Ultimate Spider-Man (2000)
Ultimate Spider Man: Possibly even more of a deconstruction than its mainstream counterpart.- Peter's ended up in the hospital twice as a result of being Spider-Man. Half the time, injuries go untreated since he can't risk medics finding out his identity.
- Some supporting characters and antagonists put two and two together to figure out his secret identity. This includes Kingpin, who effortlessly uses his information network to find out where he goes to school. He even finds out the names and identities of Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Shang Chi. And S.H.I.E.L.D., being a hyper-competent, government-funded spy organization with countless ways to use surveillance and dig up information, was already well aware of Peter's spider-powers and double life way before then.
- The fact that Spider-Man is a student at Peter's high school eventually brings a small media circus down on it, with newscrews camped outside almost all the time. Several principals even quit because of the stress involved. By the end of the first volume, the school board is seriously considering shutting the school down entirely, as multiple supervillain attacks have led to it being deemed unsafe.
- Mary Jane breaks up with Peter for a while because his dangerous lifestyle as a crime-fighter becomes too overwhelming for her; She's had a firsthand look at some of the injuries he's sustained in battle, and she's constantly worried sick that he'll wind up dead someday because of it. Her first personal encounter with a super-villain leaves her with post-traumatic stress which she's not able to get help owing to Peter's double life and Peter's own superhero career not allowing him time to actually listen and counsel her. Peter and MJ actually spend a lot of the comic breaking up and getting back together, usually because one is afraid for the safety of the other (Peter's always facing danger head-on, and there are plenty of times when MJ is put in danger by proxy). The overall effect is that Peter's life as Spider-Man puts a ton of stress on their relationship, and as two teenagers who haven't been in a serious relationship before, they don't have any reference for how to deal with it, and Peter's secret identity means they can't even really talk to anyone about it, much less a qualified therapist.
- Kingpin pulls a Karma Houdini multiple times just by pulling a few strings. As it turns out, bringing down a mob requires a little more than just punching bad guys in the face. And just to top it off, he promptly copyrights Spider-Man's image and makes him into a merchandising tool. After all, that guy who keeps a secret identity isn't willing or able to expose his identity by laying down a patent on his costume, let alone raising a lawsuit or complaint.
- Likewise, a major Hollywood film is made with Spider-Man as the focus, and to Peter's horror the fact that he has to keep his identity secret means he can't sue, complain, offer input, or even get a royalty check.
- Kingpin also winds up on the receiving end of this trope as well; if there are vigilantes operating outside the law in New York, eventually they'll get sick of a Karma Houdini always getting off on technicalities. When Daredevil assembles various super-heroes to discuss how to handle the Kingpin, Peter actually has to talk the group out of outright murdering Fisk. Later in the same book Kingpin blows up Matt Murdock's law office, smug in the knowledge that there's no way to prove he did it... Only for Daredevil to break into his home and threaten to very nearly murder his wife. Eventually, Fisk winds up casually and unceremoniously killed because he caught the attention of an ACTUAL super-villain who didn't give a toss about his Karma Houdini status.
- Shocker is a deconstruction of the Harmless Villain trope. His Butt-Monkey abuse ends up causing him to snap and horrifically torture Spider-Man. It's all but explicitly said that Spider-Man's constant fights with him have wrecked his mental state beyond repair.
- He also deconstructs Cut Lex Luthor a Check. As it turns out, he did try to sell his inventions. But he was rebuffed and eventually his idea was stolen from him, making him embittered and use his weapons to become a super criminal.
- Punisher isn't portrayed as an Anti-Hero of any sort, he's shown to be exactly what you would expect a man who dresses in skull attire and shoots up criminals to be; a complete psychopath with little to no self-control who does more harm than good.
- Spider-Man ends up with severe emotional and mental scarring from all the traumatic stuff he experiences. Daredevil notes repeatedly that this really isn't the kind of job a down on his luck teen from the suburbs should be getting into.
- J Jonah Jameson is also arguably a deconstruction of the complete caricature his 616!counterpart is, and whilst utterly abrasive, has been shown to be an objective newsman with incredibly strong morals.
- Daredevil gets a much darker portrayal than his 616! counterpart, having no qualms about killing his enemies and even (in the case of Wilson Fisk) holding their loved ones hostage to get to them. His relationship with Spider-Man is also drastically different; instead of being a close ally that respects and even relates to him, Daredevil treats him mostly with disdain and often chews him out for being, in his own opinion, a naive, inexperienced kid with no business fighting crime. While this could be explained as Daredevil wanting to keep a teenager from getting involved in a life he may not be ready for, it doesn't change the fact that he's very much a Jerkass to Peter (to the point of physically assaulting him on at least one occasion) and goes to extremes that 616 Daredevil would never go to. It goes to show that Daredevil's brand of vigilante justice wouldn't exactly make him the nicest, or sanest person.
- Ultimate Peter Parker's well meaning intentions as Spider-Man often put his personal life in danger in part because of his status as a teenager for the entire book's run and just how impulsive he is because of his youth.
- The Death of Spider-Man arc milks this Achilles' Heel of his for all its worth when despite being shot in the gut by a bullet meant for Captain America, Peter puts dealing with the Sinister Six over getting medical treatment. It ends up costing him his life and no small amount of grief from his supporting cast for a time.
- Like all of his clones, Peter's sole Opposite-Sex Clone Jessica Drew (aka. Spider-Woman) inherited his personality, brain chemistry and even memories. This means that instead of the usual "what if the hero was of the opposite sex" trope, she literally is a version of Peter Parker who just happened to wake up as a woman one day, which initially confuses her.
- The comic also points out that an Opposite-Sex Clone would also have the same sexual preferences as the original person - like Peter, Jessica is only interested in women, and didn't suddenly start liking men just because she was now female.
- The original Spider-Man was able to pass as an adult, even back in high school. However, the Ultimate version is subject to a Running Gag where almost everybody comments on his youth, sometimes even mistaking his age as being younger than he is because of his quippy tendencies. As it turns out, it can be pretty easy to tell if someone's just a kid. Mark Bagley also draws Ultimate Peter leaner, shorter, and just generally smaller than 616 Peter, who's pretty much an athletic Adonis.Wolverine: You need to hit puberty.
Peter: I have hit puberty!
Wolverine: Hit it again. - Spider-Man's famous quipping usually resulted in Snark-to-Snark Combat in the original comics. Here, his snark only serves to piss everyone off and make them want to try to kill him faster, often causing him to immediately regret Bullying a Dragon.
