Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Ultimate Spider-Man #6! Spider-Man has always made efforts to protect his secret identity at all cost, which is exactly what made his storyline in Civil War so shocking, and why the infamous Spider-Man: One More Day even happened at all. However, that level of care and dedication to keeping his identity a secret is not seen in Spider-Man’s latest Marvel Comics storyline, as his secret identity gets exposed almost immediately – and it’s totally his own fault.

In a preview for Ultimate Spider-Man #6 by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto, Peter Parker is sitting with his family for breakfast, and it’s immediately clear that he has some explaining to do. Peter is nursing a pretty bad looking black eye and facial bruises, and when MJ asks about them, he says that he was injured falling down. However, his young daughter, May, knows the truth, and she blurts out, “Dad got it being a super her-” before she cuts herself off, remembering that she was supposed to keep that a secret.

Mary Jane and Richard, their son, follow up on May’s outburst, with MJ looking directly at Peter and sternly asking him how – exactly – the injury happened. The preview ends before Peter is able to answer, but it seems clear that the secret’s out, with Peter’s entire immediate family now knowing that he’s secretly the superhero Spider-Man.

Spider-Man was Careless About Keeping His Identity a Secret

May Finds Out Her Dad is Spider-Man in Ultimate Spider-Man #2

When Peter Parker became Spider-Man in the newly-established continuity of Earth-6160’s Ultimate Universe, he was already a thirty-something-year-old man with a wife, kids, and a stable career. That meant he couldn’t just sneak out of his house to go be Spider-Man the way he could as a teenager, as he has responsibilities that directly impact his family. That’s also why he barely made it a full issue into his new comic series before he was caught by one of his family members – in his case, by his daughter, May Parker.

Peter snuck back into his home late one night after patrolling the city as Spider-Man, only for May to be out of bed to catch him as he took off his mask. Peter had no choice but to tell his daughter that he was Spider-Man, though he wouldn’t have been in that position at all if he had been more careful. Sure, the fact that he’s a family man made the task of keeping his identity a secret that much more difficult, but he put almost no effort into it from the start, leading to the predicament he’s in now.

Peter Parker’s Family Aren’t the Only Ones who Know He’s Spider-Man

Harry Osborn Learns Spider-Man’s Identity in Ultimate Spider-Man #3

As if his family finding out wasn’t bad enough, Spider-Man can’t even keep his identity a secret from his arch enemy: Harry Osborn aka the Green Goblin. Granted, the two are allies in the Ultimate Universe, but the fact remains that Harry knowing that Peter Parker is Spider-Man will have dire consequences for the wall-crawler in one form or another. And even if there are no future consequences, it’s still not great that Spider-Man can’t make it roughly five issues into his new series before his entire family and the GREEN GOBLIN know that he’s really Peter Parker.

Not only do his family and Harry know, but the entire Ultimates team and the Maker himself know Peter Parker is Spider-Man, which makes his situation even more dire. With the number of people who know his secret identity, Peter Parker is one wrong move away from having the entire world know he’s Spider-Man. But, it’s hard to have sympathy for him, especially when it comes to his family finding out, since that was entirely Spider-Man’s own fault.

Ultimate Spider-Man #6 by Marvel Comics is available June 19, 2024.