeated and unmasked to reveal…Peter Parker!

Aunt May's not gonna like this...

In a break from the normal Marvel Universe, Ultimate Scorpion is not Mac Gargan and has nothing to do with J. Jonah Jameson. Ultimate Scorpion is a clone of Peter Parker, and his arrival marks the start of the Ultimate Clone Saga. There was a Clone Saga in the normal Marvel Universe, but it’s far to massive and complicated to deal with. Basically someone cloned Peter Parker and he was confused whether or not he was real or if he was the clone. It dragged on for years, and people grew to hate it. Not me though, I loved the Clone Saga. It helped that I started reading Spider-Man comics right at the tail end of it.

But that’s not what happens in the Ultimate Clone Saga. Yes, some evil scientist is making clones of Peter Parker and messing around with them. Along with Ultimate Scorpion, we also get Ultimate versions of several other spider-themed characters, all turned into clones of Peter. There’s Ultimate Spider-Woman, Ultimate Tarantula and Ultimate Kaine.

One big happy family

There’s a lot going on in the Ultimate Clone Saga, including stuff with Mary Jane Watson, Doctor Octopus, the supposed return of Peter Parker’s dead father, a clone of Gwen Stacy and much more. I’ll spare you the details and just say that the story ends with the deaths of Ultimate Tarantula and Ultimate Kaine. Clones Scorpion, Spider-Woman and Gwen Stacy survive the Ultimate Clone Saga. Gwen is taken into custody for a brief time, but she eventually gets free and everyone just accepts the clone as the normal Gwen Stacy, since the original died. Spider-Woman avoided custody and remained an active hero. These days, she’s still a very prominent character in the Ultimate Universe. She was even a focal point of the most recent issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, where she passed the torch from the dead Peter Parker to the new Spidey, Miles Morales.

Why should you care?

But what ever became of Ultimate Scorpion? This is the last we see of him.

Eternity spent in a tube next to a naked woman, not so bad

Nick Fury, leader of the Ultimates, takes him into custody and then he disappears. He’s definitely alive, because they say so in the comic. Sure he was crazy, but that could be cured. Here we have a guy who looks like and basically is Peter Parker. He’s got powers, a scorpion tail and a cool costume. Peter’s dead, so clearly that leaves the perfect opportunity for a clone to pop back into his life. What about as an antagonist to Spider-Woman? Or definitely to Miles Morales?

Sadly, though, previews for upcoming Miles comics reveal a new Ultimate Scorpion.

Digging the scorpion tail chain

We don’t know anything about the guy, other than the fact that he’s probably not the Ultimate Scorpion I want to see.